Braywood (A) – 29.7.12

Braywood 151-8 dec
Zia 4-19, Withers 3-43

RUASCC 92-6
Eagle 17 not out, Ward 16, Zia 16

Match drawn

Match drawn! Are there any two words more warming to the RUASCC soul? Seven hours in a wet field, two rain delays, a very decent tea and that glorious result: “match drawn”. We couldn’t quite reach 100 runs but it hardly matters - after two consecutive defeats we were back to drawing ways.

The pitch, we were told, had been under water the week before and with rain falling all morning it was a miracle the game got underway at all. Braywood won the toss and opted to bat with dark thunderclouds looming on three sides of the ground and we’d only managed three overs before we were forced off by a heavy shower. At the resumption Withers, who was having no luck bowling straight, was forced to rely on two half volleys way outside leg stump for his first two wickets – leading edges caught by Zia at mid-on and Jagesh at short fine-leg.

In fact, this was generally an encouraging bowling and fielding performance from RUASCC: Andy Ashman bowled his longest spell for a while (nine overs) and took one wicket thanks to a sharp catch at the wicket by Tom Weeks, while Pensioner Ken Stewart bowled eight overs for just 20 runs and took a good catch in the covers to give Withers his third wicket.

Braywood reached 118-4 and the course of the innings remained very much in the balance when Zia was introduced to bowl the 32nd over. Ten overs later the home side had added 31 runs for the loss of four wickets – all to Zia – thanks partly to catches from Ward and Withers on the leg-side boundary. At 5.15pm, with the fall of the eighth wicket, the declaration came.

Ward and Carpenter opened the innings, allowing Dr Eagle to drop down the order, and the two batsmen began cautiously on the wet pitch against slow, accurate bowling. Carpenter was bowled for nine to bring Zia in, but despite getting off the mark with a boundary the new batsman had every bit as much difficulty getting the ball away and the score ticked along at a little under three per over. Ward was next to go, then Zia was stumped dancing down the wicket before Malde followed almost immediately, caught at short leg. 44-1 had turned into 49-4 and RUASCC needed 103 to win in 20 overs with six wickets in hand, although a quick glance at the long tail suggested victory was unlikely.

Weeks hit seven before offering a simple return catch to the bowler and his dismissal brought Tranter to the crease to join Dr Eagle. These two men, the backbone of RUASCC in the 21st century, soon put an end to any thoughts we may have had about victory or, to be fair, defeat. Over the course of the next twelve overs the pair added 27 runs, six of them from one ball that Eagle long-armed over deep square leg, while those who were left in the pavilion relaxed, safe in the knowledge that we weren’t going to lose. However mind-numbingly tedious it may have seemed at the time.

But then, perhaps just to give the spectators something to cheer about, Tranter set off for a second run that Eagle didn’t want and was out by the length of the pitch. We couldn’t quite make out what was said between the two as Tranter left the field but someone thought they heard the word “cretin” hover in the air. Anyway, not to worry: Jagesh helped Eagle see out the last few overs and RUASCC finished nowhere near the target, but also nowhere near being bowled out. 92 runs in 41 overs – match drawn!

RUASCC Highlight: No, not really.

RUASCC Man of the Match: Zia

RUASCC Team: Ward, Carpenter, Zia, Eagle (capt), Malde, Weeks (wkt), Tranter, Jagesh, Stewart, Withers, Ashman