Scorecard

Stokeinteignhead v Erratics Cricket Club Erratics on Sat 15 Jul 2017 at 2.00pm
Match was Drawn

Match report Mark Hailwood reports…

Jonathan Kirby has a massive helmet. He has the biggest helmet of anyone at the club. But he isn't happy with it. He finds it uncomfortable, and worries that it gets in the way. He believes it is having an adverse effect on his performance.

On the way to Stokeinteignhead your humble narrator turned counsellor. I reminded Captain Kirby that he had worn said helmet during his demolition of Catus on the French Tour, when he amassed 76 famously inelegant runs. The problem was in his head, not on it. He was simply short of time in the middle this year. The runs would come soon enough, and he would then be able to embrace his massive helmet, so to speak. My faith was not misguided; JK is a man you can put your faith in. Even if he is the other sort of left hander.

The toss was won (by somebody) and on a pleasant afternoon and a good looking track we found ourselves having a bat first in a timed game. Fraser made things look easy – doesn't he always these days – and raced along to 29, whilst Andrew Forrester looked characteristically organised at the other end on his way to 11. Then Chris Saunders – once of Denbury, I believe, and has played the odd game for the Erratics too, I think – produced an excellent spell of bowling that accounted for each of Fraser, Andrew and Ian Hooper with Good Deliveries (the sort a top-order batsman can take some consolation in getting out to – at least it wasn't wasted on them). We responded with some further wobbling, as Tom, Matt and Siva all came and went for single figure scores. At 80ish for 6 we were in a spot of bother.

Cometh the hour, cometh Brother Drum. Could Captain Kirby haul it in for the Erratics? (If you don't get the reference then I suggest checking out Kagemusha Taiko's excellent single, Brother Drum, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FojvH41pTw).

He was joined at the crease by your humble narrator. We had previous when it came to resurrectionary partnerships, and with over an hour of batting time left before tea we steeled ourselves for a salvage job. It started well enough, and then I needlessly ran myself out, taking a risky single to Chris Saunders who threw the stumps down. I skulked off to admonish myself for throwing the game away – but I need not have worried, for JK found his first mate in the form of Rob Scott. Rob has been displeased, shall we say, with some Erratics captains batting him down the order, but today he let his bat make the argument for him in amassing a personal best of 47 not out, playing sensibly to keep JK company before accelerating rapidly as tea drew near. He was unlucky not to make his maiden 50.

At the other end his Captain steered the ship with surety, blending judicious defence with a mixture of trademark cuts and pulls. There was an air of inevitably about his first half-century of the season, such was the determination with which he batted. I'm sure even Martin K******* would have raised a glass to it (though whether he would have paid for it is another matter…). The only moment of real danger came in the 40s when JK hit an aerial cut ever-so-slightly too close to Fraser, fielding for the opposition who were short of a full quota. For a young man who has done a lot of acting, Fraser's failure to get close enough to the ball to even attempt a catch was remarkably unconvincing. Anyway, they put on a remarkable partnership of 102, and we ended with a healthy 232 at tea (off precisely 40 overs in fact).

As is so often the case, the second innings of a match report gets short shrift as the reporter runs out of steam, and assumes that the reader is doing so too. Who am I to challenge this time honoured tradition? We bowled well; Fraser bowled exceptionally well. Has there ever been a bowler so adept at the caught and bowled dismissal? He got one here. The challenge, as always in a timed game, is to keep the opposition interested in the chase, so that attacking shots are played and wickets can be taken. After a slow start, Andrew Thornton-Clarke spearheaded the Stoke effort, and whilst he was at the crease and scoring they managed to arrest the required rate at about 8 an over – tough, but not out of reach. JK juggled his bowlers effectively, using a few part-timers to try and tempt the batsmen to over-attack. At least one Stoke batsman – Saunders again, I think – slapped a full toss straight at square leg.

Both teams retained an interest in winning the game until relatively late, then, and it was only in the last 10 overs or so that the total looked out of sight for Stoke, and we were able to enjoy a bit of the old hands on knees, gathered round the bat, searching for 2 more wickets for victory. Does anyone recall a catch taken at silly point or short leg under such circumstances in an Erratics game? Well…. this game didn’t provide one either, and Stoke dug in for a draw.

Back to the Goose, where JK bought a jug. Does a 50 require a jug, or is it just 5-fors and centuries? JK bought one anyway, but it felt like I was the only one drinking it. Still, I was happy to neck 3 pints in honour of our esteemed skipper's return to form. 'Now you can embrace your helmet!' I slurred, as the skipper bundled me into his car to fulfil his final duty of the day, enduring my company on the way back to Exeter. Ever the team man, he didn't roll his eyes once as I self-flagellated over my run out, denying him the chance to gloat about his knock. The man is a true #ErraticsLegend.

Erratics Cricket Club Erratics Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 8 wickets
0
232		        
Fraser Chave Bowled  29 6 2
Andrew Forrester Caught  11 2 1
Ian Hooper Bowled  4 1
Tom Bennett-Hughes Caught  9 1
Matt Crawford Lbw  9 2
Sivaraman Subramanian Caught  0 1
Jonathan Kirby Not Out  65 12
Mark Hailwood Run out  9 1
Ben Youngman Bowled  4 1
Rob Scott Not Out  47 10
Sean Webb  

Stokeinteignhead Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
No records to display.

Stokeinteignhead Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 6 wickets
0
165 (39.0 overs)		     
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Erratics Cricket Club Erratics Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Ben Youngman6.002700.004.50
Sean Webb8.0128128.003.50
Mark Hailwood7.022100.003.00
Fraser Chave7.04632.000.86
Rob Scott3.001500.005.00
Sivaraman Subramanian3.0023123.007.67
Matt Crawford4.0025125.006.25
Tom Bennett-Hughes2.001600.008.00