Today saw the first Socials arctic expedition. The cruel cold biting winds were blowing off the tundra as the intrepid Socials group braved their way into the remote plains of Vasinggrad. Cricket was the last thing on their mind as the group huddled around a cup of hot chocolate to stay warm. One player, new to the group, an Aussie, was particularly ill-prepared for the weather conditions that are a harsh reality compared to the dim, distant balmy memories of summer in Sydney. Make no mistake - today is about survival.
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| It was too cold to snow at Basingstoke |
As leader I made a bold statement - we won the toss and elected to stay in the clubhouse to preserve our limited body warmth. Two of the older, experienced lieutenants Aggar and Reedman, scoffed at such cowardice and strode out of the safety of the changing rooms to face whatever Vasinggrad threw at them. As if to reinforce this message of bravery they not only blunted the opening attack they also kept the score moving along nicely, which encouraged a couple of the team mates to venture outside and appreciate the skill of their endeavours. After ten defiant overs Aggar decided a brandy was too inviting to refuse and the next over, without his companion, Reedman soon followed him back to the clubhouse The score was 48 - 2 and your leader, with the calming but chilling words - "I am going outside - I may be some time" - set the scene for the big push as he was joined by new Aussie. Your leader briefed Aussie on the perils of batting in such arctic conditions against the Sherpa bowlers, the like of which he had not experienced before. Patience was the key and the wind and the pitch slowed the flight and bounce of the ball to the point that that patience was stretched to the limits. Your leader and his new foreign legionnaire begun to build up a sizable store of runs before Aussie retired on 83* to allow others to come in and acclimatise to the conditions. But joining the big push without preparation proved too much for Mitch and Gardiner who both soon returned needing to find their fine money. Lea junior came to the crease to put the game beyond Vasinggrad but in doing so ran out your tiring leader. This brought about panic in the ranks who, thinking they could stay sheltered until tea time, had to quickly change into suitable clothing. No harm was done though and the Socials declared at a very commendable 207-6.
The Socials attacked the Vasinggard top-order batting hard knowing of their discomfort after being exposed in the field for so long. After four brutal overs Vasinggrad were in complete disarray at 3 runs for 4 wickets. The speed of Lea junior and the guile of Barkham S had torn through the bulk of what was the best of their batting. To keep up team spirits and as importantly, keep the group warm, Gardiner, Bolderson and Liggins all had a bowl and got wickets. However it was Barkham, with a devastating spell of 11 overs 5 - 23, that kept Vasinggrade under the cosh all afternoon. Aussie could not be kept out of the proceedings though as he took five outfield catches (a feat not seen by any of us before) to ensure that Vasinggarde were not give an ounce of hope all afternoon. The game was wrapped up in the thirtieth over with Vasinggard having limped to 87 all out.
A successful arctic expedition then, but not one any Socials would like to repeat. Let's hope our return game against Basingstoke at the end of the season is in warmer climes and a better match for us all.
o0o
VECC Sunday Socials: 207-6 (37 overs). C Macdougal 81 (ret), M. Lea 53
Basingstoke: 87 all out (30 overs). S. Barkham 5 - 23.
Mom: S. Barkham
Captain's log: 21st April 2013 - Sunday Socials v RAC
As I watched yet another big hit by the RAC's star batsman, 'Mo' Monzor, disappear over the, seemingly smaller-by-the-minute, boundary for yet another six runs, I was reminded of an earlier conversation with my son which was along the lines of 'cricket is a funny old game my son'. We had talked about cricket being a batsman's game but how a batsman could be out first ball and have little else to do all afternoon. We sagely agreed that a bowler could bowl an absolute crackerjack of a ball only for it to be 'too good' to get the batsman out. And of course how cricketers rely upon others to do well in pursuit of their own good performance - fielders and umpires (at club level especially) can make a gut-wrenchingly huge difference to your afternoon on a cricket field. And here we both were in our first Socials game of the season against the Corinthians of the RAC and it was like the cricketing gods were making a prophetic response to our musings. In fact more of two fingered response if truth be told.
Like all good put downs our expectations were built up first. The weather - that subject that must always be used in the same sentence as 'when we play cricket in England' - had been kind to us after a monstrously awful winter. I had won the toss and decided to test our collective nerve early on and my confidence was rewarded by our new opening pairing of Nige and Rich B looking like they had been batting all summer (I guess the tour to Mallorca had helped now they had sobered up - but that's another story). Eighty-four very respectable runs later it was my turn to enter the stage and play my part. It was in fact a quick walk on-walk off part that had it roots in 'we don't care that you have been netting so well - welcome to reality buster' type of a response from those cricket gods. I tried, with some success I am pleased to say, to see the funny side of this part of the story as I pulled off my still-pristine new batting gloves.
Thereafter our batting stuttered and spluttered along like a car that had been erroneously filled with diesel rather than petrol but Dev and DJ found the spark to help us reach a reasonably respectful 196 all out after 43 overs. I was still in good humour knowing that the RAC side had a couple of reasonable batsmen and one that I knew could hurt us, but them aside we could run through them with a bit of luck on our side and win this game. The cricketing gods munched their tea (miraculously created by our Socially virginal angel, Foave) and deliberated on their response.
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| Another six or we surrender - it's the same result |
We didn't have to wait to long to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortunes than rained down on us mere Social mortals. But not before we had our hopes raised by two quick RAC wickets from opening bowlers, Marcus and Ed. This was the last time the gods smiled on us, as immediately after taking a stump-busting wicket, Ed had to suffer the dashed delight that only a dropped catch can elicit. And with the fall of the second wicket came the arrival of 'Mo' to the crease.
Truly the gods had sent in their warrior to vent their wrath upon us. Knowing Mo as I do, I knew our only hope was an early false stroke as he only plays one way - with thunderous strokes and explosive hits. Mo gave a half-chance as if to tease us before he blasted away as no other has done to us before. His was an unbeaten innings of 149* out of 201 runs, in 18 short fiery overs, during which he dispatched thirteen 4s and launched twelve mostly extravagant 6s. It was a truly incredible performance and one to which none of us had any answers - least of all our hapless bowlers. At least the denouement was all over quickly and we all walked off trance-like knowing we had witnessed something special. I still felt that had we opened up the other end a bit earlier we might have managed to exert a little pressure but I could almost hear the cricketing gods laughing at such a ridiculous idea. Laugh - I could have cried at the injustice of it all as Ed and I exchanged knowing glances - 'funny old game cricket my son'.
o0o
VECC Sunday Socials: 196 all out (43 overs). N. Unsworth 43, R. Bolderson 38.
RAC: 201-4 (22 overs). M Manzoor 149*. E. Lea 2-48
MoM: Nige Unsworth
Plastic bag moment (PBM): Ed Lea (two catches dropped off his bowling and felled when his ankle was smashed stopping a drive).
Good report Skip, your right that was a pretty impressive batting display - not a lot more you can say really!
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to reading the bowling figures on play cricket!
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