3rd XI v Basildon & Pitsea 3rd XI
The 3s found themselves on the road for the first time this season, bags packed, they had a date in sunny Bas-Vegas. Rumours are that Yeatesy was so thrilled by the trip, he stopped off and saw all the tourist attractions the town had to offer. First up was the famous Basildon sign, then the architecture, the Yeeter does love himself a bit of concrete.
Upon arriving at the ground, the general feeling was awe at how Basildon had somehow missed out on the rain, and had for one day at least turned into the driest part of the U.K. With the Racing Pigeon running late, his journey being twice the length of the others due to having to avoid speed cameras, Yeatesy filled in for the toss. Totham found themselves bowling first, there was plenty of optimism going into the game. This ended when the news of Jacob running late, as the 3s legend Goochy had taken a detour as he knew the area better than his satnav.
All 11 players did finally find themselves on the field, and with the fan club on the sides still moaning about technology, the game started. Max Clarke was given the new ball and seemed shocked that he had found himself as the main man. 10 tight overs from Max and Sam saw Basildon and Pitsea struggling to score runs, with Max bowling the opener with a ball that moved nicely. After the first 10, Jack decided that he wanted to make the game a little more difficult for himself, on came RK, a man who famously doesn’t have a working shoulder. The pressure remained high on the batsmen, Yeatesy finished his 9 overs only conceding the 12 runs, while RK managed to pitch one straight and took the outside edge of the other opener.
After 20 overs Totham were feeling comfortable, the score stood at 53-2. Some tight bowling from Archy proved that pace off was the way to go on this deck, picking up a wicket as a reward for his hard work. With Archy bowling tightly, the other end saw the majority of the runs, with the Basildon and Pitsea number 4 scoring an entirely leg side 50. Late in the game PQ was desperate to prove that older brother DQ was past it, steaming in off the long run he had his man, arms in the air sprinting off on his own, Stuart Broad would have been proud. The rest of the game is probably better off ignored, so if you’re a fan of cricket you might want to close this tab now. The Game had started to get away from totham a little bit, with the B&P captain playing some genuine shots, so the Rigeon brought himself on to bowl, straight out of the JD text book. The innings finished up with the B&P captain doing his best to throw it away, being dropped once, then stumped. With his bat under his arm he marched off towards the changing room, only turning back when the square leg umpire gave his not out verdict. The stumping was so far out, even Goochy had given it from his van. The sportsman Mark out the window, the innings finally drew to an end. The 3s requiring 178 to win, a tough ask for the depleted side, but possible as long as they don’t pull a Totham on it.
The youthful duo of Jimmy Hay and Jacob Slater looked to guide the 3s on the way to a big W, seeing off the new ball without any issues. All was going well until Jimmy tried to open up the arms only finding the man at mid off. Jacob fell shortly after and this triggered something that I wouldn’t even call a collapse, the only thing as poor as the 3s reply, was Spurs’ attempt at achieving Europa league football. Totham were all out for 46, the pub was not calling.
Player of the Match: Jacob Slater
Bunnest Performance: Jack Ridge
