A good team
batting performance and some late order walloping followed
a recovery in the field to complete the season’s hat
trick of victories against Farley Hill.
Skipper Andy Smith called incorrectly at the
toss, and rival Ali Jalil opted to let the Saints have
the hottest of the weather in the field. Matt Nebbett
and Jack Andrews opened the bowling, and soon found
that one of the opening batsmen was in no mood to hang
around, despatching anything wide of off or on the stumps
to the fence. Mike Thompson replaced Nebbett and Matt
Andrews replaced his brother, but the new bowlers struggled
to control McCarthy’s aggression, as the skipper failed
to sufficiently plug the holes in the field. Harris’s
expected afternoon of quiet contemplation was disturbed
as he was brought onto bowl to try and oust the openers,
but it was Thompson from the other end who took the
first wicket getting Blake caught at mid-on to leave
Farley at 105-1 at the 15 over drinks break.
Skipper Smith eventually brought himself on
to see if spin could break Farley’s dominance, and bowled
a controlled spell as Harris bowled the Farley skipper,
and finally managed to get McCarthy on strike his bowling.
After the Farley opener had despatched a few lose deliveries
over the boundary, Harris put Jack Andrews at deep square
leg, and four balls later persuaded McCarthy to flick
a ball straight down his throat for a fast 83. Harris
managed one further over before succumbing to the heat,
and Matt Andrews came back for a second spell.
With Smith keeping the pressure on from the
other end, getting through his overs with the minimum
of delay as the ball barely left the square, Matt Andrews
found a good line and a good length and was rewarded
with the stumps of Cracknell flying out of the ground
for his first wicket. He then went on to find unexpected
bounce and consistent line, encouraging three batsmen
in a row to lift balls to Matt Nebbett at fly slip.
Deprived of the chance to complete his five-fer by ECB
rules on overs, it was left to Matt’s brother to return
to the attack and take a further two wickets, Malik
edging to the Stag behind the stumps, and McCarthy Jr
flicking one to Smith at short-cover, after earlier
flicking one into his helmet grill. After Christodoulou
had rolled back the years to concede just two runs off
the penultimate over, it transpired Waltham
had dragged themselves back into the game, only allowing
Farley to double their score at 15 overs in the following
25.
Will Thompson walked out to the middle with
“Princess” Paul Harris to open the Waltham
reply, and was soon showing that he would not be awed
by playing for the Senior team, despatching the ball
to the boundary all round the ground, including one
strike off the arm of the square leg fielder. He made
24 runs in 15 balls before a combination of an over-quick
single, some smart fielding and a slight lack of enthusiasm
backing up resulting in him being run-out with the score
on 31. Savva “Danger Man” Christodoulou joined Harris
in the middle, and set about maintaining the run rate
with a flurry of twos before both he and Harris got
into their stride, forcing the ball across the boundary
with increasing frequency.
Harris managed 22 before holing out off the
stingy bowling of Shaw, bringing Owen to the crease.
Dan opened his account with a boundary, but only managed
to add a further two before being adjudged lbw off the
bowling of Moylan. Savva soon followed him back to the
pavilion after returning a near beamer back to the bowler,
and the Saints crumbled from a healthy 65-1 to a less
healthy 83-6 as Russ “Best Man” Jones could only find
fielders before getting out lbw, and Matt “Three yards
out of his crease” Andrews couldn’t follow up his form
with the ball, finding the hands of Malik off the bowling
of the Farley skipper. It was left to Jack “What sibling
rivalry?” Andrews to partner the Stag in a 43 run partnership
to bring some respectability back to the Waltham
innings. Both played some fine shots, and at the fall
of his younger partner for 21 after a partnership of
43, the Stag started unleashing his shots and finally
fell for 24, box-before-wicket.
This left Mike “Pirouette” Thompson at the
crease with captain Smith, still 80 runs sshort of the
target. As Thompson casually leaned back on his bat,
expecting Smith to carry out his usual straight bat
defensive, he soon found a ball spearing towards his
face as Smith opted for agricultural swipes rather than
textbook respect. Tommo joined in the fun, as the two
pushed the field back, but the return of Moylan to the
attack found Smith wanting against the full, swinging
ball, and Waltham still required
60 runs with just one wicket remaining. Matt “Hero”
Nebbett, hands still smarting from his earlier catches,
came to the crease, and marshalled the strike to Thompson,
who bludgeoned the attack around the park as the belief
of those on the boundary (including the hen and her
entourage) built. Having already scored a six, it was
Thompson’s eighth four that took Waltham
ahead of the Farley total with still 10 balls left of
the game, leaving him stranded one short of his half-ton.
A great recovery, and a brilliant all round
performance from the Sunday side. Honourably mentions
to Paul Harris and Matt Andrews for some fine bowling
to restrict the Farley total, and an excellent batting
display down the entire order, with significant contributions
from Will Thompson, Savva Christodoulou, Matt “The Stag”
Connor, Jack Andrews and especially Mike Thompson. Many
thanks to Farley Hill for three very enjoyable games
this season, both for the cricket and the banter! We
look forward to giving you the chance to settle some
scores next season. |