“Marlborough House Still Going Strong”
Match: 12
/ 268
Won
by 3 Runs
|
Team |
Total |
|
FFTMCC |
122 - 8 |
|
M. Reeves 37*, D. Edwards
34 |
|
|
|
|
|
St. Clements Strollers |
119 - 8 |
|
D. Emerson 2 - 8 |
|
|
Only
8 replies to an availability email. Now
9. Another
email. 10
eventually becoming 11 confirmed. Bollocks…. Ben
Mander out – ah, but Dave Shorten now available and in. Ian
Howarth out – ah, but Geoff Carter in. Fuck
sake…. Oh,
for the love of Christ…. Howarth
out again – and Edwards back in again.
The very recognisable Magdalen pavilion. Ahh,
such used to be the joy of Skippering the Marlborough House during its
formative years – scratching about at every turn whilst trying to fill the
gaps in a disparate team moulded with incommunicative arseholes and transient
pub pissheads. Skipper Hotson’s headache must have seemed all so very
familiar to ex-Marlboroughonians Mike Reeves and When
the Marlborough inhaled their final breath before sinking below the waves in
2005, Reeves and Edwards were plucked from the depths, given a rub down and
slotted into the mechanics of the well-oiled machine of Club MAD. It wasn’t
simply a case of “oh, they’re good ole boys – they’ll fit in” – no, it was a
more mercenary decision based on “they’re quite handy cricketers them two, so
we’ll have ‘em. The rest of the team are shit so let them drown.”
It’s always a shame when any team or institution goes to the wall –
the rivalries, the friendships, the banter and the inevitable shared memories
that are subsequently lost; but sport and life goes on – as have the careers
of Reeves and Edwards.
J. Pearson’s wretched season continues. Batting
positions of 6 and 8 would hardly have had the neutral thinking our
Marlborough Boys would end up playing a significant part with the bat in this
match – but history would say different. Last year’s diabolical beginnings
were honoured by J. Pearson and J. Hotson collecting ducks and D. Emerson
holing out for 5. D. Rochester proved the chief destroyer with figures of
4-0-25-3 – his final victim, C. Roberts, castled for 3. D. Shorten (28) would
find some welcome form with the bat, but his untimely demise was quickly
followed by a quite frankly dismal G. Timms duck to leave The MAD on 53-6 in
the ninth over.
A depressed G. Timms find sympathy from Midge. With
the ink long since dried on their Mad contracts, watching Edwards and Reeves
now rescue the innings would have been greeted by enthusiastic applause from
ghosts of Marlborough past. You could almost hear their rabble
rousing icon, Mark Shelley, hollering at the Strollers from the
pavilion steps (and The MAD for that matter) to “stick that in your pipe and
smoke it!” Mixing
a typically stout defence with the obligatory cut, Edwards (34) helped his
left-handed compatriot put on 52 for the seventh wicket – in good time too.
They were eventually separated by N. Warry (4-0-24-1), which only served to
allow Reeves (37*) to club a few late boundaries late on. His final act was
to protect his average and run the luckless T. Smith (1) out at the bowler’s
end. 122 for 8 would mark a decent turnaround for the Marlbo…
the Far from the MCC.
The MAD innings is concluded. In
leaving out batting destroyer J. Higgs and having players retire on 50, the
Strollers had at least levelled the playing field for this encounter. Just as
well, with K. Patel retiring just after the 14th over after smoking a half
century from just 43 balls. The timing of his departure would prove crucial
however – the Strollers having just slipped from 79-1 to 81-3 in the previous
over thanks to a sprightly D. Emerson (2-0-8-2) burst. Astute
captaincy now saw Mr. Hotson removing Wonky from the attack and replacing him
with the guile of Edwards (in harness with Reeves 3-1-17-1 again). It was
getting dark and seeing the ball from the off was proving nigh on impossible
– so a slow bowler showed sportsmanship above and beyond. With
one over left the Strollers required 7 runs for victory, but the Marlborough
House would have their day. Two run outs followed by M. Groundsman’s golden
all left a returning K. Patel the small matter of hitting Edwards’ (2-0-9-1)
final ball for a maximum. He didn’t. Patel (51*) squirted a single instead. The
MAD were victorious by a massive 3 runs. But
enough of history lessons and ghost of Marlborough past – this win and the
spirit it was played can be attributed to Skipper, Mr. Hotson. Often the
invisible energy behind a game – Well
captained, dude. I
doff my cap. An
excellent game for the spectator.
Captain Hotson (right) savours the win in the
Port Mahon post-match. ‘D. Jardine’
|
*
Statto Scorecards
|
Far from the MCC versus St. Clements
Strollers Played at Magdalen College, 3 August
2012 St. Clements Strollers won the toss
and elected to field Far from the MCC won by 3 runs Far from the MCC debuts: none |
12 / 268 20 over match |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Team |
Far from
the MCC |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
# |
Batsman |
How Out |
Total |
Balls |
4s |
6s |
FOW |
|
1 |
D. Emerson |
c Lawton-Smith Jr b Rochester |
5 |
(5) |
1 |
- |
3-8 |
|
2 |
J. W. Pearson |
b Rochester |
0 |
(1) |
- |
- |
1-6 |
|
3 |
J. C. W. Hotson * |
c Harte b Kassam |
0 |
(6) |
- |
- |
2-8 |
|
4 |
C. D. Roberts |
b Rochester |
3 |
(7) |
- |
- |
4-24 |
|
5 |
D. Shorten |
c Lawton-Smith Jr b Brennan |
28 |
(23) |
5 |
- |
5-46 |
|
6 |
D. M. Edwards |
b Warry |
34 |
(33) |
3 |
- |
7-105 |
|
7 |
G. J. Timms |
b Patel |
0 |
(4) |
- |
- |
6-53 |
|
8 |
M. K. Reeves |
not out |
37 |
(35) |
5 |
- |
- |
|
9 |
T. P. W. Smith |
run out |
1 |
(6) |
- |
- |
8-122 |
|
10 |
J. vdG. Webster |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
11 |
G. Carter + |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Extras |
(W9, LB4, B1) |
14 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
TOTAL |
(for 8 wickets, 20 overs) |
122 |
|
|
|
|
|
# |
Bowler |
Overs |
Maidens |
Runs |
Wkts |
|
|
1 |
Rochester |
4 |
0 |
25 |
3 |
|
|
2 |
Kassam |
4 |
0 |
19 |
1 |
|
|
3 |
Brennan |
4 |
0 |
18 |
1 |
|
|
4 |
Patel |
4 |
0 |
26 |
1 |
|
|
5 |
Warry |
4 |
0 |
29 |
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Team |
St. Clements Strollers |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
# |
Batsman |
How Out |
Total |
Balls |
4s |
6s |
FOW |
|
1 |
P. Harte + |
lbw b Smith |
10 |
(18) |
1 |
- |
1-33 |
|
2 |
K. Patel |
not out |
51 |
(44) |
8 |
1 |
- |
|
3 |
J. Lawton-Smith Jr |
c Hotson b Emerson |
9 |
(22) |
1 |
- |
2-79 |
|
4 |
T. Pickford |
b Emerson |
0 |
(3) |
- |
- |
3-81 |
|
5 |
J. .Lawton-Smith Sr |
run out (Reeves/Timms) |
1 |
(7) |
- |
- |
4-94 |
|
6 |
N. Kassam |
b Reeves |
6 |
(7) |
1 |
- |
5-94 |
|
7 |
P. Brennan |
not out |
19 |
(12) |
3 |
- |
- |
|
8 |
N. Warry * |
run out (Edwards) |
0 |
(5) |
- |
- |
6-118 |
|
9 |
D. Rochester |
run out (Pearson/Carter) |
0 |
(0) |
- |
- |
7-118 |
|
10 |
M. Groundsman |
b Edwards |
0 |
(1) |
- |
- |
8-118 |
|
11 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Extras |
(NB1, W12, LB8, B2) |
23 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
TOTAL |
(for 8 wickets, 20 overs) |
119 |
|
|
|
|
|
# |
Bowler |
Overs |
Maidens |
Runs |
Wkts |
|
|
1 |
Roberts |
3 |
0 |
18 |
0 |
|
|
2 |
Webster |
2 |
0 |
12 |
0 |
|
|
3 |
Smith |
2 |
0 |
13 |
1 |
|
|
4 |
Shorten |
4 |
0 |
10 |
0 |
|
|
5 |
Timms |
2 |
0 |
22 |
0 |
|
|
6 |
Emerson |
2 |
0 |
8 |
2 |
|
|
7 |
Reeves |
3 |
1 |
17 |
1 |
|
|
8 |
Edwards |
2 |
0 |
9 |
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Note: K. Patel retired with
the score on 86-3, and returned on 118-8 |
||||||
|
MOTM: M. K. Reeves Champagne Moment: M. K. Reeves’ wicket Buffet
Award: G. J. Timms’ exquisite cream
scones (with homemade raspberry jam) |
Opposition:
V053 / 04 Ground: G043 / 04 Captain: C012 / 18 |