Scorecard

Morebath v Erratics Cricket Club Erratics on Sun 20 Jun 2021 at 2.00pm
Erratics Cricket Club Won by 8 wickets

Match report Jon Beverley reports...

There was much discussion at the hotel bar the evening before this match about "double panting" - the practice of wearing regular underwear underneath cricket box shorts. It seems that there is something of a split amongst the Erratics when it comes to single or double panting, with each group finding the other approach utterly perplexing. Perhaps more concerning, though, was Mark Hailwood's revelation about his "historic skid marks" but the less said about that the better...

So it was that we arrived at our final tour destination, Morebath, the next day with a few sore heads (and a sore stomach in my case - my thanks to Annie for the performance-enhancing Paracetamol). We had been quite fortunate with the weather for the previous tour fixtures but that luck ended here as we arrived at the ground to be greeted by a deck of stratus which brought with it the sort of thick drizzle that soaks you in seconds. However, the rain wasn't enough to dampen the players' spirits and a discussion with the home captain took place where it was agreed that a new pitch would be cut and we would play a 30 over game, with a slightly delayed start. I'm not sure if a toss took place or not, but we were to field first.

Ben Youngman and Oscar Cammack opened the bowling and both bowled good six over spells in the testing weather conditions, although the Morebath batsmen had a knack of finding the hedge behind the pavilion fairly regularly to keep the score ticking along at a decent rate. Both bowlers ended with a wicket each, although it could have been more for Oscar had I not dropped a steepling chance at mid-on (in my defence, by the time the ball came down it had absorbed about a litre of drizzle)

Fraser Chave and Matt Crawford took over from Youngman and Cammack with the score at 66/2 after 12 overs. "Time to dazzle, Frazzle!" cried Jonathan Kirby from mid-on, and Frazzle was perhaps unlucky to not have two wickets in two balls in his second over as the umpire was heard to say "Do you really think that I'm going to give my skipper out LBW first ball?" following a strong appeal. Morebath's opener, Newman, then retired at the unusual milestone of 43, and the Erratics then took regular wickets for the remainder of the innings. Fraser ended with three wickets and there were also two for Duncan Chave and one for Siva Subramanian, who also got a run out from the deep. Matt Crawford also did Matt Crawford things by making catches look easy, including a contender for "catch of the season" with a low grab diving forwards near the boundary. Some late hitting by the returning Newman (62 not out) along with some entertaining running got Morebath up to 165/9 from their 30 overs.

Jonathan Kirby (a single panter) and I (a double panter) were given the task of opening the batting. Mercifully, the drizzle ceased and we were able to compile a 50 run partnership, with Kirby unleashing some of his trademark cuts, as well as punishing anything down the leg side. He eventually feathered a catch behind to depart for 23, and after Fraser was well caught at slip for a breezy 14, I reached my first half century for the Erratics. Clearly, as match reporter, I can't give an impartial account of my innings, so you'll have to make do with this quote from Martin Wright:

"Cracking square drives and backward slashes. And a lovely cut shot. You uncoiled like a spitting cobra"

After some confusion surrounding the retirement rules, and following some encouragement by the Morebath players, I retired on 52, which brought Captain Duncan to the crease (trialling double panting for the first time) to join Kyle Wedgwood, and the two of them saw us reach the target safely with 2.1 overs to spare. Kyle's score of 20 not out was a new personal best, and included 16 singles – no mean feat when not wearing cricket spikes on a pitch that was turning increasingly muddy (his new spikes are in the post, apparently). Duncan also hit the only six of our innings, which gave those of us on the boundary a chance to try out the new umpire dance moves that had also been devised the previous evening, to a chorus of "Sweet Caroline".

Even though the weather was less than ideal, this was still a very enjoyable end to an excellent tour and credit and thanks must go to the hosts for persevering with the pitch preparation in the drizzle, and for a relaxed and friendly game of cricket.

Morebath Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
2nb 5w 6b 1lb 
for 9 wickets
14
165 (30.0 overs)		     
A Newman Not Out  62
JC Caught  1
Dawes Caught  29
A Russell Caught  4
G Pascoe (capt) Bowled  9
K Barnes Caught  11
A Gale Caught  0
C Hathorn Not Out  20
W Hopper Bowled  6
A Barnes Run out  0
S Calland Bowled  10

Erratics Cricket Club Erratics Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Ben Youngman6.0032132.005.33
Oscar Cammack6.0033133.005.50
Fraser Chave6.012237.333.67
Matt Crawford5.003100.006.20
Duncan Chave3.001226.004.00
Sivaraman Subramanian4.0028128.007.00

Erratics Cricket Club Erratics Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
3nb 12w 7b 8lb 
for 2 wickets
30
168		        
Jonathan Kirby Caught  23 5 1
Jonathan Beverley Retired Not Out  52 8
Fraser Chave Caught  14 2
Kyle Wedgwood Not Out  20
Duncan Chave Not Out  29 4 1
Oscar Cammack  
Martin Wright  
Matt Crawford   2
Sivaraman Subramanian   1
Ben Youngman   1
Paul Molins   1

Morebath Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
No records to display.