Bledlow Ridge
Sunday April 26 in Bledlow Ridge Strollers lost by 17 runs Bledlow Ridge 195
(33 overs; Shah 3-14, Macaulay 2-12, Rogers 2-16, Salvesen 2-52, Pandor 1-44)
Strollers 178
(34.4 overs; Shah 63, Broster-Turley 24, Shattock 13, Travis 13, Salvesen 12, Trebilcock 10)
Holding the Ridge was the aim of the final Sunday
cricket in April. After last year’s
glorious victory, the pressure was on. Following a week of tough selection for
the match manager, a bowling attack like no other was presented.
The sky was full of sunshine over the ever so pitch-perfect
Bledlow Ridge ground. Freddie Broster-Turley opened the bowling, trying to
swing and bounce his way into wickets. It was not meant to be, as Isa Pandor
would be the first to claim a victim from the other end, making the batter chop
it on to his own stumps.
After the opening spells, Tom Salvesen said that it was his
turn to take a wicket; he took two. One straight through the batter and
other which was hit so high that when Steve Rogers caught it out in the
deep, the ball was ice cold from being in the air for so long – a very
non-Stroller-like catch. Rogers then bowled the next batter.
Runs were aplenty for Bledlow Ridge as their first
four batsmen went for a combined 164 runs.
Then debutant Hetu Shah took over. After weeks of talk
about the ability of Shah, it was put to bed as the next three
wickets were taken by his pace and outstanding fielding. Freddie plucked
the first ball out of the air taking a lovely catch; second was clean bowled;
and the third was caught by the other debutant Gavin Bewick, crossing his arms
over each other to create a basket to retain the ball.
Alastair Macaulay came in to clean up the tail, taking
the eighth and tenth wicket, one caught by Broster-Turley again and another
bowled straight through the stumps. The ninth wicket was taken by captain
Rogers, who made the batter nick the ball through to keeper Hugh Martindale. He
was not interested in catching the ball and so flicked it to first slip Blair
Travis, who claimed it easily. The target was set – 196 runs to win.
Teas were aplenty this Sunday, a roast chicken and a honey-roasted
ham, followed by sponge cake. A top three contender for teas of the season
and hard to beat. It’s important to bat second when a tea like that is on
offer.
Travis and Shah opened the batting for the Strollers. It
was said that Travis had spent the winter in the wine regions of Italy and
France, working on his cool calm collective mind, while Shah has been dedicated
to his indoor cricket form, smashing 300 balls a day to keep his eye in. Travis
would be the first to fall, misjudging a ball that he had seen so often but could
not dispatch – out for 13.
Captain Rogers was next in and it was my first time seeing
the man so high in the order, unsure if this decision was from sheer desperation
or intent that runs were to be had. But Rogers departed for eight. This should
have allowed big hitter Hugh Martindale to take control and score some of the
runs that Shah was dining out on. However, this was not to be as a
duck flew in front of Martindale, followed by him walking back to the
clubhouse.
Brad Treilcock and his new cricket shoes were next; who
knows what was going to happen here? With the wise words of master Glen
bouncing around in his head, speaking like Obi-Wan Kenobi to young Luke, Brad
managed to block four balls before he had enough of scoring ones and twos
like previous games and dispatched the bowler for a boundary. The roar from the
clubhouse was similar to Headingley 2019, when Ben Stokes won the game for
England. Brad has just scored double his batting average from last year in one
ball.
Meanwhile, Shah was still dining out on runs but unfortunately
bit off more than he could chew and scooped one out to the boundary where the
fielder took a very nice catch. Broster-Turley would be Trebilcock’s next
batting partner, scoring a quick 24 runs before losing his wicket to a ball too
straight for Freddie’s slash.
As batters were fading under the pressure and the required
runs per over were mounting, Salvesen would be next, playing beautiful cricket
shots around the park, just popping them off his bat like he was thinking about
what pint he would choose to drink that night instead. Yet this
performance was short-lived; Salvesen was out for 12.
During this time, Trebilcock was facing more balls
than he had in the whole of last season, running the singles, keeping the
scoreboard ticking over, and top-edging it to the boundary for four.
The frustration of the opposition mounted as Trebilcock settled
in for the long haul of winning the game for the Strollers. But Bledlow brought
their new spinner on, which was too much for young Trebilcock, out for 10, the
same amount of runs for the entire previous season.
Bewick and Mike Shattock were the second-last partnership.
With the game in the balance there was still hope. Bewick and Shattock were
turning the strike over well, using their chemistry that they had established
over their long working career together. However, this was not meant to be –
Bewick out for six and Shattock for 13.
The last hope of Pandor and Macaulay was upon us. With
so much experience at the crease between these two, there was little reason to
worry. Bledlow Ridge’s bowling attack had faded, the ball dull, the pitch as
flat as a pancake, runs were to be scored to retain the Ridge for the
Strollers. However, Strollers were all out for 178, 17 runs short of
the target.
The selection, team culture, coaching staff, and the
number of New Zealanders in the team, were all questioned in the post-match
press conference as to the reason for the first Strollers loss of the
summer.
Capt and match fees: Steve Rogers. Wkt: Hugh Martindale.
Match report: Brad Trebilcock.
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