Washington rematch fizzles out in pointless draw

Alexandra Park has two pitches. We were due to play Washington on the one to the right as you look out from the pavilion. A match between two Sri Lankan sides had already started on the other pitch when we arrived.

The groundsman had obviously made a cock-up, as the two marked wickets were far too close to each other. Thus the boundary on one side was very short. It would have been even shorter had some protracted negotiations between Washington and the other game had not resulted in a cross over boundary.

Having sorted out the boundary fiasco, the Washington skipper invited the returning Herlihy to toss. Smiler won and elected to field.

Dom Pilgrim chose his end and marked out his run (is this getting longer each week? [Ed - yes]) to take up battle with Demetri, who was quite severe on his figures in the home game. Dom had his revenge with the opening ball of the innings. Demetri was done by the slow pace of the wicket and sent back an easy caught and bowled much to our collective delight.

Nick Ketchell, one of two players guesting from Lionel Length, was next to strike. His left arm over yorker proving too much for Brown. Washington was 25 for two.

Pilgrim and Ketchell both bowled seven overs in their opening spell only conceding 30 runs between them for 2 wickets. A good start…..could we continue it?

First change pair were Dave Sambrook (another Lionel import), and the veteran Ringo Tailor. Both men picked up a wicket in their spell, the catchers being Smiler and your correspondent.

Washington were making reasonable progress on a slow track, however, we were aware they still had a couple of dangerous batsmen to come.

Simon Clayton, another débutante, who you will remember, sat with his pads on in the abandoned game against Highgate, bowled a tidy spell taking two for 31.

Irons and Gurney were now at the crease. Irons had scored an explosive 38 no to win our last encounter and we were keen to see the back of him.

Enter yours truly. Irons tracked my quicker ball and was clean bowled. We breathed a collective sigh of relief. This was somewhat premature however. We hadn't reckoned on Gurney.

He ruined Dom's figures, taking 23 from the final over. The over cannot go by though, without a mention for two Sundown stalwarts, our Liverpool double act, Messrs McGowan and Vernon. In a city supposedly famed for its humour these two dished up a couple of slapstick moments that Tarby or Doddy would have been proud of.

Both were given high catches in windy conditions. Mick McGowan received the first chance and after performing a short version of Swan Lake, managed to not even get a hand on the ball. This caused much mirth for Andy Vernon, so sods law said he would also be the recipient of a chance.

Andy's was also high but straight at him. Still giggling from Mick's earlier effort he got a palm to the ball, but down she went!

We were left chasing a total of 214 to win.

A slow start from Andy V and Smiler, against some good medium pace bowling from Minion and Tidey, put the pressure on if we were going to win.

It was at this stage that the game took a strange twist. Washington were obviously in the ascendancy. Their skipper needed to bowl us out if he was going to win the game, which left him two options. He could either open the game up and let us get some runs, therefore keeping us in the game, and hope to pick up wickets as we chased, or bring the field in, attack, and try and get us to make some mistakes.

He did neither. He brought on change bowlers and put the field back. This made it almost impossible to chase 213 on this slow track.

The consequence of all this was we shut up shop. When our openers fell to be followed shortly by Clayton we were miles behind the run rate.

The Washington skipper continued with his policy, so Mick McGowan and myself played with no intention of winning, just not losing.

When Mick was out for 30 there were only a few overs left. Mark Naisbitt came to the wicket, protesting about Mick making him bat.

A six and a four later Mark was in a much happier frame of mind. He finished on 11no and yours truly on 30no.

We totalled 124 for four. It all seemed a little pointless.

Pointless, that is until I tell you about Smiler's tantrum. He edged the ball to slip who allegedly caught the ball, or so he was told by the other slip fielder. Mick protested but after a few choice words (I think "cheat" might have been one of them) disappeared, appearing more like a rabid dog, ranting his way back to the pavilion (see home page).

So a boring draw this week for the Specials.

On to the days winners and losers;

The Winners:
No one really, and certainly not cricket!

The Losers:
Dom Pilgrim - had his figures decimated by Gurney's 23 in the last over (I'm sure he thanks Andy and Mick for their contributions!)

Anyone who umpired the second innings and had to endure a boring draw.

Washington's skipper - surely he should have given his side a better chance of winning.

Next week we have a new fixture against Hendon Buccaneers, a side run by Rowan the manager of our club bar.

© Tony Medlock 2002