Specials end on a high

So the season is long gone and winter looks truly to be setting in. The Specials played their last game of the season on a wet and cold day. A victory against old timers Pymmes was needed to confirm that the previous week's heroics were not a fluke.

Smiler won the toss, and, obviously buoyed by last week's successful defence of a lacklustre total, he elected to bat. Opening pair Andy Vernon and Steve Golding followed the previous week's template with great care, electing to swap roles this time round.

This time it was V who was paranoid and circumspect, and tamely lobbed a catch to the covers to depart on one, in the fourth over, the score on nine. Medlock joined Steve at the crease and the pair duly biffed the bowling to 59, before Medders was somehow bowled by Chambers. Tony trudged back to the pavilion, knowing he should have scored more - he's hit five effortless fours in his swift 31.

Finally, Paul Ferdenzi got a bat. After last week's tense wait, Paul had a chance to show what he was made of - and he didn't disappoint.

In the mean time, Steve lost the ball in the gloom, and his off stump, the very next over - leaving an itchy Ferdenzi and club captain McGowan at the crease. The crowd looked to Ferdenzi to keep the scoreboard ticking over.

His first run was an edge dropped at slip, hastily scrambled. His next was a hoik to mid on, dropped in the manner that dolly skiers can only be dropped. Middleton had had enough, and Ferdenzi was clean bowled next over. It was a solid, if chancy, two from the Finchley boy.

A brief, and inevitable, shower reduced the game to 35 overs, so Specials needed to get a move on to make a reasonable total.

Fifty-nine for one had quickly become 64 for four. McGowan and Herlihy steered the ship and Specials sailed past 100 five overs later. But Steve Chambers removed first McGowan - to a superb forward dive at long off - and then bowled Herlihy with the next ball in his next over, to leave another McGowan, Graham, at the crease with Dave Reed.

Graham belted a swift 14, Pilgrim lasted one ball and Reed showed some of his recent form scoring 16 in steering the total to 142 with Cattell and Tailor.

The shower half way through our innings took some of the shine off the ball, and we had the best of the conditions - hitting some early boundaries in the dry before the rain slowed the outfield considerably. But 142 was not a great score, so another stingy bowling display was the order of the day.

But first things first, and Pat's sumptuous tea had to be savoured for the last time in a long time.

Herlihy turned to the traditional opening attack of Pilgrim, and - at the Bathard end - Dave Cattell.

Pilgrim bowled a good line, he's always liked the wet, and started with a couple of maidens. Dave, despite moaning a bit about not taking wickets opening for us, swiftly removed Sharp for nought, and looked extremely dangerous and likely to take a wicket at any time.

Meantime, Dom bowled an astonishingly miserly eight overs for five runs in one spell. The now relentless ball-by-ball coaching courtesy of Smiler at mid off was obviously paying dividends. But, notably, not in the wickets department.

But no matter, Pymmes had bugger all runs after 16 overs and were pretty much in serious trouble after that.

Medlock and Graham McGowan were now bowling and danger man Simon Chambers was looking to unleash his skills (he has made centuries against us in the past). Both he and Kansara moved the score on steadily into the fifties for Pymmes.

Eventually McGowan made the breakthrough. Chambers middled a full-length straight one directly into Graham's right hand palm in front of his not-inconsiderable jaw. The nonchalance he showed in immediately shining the ball in readiness for his next victim belied his Scouse roots. A few overs later and he was on a hat trick, having dismissed a lively Chalkely for 20 and Kavanagh next ball.

By now, an ecstatic Smiler had come to believe that Sundowners were now "back in this game". A bemused Graham McGowan looked at your correspondent and quizzed: "When were we ever out of it?"

And that seems to have been be the way of Sundown Specials this season. We never really knew how good or bad we were doing, and we would occasionally let slip promising positions. But a new steel was galvanising after the successful tour of the North and some of the wise old heads were proving themselves once more...

Ringo Tailor was called into the attack: over 50, white hair long and erratic, with a run up reduced to five paces from 20. Ringo swung into action as the sun started to break through the stubborn clouds.

In his two overs and two balls Ringo mopped up the tail with figures of four for three. Fittingly, Ferdenzi snaffled the last catch and Pymmes were expired for 98.

A fine game of cricket, one in which everyone had a part to play. Including Paul.

So we retired to the bar and tried to work out what went right... but not before a hastily assembled, and long overdue, team photo. See you next season.

Winners
Paul Ferdenzi - he made a difference

Ringo Tailor - awesome form for the last weeks of the season: 10 for 110 in his last 22.2 overs

Losers
Pymmes - because they lost

© Dominic Pilgrim 2002