“FFTMCC
Evoke Spirit of 1969 with
Woodstock
Festival of Cricket”
Match: 13 / 283
Lost by 30 Runs
|
Team |
Total |
|
Wootton & Bladon CC |
106 - 6 |
|
M.
Reeves 2 - 22 |
|
|
|
|
|
FFTMCC |
76 - 5 |
|
R.
Turner 31 |
|
|
This was an event which should never have taken place,
a never say die spirit of optimism and enthusiasm which pushed common sense
aside. Facilities unable to cope, leading to danger to life and limb.
Eventually an emergency centre was set up and the National Guard very nearly
summoned. That’s where the parallels between the seminal 1960’s festival and
the dismal 2013 visit by The MAD to Wootton and Bladon’s adopted home end.
Even ducks
thought the weather was shit…. FFTMCC arrived in a field somewhere outside Woodstock
at the appointed time. The appointed time being the time it was forecast to
start bucketing down for the rest of the afternoon. No-one will own up to
actually wanting the game to go ahead, but a toss was had, duly lost and we
were in the field. At this point the game was shortened to a 20/20 affair, to
absolutely guarantee that it wouldn’t stop raining until we were finished.
Skipper Moo took the sensible decision that seeing that this was a 20/20, the
20/20 skipper should take charge and so skipper Timms took the sodden reigns
for the rest of the afternoon. Emerson (4-0-19-1) and Newman (4-0-17-1) were the first
to try and extract some bounce from a pitch which was rapidly turning in to a
mud bath and a ball that was swelling like Reevsie’s head after a particularly
dashing 50. In the outfield players were struggling to keep hands warm and to
follow the game through the persistent drizzle. The attire-du-jour seemed to
be under shirt, shirt, jumper, bigger jumper, hoody.
Resembling a
street corner in Toxteth than a cricket field…. Rundle took a fizzing catch at mid-on to bag the
champagne moment. Perhaps a new cocktail should be invented, the Woodstock
fizz, which would be cheap Cava and rainwater. The only highlight was Timms
(3-0-5-1) whose excellent line and length, pitching the ball in to the soggy
rough was frustrating the batsmen. Rundle (3-0-15-0) was pleased to avoid the
buffet, which left only Reeves (3-0-22-2) and Howarth (3-0-18-0) to bung a
few soggy pies at the middle order. Other ‘highlights’ included Newman
hanging on to one that smacked him in the rib cage from S Poole and Howarth
and Newman conspiring to run out T Valentine, who did an great job of making
Paddy look like Usain Bolt. Wootton and Bladon had somehow squelched to 106-6
in 20 overs which seemed a reasonable if gettable total. With nowhere to shelter, tea was postponed until the
end of the game and so it was a quick turn—around with MOTM Turner (31) and
Mellor (12) taking the field. Fair play to Derek Hambridge who did a manful
job of scoring despite his fingers turning to ice and the scorebook to mush.
As Reeves and Howarth set off to jog around the boundary to try and stave off
the effects of hypothermia, the rest of the team huddled under trees whilst
waiting their turn at the crease / mud bath.
Shelter the
Aged…. Westmoreland (7) nudged his season’s average to the
heady heights of 2.75 whilst Leggate (0) couldn’t wait to leave Oxfordshire
for the relatively warm frozen wastes of Canada. According to Ray Mears, most
deaths from hypothermia occur between 0 and +6 degrees C. Top fact, it’s the
wet you see, soaked through, death quickly follows. Ho-hum, back to the
cricket. Hotson (12 not out) showed some promise, rather like Matt last
season, just hit the damn thing and runs will follow. Reeves and Howarth’s circum-navigation of the boundary
was proceeding in an anti-clockwise direction and had reached the 10 ‘o’clock
position, if the pitch can be viewed as the face of well, a clock. As Howarth
went out to bat, Reeves (6 not out) struggled on alone, but only until 8
‘o’clock as Howarth’s (0, golden) innings came to an end.
Rain
continues to fall…. So when did this day reach its nadir? Was it Moo
standing in his pants whilst changing on the boundary after another single
figure score? Was it Howarth trudging back after playing around the dampest
of damp squibs? Was it Rundle for whom there were genuine concerns for his
health after a spot of umpiring? Or how about Timms requesting a bit of
common sense only to be ignored as we’d come this far and weren’t giving up
now? Finally it was done. The MAD had fallen well short at
76-5 and we could all go and get dry. Both teams re-convened in the school
sports hall for some hot tea and snacks. Its resemblance to an emergency
evacuation centre was not lost on anyone.
Hotson
attempting to bat in the mud…. Estimates say that the Woodstock festival was attended
by 500,000 hippies and revellers with millions more claiming they were part
of this era defining event. Twenty one (credit again Derek) bedraggled souls
attended Woodstock 2013 and none will claim that it’s a festival they want to
attend next year. ‘Reevsie’
|
*
Statto
Scorecards
|
Far from the MCC versus Wootton &
Bladon C.C. Played at Woodstock, 12 May 2013 Wootton & Bladon won the toss and
elected to bat Wootton & Bladon CC won by 30 runs Far from the MCC debuts:
none |
13 / 283 20 over match |
|
Team |
Wootton & Bladon C.C. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
# |
Batsman |
How Out |
Total |
Balls |
4s |
6s |
FOW |
|
1 |
T. Poole * |
c Newman-Robson b Emerson |
0 |
|
- |
- |
1-0 |
|
2 |
N. Hambridge |
c Rundle b Newman-Robson |
9 |
|
2 |
- |
2-14 |
|
3 |
G. Doggett + |
b Timms |
33 |
|
4 |
- |
3-62 |
|
4 |
S. Poole |
c Newman-Robson b Reeves |
29 |
|
2 |
- |
4-83 |
|
5 |
T. Valentine |
run out (Howarth/Newman-Robson) |
9 |
|
- |
- |
6-106 |
|
6 |
D. De Bono |
b Reeves |
12 |
|
3 |
- |
5-95 |
|
7 |
Trender |
not out |
4 |
|
- |
- |
- |
|
8 |
B. Dale |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
9 |
J. Edwards |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
10 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
11 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Extras |
(W4, B6) |
10 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
TOTAL |
(for 6 wickets, 20 overs) |
106 |
|
|
|
|
|
# |
Bowler |
Overs |
Maidens |
Runs |
Wkts |
|
|
1 |
Emerson |
4 |
0 |
19 |
1 |
|
|
2 |
Newman-Robson |
4 |
0 |
17 |
1 |
|
|
3 |
Rundle |
3 |
0 |
15 |
0 |
|
|
4 |
Timms |
3 |
0 |
5 |
1 |
|
|
5 |
Reeves |
3 |
0 |
22 |
2 |
|
|
6 |
Howarth |
3 |
0 |
18 |
0 |
|
|
Team |
Far from
the MCC |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
# |
Batsman |
How Out |
Total |
Balls |
4s |
6s |
FOW |
|
1 |
R. P. Turner |
b Valentine |
31 |
(50) |
3 |
- |
4-67 |
|
2 |
P. A. S. Mellor |
c S. Poole b Edwards |
12 |
(28) |
2 |
- |
1-22 |
|
3 |
M. T. Westmoreland |
b Trender |
7 |
(18) |
- |
- |
2-36 |
|
4 |
I. C. Leggate |
b Trender |
0 |
(4) |
- |
- |
3-42 |
|
5 |
J. C. W. Hotson + |
not out |
12 |
(17) |
1 |
- |
- |
|
6 |
I. Howarth |
b Valentine |
0 |
(1) |
- |
- |
5-67 |
|
7 |
M. K. Reeves |
not out |
6 |
(4) |
1 |
- |
- |
|
8 |
M. S. Rundle |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
9 |
G. J. Timms * |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
10 |
J. Newman-Robson |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
11 |
D. Emerson |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Extras |
(NB2, W3, B3) |
8 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
TOTAL |
(for 5 wickets, 20 overs) |
76 |
|
|
|
|
|
# |
Bowler |
Overs |
Maidens |
Runs |
Wkts |
|
|
1 |
Edwards |
4 |
0 |
17 |
1 |
|
|
2 |
T. Poole |
4 |
0 |
11 |
0 |
|
|
3 |
Valentine |
4 |
0 |
16 |
2 |
|
|
4 |
Trender |
4 |
0 |
15 |
2 |
|
|
5 |
S. Poole |
4 |
1 |
13 |
0 |
|
|
MOTM: R. P. Turner Champagne
Moment: J. Newman-Robson’s catch Buffet
Award: M. K. Reeves’ watercress
sandwiches (with, erm… a hairdryer) |
Opposition:
V027 / 18 Ground: G031 / 06 Captain: C022 / 02 |