Scorecard

Longhorns (Tour) v Erratics Cricket Club Erratics on Sun 05 Sep 2010 at 14.30
Erratics Cricket Club Won by 43 runs

Match report Erratics 154-3 (C. Ferro 67, C. Mellett 51no),

Longhorns 111-8 (K. Horne 3-3, S. Cook 2-14)

Match Report: Chris Mellett

After three glorious September touring days, Sunday morning was completely sodden. Far from ideal conditions for striking camp and casting doubt over the final fixture. Chris Cook’s claim from a couple of days earlier that only two games had been lost to the weather in 18 years of touring was ringing in my ears.

This was of no concern to the locals who had arranged an 8-a-side competition at Whitminster - so keen were they that there was to be no rain stopped play. Our opponents the Longhorns had entered a team and co-opted both junior Cooks to bolster their line-up. It was an interesting spectacle. The heavy rain wasn’t aiding the bowlers’ control and numerous full tosses were being despatched to the boundary. Each batting pair got two overs to inflict some damage before being replaced, the next pair arriving accompanied by an excerpt from a contemporary pop hit that seemed to have no relationship with the gladiatorial combat being witnessed.

However, I couldn’t stay there all day. The call came from skipper Burrows that the 11-a-side Longhorns were equally keen to play. Unfortunately, we had to leave without the junior Cooks who had just commenced their second game. It occurred to me that there was an element of disorganisation on display and I was concerned it could prove costly.

At this point we were down to eight players and there was no choice but to bat. We managed to pick up another player from the opposition but had no idea when, if or how the junior Cooks would arrive. James took me to one side and explained that he was not going to use me as an opener following my previous failures on the tour – a very astute decision as it turned out!

Ken and Paul went out to bat and, after a brief respite, the rain returned. Paul soon perished and the rain became heavier. There was a short interlude (wouldn’t have happened at Whitminster!) before Ken and Chris resumed. Ken was unable to resist a nibble and was caught behind. As the junior Cooks were still playing elsewhere I was thrust into the fray and somewhat relieved to finally score a tour run off my first ball. At the other end Chris was getting to grips with the conditions. This prompted the Longhorns to unleash the off-spinner who had run through the Erratics batting at Dunsford. We were determined not to become victims of this talented youngster.

Having scored a few runs relatively quickly I was content to support Chris as he began to accelerate the scoring rate. There was plenty of running between the wickets as the slow outfield made boundaries hard to come by. We had pushed the score to 99 when Chris was out caught and bowled. I was now the senior partner and joined by our loan player. He proved very capable and helped to keep the scoreboard moving with some nice shots including one effortless-looking six. I had also been scoring at a handy rate to reach my maiden half-century, an event I was clearly unprepared for as demonstrated by my lack of celebration and acknowledgement. Apologies for that.

Our 30 overs had yielded 154 runs, a useful total given the wet pitch and slow outfield. More surprising was that it had been achieved without the hitting prowess of the junior Cooks. Having finally arrived towards the end of our innings, they’d had the pleasure of watching me bat instead. They were ready to contribute with the ball though and, bowling in tandem, restricted the scoring at the start of the Longhorns innings, Sam taking two wickets and Matt one.

Harry, having waited patiently since arriving on tour, then had his chance to shine. He bowled so tidily that James decided to save a couple of his overs to bowl at the death. Jim also bowled tidily but wasn’t asked back.

Enter Ken and as miserly a spell as you’re ever likely to see. 5-2-3-3 says it all really. The Longhorns had little hope of winning after that, in spite of a rather handy batsmen returning from the 8-a-side to crash the ball around, but he was too late in the game to affect the outcome.

A mention also for Penny, taker of one wicket and two catches, typifying the exemplary fielding performance that restricted the Longhorns to 111 and ensured a comfortable victory for the Erratics. A fine end to the tour.

Erratics Cricket Club Erratics Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 4b 1lb 
for 3 wickets
6
154		        
Ken Horne Caught  3
Paul Molins Bowled  2
Chris Ferro Caught  67
Chris Mellett Not Out  51
A.N. Other1 Not Out  25
Sam Cook  
Matt Cook  
Penny Price  
Harry Molins  
James Burrows  
Jim Thomson  

Longhorns (Tour) Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
No records to display.

Longhorns (Tour) Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
3b  
for 8 wickets
3
111 (30.0 overs)		     
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Erratics Cricket Club Erratics Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Sam Cook6.011427.002.33
Matt Cook5.0017117.003.40
Harry Molins5.003300.006.60
Jim Thomson3.0010110.003.33
Penny Price3.0014114.004.67
Ken Horne5.02331.000.60
James Burrows3.001900.006.33