A lazy, still Sunday heralded the start of June, and all that was missing from this joyous English sporting tradition between hardened adversaries was a blazing sun burning in an azure sky. No matter that the clouds were leaden and the wicket mottled by damp, The Groucho Club, perhaps still Babington’s fiercest adversaries, proved a difficult foe for a team still smarting from two defeats.
No time to cry as the old song goes, and Babington took to the field in determined mood after being surprisingly asked to field by Stephen Porter. It was truly lovely to welcome two new additions to our fold and Matt Greenless and Mark Meadows were warmly greeted by one and all. Matt will need no introduction as he is the (seemingly) unflappable Manager of the House, whilst Mark is an actor, or in the words of the irrepressible Mark Cadbury – “a luvvie!” One Mark will no doubt quickly become accustomed to the characteristics of the other as the season progresses!
The game began sedately with Chris Player and Andrew Jolliffe’s accuracy only intensifying the batsmen’s mistrust in the wicket, aided by a hint of movement both in the air and off the plasticine-like pitch. The ‘umbrella’ field sensed blood and only added to the pressure with a series of great stops and a cacophony of chatter. With Mike Rowan standing up to everyone and giving a master class of the wicketkeeper’s art, a sense of claustrophobia gripped the batsmen.
Time for a change and enter Messrs. Cadbury and Andrew Standon-McDougall – players chiselled by decades of league cricket. Not the most obvious choices of first change bowlers I grant you, but both Andrew and Mark revelled in the conditions. Cadbury, skiddy and unpredictable, gives a wonderful running commentary as he bowls, chuntering, swearing and cajoling. It’s enough to drive any batsmen to distraction, let alone a wearisome captain in prime ear shot at mid-off!
But it was Andrew who took the first wicket, teasing the stylish Sam Porter into a lofted drive pouched by a momentarily silent Cadbury at mid-off. Enter John Morton, making his debut for The Groucho only to be run out for a duck by Marcus Corbett after facing just one ball; a debut to forget, particularly considering a two hundred mile round trip from London. It quickly got worse for the visitors as Cadbury caught and bowled Howard, and Jim Chowdray, inexplicably, construed to run himself out following smart thinking by Nick Sinfield throwing to the keeper’s end.
At 40-odd for 4, Standon-McDougall turned the screw. Wheeling away up the hill, he bowled with great alacrity, subtly varying his line and length. In truth, he was virtually unplayable and deserved the leading edge of the dangerous Jim McGhie which flew to Sinfield in the covers. Figures of two for nine from eight overs tell their own story, but Andrew’s spell dictated the rest of the match.
Matt Greenless took his cue and yorked top-scorer Corbett with a beauty that took out leg stump, before Chris Player cleaned up Jesh; brother and birthday boy Jeremy had Sadgrove well held by Jolliffe and knocked over Whiteside. However, the champagne moment of the match award goes to Nick Sinfield for a stupendous tumbling catch in the deep after a shocker of a long-hop from Cadbury.
Groucho were all out for 90 in 35 overs and we took tea in the playroom alongside the WAGs and wonderfully boisterous children gleefully eyeing up the lip-smacking spread. Matt G – you will have to play more often!
Suitably fed and watered, Mark Meadows opened with Matt Ellis and the former’s classy technique repelled the excellent pace bowling of Whiteside. A high elbow and sure footwork promises many runs to come, but it was Ellis’s funny bone that had the misfortune to intercept a beamer from Jim McGhie with painful consequences. Matt had just smitten him through mid-wicket for a delightful boundary, but the blow clearly affected him and he was castled two balls later. A row between Groucho’s captain and best player ensued as Stephen Porter berated Jim Chowdray for not catching the ball off Matt’s elbow. Chowdray is a cricket man through and through and his response was both unprintable and deserved!
The same fate soon befell Sinfield, bowled by a Whiteside snorter which would have done for most. Enter Cadbury at his most pugnacious only to be quickly given out LBW by Lord Jollife umpiring at the Wigzell end. Of course, Cadbury was convinced the ball was too high, and he was miles down the track and it wouldn’t have hit another set. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. You get the picture. Two things stick in the memory about the dismissal; firstly, Joliffe raising the finger in a quick authoritarian fashion, much like a station master seeing off a train, and secondly, Cadbury’s face when Meadows later told him that he was ‘plumb’. Two moments of silence in one match from our beloved Cadbury!
Undeterred by the swift departure of Chris Player, Meadows showed admirable temperament, taking us to within sight of victory before Whitseide bagged his man. Jeremy Player batted brilliantly scoring 29 not out, combining elegant drives and wristy sweeps to keep the scoreboard ticking. Mike Rowan smashed Howard into the corn field high over mid-on and that was that. Babington ran out winners by five wickets.
A tremendous performance by the whole team who excelled in the field and batted with grit and application. The spirit of the side was palpable in the bar and a languid few hours were spent on the lawn celebrating our first win of the season.
Man of the Match: Andrew Standen McDougall
Champagne MOM: Nick Sinfield’s catch off Mark Cadbury.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment