Scorecard

Erratics Cricket Club Erratics v North Nibley on Fri 18 May 2012 at 6.00 pm
Erratics Cricket Club Won by 14 runs

Match report by Jeff Haynes:

When North Nibley hosted the Erratics last September, ‘too many Cooks’ spoiled their day, so they would have been encouraged to learn that only one Cook made it on to the Erratics team sheet for the first game of the Gloucestershire club’s Devon Tour. How they might have celebrated had they also learned of Matt’s late withdrawal through injury! The tourists fielded five players from the September 2011 match, but there was no place in the tour party for Artingstall, J, who had made 99 of the 430 runs scored that day … James still has University studies to attend to. It is an indication of the strength (or maybe just length) of the Erratics’ squad that they fielded only three players from last autumn’s match – Ferro, Haynes and Thistlethwaite.

It had been a thoroughly grey day. Most of the North Nibley folk had travelled down and checked in to their Torbay accommodation prior to driving up to Dunsford. They may have been unimpressed by the sight of mains water at our ground but this was indeed an innovation for the Erratics players to enjoy, bringing the Dunsford pavilion into the nineteenth century. Perhaps, in another hundred years, Dunsford will enter the twentieth century with the advent of electricity? Had there been power for floodlights this evening they would have been switched on before play began.

After negotiating the toss, the Erratics padded up to bat first on the soft, green strip. As Mike Hailwood and Lucky Bandhu navigated their way through the variable bounce of the opening overs a large score looked unlikely. Their sound partnership of 40 for the first wicket had taken 11 overs, despite Bandhu scoring 6 of them with a single straight shot. It was hampered by the eagle-eyed North Nibley (newly-qualified) umpire spotting a short run … and further by him counting only 5 legitimate balls in the same over! When Bandhu went for 21, Hailwood had only scored in singles, but he knew this would have to change with Chris Ferro joining him at the crease. By converting singles into twos, and Hailwood adding our second (and final) boundary, 35 runs were added by the end of the sixteenth over when Hailwood was caught behind for 27. Mark’s aim for the season was to beat his personal best of 26. The Erratics scorebook shows that he achieved this, even if the North Nibley scorebook shows only 26. Basically, the two scorers failed to agree over an incident where a run was taken off a no ball: I scored it as one run and one no ball, and my counterpart recorded it as two no balls. I have since checked with another qualified umpire and it appears I was right to stick to my guns … so well done Mark!

Pearce, North Nibley’s seventh bowler, tempted Jonathan Kirby down the leg side for Brown to pluck a beautiful left-handed catch out of the air. Martin Weiler joined Ferro for the last two overs which yielded 16 crucial runs, Ferro carrying his bat on 24. The Erratics’ run rate of 4.85 per over had not been achieved before the final over.

Any colour that had existed – the green of the pitch and the red of the ball - gradually drained into yet more grey as the Erratics took the field. Some thought (well, OK, I thought) that the target of 98 to win (4.90 per over) might be hard to defend, but seasoned Erratics assured me that batting second, at Dunsford, early in the season, this was not an easy target.

John Nagle and Lucky Bandhu tested the openers with two overs each, but both Holcombe, E, and Thompson dispatched the few loose delivers to the boundary (exceeding the Erratics’ boundary tally in their third over!). Dominic Prosser then made the breakthrough at the end of his first over, prompting Ferro to save himself for later and bring on Jeff Haynes at the other end. North Nibley had remained ahead of their required run rate from the third over, but by the end of the twelfth over Prosser and Haynes had pegged them back to below the asking rate, which they never recovered. At the start of over number 10, Daniel Thistlethwaite offered Haynes some encouragement … “Come on Jeff, just pretend that you’re bowling at me”, and Haynes duly obliged by bowling opener Thompson off his legs the very next ball. With a runout from Ferro’s smart fielding two overs later North Nibley began to lose wickets regularly.

Nagle and Bandhu attacked one end while Ferro bowled his four overs from the other. Both Bandhu and Ferro had hat trick opportunities, both split between two overs, but neither achieved. Nevertheless, North Nibley were done for. The Erratics held their catches, Kirby taking two behind the wicket and Harish Bhaskaran taking one in the field. Ferro bowled a superb line and length, moving the ball in the air, and deserved his figures of 4-0-11-3. North Nibley ended on 83-9.

So, it was another ‘iron man’ performance from Ferro: beguiling bowling, lightning fielding, cast iron batting (am I permitted two ferrous references in one report?), and astute captaincy. But this was, as always, still a team game. Thistlethwaite was the only player not to trouble the scorers, but fielding at mid-on he clinically cut off a certain boundary, and any four runs saved in a match where the scoreboard never reaches three figures can prove vital.

There was a good turnout at the pub before North Nibley returned to Torbay to finish their drinking there, and to prepare for matches in the Teign Valley and at Babbcombe over the weekend. As for the Erratics, another team of players can look forward with confidence to this year’s return tour match.

Erratics Cricket Club Erratics Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
4nb 7w 4b 3lb 
for 4 wickets
18
97		        
Mark Hailwood Caught  27
Lucky Bandhu Bowled  21
Chris Ferro Not Out  24
Jonathan Kirby Bowled  2
Martin Weiler Run out  5
Harish Bhaskaran Not Out  0
Dominic Prosser  
Daniel Thistlethwaite  
John Nagle  
Jeff Haynes  
A.N. Other  

North Nibley Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
No records to display.

North Nibley Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 9w 2b 1lb 
for 9 wickets
13
83 (20.0 overs)		     
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Erratics Cricket Club Erratics Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
John Nagle4.0023123.005.75
Lucky Bandhu4.011326.503.25
Dominic Prosser4.0020120.005.00
Jeff Haynes4.0013113.003.25
Chris Ferro4.001133.672.75