Erratics Cricket Club Erratics v Marldon on Sun 15 May 2011 at 2:20 PM

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Erratics Cricket Club Erratics v Marldon on Sun 15 May 2011 at 2:20 PM
Erratics Cricket Club Won by 55 runs

Match report by Mark Hailwood

Having participated in back-to-back drubbings the previous weekend, it was somewhat of a relief to be on the right end of a job well done for my Erratics home (and reporting) debut. A victory by 55 runs no mean feat in this low scoring contest.

Erratics captain James Burrows won the toss and elected to bat in fine weather conditions, and Duncan Chave and Andrew Forrester took to the crease. It was far from easy going, and Marldon’s nagging-but-not-express opening bowlers made good use of variations in pace (Forrester succumbing to a good slower ball) with the wicket offering up some variations in bounce too (Mark Phillips was later undone by a daisy-cutter). Fortunately Duncan Chave was in determined mood, and worked hard for 39 valuable runs (including a six that came close to ending up in the back seat of his own car via the rear windscreen). It was a knock deserving of a half-century, and worth as much on this wicket.

At 55 for 2 after 16 overs the Erratics could reflect on a steady start and a platform to build on, as Matt Cook came out to bat at four – feeling the effects of a stag-do the night before which had seen him hit the sack at 5am. After three cleanly struck boundaries it seemed as though Cook was set to pull off that classic village cricket cameo – the swaggering, daring, hung-over hundred. Then he ballooned one to mid-off, and departed for 12. Wickets continued to come at regular intervals, interspersed with some lusty blows to the boundary from debutant Mike Johnson and the returning Jeff Haynes, but after 31 overs a running total of 118 for 8 began to look a bit on the low side.

Thankfully, the tail wagged. A dashing 18 from Varun Kothamachu, built on positive stroke playing and quick running between the wickets, supported by a timely 8 runs from Phil Ellis in a partnership of 29 (the second highest, after Chave and Hailwood’s 48 for the second wicket) – pushed the total up to 148. The last two wickets came courtesy of excusable run outs in the final over before tea, all out with only 1 ball remaining.

Given that tea had looked imminent a full hour earlier, the Erratics tucked into some top-notch egg sarnies in a mood of quiet optimism. With a strong bowling attack at the captain’s disposal, and the pitch a difficult one for batsmen to settle on, 149 started to look defendable.

Even more so when Marldon were reduced to 5 for 3 inside the first 6 overs by an excellent opening bowling barrage from both ends. Mike Johnson – a last minute replacement for the injured Chris Ferro - bowled out both Bayliss and Storey with his left-arm seamers (finishing with frugal figures of 2 for just 8 runs from his 7 overs – his email address and future availability were eagerly enquired after post-match). Nigel Rutherford matched him from the other end, bowling out Washbrook for a duck then snaffling a catch off his own bowling – the first of three catches he took in the innings – and returned figures of 2 for 10 off 7 overs. Indeed, it was such a tight spell of bowling from this pair that there was some questioning in the pub whether they really qualified as ‘erratic’ at all.

With their top-order ripped out cheaply Marldon faced an uphill struggle, but a bowling change only served to make matters worse for the visitors. Varun, buoyed by his handy contribution with the bat, was thrown the cherry and quickly made further inroads. He had Cartwright caught brilliantly at slip by Duncan Chave, and followed up with another dismissal the very next ball – a ball that was flying well down the leg side before the batsman somehow managed to deflect it via his pads onto the stumps. Curiously, Varun himself didn’t realise he had taken the wicket – turning his back in disgust when he knew the intended leg-stump yorker had come out of the hand wrong. Pleasantly surprised to be informed by his team mates that he was now on a hat-trick, the bowler psyched himself up for the big opportunity. Burrows ordered the field in as close to the bat as they were comfortable with (or in Matt Cook’s case rather closer than he was comfortable with) – and the bowler came steaming in … and hurled down a full toss that beat the batsman, and the keeper, and the in-field, and flew down to the long-leg boundary, inducing fits of laughter all round. Until somebody realised the ball hadn’t crossed the boundary rope and was still in play.

Alas, no hat-trick, but a memorable moment nonetheless, and the two wickets in the over had reduced Marldon to 41 for 7. They fought on though, with Paddon producing a spirited and jovial captain’s knock of 55 not out, before Matt Cook mopped up the tail with a genuinely ‘erratic’ bowling spell - including a series of what the bowler himself labelled as ‘pies’, and a wicket from a full toss caught by one of two points. The visitors were eventually dismissed for 93, and we retired to the Royal Oak to toast a return to winning ways.

Erratics Cricket Club Erratics Batting

Player Name		Runs
extras TOTAL :	19w 11b 5lb for 10 wickets	35 148
Duncan Chave	Caught	39
Andrew Forrester	Bowled	2
Mark Hailwood	Not Out	10
Matt Cook	Caught	12
Mark Phillips	Bowled	0
Nigel Rutherford	Caught	3
Mike Johnson	Lbw	13
Varun Kothamachu	Run out	18
Jeff Haynes	Bowled	8
Phil Ellis	Run out	8
James Burrows	Not Out	0

Marldon Bowling

Player name	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets	Average	Economy
No records to display.

Marldon Batting

Player name		R
extras TOTAL :	7w 2b 1lb for 10 wickets	10 93 (25.1 overs)

Erratics Cricket Club Erratics Bowling

Player Name	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets	Average	Economy
Nigel Rutherford	7.0	2	10	2	5.00	1.43
Mike Johnson	7.0	4	8	2	4.00	1.14
Jeff Haynes	5.0	0	34	1	34.00	6.80
Varun Kothamachu	3.0	1	16	1	16.00	5.33
Matt Cook	2.1	0	15	2	7.50	6.92
Phil Ellis	1.0	0	7	0	0.00	7.00

Photos and video of Erratics Cricket Club Erratics v Marldon on Sun 15 May 2011 at 2:20 PM

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