Detail: 08-06-2019 - Harry

Result: L by 3 wkts
The Battles of the Harrys

Blues 189. Tawney's Troop 190 for 8. Lost by 2 wickets.

A young and chirpy side faced us last Saturday in the much anticipated battle of the Harrys. Harry Tawney had manfully assembled a cohort of young lads and convinced them to get out of bed and turn up on time. After being told for weeks that none of the 11 we were going to face had ever played cricket before, I knew we would be in for a proper game complete with Ringers, main stays and debutants. True to form we faced a 'liquorice all sorts' of a team, with impressive sporting knitwear on show all round.

The pitch inspection at the beginning required a magnifying glass to find the crease due to it's perfectly green camouflage blending in nicely with the outfield. All expectations were therefore set for a bowlers paradise, a green seamer that would play havoc with variable bounce. Clouds rolled overhead and excitement grew across wandsworth common - the appointed hour had arrived.

Luck smiled on the oppo for the first time that day as they won the toss and put us into bat. Channelling his inner Faf Du Plessis H. Tawney opened up with a spinner. A golden-haired leonine figure of a man who threw down some crafty leg-spin, drawing assistance from the cracks, stones and idiosyncrasies of the wicket. Needless to say this threw our usually assured top order batsmen off from their finely honed game. After 2 monster innings in his last 2 outings and with half an eye on the match tea, Youcef fancied a more leisurely outing and duly got himself out for 1. Aqib remained at the crease and was joined by Harry Jenkins (cpt). The captain on the day smacked 2 to the boundary to begin a stay that proved short-lived. Thrown a full toss pie, H. Jenkins attempted some kind of cross-court forehand down the line for Wimbledon glory. Sadly the un-obliging ball hit the edge of the bat, cannoned upwards into the sky and fell into the oppo's eagerly outspread hands. Jenkins was gone for 10 and the Blues were 2 down in quick succession with panic starting to settle in.

Thankfully a February pub quiz recruit in the form of Ali McWilliams walked to the crease with all the assurance of a farmer surveying his land. Ali proceeded to anchor the innings playing sensibly and scoring some elegantly struck boundaries to keep the score board ticking up. Aqib played with a rare touch of temperance and was sadly undone by the pitch, confidently leaving a ball that pitched outside leg, only to see it grip and jump back to knock off the bails. Think Shane Warne ball of the century. Aqib departed for 13.

Another debutant Fred Goddard then strode to the crease. Again, another destruction middle order batsmen that didn't quite fire. A boundary and a single and then the bails were tumbling, Fred departing for 5 and The blues were another down with the score reading 35-4.

Fear not, the ship was steadied by the craft and guile of Bruce who accompanied Ali in playing very nicely for a 5-10 over spell. Crisis was averted and the 2 batsmen compiled a beautiful c. 50 run partnership. Bruce departed after posting an admirable 24, getting bowled by the anxious oppo skipper.

Andrew Walker then joined Ali and did a good job of digging in, proving a tough man to dislodge and consistently rotating the strike to keep the bowlers on the back foot. After a few more overs of calm, Andrew too was sent packing, posting 5 runs.

The ever dependable Mr Not Out (aka The Mullett) then took his position on the crease and proceeded to extend the tail deep into the final over. With Rich at the crease Ali played his first bad shot, looking to target the boundaries but missing the ball. After a top scoring knock of 38 runs it was a great debut.

Chris Moore and Rich then took their time and enjoyed themselves, batting sensibly for many overs, keeping that score ticking to 150 and then over it. The number 8 and 10 together combined for just under 50 runs. The tail was indeed wagging and somehow a very respectable score was being assembled. Chris with a dodgy knee decided to eschew boundaries and looked to reel off a 4 an over until he was outfoxed by the lesser spotted '7 ball over'. The 7th legal bowl of the over was a peach and sent all stumps flying. As Chris walked off he was told that umpire/scoreboard error had contrived to steal his wicket and demanded an immediate investigation. After careful consideration (of about 2 seconds) the on-field umpire had to agree that it was a brilliant ball and it would be morally unjust to rob the bowler of his hard earned wicket. Chris was gone for 24 and the on-field umpire (H. Jenkins) was brutally struck off of Chris' Christmas card list.

Our overseas player Kalid, playing a 12th man performance then lasted an over or 2 at the crease, struck a naughty 6 back over the bowler's head and then departed for 7.

Our last debutant of the day Rory Collett again got that tail jiving and batted safely, successfully partnering Rich and navigating all sorts of bowlers. The oppo captain in a bid to prise Rich and Rory from the crease shared the ball around the field and tried everything in their arsenal to un-pin the Blues. Sadly it was predictably a self-inflicted downfall that came about, with our ex 400m champion Rory C running 2 that were never there. Overall a superb batting performance with everyone chipping in to compile a respectable 189 all out in 34.5 overs.

With confidence high The Blues took to the field. With the new cherry in hand Rory was destructive, forcing the batsmen again and again to miss and for the ball to strike their pad planted firmly in front of the stumps - to the growing chagrin of the Blues. Needless to say the umpire was unmoved.

The run rate stayed down until Zahid dislodged their opening bat forcing a mis-shot that was caught by Rich. With the opp on 33-1 and the opp captain (H. Tawney) looking well set, Rich was sent into the attack. With craft and guile he drew H. Tawney into going after him, conceding a few runs but plotting his triumph. After rudely being hit for 6 revenge was on the cards and in a moment of Mullett magic a swinging delivery flew between bat and pad to send the stumps crashing to the ground. The opp captain departed for 35 - had he done enough?

The Blues demonstrated some exemplary fielding to keep the pressure mounting. Conscious of the required run rate, the oppo foolishly forced a quick 2 after smashing a ball to the boundary fielder. What they did not factor in was dead-eye-arm-slinger Chris Moore who catapulted the ball straight to the awaiting wicket keeper (H. Jenkins) who took the bails off and sent another bat walking.

Rich kept up the pressure in the bowling attack and forced another mistimed shot which was gobbled up by the paws of Chris Moore. Momentum was fully with the Blues and we could almost taste the victory pints.

Sadly the man at the crease, a Blues player showing for the opp, had other ideas. Alex Pike batted tremendously to see off all we could throw at him amassing a grand total of 78 not out and batting til the end. 70-4 grew into 104-6

Andrew Walker did a good job of using the bounce of the pitch to play a little chin music with the oppo, but even that didn't bear fruit. Youcef was sent into the attack for some military medium pacers, bowling on the money and yielding little, posting numbers for 1-16 off of 4 overs.

The scoreboard clocked up to hit 150. The oppo had finished gorging themselves on our left over tea and now, pints in hand, were cheering their team on. Rich dislodged another batter, finding the edge for the keeper to take. Rory Collett forced Alex Pike into a big hook which fell right into the hands of our debutant Fred Goddard, and then right onto the floor. A couple more flying edges were found by Rory's bowling, alas all proved far too acrobatic for the diving keeper to take.

As the overs ticked by the oppo needed 18 off of 4 overs. The game was very much in the balance. Every run was cheered and frustration grew. Our death bowlers of Aqib and Rory did a stellar job of keeping the game alive, Aqib picking up the only LBW of the day. With 8 needed off of the last over, Mr Pike smashed a ball contemptuously to the boundary to achieve victory for his team and break Blues hearts.

After many a hug and handshake both teams moved to the pub and the scars began to heal. Beer was flowing and tales of cricketing exploits were in the air, with many an under '15s As' cricketing achievement proudly being embellished. The atmosphere was rife for recruiting and Rich and Aqib led the way, drafting in a number of potential new players. Rich took his role seriously and ploughed on through the night astounding many of the oppo with his unfailing ability to delight the ladies of Wandsworth. At 2am, after some late night gardening by Messus Pike and Mullett, the curtain closed and the boys retired to bed.

A top outing for all and a rematch is definitely on the cards.

H. Jenkins


[updated 26 06 2019]