Agricola
Thursday July 11 at Barn Elms Strollers lost by 32 runs Agricola 131-4 (20 overs; Oliver 1-6, Squires 1-19, Broster-Turley 1-21, Findlay 1-22) Strollers 99 (15.4 overs; Oliver 23, Love 14, Squires 10. Extras 22) Pity your poor correspondent who has slaved for over two
weeks to try to create a narrative for this game that might emulate the
wondrous flights of literary fancy that have elevated so many recent Strollers
match reports into an art form. However, in the event prosaic reality sadly
prevailed and a recital of events will have to suffice.
After a two-week break – the general election having
stymied the previous week’s game – Strollers gathered at Barn Elms somewhat
keen to get back into their stride, though with not enough keenness to be able
to muster the full 11. As the customary internecine WhatsApp banter had
revealed during the day, we could only muster nine men and despite late
scratching around this number failed to improve. After the late arrival of the
kit for the last game, some overcompensation resulted in two kits being on site
as Glen Oliver had brought the weekend kit along ’Just in case’. Two extra men
might have been more useful.
With a so-far sunny evening but with storm clouds ominously
looming in the distance, Agricola unsurprisingly elected to bat and the
Strollers took the field with two borrowed fielders. Opening bowlers Freddie
Foster-Turley and Mike Pittams settled into their stride and the two combined
for the first wicket at 22 with Mike at mid-off taking a brilliant diving
catch off Freddie to dismiss the No 2 Craig. Thereafter wickets were hard to
come by and runs began to accumulate, with catch-inducing short balls from
Pittams off a bare hard pitch falling frustratingly into unmanned areas of the ground,
despite the constant ministrations of fielding czar Oliver.
Opener Aman continued to accumulate, retiring at 25. The
second wicket did not fall until 47 to a Freddie catch off accurately flighted
bowling from first-timer James Squires (a late recruit via Richie Stubbs) who belied
his claim not to have played a single game for 15 years.
However, this was to be the last wicket for most of the
innings as No 4 Sam ploughed on, helped by some frustrating not-quite catches,
finally retiring at 30 with a six off his last ball. Pete Robertson and
Scott Findlay took over bowling duties and helped keep things under control but
further wickets did not fall until Blair Travis and Oliver took one apiece
towards the end with Agricola’s No 5 Michael ending on 23 not out
contributing to a final total of 131.
This would normally be a very gettable target but with only
nine batters and storm cloud induced gloom descending it proved difficult
from the start. This was especially so as Agricola cannily confined themselves
to slow loopy bowling which, with a tight off-side fielding cordon, made the
necessary boundaries hard to come by.
George Love and Travis opened solidly until Love was caught
for 14 and Travis enticed out of his crease for a stumping for eight.
Squires and Low accumulated with ones and twos but subsequently fell being
bowled with Low playing all round a straight one.
All then depended on titan batters Pittams and Oliver with
a desperate need for at least one to get to the magic 25 not out to enable
some quick recycled batting at the end of the innings.
However, Pittams quickly fell, going for a big hit, from a
brilliant catch on the long-on boundary. Oliver steadily accumulated but
his promising late spurt of boundaries was cruelly cut short going for the
long-on big hit which would have brought the magic 25 up – again another good
catch in the gloom. Meanwhile Foster-Turley and Robertson kept up their ends up
but with their wickets the short tail abruptly fell well short of the target at
99.
Bloodied, but unbowed after possibly our worst evening
result in years, the team repaired to the Red Lion, along with Glen’s mother
Jan, who had graced the match as part of her regular tour of duty in the UK to
make sure the proper standards of cricket expected back home were being
properly maintained in the Old Country.
Let’s hope we lived up to them… Capt and wkt: George Love. Match fees: Richard Keightley. Match report: John Low.
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