Match: 06 / 120
Lost by 5 wkts
Team |
Total |
FFTMCC |
93 |
I.
Howarth 30, M. Westmoreland 27 |
|
|
|
Cholsey CC |
94 - 5 |
A.
Mann 2 - 16, S. Dobner
2 - 26 |
For the first time since the
Great Cheese Robbery of 1962, controversy has come to the sleepy Oxfordshire
village of Cholsey. The result of the important Sunday fixture between the
local side and a Mad XI has been overshadowed by allegations that the
visiting team were deliberately poisoned before the start of play. “This was a crucial game for
us,” said MAD skipper I. Howarth. “It was important to build on last week’s
win against Wootton & Boars Hill with a second victory, but what happens?
We turn up to Cholsey and cop it in the gut.” The MAD are joined at the pub by baby
Calypso (inset). Unconfirmed reports indicate
that a number of Mad players made a short stop at The Red Lion in Cholsey
before the start of the game, where they were offered brown-coloured drinks
to quench their thirst. Shortly afterwards, the players began to complain of
feeling woozy and tired. Soon they were staggering about, disoriented and
ill, or else slurring and muttering incomprehensible nonsense. Yet oddly,
when the team arrived at the ground for the match, the waiting Cholsey
players claimed to notice nothing different about The MAD XI at all. A
conspiracy? If anyone from The MAD could remember what happened that day,
then perhaps we would know. The vagaries of the Cholsey
pitch have been much chronicled elsewhere. Suffice to say that this strip
lived up to all expectations, riddled as it was with landmine craters from a
recent insurgent attack, and marked with the pits and gouges of the previous
day’s Cholsey Annual Stomping Competition. By virtue of being so uneven, the
pitch is a great leveller, and so it proved. Martin (27) shepherding The MAD tail. Put in to bat, The MAD
stuttered forward to their meagre total in fits and starts. You are never in
on this pitch, and often out. Opener I. Howarth made the best of conditions,
posting a confident 30, including a couple of big hoiking sixes to bypass the
grassy Cholsey outfield, before reaching for one outside the off stump. In
the meantime, Cholsey local N. Hebbes had worked hard for his duck, G.
Littlechild (5) holed out to end a promising knock prematurely, and M.
Bullock could prise but a single from the bumpy track. T. Smith (0) played
straight for a few before playing flat and seeing his stumps rendered
horizontal, at which point M. Westmoreland (27) began the impressive
rearguard which saw The MAD to respectability, including a couple more big
hoiking sixes which also bypassed the grassy Cholsey outfield. Just by
occupying the crease, S. Dobner (3), G. Carter (3) and J. Hotson (3) all got
three. J. Hoskins (5) hit a sweet boundary, almost bypassing the grassy etc
etc, and A. Mann (0*) didn’t. Pick of the Cholsey trundlers was D. Richards
(8-4-9-4) with his flighted spin, and L. Sergeant (8-4-7-1) was as usual
almost impossible to get away. The ball’s behind you Jake…. Bowling, The MAD were soon
amongst it, and at 32-5, the game was in the balance. A. Mann (8-3-16-2)
registered a welcome return to form and S. Dobner (7-0-26-2), opening at the
other end, continued his impressive start to the season. M. Bullock in the
unaccustomed role of mid-on took two sweet catches off Dobner, while a few
sour drops were registered elsewhere. With a crisp run-out sandwiched in
between, The MAD could have hoped for a tighter end to the contest, and
Westmoreland (4-0-14-0) and Hoskins (6-0-22-0) both did well on the Cholsey
lawn. M. Bullock (2-0-6-0) out from behind the stumps and blossoming once
again proved his bowling credentials, but further breakthroughs proved
elusive. Becher (7*) and Chapman (44*) steadied the Cholsey ship and saw them
home watchful, with overs and wickets to spare. There was nothing left for The
MAD to do but return to the Red Lion and make themselves sick all over again. ….a familiar pose (J. Hoskins being
bowled). Note: This Cholsey fixture marked the first week of The MAD’s first
Fantasy Cricket League. Thanks to James Hoskins for imagining this particular
fantasy and sharing it with the rest of us. ‘Blocker’
|
*
Far from the MCC versus Cholsey CC Played at Boars Hill, 7 May 2006 Cholsey CC won the toss and elected
to bat Cholsey CC won by 5 wkts Far from the MCC debuts:
none |
06 / 120 40 over match |
Team |
Far from
the MCC |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
# |
Batsman |
How Out |
Total |
Balls |
4s |
6s |
FOW |
1 |
I. Howarth * |
c Nathaniel b Harrison |
30 |
(57) |
2 |
2 |
4-41 |
2 |
N. J. Hebbes |
b Richards |
0 |
(22) |
- |
- |
1-22 |
3 |
G. S. Littlechild + |
c Barton b Nathaniel |
5 |
(14) |
1 |
- |
2-34 |
4 |
M. Bullock |
c Harrison b Richards |
1 |
(5) |
- |
- |
3-35 |
5 |
T. P. W. Smith |
b Richards |
0 |
(5) |
- |
- |
5-41 |
6 |
M. T. Westmoreland |
b Sergeant |
27 |
(50) |
2 |
2 |
7-77 |
7 |
S. L. P. Dobner |
c Gilbert b Richards |
3 |
(18) |
- |
|
6-53 |
8 |
G. Carter |
b Chapman |
3 |
(24) |
- |
- |
8-80 |
9 |
J. C. W. Hotson |
c Jackson b Chapman |
3 |
(14) |
- |
- |
10-93 |
10 |
J. D. Hoskins |
b Chapman |
5 |
(9) |
1 |
- |
9-90 |
11 |
A. G. Mann |
not out |
0 |
(9) |
- |
- |
- |
|
Extras |
(NB2, W6, LB3, B5) |
16 |
|
|
|
|
|
TOTAL |
(all out, 37.3 overs) |
93 |
|
|
|
|
# |
Bowler |
Overs |
Maidens |
Runs |
Wkts |
|
1 |
Sergeant |
8 |
5 |
7 |
1 |
|
2 |
Chapman |
6.3 |
1 |
16 |
3 |
|
3 |
Nathaniel |
6 |
1 |
17 |
1 |
|
4 |
Richards |
8 |
5 |
11 |
4 |
|
5 |
Harrison |
7 |
3 |
18 |
1 |
|
6 |
Barton |
2 |
0 |
15 |
0 |
|
Team |
Cholsey CC |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
# |
Batsman |
How Out |
Total |
Balls |
4s |
6s |
FOW |
1 |
D. Powell |
c Bullock b Dobner |
14 |
|
|
|
1-21 |
2 |
P. Jackson |
lbw b Mann |
10 |
|
|
|
4-32 |
3 |
J. Gilbert *+ |
run out |
1 |
|
|
|
2-28 |
4 |
S. Clayton |
c Bullock b Dobner |
6 |
|
|
|
3-32 |
5 |
Belcher |
not out |
7 |
|
|
|
- |
6 |
Barton |
c Littlechild b Mann |
0 |
|
|
|
5-32 |
7 |
A. Chapman |
not out |
44 |
|
|
|
- |
8 |
O. Harrison |
|
|
|
|
|
|
9 |
G. Richards |
|
|
|
|
|
|
10 |
A. Sergeant |
|
|
|
|
|
|
11 |
J. Nathaniel |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Extras |
|
14 |
|
|
|
|
|
TOTAL |
(for 5 wickets, 28.2 overs) |
96 |
|
|
|
|
# |
Bowler |
Overs |
Maidens |
Runs |
Wkts |
|
1 |
Mann |
8 |
3 |
16 |
2 |
|
2 |
Dobner |
7 |
0 |
26 |
2 |
|
3 |
Westmoreland |
4 |
0 |
14 |
0 |
|
4 |
Hoskins |
6 |
0 |
22 |
0 |
|
5 |
Bullock |
2 |
0 |
6 |
0 |
|
6 |
Howarth |
1 |
0 |
7 |
0 |
|
7 |
Hebbes |
0.2 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
|
MOTM: I. Howarth Champagne Moment: M. T. Westmoreland’s
big straight six Buffet
Award: N. Hebbes’ generous soup and
baps |
Opposition:
V033 / 05 Ground: G026 / 04 Captain: C007 / 07 |