Scorecard

Stokeinteignhead v Erratics Cricket Club Erratics on Sat 29 Apr 2017 at 2.00pm
Erratics Cricket Club Won by 1 wicket

Match report Match report by Martin Wright

Stokeinteignhead in April. Chill winds mixed with Arctic gusts. More of a habitat for mammoths than cricketers. Small wonder that local legend reports that the last ever woolly mastodon to grace these isles breathed its final breath on a nearby hill.*

Skipper Hailwood won the toss, cast an eye over the array of thermals being donned by his men, clearly decided that we were either a) ready for anything, equipped as we were with SAS-standard arctic assault kit, or b) a bunch of pansies who needed toughening up with a spell in the tundra – and so announced we were fielding.

He couldn’t have asked for a better start, as the Oughton-Youngman trans-Pennine axis (a lethal combination of the red rose and the white) ripped out the opening pair. For a few overs, it looked all too easy, but then the S-in-T’s 3 and 4, Prestt and Bouer, dug deep, easing their side back into contention with a solid partnership. Erratics stuck at the task, with Hailwood and Haynes, then Chave F. and Cockburn, wheeling away, but began to wilt a little in the field.

Maybe the warming sun had taken the edge off our Arctic grit, but soon the shots started to flow and the short downhill boundary seemed a lot shorter and more…downhilly. Several overs were of the pie-and-mash variety – five good balls served up with a single slice of steak-and-kidney, which the batsmen invariably wolfed down all the way to the boundary – inducing an excess of metaphor on the part of your correspondent.

Anyway, a double strike eventually brought an end to the affair, thanks to the safe gloves of Matt Crawford behind the stumps, snaffling catches off both Youngman and Haynes, to account for Presst (45) and Bauer (46).

After that, Erratics kept their collective foot on the Stoke-etc chest, with Fraser in particular proving almost impossible to get away, wiping out the lengthy tail and finishing with figures of 4 for 8 off his 7.3 overs – five of which were maidens. Ben and Jeff had tidy days too, with 2 and 1 for 29 respectively, and George got his first first class Erratiwicket, although was appropriately sheepish about it, given that his victim was a mere boy, caught off the glove by an equally embarrassed Gareth. We’d caught well, though: Dan Thistlethwaite neatly pouched a potentially awkward chance off Fraser, while Matt’s tidy keeping completely belied his rookie status in the role.

Tea was taken in sunshine, with only the memory of last year’s ignominious 37 all out – an Erratishambles if ever there was one – to cloud our spirits. That, and Skipper Hailwood’s dour assessment of the 143 target as “about 20 more than I would have liked.”

With those morale-boosting words ringing in their ears, openers Chave and Philips strode to the middle. Philips strode back a little while later, declaring himself pleased with his forward defensive – and who could argue with that? Certainly not George at No 3, who displayed a similarly stylish block, and looked set for more substantial things before falling leg before. That brought Wright to the crease, and together he and Fraser put on fifty at a fair pace, with Fraser unfurling some fine, flourishing drives, and your correspondent bludgeoning less elegantly with Ben’s Excellent Bat. He took particular pleasure in planting S-in-etc-etc’s most talkative bowler back over his head, but then fell, attempting a reprise, for 29. Matt came and went, but Skipper Hailwood took up the task, starting carefully and then opening up, while Fraser moved on through the gears, driving hard and swivelling into some characteristically Chave-ist pulls.

It was starting to look really rather easy. But as the sun sank behind returning clouds, the Erratibus started to stutter. First Mark was bowled, and then Ben, his bat clearly reluctant to see duty twice in a day. Gareth joined Fraser, and together they crept us towards the line, till Fraser finally fell, caught going for glory, after an altogether excellent 65 to add to his bowling triumphs. Daniel, too, heard the death rattle, which brought Last Man Jeff Haynes to the crease (our Last Woman, Penny Price, having gone mysteriously AWOL). Together, he and Oughton inched us towards the target, but hearts remained in mouths until a fortuitous legside full toss allowed Gareth to put matters beyond doubt.

Victory by a single wicket, then, finally laying to rest the spectre of last year’s ignominy, and duly celebrated in The Wild Goose.

* Like all local legends, this one is of course completely made up by a shameless hack.



Stokeinteignhead Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 10 wickets
0
142 (40.3 overs)		     
P.Russell b  G.Oughton 0
A.Thornton-Clarke b  B.Youngman 0
C.Prestt ct  M.Crawford B. B.Youngman 45
A.Bouer ct  M.Crawford B. J.Haynes 46
I.Lang lbw  M.Hailwood 1
R.Putman b  F.Chave 18
O.Barnes b  F.Chave 3
G.Hooker ct  D.Thistlethwaite B. F.Chave 12
T.Treeby b  F.Chave 0
J.Trower ct  G.Oughton B. G.Cockburn 0
J.Peck Not Out  8

Erratics Cricket Club Erratics Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Gareth Oughton5.0121121.004.20
Ben Youngman8.0229214.503.63
Mark Hailwood8.0237137.004.62
Jeff Haynes8.0029129.003.63
Fraser Chave7.35842.001.07
George Cockburn4.0017117.004.25

Erratics Cricket Club Erratics Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 8 wickets
0
146		        
Fraser Chave Caught  65 7 1
Mark Phillips Lbw  0
George Cockburn ct  & Bowled 5
Martin Wright Caught  29 4 1
Matt Crawford Bowled  0 2
Mark Hailwood Bowled  17 3
Ben Youngman Bowled  1
Gareth Oughton Not Out  12 2 1
Daniel Thistlethwaite Bowled  0 1
Jeff Haynes Not Out  1
N.O. One  

Stokeinteignhead Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
P.Russell8.0517117.002.13
Prestt8.0130130.003.75
Trower5.4035135.006.18
Bouer4.1110110.002.40
Putman4.0115115.003.75
Thornton-Clark6.0030310.005.00