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2nd XI v Tillside CC
by Our Russian Reporter - Taikola Bailsov
The annual Barbeque Cricket Match against Tillside CC was, once again, the talk of the Borders. (You wish! Ed) The magnificent surroundings did their job as the Belhaven 2nd XI were gently put to sleep by the soporific sounds of the countryside. How is one supposed to play cricket in such idyllic settings? See pic below!!
Winning the toss, Cap Arch decided to put Tillside into the field, thus following the winning recipe so far this season. Why was there a different Cap this match, I hear you wail with indignation? Well, a few Old Boys had turned up at Belhaven for their annual slog fest and the old codgers who normally deign to turn up for the 2nds decided they wanted to show the Old Boys what they could do. The team today, then, was composed of penultimate year boys.
The opposition was good - and I mean good! They were sharp in the field and their bowlers were accurate and two of them were very swift indeed! Our batsmen were heard to mutter, in awe; “He’s quicker than Tommy G and better!” Gulp!
And there was banter - was there not! Great stuff and certainly every batsman who went to the crease had to have their wits about them. Sadly, most forgot to don their wits and found themselves ignominiously walking back to the pavilion.
As usual the cross-the-line technique, beloved of 2nd XI batsmen, was employed again but today it did not work. Though Douglas and Ali stuck at it stoically for 27 balls the inevitable was going to happen - and it did. Douglas only managed to last 14 balls before the walk of shame but that brought George cantering to the crease who started, lustily, to swing his willow club.
Ali was steady (do you mean boring? Ed) in producing dot ball after dot ball, but at least did not lose his wicket for some time, which allowed George to dominate proceedings. Swish, swat, thwack! Any ball on the leg side was smashed for 4 and there was one glorious moment when George smote the ball for 6. Yippee! First of the season.
But it was not to last, as Ali called for a run, hesitated, and was then run out. A partnership of 43 had been built which meant the score would not look too bad in the end. You’ll realise why in a paragraph’s time!
The next 7 batsmen scored 1 run between them! Little Coach was devastated and he managed to chew through 3 pencils in frustration at the batsmen not moving their feet and making rather odd decisions about running! Still, Semper Laetus, as they say, and there was certainly plenty of that. There is little point in embarrassing the poor unfortunate batsmen by detailing their dismissals - suffice to say that the bowling was too good for them!
But we are more a bowling side than a batting side and the two openers, Douglas and Ali, did a good job of keeping runs down to a minimum. The second ball by Douglas took the batsman by surprise and he mis-timed it to give a catch to George, who ran from slip to leg slip to get it.
Ali then struck 25 runs later by bowling a tempting ball outside the off stump. Batsman duly took the bait and a thick edge sent the ball into Cap Archie’s gloves - huge shout and the finger of destiny was raised.
This was not looking too bad and the fielders began to wake up and take notice. Had a couple of other catches produced been pouched, Tillside would definitely have been under enormous pressure as both their best batsmen were dropped, unnecessarily.
One incident underlines the importance of being aware of where the other fielders are! Andrew and Jamie, going for a high but catchable ball, were too intent on the target to see the imminent danger both were heading for. Andrew shouted it was his, even though Jamie had computed the angle and velocity of the ball’s descent and had, quite rightly, judged it would fall straight into his outstretched hands. And the consequence was that said fielders crashed into each other, ball slipped through Jamie’s fingers and both ended up in an embarrassing tangle. (Moment of the match, surely?! Ed)
I suppose one could say the rub of the pitch was not ours today, but with sharper fielding the 2nd XI could have put more pressure on Tillside. As it was, the two good batsmen (producing some lovely drives and well-timed strokes) scored the runs in 11.5 overs, but it was decided to play the full 20 overs and retire the good batsmen at 25. (Thank goodness for that! Why didn’t this happen earlier? Ed)
This allowed all the Belhaven players to have a bowl and some more Tillside batsmen to have a go. It then became apparent that had we taken those catches, the other batsmen were much more on a par with the Belhaven lads and anything could then have happened.
But we did witness the first Spanish wicket taken by Toni, so it was all worth it in the end.
The smell of the Barbeque urged all the players to finish the game and they duly did so to rush towards the sausages and ketchup! Huge thanks to Lord and Lady Joicey and to Steve, Colin and the Tillside players for their hospitality and welcome - we are looking forward to next year already!
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David Peek, 28/05/2009 |
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