The country was buzzing after England's historic win and cricket fever was at an all time high. Combine that with the appearance of that big yellow globe in the sky beaming down on us and a general lack of Vitamin D made for a huge crowd to turn up and watch Plastics CC take on Prince's Head in Richmond Green.
In typical English weather it bucketed down the night before, so the outfield was slightly damp and slow enough for our captain to send the Plastics out to field. The field itself was interesting as there were concrete paths that made for some interesting bounce. The match started out well with some tight bowling and an early wicket from Jamie Doy. Our leg spinner Joey pulled a fast one on his last delivery of the over for a clean bowl to claim our second wicket. Prince's Head knew they needed to get some runs, so they sent out their big guns who took advantage of a short boundary. That big yellow globe in the sky continued to blind the Plastics and made catching a little more difficult but after a solid partnership between Mike and Adam, both were eventually caught out by Jamie and Captain Jerry respectively. The Plastics last wicket was amazing to watch as there was a direct hit on the stumps by Joey which got a bit of a roar from the crowd. After 35 overs, Princes Head were 181 for 5. Needing 182 to win was never going to be easy but the Plastics were not going to give up without a fight. The Plastics batting started out a little conservative and our openers Anthony and Peter were picking their shots with both notching a couple of nice boundaries. Prince's Head slogger Mike had enough of this and managed to scalp both the openers after 7 overs. Saj came up next and brought some much-needed runs to keep the dream alive and for a while it didn't seem like Prince's Head had an answer for him but eventually, he was caught for 36. The wickets started to pile up for the Plastics but not without Alex and James hitting double figures first. Liam was out for a duck, Joey hit a nice boundary before being caught a ball later and the Plastics were in a bit of trouble with 7 down. Pete and Jamie were next to bat and they pulled the Plastics out of the rubble with some glorious batting. At this stage, spectators were coming over to the scoreboard to see how close the match was and praying for a super over to relive 'that' moment again. After a bit of math, the Plastics were closing down to a run a ball and the atmosphere was tense. Captain Jerry managed 24 before being bowled and soon after Pete was stumped and unfortunately injured his ankle in the process. This left it to the two tailenders John and Jamie who managed to get a couple of runs before the final over. It was down to 5 runs from 5 balls needed (or 4 for a super over) and our two tailenders Jamie and John to try and bring glory. Unfortunately, the author of this piece hooked a shot straight to fine leg for a simple but nervous catch for the Plastics to just fall short. The day may have ended with defeat, but we soon retired to the authors house for BBQ and beers until much later in the night. Unfortunately, there was no super over to be had but the day itself was superb.
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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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