Far From The MCC

~ Est. in 1998 ~

“Fruit Inspector’s Report”

Sunday 5^th June 2005
Result: Lost by 140 Runs
Venue: Jesus College
40 overs
Oxford University Offices	246 - 9
I. Howarth 3 - 44, J. Harris 2 - 45
FFTMCC	106 ao
N. Hebbes 45

First let me say, thank you to the respective captains of the two teams for inviting a member of the Oxfordshire Fruit Inspectorate to this afternoon's game. As a fruit lover who is also a devotee of cricket, I am rarely able to combine both my passions, but today turned out to be the perfect opportunity, as a wide variety of fruit was on show during the game.

Natasha retrieves another of her dad’s deliveries from the hedgerows.

Put in to bowl first, FFTMCC were offered a potato by the Offices captain, and accepted it without question. After a number of overs, the potato was quite flat on both sides, indeed resembling nothing so much as a pancake, and on request, was exchanged for a lemon. The lemon was rough and calloused and had clearly been used in several games already. Later, when it came their turn to bowl, the University Offices team were fortunate in being able to produce a shiny red cherry, hard and firm to the grip, and when this began to show signs of wear and tear, a second cherry was easily procured. It's not always the case that such a wide variety of fruit can be found at a game of cricket, and perhaps this was an exceptional, if noteworthy, situation. Of other fruit, sour grapes? There may have been a couple, but perhaps in this case, they can be excused.

‘Fruit Inspector’

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