Waltham
St Lawrence arrived at White Waltham knowing that the
guns would be out. After a convincing win last season,
the local derby was likely to be fierce and the seven
first teamers representing the White half of the pond
(is there a pond?) were eager to learn that Mr Rimmer
was no longer plying his trade for the Lawrencians and
equally eager to tell anyone who would listen how awful
the pitch at WSL was last year and it wasn’t fair.
The stage was set for an epic
derby and it wasn’t about to disappoint. After being
told WSL were batting a brief discussion between Paul
“I’ve got a bad back” Harris and Paul “I fancy batting
all day actually” Gearing, the order was amended and
Gearing and Connor strutted out to face the new ball.
With some exquisite stroke play runs were accumulated
at a steady rate with Matt “one run every two overs
is fine” Connor even hitting a five as the over eager
fielders overthrew. With only a few lost wickets Gearing
recorded possibly the most emotional and well-deserved
hundred in WSL history and was congratulated by Harris,
slightly fortunate in his contribution of 40. As the
clock ticked on and a couple of White Waltham players
moaned about whether a declaration was forthcoming,
WSL finally declared on 218-6 from their 42 overs, Gearing’s
contribution of 119 as exciting as it was outstanding.
After tea, St. Lawrence went
about their bowling with enthusiasm, only some poor
catching denying Gearing a couple of very tired wickets
as Faisal “I am rubbish, I am so sorry” Shah took a
couple at the other end. Sadly the let-offs for the
batsman proved too much as Metherall went on to record
what proved to be a winning unbeaten century, ably supported
by a couple of his fellow batsmen. WSL should be proud
of pushing White Waltham all the way to the last 5 balls
and some excellent debuts for youngsters Matt and Jack
and Shiny “I have the best name EVER” Johnston are some
real positives for the club, with perhaps only the dropped
catches and increasing collection of Owen ducks (maybe
that’s what the pond is for) to improve upon for next
week.
In other news, at the conclusion
to this match we saw the inaugural WSL sightscreen challenge
between Messr’s Owen and Harris, with a 5m victory to the
latter recorded in front of the baying spectators.
Keep your eyes open for
future WSL challenges throughout the season. |