2006 Season - Stainsby Hall / Smalley - 2006/06/18
Paul writes
The celebration was subdued�.a partially raised bat and an immediate turn to take the congratulations of his fellow batsman and just a moment to himself before he started thinking about the next ball. No KP bat and helmet waving. No badge kissing false patriotism or salutes to the pavilion. Jeremy Flight accepted the rapturous applause from his club mates and small clutch of supporters on the Stainsby Hall / Smalley balcony and pavilion frontage with the kind of calmness and composure that had been the hallmark of a super innings, a super hundred. Super stuff.
The forecasted sun didn�t materialise, so �Jez� and Jamie had strode to the wicket a couple of hours earlier, with the clouds drizzling, the toss won, the outfield quick and the expectation of a good duel with their Aussie pro beckoning. There followed a mouth watering display of proper cricket shots that were on occasions quite breathtaking (or so Benno said after he�d walked up the flight of steps to the balcony).
Jamie�s pleasant 32 and my pathetic 5 were mere sideshows to Jez, who had in the last outing at Belper fallen an agonising 5 runs short of his maiden century. He was determined not to fall short today. Not even when a couple of their boys resorted to a bit of chirping (low quality to be fair) and besides I think the best chirp is when you�re in a position of strength. Not sure that it even registered with Jez, so focussed under his helmet, whereas I just can�t say no. But that�s another story.
Best way to deal with chirpers? Well...
The last 17 overs provided 172 runs, but in the last 4 overs we exploded from 218-3 to 277-3.
Crossy and Jez had added 111 in 12 overs, with Ian launching his now customary mixture of smack and blast compiling a terrific 67, with 4 sixes. But the aforementioned finale was a Flight/Smith thing, yes that�s right Flight and Smith, Jez and Jon. Coming in the 35th over,at 214-3,with Jez on fire, Smudger supported brilliantly and moved the score onto 277-3. Along the way Smudge (25no) completed one of two club records during the match � The lowest six award !? Well when we arrived at the ground it was apparent that one boundary was shorter than the other, so when the �quickie� strayed on to Smudge�s legs in the 38th over, he whipped his wrists through it and the ball fired into the boundary fence just in front of square, with the ball not going above 3 feet at any point. Just one last note, 5 balls were lost with Kevin, Andy, Amy, Megan, Max and myself all searching to no avail. One of them was Jez�s biggest hit and Crossy was well pleased that it went over midwicket � big smiles all round, just before he finished with a monumental 133 not out, it was a heave ho, excellent! But no one moo-ed, there�d been too much class before.
It had gone pretty quiet by the fortieth over, a distinct lack of chirp. Well batted boys.
The tea was pretty good, supplemented by a rather nice trifle. The weather had perked up and we were ready to bowl.
The Aussie pro (who was cleverly nicknamed �Aussie�) went off like a train. Very strong on leg side and at 40 for 0 after 4 overs, it looked like it could be a Calverton type/ Vietnam flashback d�j� vu thing. But the second wicket, that of �Aussie�, fell at 64 in the 8th , when Richard cunningly sent down a leg side full bunger (to an Aussie pro on fifty not out!), which he absolutely moosed at me, walking in at short mid wicket. Benno said he saw that split second look of horror on my face, but I managed to bag it, with no broken fingers or bruises. To be fair to Richard he bowled really well and ended up with a very creditable 7-1-27-3, under a lot of pressureat the top of the innings. Not quite so much pressure on the Vicar who came on 1st change, but a very tidy 7-1-18-1. He did try a few round the wicket and when enquired his motives, he said it was�to see if they can handle me���mmmm.
Mick�s one wicket provided a lovely moment though, as the batter smacked one at chest height straight to Paul Atkins at Mid On. At this point everything went into slow motion and the cheers & frivolity that followed Paul�s first catch with a mixture of joy and amusement were matched by Paul�s relief!
Benno came on and nabbed 2-18 off eight and as the CBA, the Casual Bowlers Association each committed 50p to a one over competition, Kevin Brown was into his 5 over spell at the other end. The Brown family went home with half the opposition wickets in the bag, a combined five fer. But Kevin should have been particularly pleased, picking offthe other batsman, who departed, beaten on the back foot and bowled comprehensively for 70 odd.
Back at the CBA, Jamie�s over cost eight runs, mine saw a caught & bowled (happy days on fantasy points) for 4 runs, but Ian deprived us both and Jez of a CBA victory with a first ball wicket and that was game over. 169 all out in the 34th.
Only one catch went down (a refreshing change) and that was a low one off the otherwise faultless Smudge keeping wicket. Oh and the second club record?.......well a small matter of conceding eight runs off one ball � which I chased to the long boundary (admittedly not that quickly) side wided it back to Crossy who had made ground to support my shot shoulder. He fired it at the bowlers end as they cheekily went for a fourth. The ball took a shocker of a bounce and went over Andy�s left shoulderfor four overthrows!
Comic cuts that one, but it was Jez�s day (22 x4, 3x6), having thrown the gauntlet down for the batting award and sending home happy all the folks that had backed him in their Fantasy side.