The Strollers gathered, for the first time, at Lichfield
Sports Club, with side-by-side cricket fields, floodlit hockey astros and other
sports facilities available. The club is just round the corner from our
previous venue of Friary Grange School.
Wall stalwart Mark Hatton has been the groundman here for several years
and we were looking forward to experiencing his craftmanship.
There were some raised eyebrows as we watched very youthful
cricketers go through a lengthy series of training drills. I’d like to say they
were similar to the Strollers version of throwing a ball around for five
minutes before the start, but that would not be true.
Thankfully we were playing on the unpopulated far pitch. We
trooped off to Changing Room 4, or Ladies Hockey, to put on as many sweaters as
we could, under the watchful eye of David Hasselhoff. Yes, it was cold and
windy, and the forecast was not good. Skipper Alastair Macaulay agreed a 25-over
game with home captain David Craig. We lost the toss and were asked to bat
first.
Steve Rogers and Jake Helsby opened and were faced by the
brisk and accurate Asim Junaid. Steve bravely decided he was going to face most
of Junaid, which left Jake to smote several boundaries from Javad Khattack, on
his way to 30 and retiring in the fifth over.
Steve was then bowled by Khattack for a respectable 19.
Glen Oliver arrived and departed, receiving an unplayable snorter from Junaid.
Jack Le Serve and Ben Mangham were instructed to move things along. This wasn’t
easy as the Wall bowling was decent. Ben fell to Khattack for six and then Jack
retired on 30, having hit the only six of our innings.
Tom Salvesen and Isa Pandor batted well together but
boundaries were hard to come by. Tom retired on 30 in the 21st over and Jim
Hodgson, following the skipper’s instruction to get out quickly to let the
retired hitters back in, was bowled by David Craig. Isa went on to make 19 and
our innings finished on 148-5 (with three retirees who we couldn’t get back
in). Was this enough? We’d shortly find out as tea had been wisely delayed
until the end of the match.
Jo Perrin and Steph Oliver had returned from their walk to
the local cemetery, at the end of our innings, and watched us head out to field
as the heavens opened. Sensibly they retired to the clubhouse, with most of the
Wall side. Maggie made use of all available umbrellas to keep her and the scorebook
as dry as possible.
The wet, slippery ball did not help our bowling or fielding
and we dropped several catches we would have taken on a dry day. The retreating
Steph could be heard shouting ‘Catch the ball’. Heeding his wife’s advice, Glen
finally held on to one, off the bowling of Isa, sending Kev Griffiths back to
the hutch.
The other opener, Richie Buxton, carried on to 30 and
retirement. A crumb of hope was offered to us as Glen bowled Soumitra Bhattacharya for a duck, then Amit Sharma retired on 32 and Glen
bowled Laurence Skermer for 13. That was it really, as Pete Richards and Henry
Craig knocked our total off in the 19th over and we had lost by seven wickets.
Every cloud has a silver lining. Wall are among a
diminishing number of clubs who still offer tea, and what a feast they provide.
Personal highlights included coronation chicken baguettes, proper samosas and a
wonderful strawberry and cream sponge, baked by Mrs Rae Craig. David had been
given strict instructions not to bring any of it home! Help was at hand.
David said some heartfelt words on retaining the Patston/Edwards
Cup, keeping the memory of both stalwarts front and forward. The Strollers
headed to Branston and The Bridge Inn for an Italian dinner. Much wine, and
even some grappa, was taken.
Late into the evening Simon enlisted Ben and Jim
to support him singing ‘Are you lonesome tonight’, with accompanying sheet
music. This took everyone by surprise, including Jim, who really has a terrible
singing voice! Maggie, font of all Strollers knowledge, told us Simon had
performed this on the very first tour in 1977, to The Forest of Dean.
And so to bed…
Capt: Alastair Macaulay. Wkt: Jack Le Serve.
Match report: Jim Hodgson.
