Hurst 262-6 dec
Main 4-41, Withers 1-47
RUASCC 216-5
Dip 51 not out, Carpenter 42
Match drawn
From the moment I stepped inside the score box at Hurst
Cricket Club I knew this was going to a very special afternoon. Because, you see, this is more than just a
score box, this is a Scorers and Umpires Facility, a modern, purpose-built home
for the administrators of cricket. This
is an M&S score box.
For a start, they’ve got the basics right: the facility is located
directly adjacent to the pavilion. To
many people this might seem the obvious place to put it – at Peppard, for
example, you barely have to walk five yards between the two – but try telling
that to Kidmore End who built their fantastic pavilion for the players on one
side of the ground but left the score box on the opposite boundary. I liked the Wokingham one that was elevated
to give a fantastic view of the action but they ripped it down when they built
houses all over the pitch. “Progress”, I
suppose.
The Hurst facility has gone beyond the usual limits of a
score box but it still has all the familiar traits: there’s barely room to walk
around because of all the bats, pads and stumps strewn all over the floor,
there’s an empty can of Red Bull and a dinner plate speckled with melted cheese
on the desk and there’s a bit of scrap paper with the home team scribbled on it
left tucked inside their scorebook.
But the Hurst box has some great touches – rather than the
usual knackered old leather swivel chair there’s a wonderful old bucket
armchair, not so easy to rotate perhaps but nonetheless perfect for comfort, height
and posture. Then there’s the desk lamp
facing outwards to the square for ease of acknowledging the umpires’ signals, and
the little window that opens just a little to give some welcome breeze on a hot
day. I should add that the score box is thoughtfully located on the western edge of the ground so in the evening it’s shady and cool.
All that said, what really elevates this place to the very
top of my list is the electronic scoreboard.
This is only the second remote control scoreboard I’ve ever operated,
and with all due respect to Bluecoat School (now there’s a fixture we should
bring back) I think it’s my favourite.
So easy to operate, so clean in its functionality and filled
with clever little touches, this is what scoring should be like every
week. You add runs to a batsman and it
automatically adjusts the total, you mark a batsman “out” and it automatically
changes the “Last Man” and “Last Wicket Fell” boxes. A scorer really does get spoilt!
Due to the simplicity of the whole thing you find yourself
updating the scoreboard EVERY BALL instead of waiting for the end of the
over. Even in those boxes with the
cables to change the display it can feel like a hassle – especially when
counting down from 20 overs because you have to keep going “over the top” to
reduce the number by one. And especially
when the cables don’t work, like at Kidmore when at the end of each over I was
forced to leave the box, walk round the front and punch the display to get it
post 0 and 4. Not ideal.
I certainly don’t want to come across as beating up on
Kidmore End because, let’s face it, you’re by no means certain to find a score
box at all, with many grounds settling for the traditional hanging-the-metal-numbers-on-hooks
approach. But there are other ways of
communicating the score using just a board, and here it is perhaps worth noting
two of my favourites, Britwell Salome and Tilehurst & Theale, who have each
come up with a slightly different way of hiding or revealing the component
parts of each number, the former with bars you can fold back and forth, the
latter with sliding plastic switches.
But when it comes down to it, you can’t beat a good score
box. And Hurst Cricket Club has a damn
good score box.
Right, any questions?
What’s that? The
game? Well OK if you insist. A potent spell from Bruce Main reduced Hurst
to 69-6 after 15 overs but an exceptional young left-hander came in and hit 137
not out in 20 overs.
A big target. Singh
(29), Carpenter (42) and Ward (32) all got in before getting out and with 100
needed from just seven overs a draw was inevitable. Dip played beautifully again for 51 not out
and he was ably supported by Main who hit a quick 26 not out.
And this is how it looked on the score box:
RUASCC Highlight: Pressing the “out” button and seeing the
total transfer to the “Last Wicket” box.
Bliss.
RUASCC Man of the
Match: Main.
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