Highmoor (A) – 24.6.12

RUASCC 74-9 declared
Baker 16, Law 14 not out

Highmoor 75-5
Waqar 3-38, Law 2-22

RUASCC lost by 5 wickets

Before we begin I should probably point out that I didn’t play in this game; in fact I wasn’t even there. I don’t say that to absolve myself of any of the blame for the hugely embarrassing and demoralising defeat (although it certainly helps) but rather to explain any factual inaccuracies that may potentially sneak into the report.

I arrived home on Sunday evening after a lovely weekend in Dorset and immediately asked Dr Eagle how the match had gone. He said it had gone badly. He said we lost the toss and we were bowled out for 74 on a wet, slow, sticky pitch with a puddle outside off stump. I was forced to agree that yes, it did indeed sound like it gone badly.

But it’s really only now, with the benefit of seeing the scorebook, that I can begin to understand the full crippling extent of the badness to which Dr Eagle was alluding. It looks, I have to say, very bad indeed. But then I suppose any team, even one with the strength in depth that RUASCC possesses, would struggle without the trio of Zia, Ward and Withers – you simply can’t replace sportsmen of that calibre.

That’s not to say there aren’t positives to be taken from the batting performance, and some of these statistics do give reason for optimism:

• Yes, we only scored 74 – but we managed it in just 48 overs! That’s an impressive run rate of more than 1.5 per over. 
• Not just one, not just two, but an incredible THREE partnerships got into double figures!
• We weren’t bowled out! Law and Ashman put together a beautifully crafted unbroken stand of nine before the rather sporting declaration.
• None of the opposition bowlers got a five-for. Yes, Guyan took 4-15 from 13 overs but that doesn’t get you on the honours board, does it.

There’s not much more to say about the scorecard except that with scores of 0, 1, 3, 16, 1, 14, 2, 7 and 2 RUASCC’s batsmen curiously managed to spell out the phone number of a car rental station in Kirkcaldy where Ken Stewart used to work as a toilet brush.

The home side certainly didn’t have it all their own way in the run chase as five batsmen fell to the opening pair of Waqar and Dave Law for a total of just nine runs. Waqar’s line and length bowling evidently proved difficult to get away while Law, playing in his first RUASCC game of the season, frequently touched 90mph in an 11-over spell of raw hostility. Which oddly included a stumping. But anyway, in the end RUASCC’s 74-9 proved to be not quite competitive enough, possibly 10-20 runs short of a decent total, and Highmoor sealed the victory in the 24th over.

RUASCC Highlight: Feeding the ducks in the pond outside off stump.

RUASCC Man of the Match: Might be going out on a limb here but I would suggest it was one of the bowlers.

RUASCC Team: Eagle (capt), Dersh, Carpenter, Baker, Dip (wkt), Chan, Law, Waqar, Tranter, Jagesh, Ashman