“An A-Z Strategic Study
Of a Simply Super Sunday”
Match: 21
/ 556
Won
by 10 wkts
|
Team |
Total |
|
Astons CC |
126 - 7 |
|
J. Harris
3 - 21 |
|
|
|
|
|
FFTMCC |
128 - 0 |
|
C. Williams 77*,
J. Bateman 37* |
|
|
I
may well be a stuffed mallard, but I am capable of thought and theory, and
herewith my findings from the Far from the MCC’s trip to Aston Tirrold this
Sunday gone. My first ramble since being discovered in a charity shop in
Truro some many, many years ago….
A is for Aston Tirrold and the home
to Astons CC. The Henman’s live behind a wall of trees next to the Wooden
Play Area End. A is also for Allen (Colin) who generously picked up the
captain’s armband in absence of Ralph and had the most chastising of
afternoons… never got going with bat, dropped a catch off his own bowling and
erm… a day very much to forget. B is for Bateman. In what is his debut season, James has come
to the fore as a dependable top order bat and here showcased his promise with
a fine supporting knock of 37 not out. He is keen of wit, lowers the average
age of the team and provides transportation for his skipper who lamentably
still can’t drive.
C is for Carter.
Rejuvenated after a small break, here the Legend who is Geoffrey looked back
to his best, mopping up plenty of shit down leg and
effecting a smart stumping to remove Smith Snr. He also avoided tumbling on
any woodwork throughout the innings. C is also for Chequers, the local
watering hole. D is for Dan
(White), the go to spearhead of the Astons bowling attack. Barrelling in ‘up
the hill’ he attempts to utilise the ‘ridge’ at one end and can be a real
handful. Some ill fortune and some ill line he went unrewarded with figures
of 5-0-34-0. E is for
Eaglestone. An enthusiastic and pleasantly entertaining chap, Rob started his
cricketing career with The MAD back in 2011 as player #116. He left a short
time later to become a handyman, everything player for the Astons. Reasonably
vocal and efficient behind the stumps, his pinch-hitting didn’t quite hit the
stratospheres with a return of 4 from 6 balls.
F is for flapjacks
and by association the Tintin tin. Mike ticks a box here but was probably
crestfallen to find the Astons had secretly undertaken to provide a cricket
tea and the first experienced by Team MAD in nearly 2 years (post pandemic).
Flapjacks do however, go nicely with a nice cup of chá.
G is for Gareth
and not Gary. Mr Timms is now into his seventh (or is it seventieth?)
season in charge, having lost none of his zeal or passion for the job.
Rumoured to the quickest in the field, he is always first on the scene to
find a missing ball (usually off his own bowling). This 10-wicket victory is
for you, Gary… a return for all your positive endeavours during a grim start
to the season. H is for… a lot of
people. Hadfield who escaped a TFC by taking a catch in the covers; Harris
who took a 3-for as he served up a quite gorgeous buffet; and Hotson, cruelly
omitted from the side, he still underscored his Clubman status by completing
a 100-mile trip from Banbury to perform scoring duties. I is for Ian. Please refer to T, and/ or ‘idiot’ best describing
Williams’ kicking a stationary ball over the boundary whilst fielding. J is for JMO and
all things PMA and Fantastical. Forever chasing and cursing the ball in the
field with his tigerish gusto, he did however wreck Howarth’s fantasy team by
going wicketless (7-0-24-0). Mentally spent after so much positivity, he then
went into hibernation by the boundary edge.
K is for being ‘kaught’ spelt rong, and/or
Astons’ stalwart (Dave) Kilcoyne who hit a purposeful 19 not out at the end
of their innings. L is for lazy.
Please refer to Z. M is for
medication and everything ibuprofen gel-like and paracetamol ingested that
would get Hadfield and Howarth banned from the Olympics for drug-misuse. It
is also for Midge (the dog). N is for Nike, as
somebody playing cricket on this day must’ve had apparel by this famous
sporting brand and/or ‘nobody’ did. O is for O. Morgan
who guested for Astons CC. He is not to be confused with Eoin Morgan who more
famously guests for England (or Ireland). O is also for ‘over’, like the one
bowled by Mr Allen below.
P can only be
reserved Pearson and post pandemic panache. Wonderful to have Private Pearson
back in the ranks, he underscored his patriotic powers with the Q is for everyone
in the team that questions Skipper Timms’ bowling tactics and/or batting
line-up. R is for Reeves and
all things leftie. Bowling with his now expected,
metronomical ease, Mike (7-2-27-1) treated his team mates to that delightful
little pirouette that always accompanies that stock, inswinging delivery that
rattles the batsman’s timber. S is for Shorten
and all things The Good Life. If this was David’s last appearance in 2021, it
will be noted not for his skillful and mesmeric bowling (5-3-6-1) but for his
dietary supplement bequeathed to the team of cucumbers and cherry tomatoes. S
is also for sunshine, or a lack thereof throughout the day and… of course… a
score of seventy seven (not out) as showcased below
by Williams.
T is for TFC or in
its full expansion “Thanks for coming”. To achieve this cricketing parlance,
the individual contributes nothing to the day. He doesn’t bat, he doesn’t
bowl or do much in the field. Howarth would claim to this accolade, though he
supplemented doing fuck all by providing
transportation for Williams, the scorebook and myself, and using his BA Hons
to perform photographic duties. T is also for (the return of) cricket teas. U is for
undulation and can be used to describe the ‘ridge’ at one end of the Astons
CC pitch (see D
for further details). U is also for umpire, or local legend Steve (below),
best remembered a decade ago for giving Moo run out having made his ground
some 5 minutes previous. Legend indeed.
V is for the vans
driven by David Shorten and James Hoskins. V is also for victory and in this
case, by 10 wickets. W is for Williams,
recovering coronavirus exile and son of Mr Wayfarer, the locally known legend
of Sunday cricket, Trevor. In what was an undisputed MOTM performance, Chris’
breezed and bludgeoned his way to 77 not out to finally come good on his
promise midway through the season of “not being fucking shit.” X marks the end of
a player’s spell of bowling in the scorebook. Y is for ‘youth’
development within Team MAD. Please refer to C. Z is for being fast
asleep and sound omitting. Please refer to J. Z is also the last letter in the
English alphabet, the final act, so much like walking off the pitch at the
end of a game of cricket….
‘Giant Duck’
|
*
Statto Scorecards
|
Far from the MCC versus Astons CC Played at Aston Tirrold, 29 August 2021 Astons CC won the toss and elected to
bat Far from the MCC won by 10 wkts Far from the MCC debuts: n/a |
21 / 556 35 over match |
|
Team |
Astons CC |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
# |
Batsman |
How Out |
Total |
Balls |
4s |
6s |
FOW |
|
1 |
R. Marks |
b Reeves |
4 |
(4) |
|
- |
1-4 |
|
2 |
R. Eaglestone † |
c Timms b Shorten |
4 |
(6) |
1 |
- |
2-12 |
|
3 |
S. Smith |
st Carter b Timms |
20 |
(78) |
2 |
- |
5-83 |
|
4 |
C. Allen * |
c Shorten b Pearson |
22 |
(47) |
3 |
- |
3-22 |
|
5 |
D. Bayes |
c Williams b Harris |
18 |
(27) |
3 |
- |
4-81 |
|
6 |
D. White |
c Hadfield b Harris |
5 |
(4) |
- |
- |
6-89 |
|
7 |
R. Harris |
not out |
18 |
(26) |
1 |
- |
- |
|
8 |
O. Morgan |
c and b Harris |
0 |
(2) |
- |
- |
7-91 |
|
9 |
D. Kilcoyne |
not out |
19 |
(17) |
3 |
- |
- |
|
10 |
G. Brimacombe |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
11 |
F. Sheedy |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Extras |
NB1, W6, LB3, B6 |
16 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
TOTAL |
(for 7 wickets, 35 overs) |
126 |
|
|
|
|
|
# |
Bowler |
Overs |
Maidens |
Runs |
Wkts |
Econ |
|
|
1 |
Reeves |
7 |
2 |
27 |
1 |
3.86 |
|
|
2 |
Shorten |
5 |
3 |
6 |
1 |
1.20 |
|
|
3 |
Hoskins |
7 |
0 |
24 |
0 |
3.43 |
|
|
4 |
Pearson |
5 |
1 |
13 |
1 |
2.60 |
|
|
5 |
Timms |
7 |
0 |
26 |
1 |
3.71 |
|
|
6 |
Harris |
4 |
0 |
21 |
3 |
5.25 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Team |
Far from
the MCC |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
# |
Batsman |
How Out |
Total |
Balls |
4s |
6s |
FOW |
|
1 |
C. T. J. Williams |
not out |
77 |
(65) |
12 |
1 |
- |
|
2 |
J. C. Bateman |
not out |
37 |
(48) |
5 |
- |
- |
|
3 |
R. J. T. Hadfield |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
4 |
I. Howarth |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
5 |
J. W. Pearson |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
6 |
D. Shorten |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
7 |
G. J. Timms * |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
8 |
M. K. Reeves |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
9 |
J. D. Hoskins |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
10 |
J. Harris |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
11 |
G. Carter † |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Extras |
W3, B11 |
14 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
TOTAL |
(for 0 wickets, 18.5 overs) |
128 |
|
|
|
|
|
# |
Bowler |
Overs |
Maidens |
Runs |
Wkts |
Econ |
|
|
1 |
Marks |
3 |
0 |
19 |
0 |
6.33 |
|
|
2 |
White |
5 |
0 |
34 |
0 |
6.80 |
|
|
3 |
Kilcoyne |
5 |
0 |
24 |
0 |
4.80 |
|
|
4 |
Allen |
3 |
0 |
15 |
0 |
5.00 |
|
|
5 |
Brimacombe |
1.5 |
0 |
20 |
0 |
10.91 |
|
|
6 |
Sheedy |
1 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
5.00 |
|
|
MOTM: C. T. J. Williams Champagne Moment: M. K. Reeves inswinging
wicket (and dance) Buffet Award: J. Harris’ pork loin steaks, mash and assorted vegetables MAD
Moment: C. T. J. Williams’ kicking a
stationary ball for four |
Opposition:
V046 / 23 Ground: G035 / 13 Captain: C022 / 111 Match No: 35 / 204 |