“Didcot Rocks”
Match: 17
/ 442
Won
by 4 wkts
|
Team |
Total |
|
Didcot CC |
126 - 5 |
|
J. Hoskins 2 - 10, M. Reeves
2 - 16 |
|
|
|
|
|
FFTMCC |
127 - 6 |
|
D. Emerson 34*, C. Williams
32 |
|
|
Not a lot has been
written about Didcot because we’ve never played Didcot. Until now. Didcot is known for its
railway museum that few have bothered to see and the ugly power station which
casts an ominous shadow over the poor bastards who live there. The town is
pronounced “Dead-cat” by the natives and was once voted in the Top 5 crappest
towns in England. It’s not all bad though, Broadways
pub on the high street can get you tanked during the day and for evening
entertainment you can get an easy shag at Club Rio out back of the
Marlborough. And if it’s a fight you want, this town has got you more than covered.
Famous for the cooling towers, now they’ve gone Didcot is famous for…. Recent investment and
expansion has seen the area transformed however, with a new shopping centre
and half the power station boiler house now sat upon a bunch of contractors.
There are thousands of new homes planned for the future and one such area to
already see development is Great Western Park. Atop a hill and flanked by
Harwell’s science campus, a multi-million pound clubhouse is the centrepiece
of a sporting oasis, now home to Didcot’s rugby and cricket teams. Here you
can get proper pissed at a discounted rate and avail yourself of birds eye
views of the action from the pavilion balcony. Arriving at this modernistic
utopia, Geoff was quick to bitch on about the changes to the team and having
to rethink playing his Fantasy Joker. Out of an initial pool of five fantasy
stars, he now had two, Westmoreland’s decision to run the breadth of England
coupled with Colonel Pearson’s wedding having decimated the ranks. Twelve
became nine, became eleven with the reanimation of cripple D Emerson and the
generous application for a role from Didcot dogsbody Simon David Coates.
Having been informed
Didcot’s absent captain wanted to bat, stand-in MAD skipper Howarth quickly
lost a superfluous toss to say he’d have fielded anyway. Precious time lost,
rain on the way. The Didcot innings was
given initial impetus by rock music blasting out from a nearby fund raising
event, and then by D Hall (32) who after surviving a tidy spell from A Darley
(7-0-25-0), flexed his arms before falling to one of Dough Puncher Hoskins’
(6-2-10-2) legendary aperitifs, G Carter surprisingly awake at square leg.
With another one bowled to complement Reeves’ champagne C&B, the home
side stood at 55-3 after 13 ovs. Time for a cover of the Killers’ ‘Mr Brightside’. Folly or congratulatory,
DCC had opted to fill positions #4 and #5 with youngsters O Bean and I Meade,
prodigiously sound in defence the pair were prodigiously unable to burst an
adult field. With batsmen #6 onwards pacing the boundary and chewing their bats,
Smith (6-3-6-0) and Bullock (4-0-16-0) went wicketless as the overs dwindled
by. Time for a cover of the Gallagher Bros’ ‘Don’t Look back in Anger’. With a returning Reeves’
(7-2-16-2) screwing things up by castling young Bean (28), K Beasley (18*) duly
splattered a few at the end (S Coates 5-1-33-0) to show what might have been.
Might, but wasn’t. DCC finishing on 126-5 and time to take in the impressive
new surrounds with a very decent spread. Time for screaming and whooping from
the bouncy castle and a rendition of James’ ‘Sit Down’.
JMO (umpiring) aghast at Williams being bounced
out. On resumption and ever a
man with a bus to catch, Williams set the tone by smashing 32 off 20 balls
before being bounced out. Being cut from far more experienced cloth, Carter
pulled and hooked his way to 18 before realising he shouldn’t really be
scoring that many, or showing up his opening partner. Howarth’s (14 off 10)
aggressive cameo was again all to brief, and coupled with the dismissals of Darley
(3) and Bullock (0) left The MAD in a wobbly state of jellyness on 83-5 off
not a lot of overs with a load more to come. Time for the strains of The
Rolling Stones’ ‘Time Is on My Side’.
D Emerson, clearly injured as he smashes one to
leg utterly unperturbed. Under leadening skies
and with rain in the air, Smith (11) unfurled the reverse sweep to everyone’s
delight. Not the bowler however, who would throw him a beamer in riposte.
Unable to run and barely living it would seem, it was now time for the ailing
corpse of D Emerson to take centre stage. Hitting anything but boundaries, he duly ran further
than Westmoreland in bringing the team home with 34 not out, partnered by the
fireworks of Coates at the other end who made 2* off 31 balls. There was time
for nothing now, other than a sprint off the field as the heavens opened. Back in the sumptuous
clubhouse the team again put Mr Coates’ membership card to good use behind
the bar. This had been altogether better day out than recent weeks, nay
months. We won, we enjoyed ourselves and nobody got their head kicked in
whilst visiting Didcot. That gentlemen, is one hell of a result. ‘Drop In Skip’
|
*
Statto Scorecards
|
Far from the MCC versus Didcot
CC Played at Boundary Park, 20 August
2017 Didcot CC won the toss and elected to
bat Far from the MCC won by 4 wkts Far from the MCC debuts: S.
D. Coates (145) |
17 / 442 35 over match |
|
Team |
Didcot CC |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
# |
Batsman |
How Out |
Total |
Balls |
4s |
6s |
FOW |
|
1 |
D. Hall |
c Carter b Hoskins |
32 |
|
4 |
- |
3-55 |
|
2 |
P. Costello † |
c and b Reeves |
7 |
|
1 |
- |
1-15 |
|
3 |
A. Winton |
c Williams b Hoskins |
6 |
|
- |
- |
2-47 |
|
4 |
O. Bean |
b Reeves |
28 |
|
2 |
- |
4-106 |
|
5 |
I. Meade |
run out (Bullock/Coates) |
12 |
|
- |
- |
5-116 |
|
6 |
K. Beasley * |
not out |
18 |
|
2 |
1 |
- |
|
7 |
I. Hall |
not out |
0 |
|
- |
- |
- |
|
8 |
F. Bradshaw |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
9 |
S. Winton |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
10 |
J. Barrett |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
11 |
R. Dixon |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Extras |
NB1, W4, LB4, B14 |
23 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
TOTAL |
(for 5 wickets, 35 overs) |
126 |
|
|
|
|
|
# |
Bowler |
Overs |
Maidens |
Runs |
Wkts |
Econ |
|
|
1 |
Darley |
7 |
0 |
25 |
0 |
3.57 |
|
|
2 |
Reeves |
7 |
2 |
16 |
2 |
2.29 |
|
|
3 |
Hoskins |
6 |
2 |
10 |
2 |
1.67 |
|
|
4 |
Smith |
6 |
3 |
6 |
0 |
1.00 |
|
|
5 |
Bullock |
4 |
0 |
16 |
0 |
4.00 |
|
|
6 |
Coates |
5 |
1 |
33 |
0 |
6.60 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Team |
Far from the MCC |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
# |
Batsman |
How Out |
Total |
Balls |
4s |
6s |
FOW |
|
1 |
G. Carter |
c and b Winton |
18 |
(29) |
2 |
- |
2-60 |
|
2 |
C. T. J. Williams |
c Costello b Winton |
32 |
(20) |
4 |
- |
1-51 |
|
3 |
A. Darley |
c and b Barrett |
3 |
(7) |
- |
- |
3-77 |
|
4 |
I. Howarth * |
c Dixon b Beasley |
14 |
(10) |
3 |
- |
4-77 |
|
5 |
M. Bullock |
b D. Hall |
0 |
(6) |
- |
- |
5-83 |
|
6 |
T. P. W. Smith |
b Barrett |
11 |
(16) |
1 |
- |
6-103 |
|
7 |
D. Emerson |
not out |
34 |
(33) |
2 |
- |
- |
|
8 |
S. D. Coates |
not out |
2 |
(31) |
- |
- |
- |
|
9 |
M. K. Reeves |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
10 |
J. D. Hoskins |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
11 |
J. C. W. Hotson † |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Extras |
W9, B4 |
13 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
TOTAL |
(for 6 wickets, 25.2 overs) |
127 |
|
|
|
|
|
# |
Bowler |
Overs |
Maidens |
Runs |
Wkts |
Econ |
|
|
1 |
Dixon |
3 |
0 |
23 |
0 |
7.67 |
|
|
2 |
Bradshaw |
3 |
1 |
18 |
0 |
6.00 |
|
|
3 |
Winton |
2 |
0 |
23 |
2 |
11.50 |
|
|
4 |
Beasley |
3 |
0 |
8 |
1 |
2.67 |
|
|
5 |
Barrett |
5 |
1 |
19 |
2 |
3.80 |
|
|
6 |
D. Hall |
5 |
0 |
20 |
1 |
4.00 |
|
|
7 |
Bean |
2 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
2.00 |
|
|
8 |
I. Hall |
1.2 |
0 |
8 |
0 |
6.00 |
|
|
9 |
Meade |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0.00 |
|
|
MOTM: D. Emerson Champagne Moment: M. K. Reeves’ caught
and bowled Buffet
Award: S. D. Coates’ Broadway fish
n’ chips (extra mushy peas) MAD
Moment: A. Darley’s first ball to D. Emerson
at first slip (Harmison style) |
Opposition:
V097 / 01 Ground: G088 / 01 Captain: C007 / 63 Match No: 35 / 156 |