The sun was beating down in the leafy suburb of Richmond and England were closing in on an inspiring victory over India, could the Plastics show the same level of inspiration. In the shadow of an English heritage site and under a tree hiding from the sun, the Plastics gathered readying themselves for their latest challenge. An artificial pitch awaited, a lush outfield and an opportunity for a big total. A rare moment for the Plastics, a victory at the toss and an even rarer decision for us to bat first was made by the man who called a 50-50 chance right for the first time in what seems an age. 35 overs aside agreed and so the opening partnership of Captain and Keeper began.
Some fortune favoured the opening pair, both being dropped in the slip cordon meant that Plastics were unscathed for the first 7 overs, but going at a run rate that would have made Alistair Cook and Jonathan Trott proud. 7 Overs gone, Plastics were 14-0. Then the pain struck the captain, again chopping on to his stumps - the worst way to get out, yet the Skipper's favourite way it would appear. Skipper scoring a steady 9 from 28 balls. The usually conservative Mr Robert made his way out and my eyes were stunned to see something I thought totally impossible, Mr Robert hitting the ball to the boundary off of his first ball. A couple of balls later, he was flogging the ball to the boundary once again, striking at 200. Usual service resumed fairly swiftly afterwards and after only 10 balls at the crease, Mr Robert went expansive and found his stumps being dislodged. 27-2 in the 11th. So comes the time of the explosive middle order and the King of this order, Alex Webster I. Alex took his time scoring only 4 off of his first 8 balls, a leisurely strike rate of 50. Then came over number 14, 11 off of it and the scoring rate moved on. 48-2 off 14. Over 16 yielded 14 runs, the batsmen taking a liking to the bowler Humphrey. Some good scoring saw us get to drinks without anymore loss of wickets and Plastics went to drinks 81-2, not the run rate expected on an artificial pitch with small boundaries. What could be done? After a couple steady overs, Crossbats looked back to their very economical opener to strangle the runs and take over the game totally, this turned out to be a minor mistake. Very admirable figures of 4-1-5-0, became 5-1-24-0 and momentum moved across to the batsmen. 5 overs after drinks Maithri was caught out for a steady 25, but the score was now 133-3 off of 25 overs. A powerful 52 runs in 5 overs for the loss of one wicket, Plastics started to look scarily like a team that could bat quickly. A special note to a great partnership of 102 for the third wicket. 10 Overs remained, any ODI fans out there know, 10 overs remain, 7 wickets in hand, surely another 100 runs can be added to the total… John, playing in his first full game for the Plastics came and went in style, that style being trying to hit every ball out of the ground, 4 off 6 balls. Whilst Alex was notching up a Plastics maiden century then retiring, via a handy drop on 99, emulating a certain scenario against Octopus CC, Jamie steadily made his way to 1 and out. The cameos began with a 7 from 4 balls for the Evil Twin showing how much he wished to outdo Mr Robert. Then the Plastics overseas player walks to the crease, living up to his credentials of all-or-nothing. New batsmen and a new bowler, let battle commence. This battle however only lasted 5 balls, 18 runs and a wicket, including a rather lusty blow for 6 over the only place Joey knows where to hit the ball - mooooo. With the overseas player gone, our very own Eton alumni walks to the crease hoping to emulate Joey and he really did his best, three beautiful fours then a caught and bowled led to the true tail of Plastics in Webb and Freeman, a dynamic 10 and 11. However Matt failed, Alex then insisting on coming back to the crease to try and finish the innings off. A couple of big blows and attempts at some crazy shots got 12 from the final over. Plastics posted 219, their highest score and Alex finished with a scratchy but all together effective 113. Now how would Plastics go about defending this?? A good first over from Matt Webb meant that a maiden was achieved for the bowler, a sneaky bye had been taken, then the first wicket went down. Freeman luring the batsman into a false sense of security with a long hop, followed by a wide, then the next long hope found the fielder, all within the plan. Then the plan went wrong, all the bowlers struggled to find the right length to bowl on a very bouncy pitch, the ball sat up a lot and the batsman made great use of this. Freeman and Jamieson going at around 6 runs an over for their first 4 or 5 overs. Jamie proving expensive in his two, a very rare scenario. Crossbats raced to 78 off 11 overs, Plastics were struggling. It was only through the tight bowling of Joey, getting a good amount of turn and bounce on this track and the self-proclaimed ‘most efficient’ bowler of the team, Evil Twin - a claim that the Evil one would regret in the following days after the game. The opening bat brought up his 50 and then decided to hit a long hop straight down the throat of Alex at midwicket, the 2nd wicket partnership worth 116, costly. Drinks were then taken and Plastics started to go on the attack. Getting the incoming batsman out in short time, the Plastics could get themselves back into the game here - unfortunately due to some miscounting Joey was brought off without a full spell being bowled, but with two wickets to his name. The Evil Twin came back to remove the number three for a very in-control 64. A good throw led to a run out and the opposition on 171 – 5, Plastics could defend this. Some tight overs from John, in his first game, only conceding 8 from 2 overs, meant the screw was tightened. Unfortunately, a wayward over from Mr Webb and Jerry meant the opposition had got their way to 206, even the attempts of Maithri coming from behind the stumps to bowl and the ‘most economical bowler of the team’ could not stop the runs being scored. Overall, a big congratulations to Alex for scoring Plastics first century, even if it took a bit of luck. A lot of lessons learnt and I understand solid drinks after the game.
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THE TEAMFormed from a collection of players who met on the internet via social cricket at Archbishop's Park, Plastics XI represents the foolhardy members of that group who decided they wanted a bash at proper cricket instead of playing with plastic balls. The team's ability is best described as "weak-weak". Luckily, our social media game is much stronger. Find us on: Archives
October 2021
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