The best thing about "social cricket" is that it isn’t about the result of the game (especially when your team is not very good) it's about all the things around the game - the venue, the opposition, the luncheon, the cheers and jeers, the near misses and the swinging sixes, the weather and the drinks in the pub afterwards. Crossbats CC, Marble Hill Park and our game against them on 11th of May 2019 perfectly describes all those aspects of the "social" game.
A glorious day in May 2019 saw bright conditions, but with the chance of a light afternoon shower predicted. The spritely march from Richmond station to Marble Hill Park provides a nice warmup for anyone who choses it. Passing the quaint houses enroute and a chance to cross over The Thames further enhances the experience. Marble Hill Park is the best kind of English parkland - a wide open space - trees surrounding it, some sort of ancient Lodge building to one end and a small cafe/gatehouse to the other. The right kind of weekend walkers with their well-behaved children and dogs enjoying the day. The pitch is the less typical council concrete track but as a whole the venue provides all that is needed at this level. A pleasant bunch from Crossbats arrived, greetings were exchanged, coins were tossed and decisions were made. Crossbats to bat first - a chance for us to pin them back to a target and then hopefully chase it down! The astroturfed track was particularly unforgiving for the bowlers giving a pretty straight and true account of the ball for the batsmen to keep a steady eye on. Some tidy opening bowling from medium pace Papa and Loopy drops from Freeman, good field positioning and a long boundary thwarted a quicker rise in the total. Crossbats Skinner certainly looked at ease at the wicket. With the score ticking up and the overs ticking over a change in the bowling brought on Sandham for a spell. Again tight bowling on the wickets kept the batsmen on the back foot until a ball caught on the astroturf, sat up and was chipped back down the track to the Bowler. The ball seemed to hang for an age before plopping into the reaching hands of Sandham for a much needed C&B wicket. Armytage was sharing the bowling duties at this time to - his fast pace testing the batsmen but the track was too true for anything too dangerous to come off. Sandham took another wicket, bowling Alexander as he took a wild swing at a ball that kept low and turn in a good 20' to take his off stump. What had been a lovely blue and white sky started to take a much darker turn and the indicated 50/50 chance of rain rapidly upped. What started out as a few spots quickly descended into a full on lashing with wind, rain and dark clouds rapping down on the pitch. The teams were initially too brave (or stupid) to run for cover but as conditions worsened a quick sprint to the boundary was needed to retrieve umbrellas. Conditions looked bleak. But as the mood was, literally and metaphorically, being dampened the clouds cleared and the rain stopped and a gentle breeze returned. The teams retook the field under damp conditions but the sun helped to dry out the track. Jamieson took a spell of bowling to offer some variety and whistled a few past the noses of the batsman - just to keep them on their toes as they closed in on the end of the 35 overs. He took an important wicket too - characteristically smashing the stumps to the ground. The final overs saw Bradbury join the attack again blowing good and straight to keep the batmen pegging in but as the field grew tired (Plastics were only 10 men) the batsmen could open up a bit more and a few 4s started to come the score climbing steeper. Again Sandham took a final wicket off some steady balls - edged into Wicket Keeper Mortimer. Crossbats were at 170 for 4 off 35 overs. Regrouping at lunch saw the Plastics drilled into taking a steady approach from the off. Staying in a ticking over might see the game within reach. Clever heads and sturdy bats were needed. The Bishop brothers marched out to the crease to see if they could soak up overs from Crossbats top bowlers and see their way to a tidy early score. In a strategic move not seen since the D-Day landings Crossbats played a master stroke and started with perhaps not their strongest opening bowlers. Perhaps in an effort to lull the Bishops into a false sense of security only to pounce later. It worked! Robert Bishop, after a few clever singles, looped one back to the bowler for a diving C&B by Ross, Then Pete Bishop, after playing some nice shots but not being able to reach the boundary, took his eye of the ball to be bowled by Humphrey. Gillan was in early, Looked at ease only to be caught out easily and a nervous looking Mortimer took his time to get his eye in, before he calmed down and got a chance to play some lovely cricket shots before again seeing a big shot, swinging and looking back to see his wicket taken by Skinner. Bradbury entered the field, and using his ex-captains head, attempted to calm the game down. But overs were disappearing and runs were not forthcoming. The youngsters of Armytage and Jamieson were dispatched by the Skinners both chasing runs and an ever desperate rate. The Crossbats strategy was paying off. Their better bowlers had claimed the Plastics middle order with ease. Papa entered, only to return with only a single to his name - but deserved more. Bradbury and Sandham faced a tough task to see off the last of the better bowlers. Bradbury was set and ticking over, Sandham defended his wicket against some quick bowling. The worst of it was over - but the run rate was low. Too low? As the late afternoon settled in so did Bradbury and Sandham. Trying to dig out those all-important runs. But damn those boundaries were far away. What should have be 4s were only 2s, What could have been 6s didn’t reach, not wanting to take too many risks what should have been doubles only drew singles. To the final few overs the target looked further away, but the batsmen looked set. A battle between chasing the target, and not being out played on the minds. The last few balls came. Singles were run. The game was lost. Oh what a shame the crowd cheered. What could have been closer was in the end far away. Plastics XI scored 139 for 7 off 35 overs Crossbats CC won by 31 runs Check out the highlights here:
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
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
Categories |