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| v HOUNSLOW LEISURE, 17TH JUNE 2014 |
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RICK'S VIEW. |
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The evening started well, with Roy arriving on time for a game for the
very first time, well done Roy, unfortunately, the oppo couldn't convince anyone from Spelthorne Sports Club to
actually allow us onto the premises causing Darth to undertake a tricky reverse parallel parking manoeuvre down a
dual carriageway (Steve’s fun did not end here). Eventually, we were allowed in and changed outside, to open the
gate and the club house was clearly far too challenging…fortunately the sight of so many naked men did not appear
to distract drivers on the nearby main road! |
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I'm not sure what happened at the toss, but we'll assume Barry was
unsuccessful and the hosts opted to bat first, after some debate about which of the 3 wickets we should be playing on,
our bowlers clearly did not understand that we were on the middle of the three, frequently aiming at the two wickets
either side.....wides scored well for Hounslow! On an interesting wicket, we bowled well for 18 overs, restricting
Hounslow to 117-6, Will Spry taking 2 more wickets (where did this chap come from), Alok 1, your reporter for the
evening managed to bowl two straight long hops which were politely missed and one run out. Mention here to the oppo's,
Insane/suicidal/insert appropriate word running, fortunately for them, similar to the Lords outfield this was not!
Darth’s day of entertainment continued as he decided to head a ball rather than catch it, presumably inspired by
Paul's World Cup Sweepstake. |
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A quick turnaround and Darth and Adam strode to the wicket, some helpful
wicketkeeping and a masterclass of skillfull batting (best Richie Benaud impression) from Steve picking the gaps
at will got us off to a decent start. Adam then holed out to mid off, bringing Barry to the crease, this led to
Steve deciding that better to hit out than be given a heart attack running with Barry.....he was subsequently out quite
swiftly. Now, as I understand it, we’ve been playing this lot for years, so you can imagine our surprise as they
began to put a plan in place against Barry, bowl short and wide, and leave no one at third man - because Barry never scores
there. This error was made and 10 runs later rectified, with every change of bowling...... |
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Rich Abigail and Barry took the score to 55-3 from 9, well placed.
Your reporter had a few horrible swipes at a loopy spinner, connecting with one, missing many more, to leave Vijay and
Barry 32 to get from 5/6 overs. At some point between this and the last over Steve decided to teach Roy a new signal, 'One Short',
Vijay the culprit. We reached the final over requiring 8 runs from 6 deliveries, 3 quick twos and a couple of swipes
left 2 remaining with one ball to go..... Vijay drilled it straight back over the bowlers head, the scampered two....the crowd went
mad, then.... what’s that Steve? One short?, again?.....Vijay the culprit, again.....so off we trudged, 4th tie in two years -
almost enough for an ICC investigation [Ed comment - in unrelated news Steve Meyler seems to have a lovely new car
just delivered from India]. |
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A fun game, making the mooch to France well worth it. We shall not mention the fact
that yours truly was no balled (2 runs) for a waist high full toss - seems the rules are different in Sunbury to everywhere else in the world!
A shout also to the fine jug avoidance from Barry ending the match with what should have been a match winning 49no... Magnificent effort that....
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