Agricola
Thursday July 31 at Barn Elms Strollers won by two wickets Agricola 116
(18 overs; James Stubbs 3-17, Millar 3-23, Oliver 2-16, Baylis-Allen 1-19)
Strollers 120-8
(19 overs; Conrad McCroddan 44no, McMorran 30no, Broster-Turley 18no, Diaconu 11). The midweek crusade continued with a T20 at Barnes against
Agricola, on what turned out to be a fairly mild evening.
As per usual, there was significant doubt about the weather
given this is, of course, England in July. The match reporter was sat in the
office next to debutant Alex Diaconu, who was furiously checking the rain maps
for 6pm over Barnes, fuelled by first match nerves. Diaconu’s concerns about a
wet outfield and hopeful group chat messages about abandonment were fairly
transparent: he like many Strollers before him was experiencing the regret of a
booze-induced sign-up by Will Baylis-Allen a few days prior.
As with previous weeks, the WhatsApp chat comprised of no
fewer than six debutants, albeit there were 11 people committed unlike previous
weeks where we had a grand total of seven players on one occasion.
We lost the toss and fielded first. Captain Glen Oliver went to the tried and
tested duo of Freddie Broster-Turley and Richie Stubbs to open the bowling.
Freddie bowled three overs of teasing outside off-stump
pace which was arguably too good for the batsman as he could not put bat on
ball at all. Richie was perhaps less fortunate and delivered a healthy economy
of nine runs per over for his first three overs, although he was predominantly
bowling to the more competent batter.
It was quickly decided that a switch to Stubbs Jnr was in
order, as he relished the chance to ditch the wicketkeeping gloves. The first two
balls of his spell were an ode to the timeless Mitchell Johnson chant ‘he bowls
to the left, he bowls to the right…’ However, the third ball was a
bouncer which planted itself on the upper chest of the batsman. The next ball
was a wicket.
We then switched ends with the scores at 56-1 and Baylis
joined the attack in tandem with James. The latter got the second with Baylis
getting the third shortly afterwards.
Then came debutant Hector Millar. This quickly paid dividends with three
wickets in three overs, two of which were stumpings by debutant Kieran McMorran. One of which was also called as a wide, leading to a hearty debate
about the rules of game.
Oliver then claimed the remaining wickets, whilst also
getting pumped for two huge sixes. The spectators clapped and so did the large
majority of the fielders. Face was saved however by two lovely victims. The
opposition finished on 116 from 18 overs.
The batting was opened by Conrad and Laurie – the McCroddan
brothers – both debutants. They and McMorran were kindly brought along by Millar from his stable of players at Sheepscombe
Cricket Club in the Cotswolds.
Conrad McCroddan hit a sublime 44 not out, having retired
and come back in after a vintage Strollers collapse. It is worth mentioning
that James Stubbs was acting as sub-fielder for Agricola and shelled a catch
right in front of the Strollers batting line-up – a drop which raised more than
a quizzical eyebrow from the opposition captain.
A cameo of 11 from Diaconu helped us up to 27 runs before a
steady performance from McMorran with a 30 not out led us to 62-3. In
next was Jay Erakkath, who also deserves a huge amount of credit on debut as he was
sourced from a Neighbourhood Watch group chat by Richie.
We then witnessed what passers-by referred to as “grenade
toss” bowling with said grenades reaching orbit then trickling along the
ground. Oliver and Millar were both victims of the aerial bombardment with Baylis-Allen
and James Stubbs quickly following suit to slightly more conventional bowling
but equally terrible shots.
Broster-Turley came in and was soon joined by the retirees,
who got the necessary remaining runs – which looked at one point to be a tall
order with 40-odd needed from six overs.
However, some belting sixes from Freddie dispelled any
fear. We ended with a victory by two wickets. All thanks to our debutants for
making the game happen at all.
Capt and match fees: Glen Oliver. Wkt: Kieran McMorran.
Match reporter: Will Baylis-Allen.
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