“MAD Just About Hold Their Nerve
Despite the
Pressure (Wash)”
Match: 23
/ 610
Won
by 8 runs
|
Team |
Total |
|
FFTMCC |
184 - 8 |
|
J. Cartwright 59*, D. Shorten
30 |
|
|
|
|
|
Cholsey CC |
176 - 8 |
|
M. Reeves 4 - 25 |
|
|
“Dennis, darling, what plans do you have for us
today? It’s such a lovely day, I was hoping we could have a nice walk by the
river.” “Don’t be ridiculous Maureen, you know my schedule
for a Sunday. 9am, drive the BMW (5 series with personalized number plate) to
the newsagent to buy a copy of the Daily Mail. 11am shout at the telly whilst
Laura Kuenssberg interviews that communist Hugh Ferning Whittingstall. 1pm
sharp I expect my lunch on the table, then 3pm pressure wash the balcony.” “But Dennis, the cricket boys will be playing then,
and you know it upsets them.” “Balderdash Maureen, an Englishman’s home is his
castle and if I want to hose down the decking right behind the bowler’s arm,
I jolly well will. And I’ll thank you to keep your feminist views to
yourself.”
(ahem) … a cropped image.
We have to go back to 2017 (match #414) for the last
time The MAD played at Cholsey. I see from that day that Reeves bowled
(8-1-15-2) whilst Smith got (4-1-21-2). The pair then brought the team home
with the bat to win the first round of the friendly cup. Neither got a sniff
of MOTM mind. Let’s see what six years can do. A lot has obviously changed since then. Five prime
ministers, two monarchs, one global pandemic etc, but also it appears that
things have been swirling around Cholsey with very much a new look team from
the one we remember, boasting a good mix of old’uns and young’uns. Russ won the toss and on an unseasonable hot
afternoon, decided a bat would be in order. Hadfield (4) and Shorten (30)
opened, with Hadfield soon departing after unluckily playing on for the
second time in less than 48 hours. This bought Webster (26) to the crease and
along with Shorten, the pair progressed the score without incident to 66 for
1, which quickly became 66 for 2, became 66 for 3, became 67 for 4 as the
pair departed, quickly followed by Bob and Russ. Russ unfortunate to get a
top edge off of one that bounced prodigiously.
Cartwright pulls one
away. Up next was Joe (59 n.o) and Ian (25) with the task
for rebuilding. Joe was playing Geoff ball, scoring just one off his first 14
deliveries. He even stopped at one point in the middle of the wicket,
seemingly transfixed as fortunately the ball pinged into the other end. At
the other end Ian was inevitably nursing a hangover after a big Friday night
spent at Horspath followed by a big Saturday afternoon at Horspath after he
had returned there with the intention of picking up his car. Once Ian departed, Reeves (7) hung around just long
enough to provide Howarth with some footage that apparently (oh joy) we’ll be
reliving at the AGM. Let’s hope the projector doesn’t break down or anything. Next up was Gary (5) and it was here that the match
really turned. Not because of anything Gary did, but because Joe suddenly
went into overdrive, smashing 58 off of the next 46 deliveries. It was like
nothing any of us had ever seen before and perhaps one of the most enjoyable
displays for a very long time as Joe cut and drove a series of magnificent
fours. He was like a man reborn, and it was great to see him roll back the
years. We will of course now expect that every week.
Turner (umpire) stares at
what everyone is staring at (scoreboard). There was one really nice moment as Gary was given
out LBW despite having fine edged the ball. The Cholsey skipper confirmed
that there had been a noise and called him back. It’s clear that these guys
get the point of Sunday cricket and received a generous round of applause
from The MADsters on the boundary. Gary repaid their generosity by smacking
the next ball for 4 to cow corner. The MAD achieved 184 in their 35 overs and at tea
were jubilant that a fifth win in a row was looking likely. Mentioning tea,
it was a great assortment of sandwiches, cakes, crisps etc and most
importantly a nice cup of tea. The Cholsey reply started solidly with R Burrows
(51) being the pick of the openers. They progressed at just under four an
over for the first 15, gradually falling further behind the required rate as
Roberts (7-1-32-1) and Corne (7-0-22-1) bowled tidily. After the drinks
break, they started to pick things up despite Reeves (7-1-25-4) taking
wickets at regular intervals. We really thought it was in the bag when
Burrows hit one in the air to long off. Sprinting forward Shorten dived and
clasped the ball in both hands. Another remarkable catch, another shoe-in for
Champagne moment in a season that has been full of them for him.
A healthy number of
spectators for this game. No man and his dog anyway. With four overs to go Cholsey needed 45. Surely it
was all over. However, at that point, the wheels started to come off.
Suddenly it was like we’d forgotten how to play. There were byes, overthrows
and a terrible and hilarious run out attempt from Hadfield. There was a top
edge that went completely vertical before coming down to earth and landing at
Geoff’s feet, where they’d been planted for the duration. There were eleven
captains on the field all shouting instructions and none of them had a clue
what they were doing. Jan was told to go back, then come in, then go back. He
didn’t follow the final instruction and watched the ball sail over his head
for four. He then dropped a catch and broke his finger. There were wides,
balls stopped with ankles, balls not stopped with ankles, Joe pulled a calf
muscle, more byes, it was carnage out there. Throughout all this O Maddox (52 n.o) pushed hard for
singles and shepherded a series of tailenders towards a very unlikely
victory. In the end it was too much even for him. Hitting a four off the
final ball to bring up his 50, still left Cholsey 8 runs short. There was of course time for a traditional terrible
Cholsey shower of a scalding mist that you have to just endure until your
skin turns red and you consider yourself cleanish. Early September and yet one of the hottest days of
the summer. The MAD sat around after the game, toasting MOTM Joe and the
return of an excellent fixture against a new look Cholsey team who have
clearly inherited the ethos of fair play and camaraderie from their previous
incarnation.
’Reevsie’
|
*
Statto Scorecards
|
Far From the MCC versus Cholsey CC Played at Cholsey Meadows, 3 September
2023 Far from the MCC won the toss and
elected to bat Far from the MCC won by 8 runs Far from the MCC debuts: n/a |
23 / 610 35 over match |
|
Team |
Far From the MCC |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
# |
Batsman |
How Out |
Total |
Balls |
4s |
6s |
FOW |
|
1 |
D.
Shorten |
c & b Burrows |
30 |
(48) |
5 |
- |
1-4 |
|
2 |
R. J. T.
Hadfield |
b Churchill-Coleman |
4 |
(5) |
1 |
- |
2-66 |
|
3 |
J. vdG.
Webster |
c West b O. Nathanielsz |
26 |
(39) |
5 |
- |
3-66 |
|
4 |
C. D.
Roberts |
c Reeves b O. Nathanielsz |
0 |
(4) |
- |
- |
4-66 |
|
5 |
R. P.
Turner * |
c Maddox b Bunting |
0 |
(3) |
- |
- |
5-67 |
|
6 |
J. A.
Cartwright |
not out |
59 |
(64) |
10 |
- |
6-118 |
|
7 |
I.
Howarth |
b Churchill-Coleman |
25 |
(32) |
4 |
- |
7-130 |
|
8 |
M. K.
Reeves |
b Churchill-Coleman |
7 |
(10) |
1 |
- |
8-174 |
|
9 |
G. J.
Timms |
c Burrows b Bosomworth |
5 |
(6) |
1 |
- |
|
|
10 |
C. J.
Vermaak |
not out |
4 |
|
- |
- |
|
|
11 |
G.
Carter † |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Extras |
NB4, W11, B9 |
24 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
TOTAL |
(for 8 wickets, 35 overs) |
184 |
|
|
|
|
|
# |
Bowler |
Overs |
Maidens |
Runs |
Wkts |
Econ |
|
|
1 |
Bosomworth |
6 |
1 |
44 |
1 |
7.33 |
|
|
2 |
Churchill-Coleman |
7 |
1 |
29 |
3 |
4.14 |
|
|
3 |
Burrows |
7 |
1 |
16 |
1 |
2.29 |
|
|
4 |
O.
Nathanielsz |
4 |
0 |
16 |
2 |
4.00 |
|
|
5 |
Bunting |
4 |
0 |
20 |
1 |
5.00 |
|
|
6 |
Maddox |
6 |
0 |
39 |
0 |
6.50 |
|
|
7 |
Reeves |
1 |
0 |
10 |
0 |
10.00 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Team |
Cholsey CC |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
# |
Batsman |
How Out |
Total |
Balls |
4s |
6s |
FOW |
|
1 |
M.
Horton |
b Reeves |
5 |
|
- |
- |
1-44 |
|
2 |
R.
Burrows |
c Shorten b Reeves |
51 |
|
9 |
- |
2-58 |
|
3 |
M.
Bosomworth |
lbw b Reeves |
2 |
|
- |
- |
3-71 |
|
4 |
R.
Bunting |
b Reeves |
13 |
|
3 |
- |
4-94 |
|
5 |
O.
Maddox |
not out |
52 |
|
4 |
- |
5-138 |
|
6 |
J.
Reeves |
run out (Reeves) |
0 |
|
- |
- |
6-141 |
|
7 |
D. Hill |
b Vermaak |
9 |
|
- |
- |
7-144 |
|
8 |
F. West |
b Shorten |
1 |
|
- |
- |
8-148 |
|
9 |
J.
Nathanielsz |
b Roberts |
0 |
|
- |
- |
|
|
10 |
O.
Nathanielsz |
not out |
5 |
|
- |
- |
|
|
11 |
D. Churchill-Coleman |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Extras |
NB2, W15, LB2, B19 |
38 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
TOTAL |
(for 8 wickets, 35 overs) |
176 |
|
|
|
|
|
# |
Bowler |
Overs |
Maidens |
Runs |
Wkts |
Econ |
|
|
1 |
Roberts |
7 |
1 |
32 |
1 |
4.57 |
|
|
2 |
Vermaak |
7 |
0 |
22 |
1 |
3.14 |
|
|
3 |
Reeves |
7 |
1 |
25 |
4 |
3.57 |
|
|
4 |
Timms |
5 |
0 |
26 |
0 |
5.20 |
|
|
5 |
Webster |
2 |
0 |
18 |
0 |
9.00 |
|
|
6 |
Shorten |
6 |
1 |
22 |
1 |
3.67 |
|
|
7 |
Howarth |
1 |
0 |
14 |
0 |
14.00 |
|
|
MOTM: J. A. Cartwright Champagne Moment: D. Shorten’s sprawling
catch low down at mid on Buffet Award: I. Howarth’s marmalised toast (poor wholemeal bread) MAD
Moment: G. Carter (keeper) stood
under a ball wondering where it went off the bat and it dropping a foot in
front of him |
Opposition:
V033 / 023 Ground: G070 / 007 Captain: C024 / 080 Match No: 35 / 227 |