Blewbury 194-7 dec.
Baker 2-34, Waqar 2-37, Withers 2-45
RUASCC 161-7
Ward 67, Dip 22, Eagle 15
Match drawn
As Andy Eagle handed out the fixture cards before the game I
was reminded that I now hold the exalted position of RUASCC Vice-Captain. I realised almost immediately that I have
very little idea of what this means at a practical level but I resolved to go
out and play the game a tad more authoritatively just in case. The first indication of how this went across
with my subordinates teammates was when Johnny Baker suggested I was
acting "a bit cocky”, so maybe there’s still some PR work to be done.
While we’re talking about Baker, I should mention that our
attempts to at least pretend to be a professional cricket outfit rather failed
at the first hurdle: he’d forgotten to bring any shoes. Kenny Stewart came to the rescue at the
expense of his own dignity, generously handing Johnny his trainers and hence
having to take the field himself in a pair of tan leather brogues. It was an odd look but still far superior to
the purple trousers he’d been sporting minutes before.
Last year’s win, in particular Waqar’s winning boundary, was
mentioned more than a few times before play began, to the extent that those
who’d never played at Blewbury before soon felt as if they had. Eagle won the toss and chose to field, and
looking back at the 2013 match report I notice Blewbury played almost exactly
the same innings again - indeed there are some striking statistical
similarities which I would be delighted to talk you through sometime. This time, however, RUASCC’s reply merely
coasted along to finish with a comfortable draw rather than a very
uncomfortable win.
As RUASCC fielding performances go this one wasn’t
awful. Withers only went for one
boundary in his 11 overs, a result that probably owed more to the long grass in
the outfield than anything else. Newcomer
Karthee bowled with pace and picked up a debut wicket and Waqar put in a
typically solid stint. Several shots
went in the air but very few were catchable, in fact only two good chances went
down: Withers off his own bowling and much later Eagle at deep mid-wicket. The low point was probably the one that fell
halfway between Stewart and Ward with neither player fully committed.
Ward duly redeemed himself with the bat, although I was
distracted for some of the early part of his innings by three screaming infants
around the scorer’s table (actual babies I mean, not referring to my teammates
on this occasion). This led to the first
instance I can remember of my view being partially obstructed by a
breastfeeding mother; I’ve never had to pretend so much that I was watching a
game that I was genuinely watching.
Had Ward been slightly better supported we might have come
close to winning the game. Eagle was
perhaps unlucky to be given out off a bump ball and Baker ran himself out going
for a second when, by his own admission, he didn’t know where the ball was. Can’t blame Kenny’s shoes for that one.
Pointless Statistic: RUASCC’s first three wicket stands were 44,
44 and 4. All but one of the completed
partnerships were divisible by 4 (28, 20, 16 and the odd one out, 5). Yes I am married, why do you ask?
RUASCC Man of the
Match: The scorecard would have
looked decidedly empty without Ward’s half-century.
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