“MAD Face Iffley Village

Not Brasenose, but at Not Cholsey, but Islip”

Match: 17 / 425

Won by 4 wkts

Team	Total
Iffley Village CC	111 - 7
M. Westmoreland 3 - 25, T. Smith 2 - 10
FFTMCC	112 - 6
T. Smith 22, L. Ainsworth 22

This was the first time we had arranged a fixture with Iffley Village cricket team, and were particularly excited about the prospect of playing in such a beautiful location. God almighty we have played on some testing grounds over the years. Who will forget the barren wilderness of Stratfield Brakes, Horspath in the snow, Milton in an unmown field or Cholsey in the mud. Hmm, that’s an email about the Iffley fixture – what could it be – oh, ground change… we are in fact playing at Cholsey. But not Cholsey in the mud; Cholsey in the heatwave, it was 31 degrees. All cameras had ceased to function in the swelter and that is the reason why, when Spam asks where all the photos are. It was just too hot. Too hot for humans and too hot for photography. In fact, never has the old adage been more apt “I’m pissing crystals and me cameras packed up.”

Bill won the toss and stuck us in the field. On the woody side of the ground the boundary was extremely short. And it goes downhill there. If you are saving the single you are also saving the boundary. Later in the Match Bill would hit L Ainsworth for a Six which if we applied the rule that you can get multiple sixes if it goes twice as far as the boundary then that six would have been an 18.

After 5 straight defeats Shorten decided to mix it up. T Smith started economically and decisively (3-0-10-2) alongside Reeves (3-0-9-1) whose consistency is remarkable game in game out. Westmoreland (3-0-25-3) found his rhythm and despite the odd yip ball accounted for the Iffley middle order. Some people are wicket takers and Martin is one of those. J. Hoskins bowled with the reliability that skippers drool about, and so after mopping my mouth, The MAD were in very good shape with Iffley 5 down after 12 with not much on the board. The introduction of their skipper Bill Smith (37) changed their innings for the better as the Iffley batting order clearly went down deep. However it would have been far worse if not for notable spells by J. Pearson (4-0-21-0) and Roberts (2-0-11-0) who kept Iffley at bay with what looked like some of their premier batsman coming in at the end. Alas, someone had to suffer, and this week’s pie award went to the unlucky Ainsworth (2-0-24-1) who got whopped by Smith for 18 in one over – but did get his man at the end. Shorten (1-0-3-0) when the danger was over crept in to collect his fantasy points. What a scumbag.

So despite having the smallest boundary in Oxfordshire The MAD had restricted Iffley to 111. It seemed like a below par score, even with the wicket misbehaving occasionally.

Carrying on with the mixing-it-up-and-round-theme Shorten opted for Smith (22) and Hoskins (21) to open the batting. (This is the kind of things the Club Statto’s absolutely love). When was the last time Smith opened the bowling and batting? I don’t know, and couldn’t really care less, and I’m sure Smith doesn’t either, but there are those deep in the numbers in the club (that’s you Matt and Gary) surrounded by spreadsheets who are going to be praising my name for this unlikeliest of events. I can’t be bothered with it myself, but love it when somebody can be. Hooray for the diversity of human beings!

A good day to be a Smith.

They got The MAD off to a flyer with some excellent hitting. The unlucky Roberts (0) was followed by the unlucky Turner (0 run out), who was followed by the hapless Shorten. In a small excuse I do want to mention the excellent Hartley (4-0-6-2). He bowled with accuracy and pace, and was certainly the quickest bowler I have seen this year.

In between all this, J Webster (18*) was bedding in and was joined by the effective Ainsworth (22). When Lee was out the score was 86-6 – overs were not the problem but the tremors of a collapse were rumbling. Westmoreland (11*) calmed the nerves of the watching MAD with some assertive calling and some judicious shots. These two calmly brought The MAD home and with it ending a succession of defeats. Relief.

Iffley are very well matched with us I would guess and I think we can look forward to many close encounters with them over the coming years. Hats off to the good nature they play their cricket in – it’s what we all aspire to. It’s just a shame it was too hot for taking pictures to record it. They should make cameras that can do that in 2017.

‘Lego’

*

Statto Scorecards

Far from the MCC versus Iffley Village CC Played at Islip CC, 20 June 2017 Iffley Village CC won the toss and elected to bat Far from the MCC won by 4 wkts Far from the MCC debuts: none

17 / 425 20 over match

Team	Iffley Village CC
#	Batsman	How Out	Total	Balls	4s	6s	FOW
1	F. W. A. Cable-Alexander	b Reeves	12
2	R. Upton	c Shorten b Smith	0
3	R. G. D. Berry	b Smith	7
4	M. Cavanagh †	c Shorten b Westmoreland	2
5	D. Hartley	c Turner b Westmoreland	28
6	W. V. P. Taylor	lbw b Westmoreland	2
7	A. Leccisotti	not out	14				-
8	A. W. Smith *	lbw b Ainsworth	37
9	F. Scheerer	not out	1				-
10	R. P. Tyler
11	T. M. Ellis
	Extras	NB2, W1, LB2, B1	6
	TOTAL	(for 7 wickets, 20 overs)	109

#	Bowler	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wkts	Econ
1	Reeves	3	0	9	1	3.00
2	Smith	3	0	10	2	3.33
3	Westmoreland	3	0	25	3	8.33
4	Hoskins	2	0	10	0	5.00
5	Pearson	4	0	21	0	5.25
6	Roberts	2	0	11	0	5.50
7	Ainsworth	2	0	24	1	12.00
8	Shorten	1	0	3	0	3.00

Team	Far from the MCC
#	Batsman	How Out	Total	Balls	4s	6s	FOW
1	T. P. W. Smith	b Ellis	22	(17)	2	2	1-48
2	J. D. Hoskins	c b Ellis	21	(28)	3	-	3-53
3	C. D. Roberts	c and b Hartley	0	(1)	-	-	2-49
4	J. vdG. Webster	not out	18	(32)	2	-	-
5	R. P. Turner	run out	0	(2)	-	-	4-56
6	D. Shorten *	b Hartley	3	(7)	-	-	5-61
7	L. G. Ainsworth	c Leccisotti b Tyler	22	(13)	3	1	6-86
8	M. T. Westmoreland	not out	11	(14)	-	1	-
9	M. K. Reeves
10	J. W. Pearson
11	J. C. W. Hotson †
	Extras	NB4, W4, LB1, B6	15
	TOTAL	(for 6 wickets, 18.2 overs)	112

#	Bowler	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wkts	Econ
1	Tyler	4	0	42	1	10.50
2	Ellis	4	0	21	2	5.25
3	Hartley	4	0	6	2	1.50
4	Berry	3	0	13	0	4.33
5	Leccisotti	3.2	0	22	0	6.60

MOTM: T. P. W. Smith Champagne Moment: D. Shorten’s diving catch at gully Buffet Award: L. G. Ainsworth’s one-pan salmon with roast asparagus MAD Moment: n/a

Opposition: V094 / 01 Ground: G055 / 04 Captain: C016 / 27 Match No: 20 / 101