Scorecard

Ashburton v Erratics Cricket Club Erratics on Wed 02 Jul 2025 at 6.00pm
Erratics Cricket Club Lost

Match report Should we have a new Club award? Erratic Poet of the Year?

It might just help address a national malaise. In the current issue of Wisden’s ‘The Nightwatchman’ James Thellusson asserts that ‘Cricket poetry is codswallop. If it were any good we’d find more of it in the Oxford Book of English Verse or on the GCSE syllabus. But, sadly, English language cricket poetry has no major poets or prizes to show for two centuries of toil. There isn’t a cricket canon, just a few water pistols’.

To be fair the Erratics have never fought shy of a bit of poetry and this is represented in each of our first three history volumes – for example in Volume One, Peter Thomson’s ‘An Erratic Ode’ (Page 171); in Volume Two, Alexis Lykiard’s ‘A Celebratory, Occasional, Untitled Poem’ (Page 114) and in Volume Three Chris Fear’s epic match report in verse from Tipton St John (Page 178).

So what has the above got to do with this match report? Well, in the run up to the game, Erratic Laureate- in- waiting, Jonathan Kirby, offered the following on the club’s What’s App group (reproduced here for a worldwide audience):

Today the story’s 10 years old,
We know it well, of this I’m certain:
4 wickets fall in an over bowled
In a cricket game in fair Ashburton

Hailwood hit a purple patch,
Sowed the seeds of an epic tale.
His bowling, batters could not match,
A hat-trick came – he could not fail

Now, Hailwood has a gift with words,
To spin a yarn is his delight.
For what’s the good if no-one knows?
So Hailwood spoke, night after night.

And on and on the story runs
When will it reach the final curtain?
Or will we never hear the end
Of that cricket game in fair
Ashburton?

Naturally as we gathered for the latest encounter references were made to these mighty deeds. But soon the Erratics were deep in the mire after choosing to bat. 21-4 in the 7th over. As I was umpiring I had first hand experience of the fielding team’s standard of banter. The opening bowler was repeatedly encouraged with “Come on Dawlish”. It was only later I discovered his surname was Warren. When the home skipper got a wicket with his first ball he fessed up that “Shit balls always get wickets”. When the fourth wicket went down (a superb catch by young Oscar Finn to see off Hugo Longrigg) they were naturally cock-a-hoop. That was until the captain intervened to say “We haven’t batted yet, they have probably already got too many”.

Things were looking grim going into the tenth over at 34-4. But an onslaught by Chacko changed the tempo. He hit three big sixes and a four in the over to retire on a superb 30. This encouraged the lower order and Alex Perkin (32 off 22 balls) and Fraser Chave (30 off 14) took the Erratics in to a much more respectable 149-6.

The Ashburton innings was almost the mirror opposite. They got off to a stormer and two had already retired before the first wicket went down at 74. A further two reached the 30 retirement limit as an easy win looked on the cards. But slowly but surely the Erratics put a break on the rampant run rate.

Skipper Fraser knew that Mark Hailwood weaved magic at Ashburton. So he brought him back for a second spell. And then it happened, in his final over Mark took two wickets to set Ashburton nerves on edge. One, a brilliant catch by Rich Lindsay. Catching, shall we say, had not been our strong point up until then.

And so it was all down to the wire and Alex Perkin to bowl the final over. Five needed and Alex’s Dad, Jon umpiring and looking keen to spot a no-ball or wide. First ball a dot. Second ball a two but a brilliant stop by Rich saved a certain boundary. Third ball a single. Fourth ball a single. The scores were level. Could we manage a tie? Fifth ball a dot. Down to the last ball and a tie still on. Alex threw everything into the last ball; perhaps a bit too much and it sailed away for 4 byes. But what an effort and what a game.

The stuff of poetry, really.

Martin Weiler




Erratics Cricket Club Erratics Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 6 wickets
0
149		        
Joseph Liyo  
Fraser Chave  
Richard Lindsay  
Hugo Longrigg  
Martin Weiler  
Andrew Forrester  
A.N. Other  
Mark Hailwood  
Will Kennett  
Martin Wright  
Alex Perkin  

Ashburton Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
No records to display.

Ashburton Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 3 wickets
0
153 (0.0 overs)		     
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Erratics Cricket Club Erratics Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
No records to display.