On the second day of a wet and gloomy English summer weekend, the Wood
faced up to a Stanmore side who it seemed would be short of practise
for the game after turning up 2 minutes before a 2pm kickoff. Though
they could be forgiven as they put into the fixture late in the week,
after Harrow were clearly not keen on playing in the cauldron like
atmosphere that comes with playing on the Common on Sunday.
Unsurprisingly captain Tonker chose to bat after winning the toss, and
sent in experienced duo Toms and Rothband to anchor the innings. And
drop anchor they certainly did, with a miserly 22 runs off 10 overs
curing all insomnia that any teammates may have had. Both were then
bowled after making starts, bringing in two Antipodean batsmen to
steady the ship. Rothband in particular must be careful of losing the
Midas touch he had early in the season, especially when so many club
members look up to him for guidance and strength. The Kiwi was again
out to a poor stroke after a well timed 6 into a BMW's bonnet, but the
responsibility was accepted by Oliphant who stroked a chanceless 60 to
head 'Wood over 200. 240 was posted after some lusty blows late in the
piece, and some believed the declaration was left too long (although
the belated arrival of the icecream man was rumoured to have something
to do with this).
The reply from the oppo was swift and left Chorley staring down the
barrel, until an inspired piece of captaincy turned the game on its
head. Dave Brabham was hauled into short leg, which rendered the
batsmen incapable of seeing any gaps on the legside or indeed being
able to score runs through there at all. Therefore they were forced to
change their game and wickets tumbled as a result. Shortly after a
cunning plan was employed by Tipping D, who decided to get his moneys
worth out of the track by bouncing one delivery half a dozen times,
then surprising the batsman soon after by bowling one straight that
bounced only once to have him caught at cover. Some disciplined
batting left 4 wickets to be taken in 8 overs for victory, so the
captain unselfishly threw himself the ball in search of personal glory
and cheap bunny wickets. Along with the Kiwi he achieved just that,
both snaring 2 late clean bowleds to seal victory. The win was
especially sweet after needing the last wicket to fall in the last
over, with motivation of beer and curry being offered to Wedlake in
exchange for the last scalp. So a rare and memorable win was
achieved, the beer tasted good and all was hunky dorey. Special
mentions today fall to Steve Toms, who kept wicket very competantly
after being thrust into the role at a late stage, and Luigi who was
sent packing to fine leg all day and soldiered on bravely in the
freezing conditions.
Tough choice for man of the match, with performances from young 16
year old Asad (quick runs and tight bowling, plus one brilliant one
handed catch- a fine prospect), Rob Oliphant (60 odd well hit runs and
steadied the ship through the middle stages) and a few others. But the
award had to go to captain fantastic. 4 vital wickets, a run out, well
thoughtout field placings, strategic placing of certain shaped players
and above all what proved to be a pinpoint accurate declaration. With
such an outstanding performance from 11 very dedicated cricketers, it
is very hard to see how last weeks star performer Ret will fit in
again at all. It would be a huge risk to change the winning chemistry
and bond of this side, so the Count may be advised to make plans
elsewhere this coming weekend. Sorry mate.
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