Scorecard

Dunsford v Erratics Cricket Club Erratics on Sat 16 Jun 2018 at 2.00pm
Match was Drawn

Match report Match report by Martin Wright.

Erratics v Dunsford: a fond rivalry on our home (occasionally) turf. The rains threatened all morning, and briefly burst over the ground shortly before the start, when only the virtuous (ie, Roshan, myself, and my stepson Tom, the closest he has been to a cricket match since primary school when he bravely engaged in a little catching practice with me, on the off chance of subbing for George ‘Five O’clock’ Cockburn later in the day) were in attendance. The remainder - decadent ne’er-do-wells all, accompanying Old Man Hailwood in his extended birthday celebrations - were tucked away in the dry in the Royal Oak.

By the time they staggered onto the field, the rain had relented and play was promptly underway. Fortunately our Skipper for the day was Fraser Chave, whose blood-to-alcohol ratio has yet to trouble the scorers. He proved his relative sobriety by losing the toss and so achieving the desired result of Dunsford batting first.

Our opening attack of Ben Youngman and Roshan Singh were on the money from the start: Ben finding the testing line which has occasionally eluded him this summer, and Roshan brisk and threatening. Against this attack, Dunsford started cautiously, with Martin Sharland looking particularly solid until he was sawn off by his partner, calling him through for a highly optimistic single when he turned the ball straight to David Shackleton.

For a while, progress was slow, with first Ben and Roshan and then Fraser and George keeping the batsmen in check, the scoring rate barely registering two an over. I then made the mistake of commenting to David that at this pace Dunsford would have to bat on after tea to set us a decent target. Such hubris always brings its comeuppance, and it did so in the form of Andy Payne, who started to find the middle of his bat, with less flamboyant support from Danny McGahey. While never getting clean away, they shifted the balance, and suddenly it felt like a contest.

The Dunsford wicket was noticeably quicker than in recent years – product of a warm spring and new covers, apparently – with less of a tendency to keep low, although still with enough uneven bounce to cause a few sharply lifting surprises. They tested Sid Thomson behind the stumps, who kept like he’d never been away. In a good way. Our t’other Thomson for the day, Jim, was his usual lithe self in the field, pulling off an excellent diving catch at square leg. Roshan, Fraser and David all showed off sharp reflexes too; your correspondent less so, fluffing a simple catch off one of George’s less precise deliveries (“It didn’t deserve a wicket”, he told me, kindly), but in general we fielded smartly all innings.

Jim turned in a tidy, teasing spell, and ringer for the day Kevin Barron wheeled in four overs of military slow-medium, before Ben and Roshan returned at the death: Roshan snaffled the impressive Payne for 63 with one that bounced sharply, well taken by Sid, and Dunsford closed on 176-6 – about par, perhaps?

Tea was well above par, thanks to a great home-made veggie quiche, and with the rain holding off despite lowering clouds, everything was set for an intriguing chase. Your correspondent opened with David, and between us we pottered along at around four an over, keeping the target in sight, if distantly so. Some sharp singles – made easy by David’s athleticism, if not by my judgement of a run – and the occasional boundary kept things moving against some decent bowling. I was, I must admit, more Stodgy Opener than Imperious Anything, but David started to find his flow, with some powerful cover drives the highlight, and by drinks – largely thanks to him – we’d reached 70-0, needing a little over five an over from the last 20.

At which point the wheels began to wobble. I was well caught by the keeper off occasional Erratic Sean Webb, and then Birthday Boy Hailwood, relishing the chance to bat at 3 after not being called on to bowl and spending a fair chunk of the Dunsford innings in exile at deep square leg, was bowled for a duck, so completing his perfect day.

Duncan Chave joined David, who soon reached a well-deserved 50, and all seemed set fair, until David was run out, rashly attempting a wild second run that was frankly never on / sent back by Duncan despite having got three-quarters way down the track and then nearly making it all the way back again [subs please check video replay footage and amend accordingly]. Sid joined Duncan, and together they kept the score moving, although the required rate was starting to climb, through seven, into eight an over.

Dunsford’s bowlers were miserly, notably Colin Green (2-23) whose little in-duckers lured you into playing across the line, and one S. Ursell (I can’t find his first name) who bowled a heavy ball off a short run, with something of the air and appearance of a superannuated South African quick, who may no longer have the zing of his youth but has never forgotten the basics, trundling through six overs for just seven runs.

Sid perished on the attack, and Ben, enjoying a rare promotion to the dizzy heights of No. 6, launched Sean third ball into the safe hands of mid-off, and the required rate developed vertigo. Duncan, keeping his nerve throughout, started to find the boundary with his trademark legside swivels and glides through the offside, but with Kevin struggling bravely against a tight attack at the other end, the rate attained escape velocity, and we ended 27 runs short.

Thence to the Village Hall for an evening of beer and skittles, where I discovered that I could bowl after all, as long as it’s underarm along a mat, and Roshan, enjoying his first ever foray outside India, remarked that no, this wasn’t exactly what he had in mind when he’d imagined Life in England...





Dunsford Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 6 wickets
0
176 (42.0 overs)		     
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Erratics Cricket Club Erratics Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Ben Youngman6.012200.003.67
Roshan Kumar Singh10.041427.001.40
Fraser Chave11.0238138.003.45
George Cockburn5.004400.008.80
Jim Thomson6.0030130.005.00
A.N. Other4.002600.006.50

Erratics Cricket Club Erratics Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 5 wickets
0
149		        
Martin Wright Caught  20 1
David Shackleton Run out  50 7 1
Mark Hailwood Bowled  0 1
Duncan Chave Not Out  41 6
Sid Thomson Caught  18 3 1
Ben Youngman Caught  0
A.N. Other Not Out  2
Roshan Kumar Singh  
Fraser Chave  
Jim Thomson   1
George Cockburn  

Dunsford Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
No records to display.