Tilburg Regents
Sunday May 28 at Dulwich Sports Ground Strollers lost by six wickets Strollers 93
(15.2 overs; Broster-Turley 26no)
Tilburg Regents 96-4
(15.2 overs; Oliver 2-13, Broster-Turley 1-9, Josh Shattock 1-15) It was a game of two halves. The first eminently
forgettable and the second much better - but too little too late.
Freddie Broster-Turley was the only one who turned up –
literally true at the 6pm start time and metaphorically true with the
bat. Being the only one there, he won the toss and decided to bat in
the hope that at least one more Stroller would arrive imminently – then, like
buses, they all came in a bunch.
We have seen this before but the DSG Gallery Road pitch had
variable bounce, with some grubbers and head-height scary ones. The
Strollers duly demonstrated its demons by none of the top six getting into
double figures.
In a masterclass demonstrating this, Kevin Patterson (4)
chipped a bouncy short one to point while Hetu Shah (5) hooked hard at another
lifting delivery and skied a top edge - which was surprisingly caught over his
shoulder by their rather good keeper. For all the money, most thought he had no
chance of even getting close!
Other than their first use of the variable pitch, the
Tilburg bowling was not unplayable, but they did resort to the dirty underhand
trick of occasionally bowling a straight one. Brad Trebilcock (6)
countered this with a couple of classic “forward defensive” cross-batted swipes
before missing a cunning on-target delivery. Josh Shattock (4) similarly
did not last long – cleaned out by a good yorker and John Low (0) trudged back
to the pavilion next ball.
This left Glen Oliver to face the hat-trick ball with 10
men within 10 yards! As I recall, he casually clipped it for a single –
but my memory is fading – whatever, he survived. Sadly, not for
long.
Glen departed for seven, clubbing another straight one to
long-off followed shortly after by Mike Shattock (2). Mike ‘selflessly’
sacrificed his wicket by missing another straight one in order to get Freddie
to the crease.
Freddie then showed the rest of us how to do it by showing
no respect and clubbing some long straight sixes before having to retire on 26
off about 10 balls.
With little resistance from the tail - James Stubbs (6)
stumped, Will Baylis-Allen (9) caught and Alastair Macaulay (0) - the Strollers
were all out for just 93 off just 15 overs. Oh dear. Worth a mention in
dispatches is Mr Extras who contributed 24 - a quarter of our total!
All was not lost and 93 was defendable (maybe). And
this is where the second half (almost) sprang to life.
The Strollers opening bowlers bowled fast and straight –
exploiting the variable bounce and looked genuinely threatening. Hetu
(3-0-9-0), Freddie (3-0-9-1), Will (3-0-29-0) and Josh (3-1-20-1) bowled fast
and repeatedly beat the bat – but for little reward.
Against some quite hostile bowling, Kevin did a sterling
job keeping with the pink ball swinging on this unpredictable pitch. Josh, when
he found his radar (gone missing since last playing more than once a season five
years ago) sent their opener's middle stump cartwheeling – a lovely sight –
although he nearly cleaned up Kevin with the bail!
Glen (2-0-13-2) then also cunningly bowled straight and the
champagne moment (well, almost) was when he was ramped for four (the first time
in 40 years of cricket – so he says…but was he really playing aged X (fill your
own number in here!).
This moment was made extra special by the sound of the ball
clipping the stumps on its way past with the bails un-moved. Slow-motion
replays from Kevin’s helmet-mounted GoPro showed the ball passing through the
stumps! It’s worth a look - Glen has posted highlights on the Facebook page [Fleet Street Strollers Cricket Club | Facebook]
...or Sky Sports...or somewhere. It was, sadly, too little too
late.
Stair rounded off our bowling, returning 1.2-0-16-0. Having
valiantly defended our low total for almost exactly the same number of balls
faced (15.2 overs) we had to concede defeat.
Spectators enjoying this lovely evening, if not the
standard of cricket, in this very picturesque setting with Dulwich Gallery as a
backdrop, included Simon Brodbeck, Richie Stubbs and Brad Trebilcock's partner
Sarah. Fortunately, The Half Moon pub in Herne Hill was close by and Stollers
decamped there to drown their sorrows.
Capt: Freddie Broster-Turley. Wkt: Kevin Patterson.
Match fees: Glen Oliver. Match report: Mike Shattock.
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