Scorecard

Tipton St John v Erratics Cricket Club Erratics on Thu 08 May 2025 at 6.00pm
Erratics Cricket Club Lost by 17 Runs

Match report We’ll Meet Again:


Being set 128 to win felt like light relief for the Erratics. Surely a breeze! Let’s cut to the chase: it wasn’t. We fell short, and even though all results were still possible at the start of the final over, only one of them felt at all likely.

There's the summary, for our younger readers. For those who want more, here we go:

After a 2-minute silence observed by all players to reflect on VE Day, there was a fly-past by 3 vintage airplanes. This was a coincidence. Fly-pasts would persist, however, and these were not coincidences: balls flying past and over fielders, and also trickling over the boundary rope despite comedic Erratic scrambling. After 10 overs, Tipton St John has posted something like 80 for 1, and those on the fielding side were in fear of a right royal drubbing. A Tipton score the wrong side of at least 160 seemed perfectly possible, if not highly likely.

Somehow, the brakes went on. Sometimes, parsimony comes from unexpected bowling quarters, and sometimes batters seem to lose momentum of their own accord. Anyway, the newsworthy item is that George Mather secured his first wicket for the Erratics. And then with some tight death bowling from Lee Grant and Anuj Tiwari, the Tipton innings closed on a "mere" 127.

Initially, surpassing this score seemed well within our compass. With “Mighty” Martin Wright and Richard “the Gas” Lindsay at the crease, the runs flowed, with Richard in particular continuing in his “rich” vein of form. He was to be rewarded later with news of Bristol City’s 3-0 defeat by Sheffield United. As a supporter of Bristol Rovers (“the Gas”), would Rich have preferred victories for both the Erratics and Bristol City over defeats for both? We’ll never know. (However, we can be sure that the absent Mark Hailwood would have done...)

Once Rich had retired not out, on 30, and Martin had departed to a “fly-to” rather than a “fly-past” the Erratics’ batting was sadly nothing much to write home about. Despite perkin’ up towards the end, and 2 of the final 3 overs being bowled at left-handers with a tantalisingly close leg-side boundary, an Erratic victory was not to be.

But it had been a lovely evening of friendly cricket, played in gorgeous sunshine (ok, that’s hyperbole, it WAS quite dark towards the end), and both teams headed off to the pub together accompanied by the strains of a certain song made famous by Vera Lynn, sung by the VE Day picnic party on the riverside.

NB. We will indeed meet again: Sunday 6th July, same location.

Tipton St John Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
2nb 9w 11b 1lb 
for 6 wickets
23
126 (20.0 overs)		     
John Buckland Retired Not Out  32 20 6 160.0
David Thayre b  A Tiwari 5 10 1 50.0
George Prismall Retired Not Out  30 23 2 2 130.43
Patrick Smith ct  G Mather 12 26 1 46.15
Matthew Davies run out  (J Perkin) 13 14 2 92.86
Callum Whittington ct  L Grant 5 16 1 31.25
Robert Stirling lbw  F Chave 2 3 66.67
Owen Smith ct  A Tiwari 0 4 0
David Birch Not Out  1 4 25.00
Phil Wright Not Out  1 1 100
   

Erratics Cricket Club Erratics Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Anuj Tiwari4.0021210.505.25
Lee Grant4.0034134.008.50
Jon Perkin4.002400.006.00
Fraser Chave4.0017117.004.25
Matt Crawford2.00900.004.50
George Mather2.00717.003.50

Erratics Cricket Club Erratics Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
3w 3b 2lb 
for 10 wickets
8
109		        
Richard Lindsay Not Out  36 27 3 1 133.33
Martin Wright ct  P Wright 17 20 2 85.00
Matt Crawford ct  D Birch 3 6 50.0 1
Dhruba Jyoti Goswami b  M Davies 5 10 50.0 1
Oliver Kirby b  P Wright 0 3 0
George Mather st  M Davies 2 8 25.00
Jonathan Kirby ct  P Wright 0 3 0
Lee Grant ct  R Stirling 17 18 1 94.44
Anuj Tiwari b  P Wright 4 5 80.0 1
Fraser Chave ct  P Wright 10 6 1 1 166.67
Jon Perkin ct  R Stirling 7 9 77.78 1

Tipton St John Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Owen Smith4.002900.007.25
David Birch4.0120120.005.00
Matthew Davies4.001829.004.50
Phil Wright4.002054.005.00
John Buckland2.001000.005.00
Robert Stirling1.10723.506.00