Far From The MCC

~ Est. in 1998 ~

 

“5 Balls From Victory”

 

 

Sunday 20th June 2010

Result:  Lost by 29 Runs

Venue:  Brasenose

40 overs

Lemmings

184 - 8

M. Westmoreland  3 - 23,  N. Hebbes  2 - 19

FFTMCC

155 ao

I. Howarth  58,  M. Westmoreland  28

 

 

 

Another beautiful Sunday afternoon in Oxford saw the Mad play host to old friends the Lemmings – unbeaten in Mad history and, despite being run closer than ever before, the Lemmings successful seal another victory. 

 

 

The Cholsey forward defensive, as demonstrated by Nick Hebbes.

 

Despite a bit of a cross wind, Moo managed to win the toss, and elected to provide the Lemmings batsman with a chance to immediately put the game beyond doubt. D Emerson opened the Mad’s wicket charge and bowled beautifully for 5 overs. If he had stopped there it would have been a legendary bowling performance, picking up the wicket of J. Greany (2) before the latter could do much damage. A return spell later in the game cost him 7 runs off 1 legal ball after which (not surprisingly) he was injured and was forced to retire, finishing on 5.1-3-13-1. J Pearson (7-1-18-1) provided solid support at the other end, helping to restrict the run rate, and returning later in the game to catch a smart drive off his own bowling.

 

               

 

D. Robson (53) & T. Baker (30) were slowly establishing themselves at the crease and it fell to J. Hoskins (7.5-1-37-0) to try and take the next wicket. Hoskins bowled well but, surprisingly, failed to snaffle a wicket possibly due to the afternoon heat and the batsman unwilling to really go after anything pastry-based. S Dobner (7-0-47-1) held up the other end and despite having a catch dropped off his bowling (or possibly because of it), kept the ‘cob-o-meter’ ticking over nicely to the pleasure of the fines committee. He was however rewarded with the wicket of G. McKechnie (19) which helped prevent a full explosion.

 

 

“My big head keeps falling off, skip!”

 

It fell to M. Westmoreland (5-0-23-3) and N. Hebbes (5-0-19-2) to provide the Mad with a more respectful haul of wickets. Moo decided that he had probably got all of the fielding prowess that he could from the Mad after Spam’s champagne catch at point to remove the Lemmings high scorer and proceeded to just bowl Y. Wood (4) & R. Graham (0) out. N. Hebbes saw off T. Baker, and added the wicket of R Baker (9) to his impressive recent bowling figures. M. Reeves (3-0-21-0) bravely stepped into to the breach to offer up a sacrifice to the god of death bowling and at the end of 40 overs, with the Lemmings on 184-8, the Mad were pretty positive all round that this would be their year.

 

 

Kim’s Lemming’s cake has to be a winner for the year?

 

D. Edwards (9) and I. Howarth (58) had the tricky task of seeing off the Lemmings’ opening attack which they managed successfully until the first bowling change. If anything the quality of bowling increased with J. Greany picking up Dan’s wicket and adding Hebbes (1) and Reeves (8) to his tally. Although the bowling attack had been blunted, with the score at 63 for 3 at just over halfway the picture was looking bleak for Mad hopes of a first win.

 

The early departure of 2 Lemmings at tea provided an opportunity for the Mad to up the run rate by carefully shot placement. Spam did just that, placing a lovely bunker shot straight into the hands of cover and spurning the opportunity of any trip to the patisserie. It was time for M. Westmoreland (28) and S. Dobner (12) to shine, which they did with some high-scoring overs, thereby placing the Mad in position for an exciting run-chase.

 

 

T. Smith in the firing line against a bald Lemming.

 

Sadly it was not to be as T. Smith (3), D. Emerson (1) and J. Pearson (6) all failed to make a serious impression on the scoreboard. J. Hoskins (10) hung around for a while longer and showed KP how to attempt the reverse sweep with the ‘goose much to everyone’s amusement. J. Hotson (7*) surprised all and sundry with a failure to get himself run out and provided support for Jameo to try and get after the bowling.

 

 

At the start of the last over the match was delicately poised, with the Mad requiring a paltry 30 runs and the ‘goose facing. The spare ball obviously distracted Hoskins from his task as swing and a miss ended in skittled stumps and drew the innings to a close. Despite searching the scorebooks for an extra 30 Lemmings wides that may not have been counted, the Mad were forced to concede they had been beaten by a good performance from their opponents.

 

 

Dobner and Westmoreland (background) contemplate the Mad run-chase.

 

So there you have it. A beautiful day, good cricket (an improved fielding performance & no ducks for the Mad) and a friendly and gracious opposition – all ruined by Hoskins’ failure to ping five 6’s in an over at the end.

 

Nothing amusing happened on this day.

 

 

‘Fattori’

 

 

 

 

 

*

 

Bonus:  "Baker Spotter's Report"

 

Statto's Scorecard

Match Fines

 

 

MOTM:  I. Howarth’s runs and catch

Champagne Moment:  I. Howarth’s one-handed catch

Buffet Award:  M. Reeves’ American cheesecake (with chocolate flakes)

 

 

 

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