Sundowners bid season farewell in style

It's the last game of the season. And the weather is once again fantastic. The Woodside Park wombles finish their football match as we set about getting the stumps into the concrete ground and doing battle with Pymmes. These local rivals beat us after our worst batting performance of the season here at Woodside Park.

The plan was to bowl, for a number of reasons: 1) The pitch, although hard, is playing like a pudding. Any hope of bowling a team out is boosted by use of the new ball. 2) We wanted to stuff our faces with the last of Pat's tremendous teas. 3) Man U v Arsenal on the radio and club bar TV would be starting at tea-time.

Smiler duly won the toss, and Pymmes were inserted. Early season stalwarts Luke Vassey and Alex Heathcote, along with Ronaldsway's Graham McGowan and Clive Moore bolstered a team lacking Medlock and Naisbitt (away on a couply-couply trip to West Country) and the ever-non-present Golding.

I opened the bowling down the hill. Dave Cattell came up the hill. No change there. We started the game with eight fielders. Some of the replacements obviously thinking the clocks had changed or something.

It was slow going. The diminutive Kansara V played with extreme torpor. In the 12th over I felled Mitchell with 22 on the board as he chopped a wide one outside off stump onto said off stump. A desperate shot from a desperate man. That was to be my last, and 28th, scalp of the season. F**k my knees hurt.

Dave plugged away at his end bowling almost non-stop maidens at Kansara, while the flash Frank Leith ticked over the scoreboard. Clive Moore replaced Dave up the hill, and the skiddy Scouser had Kansara stumped superbly by McGowan. Thankfully the umpire was watching and understood the law. A just reward, and the kind of chance that has been turned down too often by lazy or less than clued up 'officials'. But that's the hazard at this level of cricket.

Meanwhile, the young looking old Trinny boy Frank slashed and swiped and occasionally cut sweetly his way to 50. He fell on 56 to the McGowan brothers. Graham had replaced me, and found the downhill slope disconcerting. Frank pulled him away for a number of backward square leg fours before McGowan G gave up the notion of a run up and got one to lift just over the off stump. Mick took a swift catch and the disbelieving Frank had to go.

With the score on 110, and time moving on, Specials applied great pressure. Clive bowled nine tight overs for three wickets up the punishing hill. Luke Vassey twirled some mesmeric leg spin down the hill, and clean bowled three Pymmes players deceived by his excellent flighty deliveries.

Dave came back to try to inch his way to a personal wicket milestone of 100 for the season in all the multifarious teams he plays for… in fact Dave Cattell plays cricket on more days of the week than there is football on telly these days. But he failed to add to his single victim.

Anyway, somehow Pymmes scored 182 in 44 overs, so we again faced the prospect of batting in the dark if we were to win…

Vernon and Herlihy opened up, and things looked bright for our Ronaldsway man V. We were shuffling along at four an over, with V providing three sweet looking shots, when he inexplicably got himself bowled round his legs. No-one knows how this happened. V was mortified. The umpires later on tried to recreate the scene, and at press time, Lord Hutton was rushing to Woodside Park to set up an inquiry.

Anyway, a hung-over and lifeless Jani took to the crease. Contributing 0 to a 14 stand, he did participate in a few rushed byes, as surprisingly Herlihy fell LBW to Kansara bowling down leg-side up the hill. (Ringo was umpiring…).

The season's most improved 40 year old, Paul Ferdenzi, joined the young 'tyro' Jani at the wicket. At 35 for two Pymmes smelt blood.

What they got was a bloody nose. Jani and Ferdenzi smashed the Pymmes attack to all parts of the ground, though not always the parts of the ground our two heroes were aiming at. Nonetheless these two put on 40 runs in under 10 overs. And Jani's career-best 20 ended in typically tragic fashion.

Having seen off the opening bowlers, Jani succumbed to the less-threatening loopy bowling of Flicker. With four boundaries under his belt, Jani decided to belt Flicker's first ball for six over long leg. Only he was a little early on the shot and the ball apologetically dislodged his leg bail.

PF added another 30 with maestro Mick McGowan, also hitting a career best 29. He, too, was bowled when the big 5 - 0 may have been knocking at his mind's door.

The in-form McGowan then guided us in the gloom towards our target with, frankly, little fuss.

Alex hit a lovely six in his cameo 14, and the oddly nervous Clive Moore steered us to victory with five wickets to spare. Mick finished on 56 not out, securing a huge average and outdoing the record run count for the season by a considerable margin.

The last game is always a sad affair. Some of us won't see each other again until next year, while others will carry on as normal drinking in Clancy's bar, Ballard's Lane, London, N3. Who knows what next year will bring, and by what name all the pubs in Finchley will be known. But there's one franchise that's immovable, and that's Sundown Specials.

Winners
Jani - highest score for SS, finally looked the part. Square cover drive for four was shot of the day.

Paul Ferdenzi - also scored heavily and partnered others fantastically.

Luke Vassey - great spell of bowling kept your correspondent out of the attack.

Mick McGowan - you know why by now…

Losers
No-one, every player on the card contributed to the victory.

© Dominic Pilgrim 2003