Far From The MCC
~ Est. in 1998 ~
“As Dave Shorten Will Tell You….”
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Sunday 18th May
2008 |
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Result: Won by 3 Wkts |
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Venue: |
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35 overs |
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Wootton & Bladon |
143 - 9 |
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A. Mann 2 - 17,
N. Hebbes 2 - 19 |
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FFTMCC |
144 - 7 |
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D. Edwards 66*,
J. Hoskins 41*, H. Leggate
17 |
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A
backwards trip in time reveals MAD dreams do come true…. sometimes…. As
Dave Shorten will tell you - it’s always fairly tricky writing a match report
any more than a couple of weeks after the event. One has to think…. back....
hmmm…. think…. back…. * * * I
couldn’t wipe the smile off my face for days. Quite literally. Being mentally
affected by playing a sport is a truly magical feeling. Sure we get happy
when we win, and pissed off when we drop that catch or hear the sound of the
ball striking the stumps once again when not troubling the scorer but nothing
could really match the sheer joy of that afternoon. As I drove home from the
game my mind cast back to the weekend before…and I wondered what our Captain
and new Wife would be doing that very moment on their honeymoon….
Player 77 and Player 88 head off in
Ian’s converted Skoda. Adie’s
face lit up again and again as bowl after bowl of roast potatoes and chips
and bread and butter and all sorts (not liquorice) came flooding to the
table. We should invent a new trophy called Men of the Match because yet
again the voting was split. This time between myself (J. Hoskins 41 n.o.) and
D. Edwards (66 n.o.) who had carried his bat through. We
won of course, by three wickets they tell me although for some reason I can
never get my head round the scoring mechanism of cricket. We won though with
four balls to spare. 144 runs scored and a cracking start to the season.
Undefeated after three games. Joyously I slapped S. Pooley for four to win –
hitting the winning runs for the first time ever after he tried his clever
little mind games and mental tricks to try and get me to slog him for six and
miss. Of course, I was actually trying to slog him for six but fortunately
didn’t miss. The
last two overs and the crowd were getting restless with 21 runs required but
Dan had that glint in his eyes which seemed to strike out like a bolt of
lightening to mine and for a moment I was mesmerised by his spell. Exclaiming
we needed to hit the buffet bowler before Pooley’s final over. And hit the
buffet we did, scoring 19 runs off the over to dramatically change the
perspective of the game. With
six overs to go it was looking possible but the steely determination of
Pooley and the rock solid no gamble attitude of Dan ‘Boycott’ Edwards meant
attack and defense cancelled each other out with the run rate dropping but no
wickets falling. “Just
block the straight ones and hit the bad balls” Why do people say that? Sod
blocking the straight ones – that’s when you hear the clatter of stumps and
bails. Nope, this year I’m gonna hit the bloody thing….. 26-6
“Oh shucks”, thought the onlookers as they saw a familiar MAD collapse
forming, especially as I was intent muttering wild fantasies of sixes and
multiple boundaries….they tried to put a collapse out of their minds by
wondering what the scene was like at the wedding of their austere Captain to
his glamorous Bride…
Player 88 was sorely missing the
cricket…. Another
to go with a flurry was the other debutant Leggate (Hugh) whom it seems may
only be joining us for one match before going off on a trip round The
MAD on the sidelines bore witness to Titanick (0) rushing from the Umpires
position muttering how his shipmates were letting him down and how he needed
to steady the helm. Too bad he couldn’t get his pads on quick enough before
another Leggate fell, with what was to be the fourth run out of the game. Morlers
(0) showed some batting prowess may have come to him over the winter months
by creaming one to covers for an easy single. Unless it isn’t an easy single
in Dan’s eyes and you are sent back, turning wistfully before slipping in the
mud and getting run out first ball – the third of the game. It
was never going to be easy chasing an averagely low score – it never is, but
the opening partnership of G. Carter (8) and D. Edwards (66 n.o.) were the
perfect duo to get a solid start or so we thought. Tea
was fantastic. No wonder they earnt that nickname from us. Burgers at tea?
Now Kev’ could learn a thing or two there… 143
didn’t look enough on this pitch, although N. Cisten (23 n.o.) did his level
best to slap a few in the last four overs, we were really only giving them a
few runs to make it mildly interesting. Weren’t we? Pooley
Senior (1) himself did start to look
dangerous with his lolling strides out of the crease although he never really
found the edge of the bat, and when looking for a fast single found the MAD
fielding too exact for his frame to get up the speed required for a 22 yard
dash. Young Pooley (36) was a different kettle of fish entirely, steadying
the Wootton boys innings in admirable fashion before falling for a Hoskins
(7-1-19-1) pie that was too tempting. They
never really got off to a good start, struggling with the sharp opening
bowling partnership of A. Mann (7-2-17-2) and N. Hebbes (4-0-19-2) and the
ever increasingly sharp fielding of Pre-match
drinks were a resounding success – near filling the pool room of a
Most people would regard this as
an ideal shooting gallery…. Oh
one can dream as I mentioned to Ant during a chess game two days prior to the
match…. “No worries, I can feel it coming - one of us, at least 30 - you see
:)” Dreams do come true... sometimes…. ‘Hoskins’ |
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MOTM: D.Edwards and J.
Hoskins’ match winning partnership
Champagne Moment:
Buffet Award: A. Small’s
chocolate topped dougnuts