Why
do I mention this? Well Andy Vernon - having faced the first
ball of the day from Enfield quickie Silva
- probably had thoughts along these lines about the wicket
he was being asked to bat on.
The
ball shot along the ground from a good length, narrowly
missing his fulsome ankles and the leg stump.
Specials
could only look on from the boundary and wonder what the
hell the pitch would do from here on in...
V and
Mick dug in and to their credit neither fell to the pacey
Silva. Andy did however decide to "track" the
rather slower Demant and paid for this losing his wicket,
stumped for 9.
Vassey,
newly promoted to number 3, having seen the reaction of
the wicket, placed his helmet firmly on his bonce before
joining Smiler in the middle.
He was
wise to do so as his first ball from Dean slammed into his
helmet grill. Luke was made of stern stuff though and soon
had despatched the same bowler for a couple of offside fours.
Smiler
departed for 10 with the score on 43. Watch that average
Mick…it's coming down!
Luke
was joined by Mick McGowan, but two runs later was back
in the hutch, bowled. Dean getting
his revenge.
Mick
and Jani then took us forward to 68 before Jani holed out
to cow corner for 7.
Speculation
on the boundary rope amongst our players as to the score
required before we could declare seemed to centre on the
100 to 150 mark. This looked a tough ask on the dodgy track.
Your
correspondent joined Mick at the crease and we slowly moved
the score along towards the three-figure mark. On 91 Mick
played around a drifter from spinner Cole and was bowled
for 29.
With
about 45 minutes to tea, the days skipper Steve "Golds"
Golding joined my good self to see if we could raise a decent
total.
The
wicket made things difficult but with a bit of luck and
a fair wind we got the total up to 184, during which time
I passed 50.
Shot
of the day came from Golds, as he strode down the wicket
to Silva and despatched him over the hedge at mid-on for
a maximum. Sadly, on trying to repeat this, he was bowled.
He was
also to find out his 32 was being somewhat eclipsed by his
cousin Phil,
who was completing his first win on the European Golf Tour
in France and netting himself a cool £290,000.
Smiler
upon hearing this successful family connection then became
keen to inform us that his niece was top dog at Cambridge
University, producing the year's best results.
If only
we could achieve ourselves instead of relying on some tenuous
family links!
Oh,
I nearly forgot, this is where the Alex Heathcote nightmare
begins. He came out to face the last couple of balls before
our declaration at tea. His first ball was a pearler rising
sharply to strike him on the elbow and ricochet to the keeper.
Enfield's team appealed as one and Smiler, on umpiring duty,
duly obliged with the finger. The evidence, a
rather large seam mark, showed he was not out….
Unfortunately that's not what it says in the book.
With
this we declared on 184 for 7; A good target for Enfield
to chase.
Refreshed
from a fine tea, we were confident we could role the Enfield
team over.
This
belief was enhanced as Dom Pilgrim knocked over both Cole
and Glynn's stumps with only a couple on the board.
New
captain Golds opted for a speedster and spin attack to open
the bowling, so I was handed the ball to bowl at the other
end to Dom.
A tight
spell from myself was only ruined by Andy "I'm not
asleep honestly" Vernon, who spilled a chance at cover.
Cattell
replaced Dom and successfully removed Enfield's numbers
3 and 4.
At this
point with only one result looking likely, two Sundown players
came to the fore to provide entertainment for fielders and
spectators alike.
Alex
continued his sad day. He dropped two catches, including
what would have been Dom's 300th club wicket. Then, cruelty
of cruelties, Golds called upon him to bowl. One over and
27 runs later he begged to removed
from his personal misery.
Smiler
eagerly stepped into the breach, and with figures of 5 for
0 at one stage blew the Enfield line up away with his mixture
of…. (Actually I think mixture describes it very well).
Becoming
a little expensive, Mick finished with 6 for 6. Surely the
years best figures. Unfortunately Smiler got his calculations
wrong and he ended up on 399 club wickets not 400.
A good
win for us but a game we would expect not to loose.
On to the days winners and losers;
The
Winners:
Smiler - top bowling figures and a successful niece
Golds
- Shot of the day and a successful cousin
Your
correspondent - Not my best knock but they all count.59
no.
The
Losers:
Only one I'm afraid
Alex
Heathcote - a net and some catching practice for this young
man this week! (Maybe V could help with the catching practice!)
Next
week we have a home fixture against Walthamstow Horizintals.
This
follows our second summer ball, this year being held at
Finchley Rugby Club. There could be some sore heads as we
are forced to watch Smiler and Dom chase the glory of 400
and 300 club wickets respectively...
