Sundown Specials

The calm after the storm

After last week's shenanigans the more genteel side of cricket emerged when Pymmes visited Southover for our first home game of the season.

With only four players having arrived at the ground by 1.55 the Pymmes captain, having won the toss, put the Specials into bat and then cheekily asked if any of our fielders would like to guest for them until their full 11 turned up. I declined the invitation upon behalf of the team.

At 2.25 the game got under way. The Specials got off to a solid start before Tony was brilliantly caught by Trinidad Frank in the covers. V was batting well before playing around a straight one. Faisal and myself, after a sticky 20 minutes, put on over 50 before I was brilliantly caught in the covers by Trinidad Frank.

The innings had now gathered momentum and Faisal and Cedric de Silva started to hit the ball to all parts of the ground. The outfield was lightening fast, and some big sixes were hit. Both Faisal and Cedric were caught on the boundary. Mick and Golds continued the momentum after a brief cameo from Jani who was lbw to Steve Chambers. We were able to declare on 212-6 having faced only 42 overs due to Pymmes' slow over rate.

The first home tea of the season from Pat was a welcome sight as our Scouse contingent reflected on Champions League qualifiers Everton having conceded 15 goals in their last three away games, and wondering how former Southampton supporting Sundowner Alex Heathcote will enjoy his trips to Leicester, Luton and Hull.

The team showed some sympathy for 'resting' team mate Mark by offering him a free cuppa and a sarnie. Fortunately the growing band of Sundowner children didn't take the piss this week by gathering round the cakes.

After the tea break V and Tony both claimed injuries which would affect their fielding performance -- Tony drew the short straw of munching the daisies at fine leg whilst V stood at first slip for the next two hours or so.

Pymmes innings began slowly with one of the brothers Kansara and Trinidad Frank struggling. To be honest, Pymmes never really got going despite some good shots from Connors and Udeh Kansara. At one stage seven an over was needed which was gettable bearing in mind they had the dangerous Simon Chambers lower down the order and our second- and third-string bowling was on.

We got wickets in batches: Dom and the Cat picking up two apiece with the aid of two smart catches from McGowan and Herlihy, with Golds and the 'injured' Tony getting one a piece. The innings ended on 157-6 and the game a draw with handshakes all round.

It was not one of the most exciting games between two evenly matched teams who have produced some memorable games over the years

The talk in the bar centred on the need to return the porn DVDs/CD-Roms next week and effect a sensible redistribution of this entertainment. Gold's admission of having three old VHS tapes was met with derision. Hey this is 2005. Innit