Our original opponents Prestcold – some of whose lads were
away on a stag do – were unable to field a team. Simon Brodbeck worked his fixture
magic and quickly arranged for Chessington to host us at their very convenient
Sir Francis Baker recreation ground instead. That turned a long drive into a
much more convenient journey for most…although not for Tom Salvesen, who
commendably still agreed to the three-hour trek each way from Northampton to
join in the recreation.
Skipper Glen Oliver worked some magic of his own, losing
the toss but managing to hoodwink Chessington (whose Sunday cricket attire is
emblazoned “We Bat First on Sundays”) into batting first on a patchy green
wicket.
James Dela Rue took the fresh pill from the Barwell Kebab
end with the look of a man who had spent the night devouring pills and kebabs.
Freddie Broster-Turley kicked off his tidy spell from the Busy Bees Softplay
Playcentre/Clubrooms end, immediately taking advantage of the unpredictable
strip with an unplayable third delivery which seamed wildly, clipped a bail and
ran through to the boundary. He was flummoxed about the fielders cheering a
boundary, having missed the event entirely with his mind still focused on his
unorthodox run-up.
Michael Sachdeva, Chessington’s No 3, came in to steady the
ship, forming a strong partnership to see off DLR and Broster-Turley and find
his way to his half-century. DLR was politely asked by his captain to have a
rest - and sober up - after his fourth over went for four fours and five no
balls, which brought Ben Mangham in at the Barwell Kebab end to wrestle back
control.
Blair Travis hit his off-spinning straps and helped contain
the damage, coaxing the top-scoring Sachdeva into mistiming a drive in the 13th
over, which was beautifully pouched by a back-pedalling Broster-Turley at
mid-off, putting the game in the balance at 77-3.
The balance tipped in the Strollers favour the following
over when Travis took a good catch from a thick top-edge off Mangham. In fact,
Strollers fielding was generally terrific throughout the day, with the notable
exception of a butchered catch from Richard Skinner off Travis, in which
Skinner negotiated his way to the ball in time but was undone by a loosely
fitted cap and scraggly hair obscuring his view. Thankfully Steve Rogers undid
that batsman after drinks a few overs later, fighting off an arm niggle to record
delightful figures of 1-0-1-1.
Despite a fine performance behind the stumps before drinks,
George Love - who spent the day with “It’s Coming Home” rattling around his
head - was asked by his captain to give him another bowling option,
relinquishing the gloves to Hugh Martindale, who performed just as admirably
but with fewer random appeals and yelps from behind the stumps.
Salvesen combined with Skinner and together they focused on
increasing the over-rate to ensure maximum Wimbledon and Euros watching time;
Skinner battled the yips for a few overs, displaying a wide array of bowling
variations and mystery balls before discovering he could actually spin the ball
if he managed to get it to bounce, inducing Darley’s edge into Martindale’s
sticky gloves.
It soon became apparent the Strollers had cracked into the
lower order as the final four wickets fell for only one run. Salvesen made his
commute worthwhile with a terrific three-wicket maiden which had it all
(except, of course, runs): a caught, a bowled, a hat-trick opportunity, and an lbw
in which the umpire squirmed and writhed before admitting it was undeniably
plumb.
The final ball of the innings was the finest example of
village cricket since last Sunday; Gavin Stuart, Chessington’s No 11, pulled
Salvesen’s delivery to square leg, and the ball skipped off a drain cover to
bounce over DLR’s long barrier (and head).
After running one comfortably, one of the batsmen was most
of the way through his second without realising his partner was ball-watching.
Bloodcurdling screams from the bowler’s end were mistaken to be appeals until
Martindale realised a herd of cows must have made their way onto the pitch to
be loudly put to their death at the other end; he looked up to find a simple
opportunity to loft the ball to Broster-Turley and find the batsman well short
to bring the innings home: 123 off 26.5 overs.
Mike Pittams and Love kicked off the Strollers campaign,
their helmet-less approach noted as clear disrespect by the opening bowler, who
proved himself to be the better of George by whooping in an in-swinger on his
third ball to catch the inside of Love’s back thigh and send him packing for a
golden duck. Love was unimpressed, having stayed sober all weekend in
preparation for a long innings.
Martindale took the crease and partnered Pittams for a
brief spell of tense running between the wickets before Pittams shelled one to
the leg side and was taken by a good running catch at midwicket, a quick 25 off
22.
Dead areas in the pitch continued to cause trouble for the
batsmen, with Martindale taken a few overs later for eight by one that bounced
erratically, forcing an exceptional diving catch from the fielder at short cover.
Oliver and Rogers combined well to steady the ship in a 12-
over partnership which saw Rogers initially troubled by the “Stairesque”
Chessington bowler who adopted a loopy, unpredictable style which looks
enticing but undoubtedly gets a good share of catches on the boundary.
Rogers eventually realised he did not have to hit every
ball onto the road and started making good contact, including one which
absolutely rocketed into midwicket’s belly - a bruise we’ll surely still see
when we meet Chessington again next year.
Another notable event of the partnership involved one
Oliver left alone down leg to be collected by the keeper, eliciting a loud and
emphatic appeal from Love who was watching from the sidelines with a beer in
hand. Love - being the only person on earth to have heard anything - received a
filthy look from Oliver, and umpire Pittams raised his finger in jest, causing
Oliver further consternation, to the delight of all.
Meanwhile DLR, who had been asked to attend to the scoring,
was doing so like his life depended on it, though the aforementioned pills
didn’t help things; he spent half the innings trying to reconcile a single
which had gone missing somewhere - it was clearly not the Lord’s day, despite
it being the Lord’s day.
The strong Oliver and Rogers partnership was undone on 57
when Rogers (26 from 37) got rogered by a tricky outswinger to bring Travis to
the crease, the Strollers well in control at 92-4 with 14 overs left to play.
Travis clearly did not get the memo about letting the captain
get his fifty; he quickly saw himself in and set to work dispatching the loose
balls, earning 23 off 15 including the only six of the day, while Oliver
top-scored with a faultless 42 not out from 52.
This ensured victory was brought home with six wickets to
spare and in time for the team to catch the tail end of Carlos Alcaraz’s three-set
destruction of Novak Djokovic to bring home the The All England Lawn Tennis
Club Single Handed Championship of the World; though it would be remiss not to
note that these were the only two trophies brought home that day.
An exceptional day of cricket, Oliver rounding things off
with a rousing speech to celebrate Salvesen’s 100th appearance, and observing
that every Stroller - but for Love and DLR - either took a wicket or got some
runs; an issue which can only be remedied by more Saturday beers for the former
and fewer for the latter.
Top honours go to Chessington for hosting at late notice,
and we’re all looking forward to this fixture becoming a regular one in seasons
to come.
Capt: Glen Oliver. Wkt: George Love/Hugh
Martindale.
Match fees: Simon Brodbeck. Match report: Richard Skinner.
