Urchfont v AVCC
With autumn closing in, but the last vestiges of blue skies and fluffy white clouds around, AVCC arrived at Urchfont, with just 10 men to face the mighty Urchfont. Good lads, but this time well reinforced with 1st teamers who were competitive, young and very keen.
Graham won the toss and decided to bat on a good track, albeit slightly soft after the previous day’s rain. 30 overs match agreed.
As our magnificent Borth was late, then we put Angus (complete with new fashionable beard, which made him look more mature) and Tim Gent.
Tim defended the first ball (and the next 5), and we needed Angus to get us off the mark in the next over. However, in the 3rd over (like last week) we lost our 1st wicket as Tim went for a duck to the fast pace of Long. 5-1. In came Simon Borthwick, smouldering intent blowing hot, after his 94 out last ball from last week. Much sledging around his 100-avoidance. Well the fireworks began…..27 off 4 overs, 40 off 5 overs, 48 off 6 as Simon and Angus let rip into their 1st team and fast bowling attack. Simon showed us that he knew how to hit a 6 when required and hit 2 towering 6’s - much to the pleasure and sledging of the AVCC crowd.
Unfortunately, we hit a roadblock in the 7th over. First, Angus was caught out of a spectacular catch on 14 (off just 10 balls) and then in the same over, Simon went (bowled) for a whirlwind and hard-hitting 31 off 19 balls. Their new bowler, Hodder, had struck 2 mighty blows to our heart and the core of our batting - just when both batsmen looked well set and dangerous. Matt Broocemay went in, fresh from his debut 52 last week and returned fresh by Hodder for just 4, a short while later. Ben Jones came and went for a duck and then the good work of Angus and Simon began to unravel.
Peter Williams, (3), Graham (1), and Bruce Carter (1) came and went quickly. Graham unluckily went to an amazing hard throw at one stump from near the boundary that hit the stumps. Jeremy Richards anchored the innings and scored his highest AVCC total with 68 before holing out to a high catch on the boundary for 68 good runs - including 10 x 4”s and 2 mighty 6’s - a magnificent innings. Dudley kept him company for a good while scoring 18 before being caught by Hodder.
So we had scored 151. Not a bad total off 30 overs.
However, we faced Hodder who opened again (becoming bit of a nemesis) and Malc. Intrigued to see the Urchfont book who referred to Hodder as “Posh Boy”. They scored quickly against Jeremy Richards and Ben Jones who opened the bowling, despite good spells from them both. Ben nicked the first wicket with a full toss in the 6 over with the score on 36. Unfortunately, it wasn’t Hodder.
Their captain came in. So ours, Graham put himself onto bowl and took the wicket of their captain, first ball for a duck. Good catch by Jeremy Richards off the lofted mistimed drive. 48-2. Their next batsmen looked dangerous, but Graham got him out next over with a sharp catch by Angus Harley at mid-wicket. Then Josh arrived. Hit everything as though it was his last act on earth and the score board began ticking over. Graham got him, for his third wicket a couple of overs later, but he had hit a rapid 28 that had started to take things away from us. Ben Jones took an excellent catch at cow corner to get this wicket.
After that, we ran out of first line bowlers and they stroked their way to the target with 6 wickets and 4 overs to spare….Hodder getting 68 not out and Leachers 22 not out. Matt Broocemay bowled well without reward on the first turning of his arm in some years, and Jeremy Richards bowled tight again. Ben and Peter tried manfully, but we did not have enough for a strong Urchfont side. Our Zimbabwean team yielded 72-0 and so will undoubtedly be practising hard for our next game.
Good day’s cricket. Enjoyed playing the amiable Urchfont team, and socialised with them at The Lamb Inn later - particularly welcoming the sausages and chips provided.
Well, hopefully, we have 1 fixture left to finish on a higher note before the summer is extinguished.