The Griffin Inn - 23rd May 2004

First, apologies for not writing a match report last week. I did suggest delegating reports to match managers last year but that idea got an underwhelming response and was binned after Cadbury filed an arcane biblical piece on the Forest Irregulars game, written partly in aramaic.

So you’re stuck with me until someone else puts their hand up and, when it feels like a chore, I’m just not going to bother. There: I’ve said it.This week, however, it’s an absolute joy. Babington last won a match at the end of August 2003 and it was starting to feel like we’d lost our winning ways.

Last week was frustrating because we’d posted a respectable score (185) but just failed to defend it, with Ditcheat scraping home with two balls to spare. Yesterday’s game was one of the closest and most exciting that I can remember. We won against the odds, which made the victory all the sweeter – and it’s always a pleasure to give the Griffin a good kicking, lovely lads though they are.

They chose to bat on a hard, baked strip that’s probably seen more sun than Stringfellow. The omens didn’t look good when the Pullan brothers both opened their accounts with boundaries and Nigel Lewis’s first two balls bounced twice. However he soon found his length and was hitting the gloves with a healthy thwack and Wigzell senior had David caught behind, but only after Matt Ellis tried juggling the ball to show off his glove-work.

Wigzell junior cut James in half with one that both swung and seamed and then had him caught off a skier. Their number three, a hard-hitter with a good eye and a charmed life, was the man who did most of the damage, although he had trouble coping with Andrew Gilfillan’s leg-breaks. He lost partners along the way – Andrew Jolliffe’s hooping in-swinger that did for their number six was a beauty – but he’d made 60 by the time Garfield Austin finally bowled him. Their total of 204 off 35 overs seemed well beyond our reach.

On paper, we were not a strong batting side and things looked even bleaker when the Griffin struck early. First to go was Mark Cadbury, batting with a runner after tweaking his knee in the field. He was looking good until one cut back and made a mess of his stumps. He was followed shortly after by Nigel, who was just settling in when he was undone by a yorker. We were 27 for 2 off 8 and it didn’t look good.

However, appearances can be deceptive, as the Griffin found out when Andrew Gilfillan walked to the crease. Their slip took one look at his battered floppy hat and glasses and marked him down as a rabbit. We made the same mistake last week over the guy with the cockatoo crop. Andrew started to hit the ball powerfully and, with Mike Nicholson continuing his good form at the other end, the two laid the foundations for an unlikely assault. When Mike was out for 39 we still needed more than 8 runs an over; it couldn’t be done – could it?

Matt Ellis joined Andrew and together proceeded to lash the bowling all over the park. Both hit towering sixes and crashing fours but particularly impressive was their aggressive running. They put the Griffin under constant pressure and the wheels started to come off. Catches were dropped, overthrows conceded and tempers frayed as it gradually dawned on them that the impossible might happen. When Andrew was finally out, bowled for 92, we still needed 21 off three; the balance had swung in our favour but there was still drama to come.

David Horler came in and made a quickfire 15 but then Matt was caught for 36 off the second ball of the last over. Bit of a nightmare for Andrew Jolliffe, who was next in and had been pacing up and down like an expectant father. Two more singles and the scores were level but the teams started to come off because they thought it was all over. Back they went and the winning run was a scrambled bye off the last ball. It just doesn’t get any better than that.This was definitely Andrew Gilfillan’s day – a superb innings made under extreme pressure which turned the game on its head – but he had fantastic support from both Mike and Matt. Mike also took two fine catches, one of which knocked him off his feet, and Andrew Jolliffe had an excellent match, taking two wickets and two catches, including a tough one in the deep.