Blewbury (A) – 1.5.11

Blewbury 221-4 dec
Zia 2-57, Main 1-41

RUASCC 191-7
Carpenter 65, Zia 48

Match drawn.

The annual trip to Blewbury is always an enjoyable one despite RUASCC’s dreadful record at the ground - it’s the sort of place where you can turn up at 2pm and the home skipper is enjoying his fourth can of Red Stripe before the coin is even tossed. Two years ago the whole team were in the middle of a weekend-long stag do and they still won by eight wickets despite most of them not having slept the night before.

We were told in advance that the match would be played on a brand new astroturf strip which didn’t seem like great news for the bowlers. The predictable bounce and lack of sideways movement off the carpet makes a batsman’s job a lot easier and as it turned out the artificial wicket produced 412 runs in 70 overs and, ultimately, a draw.

RUASCC’s hopes of not losing the match were boosted when Blewbury won the toss and opted to bat first. In a timed game the team batting second always has the option of shutting up shop and playing for the draw if the run chase doesn’t look on, and taking all ten wickets on an astroturf pitch takes some doing, even against RUASCC.

Withers and Main began tidily and Blewbury were 14-1 in the sixth over when Main trapped Fish lbw (yes, I know). That’s about when things stopped going well for RUASCC as the second wicket pair put on 105 in 20 overs, helped in part by some charitably inept fielding. First Main put down a chance off his own bowling then debutant Muhammed failed to cling on at mid-off, but worse was to come when a dreadful miscue came down just off the square without a single fielder making a positive move towards it.

Unlikely as it sounds, it was a brilliant piece of fielding that eventually ran out Grist for 49 as Main threw superbly from the long off boundary. In the next over Zia clean bowled the new batsman and RUASCC were suddenly threatening a comeback. Unfortunately Southwell was in full swing and in just eight overs Blewbury added another 80 runs for the fourth wicket. The dry, bumpy outfield provided a convenient excuse for some dreadful ground fielding and a lot of heads seemed to go down during this passage of play. It was a relief when Zia took a simple return catch to remove Ainsworth for 27.

Can I just say what a pleasure it is to be writing this report with the scorebook next to me – for once I don’t have to pluck the numbers from my own addled memory.

Pensioner Ken Stewart bowled the final over of the innings and Southwell, on 97, lofted the first delivery high in the air towards Withers on the mid-wicket boundary but he somehow managed to drop it because he’s a useless twat. Southwell reached his century two balls later, the over ended up costing 14 and Blewbury declared on 221-4 at tea.

RUASCC need 222 runs to win

With Ward missing due to injury, Eagle and Carpenter opened the batting and raced along to 28-0 after four overs thanks to nicely placed byes. However, two wickets in two balls threatened to derail the innings as Eagle (4) and Greenhalf (0) were bowled in near-identical fashion. Zia survived the hatrick ball and the fun began as 86 runs were added in the next ten overs. Clearly enjoying some short bowling on the flat wicket, Carpenter brutally cut and pulled and raced to fifty with his eleventh boundary. While the partnership lasted RUASCC were favourites to win the match, but on 65 Carpenter miscued a pull shot and the grateful wicketkeeper simply had to wait for the ball to drop into his gloves.

Zia continued to accumulate despite being hampered by an absence of stamina, and with Dip also suffering with the aches and pains of a wicketkeeper there was a distinct lack of urgency between the wickets as the pair added another 34 walks. Zia had one lucky escape when the Blewbury captain misjudged a high catch in a rather RUASCC-like manner and wore it on the sternum – you could hear the thud all around the ground. The tide turned again when Zia missed a straight one on 48 and Muhammed’s first ball as a RUASCC batsman saw him clean bowled. For the second time in the innings there was a hatrick ball to defend and this time it was Bruce Main who held firm. At 148-5 the win was looking less likely and when Dip (14) was bowled by a beauty from Southwell the run chase was formally off the table. Some of RUASCC’s batting was making the pristine artificial wicket look like the fourth day at Headingly after a rain break.

To Trant’s obvious dismay Main still had time for a bit of a swing and he hit three fours on his way to 19 before he tried to hook a short ball and mimicked Carpenter’s earlier dismissal. With 39 needed from three overs, Tranter and Stewart (combined age of 131) had little to do but seal the draw. In the final over, Trant even had a good bold swipe for four down the ground, an act of pure hypocrisy that many in the RUASCC ranks will take a long time to forget.

RUASCC Highlight: Bruce’s excellent throw for the run out that finally ended the second wicket stand.

RUASCC Man of the Match: Ian Carpenter for his exhilarating innings of 65.

RUASCC Team: Eagle, Carpenter, Greenhalf, Zia, Dip (wkt), Muhammed, Main, Stewart, Tranter (capt), Ashman, Withers

Keiwit Match Stats: Wickets 0; Runs 0; Catches 0