“Red Balls, Lions and Planes”

Match: 24 / 618

Lost by 5 wkts

Team	Total
FFTMCC	147 - 7
D. Shorten 41, I. Howarth 29
Long Compton CC	151 - 5
M. Reeves 2 - 28

The inaugural contest against Long Compton would actually take the FFTMCC out of Oxfordshire and into the rather lovely Warwickshire Cotswolds, but that’s okay, because the local pub is still called The Red Lion, location notwithstanding. It would involve a longish commute and an even longer commute if you had to travel up from the south of Hungerford to routinely escape any gun massacres.

The game itself would be hosted at Aunt Phoebe’s Recreational Ground, a local endeavour with Grant Funding helping to flesh out its appeal to all ages with a decent kid’s park adjoining. There it was that Captain Turner won the toss on a gloriously sunny day, opting to bat first and opting to face the first ball. He also agreed to no free-hits for no-balls, and we can come back to that decision a little later in the following paragraph.

Harris (batting) seconds away from disaster….

Against an extremely handy four-pronged seam attack, Turner and Howarth buckled down in the opening exchanges on a pitch offering up plenty of assistance to the bowler. Bruises count for nothing, but the one that crashed into Russ’ right nipple thankfully avoided his helmet-free coconut. A no-ball was called, one added to the total and an extra ball was to be bowled, but… not a free hit, so biffing one to the hands of mid-wicket the very next delivery being very much OUT. But not… if the opposition play the sport in the very sporting manner this game was played throughout and calling Russell back to the crease. Applause all round, but not for Turner’s memory recall (of agreed terms at toss).

It would be around this point in the day that the match was briefly interrupted by a flyover from the RAF Red Arrows (courtesy of the nearby Midlands Air festival). Always a wonderful sight to behold, would you believe it is now seventeen years ago that The MAD witnessed these legendary planes whilst on Tour on the Eastbourne seafront?! How times flies [sic]….

The ‘Arrows courtesy of the Bullock Photo Agency (2007).

Howarth (29) would be the first to go to a beauty from Adams in the thirteenth over, swinging in late, it was the same one that did for Harris (2) a few overs later. Russ (21) would push the score furtherly onto 69-3, whilst Darley (10) clubbed a few into the outfield before clubbing one to the guy stood out in the outfield (a very well-judged catch by Mr Woolley).

There then followed a most intriguing passage of play where Geoffball (9) was mixed with Legoball to produce an intoxicating cocktail of yawns and whoops. Much like a misfiring Dodge Charger, nothing happened for a minute or two aside from a few farts of smoke, then swapping the driver, the engine roared into life with David (41) pushing the pedal to the metal and runs coming at pace. A partnership of 49 was the latter bedrock of a MAD total of 147-7 with Timms (8*) providing a bright little cameo at the death.

Lego Geoffball (available from most participating retailers).

Teas provided a perfect opportunity to stretch out under rich blue skies, absorb the rolling hillsides and leafy surrounds, scoff a bunch of food and maybe chin a beer or two. After the wet and quite frankly pitiful winter we’d all had, this whole slice of the day seemed on a different planet.

In reply, the home team’s innings would be glued together by the unflappable D Whittaker (56*), keeping out the good ones whilst patiently awaiting any filth to put away. So assured was his knock, you barely even realised he’d been at the crease throughout the entire Compton innings, a complement for any opening batsman. He forged several decent partnerships with his teammates, as the bowlers continued to toil (Darley 6.2-0-38-1, Shorten 7-1-16-1). Reeves was decent enough (7-0-28-2) and would have been even more decent if Howarth could catch a ball. Hoskins was miserly (7-0-18-0) and Timms (2-0-9-1) most interesting on a featherbed pitch, until brutally taken out of the attack with the ending nigh (later found slumped in the local after drinking to placate his woes).

It is obviously with some sadness that the game was lost, cheered somewhat by a Howarth catch later in the day and furtherly cheered by The MAD finding a very likeable opposition whom friends were most definitely made. A post-match barbeque was a lovely touch (inc the French fries that were on offer).

We wish ‘Compton all the best for the season and very much look forward to playing them in the future, including hosting a return on our home ground. In a sporting context, there were really no losers on this day.

’Cotty Wolds’

*

Statto Scorecards

Far From the MCC versus Long Compton CC Played at Aunt Phoebe’s Recreation Ground, Warwickshire, 2 June 2024 Far from the MCC won the toss and elected to bat Long Compton CC won by 5 wkts Far from the MCC debuts: n/a

24 / 604 35 over match

Team	Far From the MCC
#	Batsman	How Out	Total	Balls	4s	6s	FOW
1	R. P. Turner *	c O'Driscoll b Parsons	21	(61)	3	-	1-48
2	I. Howarth	b Adams	29	(42)	5	-	2-63
3	J. Harris	lbw b Adams	2	(12)	-	-	3-69
4	G. Carter	b Molyneaux	9	(33)	-	-	4-84
5	A. Darley	c Woolley b Bedford	10	(11)	2	-	5-133
6	D. Shorten	c unknown b Woolley	41	(30)	7	1	6-133
7	G. J. Timms	not out	8	(10)	1	-	7-147
8	J. A. Cartwright	c Parsons b Whittaker	0	(9)	-	-
9	M. K. Reeves	not out	0	(4)	-	-
10	J. D. Hoskins
11	J. C. W. Hotson †
	Extras	NB2, W11, LB6, B8	27
	TOTAL	(for 7 wickets, 35 overs)	147

#	Bowler	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wkts	Econ
1	Molyneaux	6	1	17	1	2.83
2	Woolley	7	0	23	1	3.29
3	Adams	5	2	14	2	2.80
4	Boswell	4	0	15	0	3.75
5	Bedford	5	0	27	1	5.40
6	Parsons	4	0	13	1	3.25
7	Kench	2	0	18	0	9.00
8	Whittaker	2	1	6	1	3.00

Team	Long Compton CC
#	Batsman	How Out	Total	Balls	4s	6s	FOW
1	C. O'Driscoll †	c Hoskins b Darley	13		1	1	1-14
2	D. Whittaker	not out	56		7	-	2-46
3	J. Bedford	c Darley b Reeves	3		-	-	3-78
4	N. Molyneaux *	b Reeves	12		1	-	4-115
5	S. Begley	c Howarth b Timms	21		2	1	5-147
6	S. Kench	b Shorten	15		2	-
7	I. Ledbury	not out	0		-	-
8	J. Woolley
9	A. Adams
10	N. Parsons
11	D. Boswell
	Extras	W4, LB12, B15	31
	TOTAL	(for 5 wickets, 32.2 overs)	151

#	Bowler	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wkts	Econ
1	Darley	6.2	0	38	1	6.00
2	Shorten	7	1	16	1	2.29
3	Reeves	7	0	28	2	4.00
4	Hoskins	7	1	18	0	2.57
5	Harris	3	0	22	0	7.33
6	Timms	2	0	9	1	4.50

MOTM: D. Shorten Champagne Moment: A. Darley’s athletic one-handed catch in the covers Buffet Award: J. Harris’ open-pit barbeque extravaganza (salad sides) MAD Moment: I. Howarth’s pitiful drop to continue two year’s of fumbling hiccups

Opposition: V132 / 001 Ground: G117 / 001 Captain: C024 / 087 Match No: 35 / 231