The Strollers made their annual pilgrimage to West
Chiltington, seeking to regain the coveted Marshall Cup they last held in 2019.
Glen Oliver, holding the captaincy reins for the fixture,
won his third successive toss and sent the home side into bat under overcast
skies at the West Chiltington Recreational Ground. The Strollers side featured
two debutants, Australians Sean Bourke and Steve Wilson, both playing their first
cricket games in many years.
James Dela Rue and Hetu Shah opened the bowling, hitting
their lines and lengths from the off. Shah was rewarded with an early wicket, Jack
Woodage being caught sharply at slip by Michael Pittams. Dela Rue’s rotten luck
continued however, producing multiple chances in his spell which were shelled
by the fieldsmen. With the fielders seemingly having an uncanny ability to drop
catches from his bowling, Dela Rue may need to consider targeting the stumps to
secure his first wicket of the season.
Ben Mangham replaced Dela Rue and immediately was into the
wickets, continuing his marvellous form this season. He snared the wicket of No
3 Tom Page, who skied one and was caught by Shah. West Chiltington opener Alex Tatchell
took advantage of the two early reprieves, smashing the ball around on his way
to 85, before being caught by Dela Rue in the deep off Mangham’s bowling.
Steve Rogers, another having a fabulous season with the
ball, was into his work early, on his way to three wickets, finishing with the
astonishing figures of 5-1-5-3. Namesake Wilson also got through five overs and
was finding his rhythm after some early looseners.
West Chiltington veteran Terry Beeks looked to be steadying
the ship for the home side after Rogers’ breakthroughs, but his resistance was
brought to an end by a spectacular long range direct hit run out from a
bloodied Bourke in the deep. Bourke’s commitment to the cause could not be
questioned, literally bleeding for the club in the opening overs, having opened
up a nasty wound on his knee with a diving save.
Thankfully someone in the clubrooms was able to locate an
eye patch bandage, which worked surprisingly well, and Sean was back on the
pitch soon after. However, his cricket trousers will likely not see another
day, with another pair successfully ordered from Vinted on the train home.
Alastair Macaulay finished the job for the Strollers with
two late wickets, West Chiltington finishing on 200 all out in the 37th over.
The tea was fantastic, as always at West Chiltington. A
lovely spread including three types of sandwiches, sausage rolls, flavoured
mini sausages, pasta, cakes, pastries and salad. This is where Oliver’s
unexpected toss win paid dividends, allowing the Strollers bowlers to gorge
themselves with second and third helpings of the outstanding platter, trusting
that the batsmen would at least survive long enough to allow their food to
digest.
This trust looked somewhat misplaced however, when Pittams
nicked off to the first ball of the Strollers innings. West Chiltington slipper
Woodage performed a juggling act before eventually pouching it.
Strangely, it seemed that the person with most faith in
Pittams’ batting was the No 3 batsman, Rob Wall, who was in no way ready to
face the second ball of the innings. After minutes of desperate scrambling
around, Wall eventually sauntered to the crease to join Bourke with the task of
steadying the ship.
Bourke and Wall indeed steadied the vessel, defending the
good balls and dispatching the loose ones. Bourke, playing his first game in
ten years, made a swashbuckling 25 from 20 balls, including a massive six back
over the bowler’s head. Along with Wall he put on a 50-run partnership to get
the Strollers back on track. Bourke was caught after the ball rebounded up from
his foot, which brought Brad Trebilcock to the crease.
Trebilcock, chasing his fourth successive personal best this
season, had the added incentive of having his curry at the Red Chilli later in
the evening being bought for him by Wall, should he reach the lofty score of
26.
Trebilcock started positively, smashing two boundaries and
was defending stoutly (seemingly inspired by Oliver’s repeated calls of “TELL
IT” – whatever that means), racking up a new best score of 16 before being
bowled by the loopy spin of Beeks. While it was not enough for him to obtain
the esteemed free curry, he can proud of his efforts and surely is short odds
for the Strollers’ most improved player of the season.
This brought to the crease the main man Oliver, who has
been in splendid form this season. Right from the get-go Glen was into it,
smashing the West Chiltington bowlers around the park and dealing astutely with
the tricky spin of Beeks and Jon Denton.
Unfortunately, Wall was not dealing with this slow bowling
as elegantly, managing to desperately flop back into his crease after charging
Denton to avoid a stumping but was then trapped plumb in front shortly after.
Wall, out for a well-made 41, had done his job at the top, however, which
brought debutant Wilson to the crease with the score at 93-4, the game in the
balance.
Wilson looked to be finding his range with the bat after a
three-year hiatus, smashing a couple of fours through the offside before his
eyes lit up at another Beeks special. The ball turned past the bat of a
charging Wilson, bowling him, the Strollers falling to 116-5.
Oliver continued his onslaught, however, having no such
problems with the guile of the bowlers, patiently waiting for the ball to
arrive at his bat.
Rogers joined him at the crease and played some glorious
strokes to see the Strollers home in style. A fabulous partnership between
these two – Oliver finishing with 67 not out from 43 balls, including seven fours and three
maximums, while Rogers made 31 not out.
When Rogers smashed a four off the last ball of the 32nd
over, the Strollers had obtained that elusive victory, their first over
West Chiltington for seven years. The after-match and cup presentation ensued
thereafter, where some drinks and pleasantries were shared with the hospitable opposition
before the Strollers embarked on their travels back home…via the Red Chilli for
some.
Capt: Glen Oliver. Wkt: Rob Wall.
Match fees: Brad Trebilcock. Match report: James Dela Rue.
