Scorecard

Cheriton Fitzpaine v Erratics Cricket Club Erratics on Sat 09 Jun 2018 at 2.00pm
Erratics Cricket Club Won by 5 wickets

Match report A.N. Other was Richard Cragg
A.N. Other1 was Keith Cuddy

Match report by Nick Walding

Saturday saw the Erratics greeted at Cheriton Fitzpaine with overcast and muggy conditions. Some might have said these conditions were idyllic for swing bowling, others might have said the conditions would make it blimming hard work in the field. Our Skipper for the day, Fraser, lost the toss and we were put into the field… We had started as a team of nine Erratics but reinforcements were parachuted in ahead of time with support from Richard and Keith, both fine additions to the side.

Youngers and Chave Junior opened the bowling whilst the friendly faces of Mike Foan and Nick Guscott were found opening for Cheriton. The Erratics got off to a good start with the first few overs being very economical with only a few singles and extras given. This was until, however, Nick dispatched a number of boundaries in quick succession to get Cheriton going.

The first bowling change saw Roshan coming down the hill and although his first over saw a couple of boundaries there was plenty of zip and swing on offer and wickets looked soon to come. This was indeed the case as in his following over, Roshan claimed the first wicket of the day with Guscott getting trapped LBW. Foan followed his fellow opener soon after, bowled by Roshan, whose swing and canny use of his variations saw him return very respectable figures of 3 for 21 from 8. He also was unlucky to miss a thunderbolt of a caught and bowled, hurting a finger in the process, but fortunately not on his bowling hand.

Sean Webb was soon brought on up the slope following a very tight spell from our Skipper. Sean continued where he left off from the last time I saw him bowl at Dunsford last year with very steady, tight, and economical bowling. Backed up by strong fielding efforts in stifling conditions by all fielders, and especially Keith whose long-barrier was proving more like a stone wall at mid-on, the run rate was stalling and the Erratics seemed to be in a decent position.

The next set of bowling changes saw ‘Turnie’ Bernie and your correspondent come to the bowling crease, with the latter coming down the slope and wondering whether his right arm would still work. Fortunately though following an opening maiden, Richard scooped up a good catch at the top of the hill at mid-off.

Bernie, the wily old badger that he is (thank you Branscombe Ravens’ twitter account for that description), displayed his canny bowling once again, proving both difficult to score off of and downright lethal with two wickets in two balls! The first; a plumb LBW, and the second; a snappy stumping by Siva! The hat-trick was missed, however, to an assured defensive push from Nick Roud who was now in at the crease with both the home side (and Hark Mailwood) expressing sighs of relief.

With Cheriton on 97-6 in the 30th over, attacking batting was required and this is what Nick Roud provided, punishing anything too straight or short of a length with swift dispatches to the boundaries. Another caught-and-bowled went begging with your correspondent putting down a skied leading edge from Roud which hung and swirled in the air for what felt like a lifetime. Difficult, but should have taken it. Fortunately though the Erratics were not punished for long following this missed opportunity. When Fraser returned to the bowling crease Roud was taken one-handed behind square leg. Waldo vindicated and Fraser claiming a well-deserved wicket after two spells of very good bowling with turn and vim in abundance.

John Curtis and Ben Youngman finished off the innings with Ben finding his radar functioning much more effectively and consistently up the hill. Both bowlers were unfortunate though to have come up against Cheriton’s Cuttler who, following Roud’s initial display, took on the bowlers with a number of hard hit boundaries in a short space of time, bringing the home side’s total to 172.

A fantastic tea was laid on by our hosts with plenty on offer and the honey-mustard sausages being a particular highlight, thank you very much indeed!

With 173 the target and the batting order finalised, the familiar sight of Chave and Chave walking to the middle left your correspondent feeling comfortable in the knowledge that he would be able to digest the numerous aforementioned sausages before being called upon at number six.

The unfamiliar site of Chave Junior returning to the pavilion prematurely, however, was a worrying sight. Fraser was rather unlucky to pick out the only Cheriton player under the age of thirty who’s rather athletic and enthusiastic sweeping run across the leg-side boundary resulted in a fine catch that would have otherwise comfortably gone passed the boundary.

Your correspondent, with sausages still settling, now became a bit concerned. However at 6, there was still plenty of time in the game and decent batsmen still to come in the form of Rich, Keith, and Siva. However thanks to trigger-finger Curtis giving Richard LBW, and Siva and Keith being caught and bowled, respectively, your correspondent was found at the middle earlier than expected with sausages still undigested and feeling rather bloated after a too-well-enjoyed tea!

The game was set with the Erratics on 29-4, with 173 the target, and Duncan and your correspondent at the crease. Taking ones time (as well as I could…) and with Duncan’s constant encouragement, reassurance, and imperiousness, a healthy partnership was developed. Duncan was batting in his usual fine form. Casual singles were taken on a slow outfield and Duncan punished anything a bit loose with six 4s and a 6. Your correspondent, buoyed by Duncan’s (and Fraser’s) encouragement (and sometimes distractions), accumulated runs in the somewhat-Waldo fashion with spectators at times having to re-assess their choice of parking location and overall attention to the game (Sorry, once again!).

Following a bowling change, the quicker pace and swing from Rossitter did for your correspondent, clipping the top of off-stump. This left Roshan and Duncan to finish off the chase with a couple of cheeky singles and a big six from Roshan! Duncan finished the day carrying his bat after 31 overs, with a very well-played 53 Not Out!

Following a splendid day of cricket, which was played in the best and friendliest of spirits, a truncated sermon was enjoyed by those at the Half Moon Inn, where Pastor Foan regaled us with the cornerstones of a Christian life without ever needing to visit a church. We all later joined him in celebrating his 10,000 runs for the club, a fantastic achievement indeed!!

Cheriton Fitzpaine Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 8 wickets
0
172 (40.0 overs)		     
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Erratics Cricket Club Erratics Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Ben Youngman5.004300.008.60
Fraser Chave7.0121121.003.00
Roshan Kumar Singh8.022137.002.63
Sean Webb4.001400.003.50
Bernie Wilson7.011326.501.86
Nick Walding7.0134134.004.86
John Curtis2.002000.0010.00

Erratics Cricket Club Erratics Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 5 wickets
0
175		        
Duncan Chave Not Out  49 5 1
Fraser Chave Caught  0
A.N. Other Lbw  0 1
Sivaraman Subramanian Caught  2 1
A.N. Other1 Bowled  9 2
Nick Walding Bowled  80 8 6 1
Roshan Kumar Singh Not Out  8 1
Ben Youngman  
John Curtis  
Sean Webb  
Bernie Wilson  

Cheriton Fitzpaine Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
No records to display.