Weddings, a stag do & sunny weather caused much difficulties with selection this week. Tim abdicates all responsibility to John before telling him that there are 10 players, including one dad (making his debut), Porno & Goochy (making their first appearances for a while).
Saturday morning, after a bit of gardening, John looks at his phone to find a few missed calls & many WhatsApp messages. We're down to 8 players, shall we play or shall we cancel. The risk of minus 20 points, plus financial penalties mean that we'll play on. Dicko generously gives us a player, we're up to 9.
After the hottest day of the year & a lovely morning, driving through rain to get to the ground was bit disappointing. Who's that bloke standing near our players? It's Jacob's dad &, yes, he can play for us. We're up to 10, Dad's Army is resurrected for one performance only. Captain Mainwaring is absent without leave, so Sergeant Wilson takes over.
Gt.Waltham win the toss & we are in the field. Danny & Harry open the bowling. Danny is too quick for the batsmen, the wicket keeper & the fine leg, as we let a few byes in. Harry bowls a straight one & the first wicket falls. Gt.Waltham had a batting line up that was not bad at all & it showed as they found runs quickly, scoring at 7 per over until drinks. The only break through was by Max, who bowled their skipper. Ricky & James then rolled back the years to when they used to play. Their sons were bemused/amused/amazed that their dads could actually do what they'd been telling them for years.
After drinks, first ball, Ricky struck , with a catch by Danny. Ricky & James continued to bowl well, but Gt.Waltham continued to score at a decent rate. So Sergeant Wilson brought himself on to bowl, but it was more like Corporal Jones, as the young batsman took a liking to the grenades that were pitched right in the slot for him to blast the ball to the boundary.
Eventually, after an rapid 50, Danny took another catch. Max came back on to finish off his overs & bowled well again. John picked up another couple & Max ended up with 4.
Tea - 289-9, so we got some bowling points & had a good, old fashioned cricket tea.
Jacob & Sam opened up, Sam caught trying to hit over the infield & then Jacob getting a ball that kept unfairly low. John & Ricky were in now & a few boundaries started to appear. Ricky looked like someone who used to play & it was all coming back. However, he'd never batted with John before!!! I can't work out which Dad's Army character can best sum this up, but there was definitely a moxture of Pike & Godfrey there, with a bit of Fraser thrown in too.
Ricky hits the ball past a fielder, who misfields it. Off the batsmen go as the next fielder chases the ball. John turns, like Private Godfrey, & judges that he'll make it to the danger end, so calls 'yeeeessssss'. Ricky turns once one way, then once the other way, as the ball is thrown to the end where both batsmen are heading. Ricky then turns again to get to the wicket keeper's end. The fielders throw the ball to one end, miss it & then to the wicket keeper. Ricky, in trying to get back, tangles his bat between his legs, demonstrates a perfect swallow dive, bat & hands tangled up, landing nose first on the hard ground, halfway down the wicket. He's run out & almost knocked out. I'm sure there was a cricket match in one episode of Dad's Army & it was nothing on this!
James came in & , like Ricky, showed some deft touches of his previous talent on the pitch. When James was bowled, Danny came in & was aggressive from the start. John did better than the last few weeks, but eventually edged one behind. Porno & Danny kept things going nicely towards a batting point. Porno was out, replaced by Max, who showed that his batting is improving nicely, scoring well. After Danny departed for an excellent 34, full of boundaries, Goochy stode to the crease, with the same demeanour as Warden Hodges. He showed the full face of the bat to the bowler, but couldn't save us as Max then Harry were undone by the opposition.
We did some good things & we scored more than we have done in other ganes this season. Many thanks to all who helped out today, but when that's half the team it's a bit difficult to imagine winning.
Just remember 'don't panic'
