2s lose a friendly

REPORT BY DAN SKINNER

With the 2s having claimed the League points after Shoreham cried off, a friendly fixture against Willesborough 2s was arranged on the Green.

Skipper Tim Croom was back after having seemingly missed the last 17 weeks of the season. Presumably because it was a friendly and did not really matter he actually won the toss and chose to bat. The sun was shining on a parched looking outfield.

A bit of tinkering with the batting order meant the top five was young and glamorous.

Feehan and Daly opened the batting. After Feehan was caught in the covers for 9, Dan Skinner strode to the wicket accompanied by the usual groans from his teammates and questions as to whether there was anything good to watch to on the TV. Surprisingly though, he scored off his first ball and carried on in a similar vein.

Daly departed soon for 6 to be replaced by James Kersey who scored a swift 8 before being caught well in front of the clubhouse.

Ben Lush came in and looked in fine nick. He and Skinner put on 74 in good time before he missed a straight one when on 31.

Finally the old pros were called into action, skipper Tim Croom looking in devasting form. His back foot lofted pull is a joyous thing to see. He hit 4 sixes in his innings and all looked effortless.

Skinner finally departed for 70. He had only taken 80 deliveries. Records show that the last time he scored that many runs he was playing the timeless test in 1939 in Durban and took 4 days to amass the total.

Tim Lush joined the skipper and they looked they would see the innings out. Various members of the team decided there was no need to get changed and some even took their pads off.

Tim Lush reached Cruella de Ville levels of popularity when he smacked the opposition’s very young bowler straight back at him, injuring his wrist. It was not so much the vicious drive that was unpleasant but his fist pumps of celebrations and the callow sledging as the tiny lad lay there before being carried off the field that upset most observers. (Editor’s note - some parts of this incident appear to have been completely made up by our so called match reporter for dramatic effect).

The only issue in the last over was whether the skipper could hit five boundaries and reach his ton. Sadly he fell short on 88. With two balls left John Haggart marched out looking full of confidence. Unfortunately after missing a straight one from the bowler he immediately marched straight back. That left Steve Pearce scrabbling around to get ready to face the last ball. He had time to dash in and find some gloves and a box but no time to put back on the pads so recently removed. He went out to face the last ball. Despite his unusual attire the crowd were still expecting to hear the glorious sound of leather on willow as the ball sailed over the boundary. Unfortunately the only sound was leather on ash and the only thing sailing through the air was the bail. He departed for a memorable golden duck and the bowler had a hat trick. Tim Lush remained unbeaten on 10 and we had a seemingly good total of 240.

A fine tea, with the combined efforts of Rosemary Pearce and John “2 Michelin stars” Haggart meant we went out to field in confident frame of mind and with full bellies.

Minor tinkering meant we opened with Richard Sargent (6.2-0-39-1) and Ian Gutteridge (5-1-19-0). Sargent took the first wicket courtesy of a confident catch on the boundary by Tim Lush.

Martin Daly (6-1-16-2) replaced Gutteridge and bowled well, using the bouncy wicket to good effect. His two wickets were clean bowled.

Jack Feehan (8-1-53-1) came on. He was not perhaps as accurate as he normally is and copped a large amount of abuse from wicket-keeper Pearce for bowling down the leg side.

Throughout their innings Willesborough batted well and kept the score ticking over nicely.

With Daly having to leave the field early, followed later by skipper Tim Croom (presumably because he has such a long journey to get home) we ended the game with only 9 in the field. Some would argue that as John Haggart managed to field on the bench for much of the innings we only actually had 8.

The innings became a bit of a long slog in the heat. Tim Lush (2-0-27-0) could not stop the rot so we called on the legendary Steve Pearce to save the day. Handing over the gloves to Dan Skinner he came in off his long run. With Feehan’s ears still ringing from the rollicking he had received earlier, Pearce promptly bowled two overs of leg side dross, interrupted only by a full toss no ball. He went for 29 runs.

Special mention must go to Ben Lush who covered a massive amount of ground in the outfield chasing down several balls that were otherwise destined for boundaries.

Our earlier confidence proved misplaced as the opposition reached the total with a few overs to spare for the loss of only 4 wickets.