And so its time to pick between the bones of another Rosaneri defeat. A fantastic rollercoaster game for the neutral for most of the duration, the result was really never in doubt in the last 10 overs, and it all ended a bit drably. Ultimately, the removal of the usual retire at 30 rule in our 20/20 games was the main culprit for robbing those involved of participating in a tight finish.
Rosaneri elected to bat and soon lost opener Slaps who edged whilst stretching to reach bad bowling. The bowling however suited his opening partner, Tony, who proceeded to farm the strike and the lusty blows and quickly raced into the 20’s. He who lives by the sword, dies by the sword though, and was eventually caught for 23. Boom Boom Bloater didn’t face a ball for his first 3 overs at the middle but soon got into his usual stride of hard driving. It will be disappointing for him that he failed to go further after getting in, just as at Tendring, and greater concentration is required to achieve a half century. Rosaneri at this point were going great guns at 50/3 off 8 overs.
Mr Bell spared the crowd of Boycott like batting with a duck, before Pitbull spent 4 overs prodding at the schoolteachers better bowling, one of the bowlers being a twin of Dutch darts artisan, Co Stompe. Harmy Shewring strode out and looked set for a long innings before being caught in an incredulous manner, the umpire being very quick with his verdict. In the past few games against the colts, Steve at the crease surrounded by young kids, has created a scene reminiscent of Clive Dunn’s legendary appearance on Top of The Pops. Jim came out and declared don’t panic about the rapidly diminishing run rate, before a flurry of runs came. Pitbull went in the customary bizarre manner, this time, the ball played off the bat onto the front foot and back onto the stumps.
Downing continued to don’t panic and was joined and then left at the crease after Warney Shewring continued to lower his average. The tail wagged admirably with Coxy and Marcus denting their status as inhabitants of Watership Down. Even Kirk got to get padded up and walk out to the crease, minus the Karl Lagerfeld sunglasses. The rosaneri innings ended 4 balls short of the 20 overs, which against some indifferent bowling, is not up to par.
The bowling started indifferently with Marcus going for more than a Banksy would do at auction. Wanting to make most of his late night out pass, captain Jim, threw on Bloater to give ‘control’. Bloater still went for 5 an over but below the run rate required anyway.
The first school teachers wicket taken was a run out, as the batsman had started out on a run, rather than a stumping as claimed by Bell. Law 39 sunshine! In fact, the batsman ran out of his crease down the wicket away from Mr Bell’s vociferous appeal for LBW.
Kirk minus his Camden market plastic sunglasses rewarded his captain’s faith with an instant 2 wickets in 2 balls. He got whacked in his 4th over, but his first wide wasn’t until then, something other bowlers should look at. Marcus then took a great catch deep to send another master into detention. Coxy missed having a nearby fence to run into so ran himself into the ground instead in a brilliant display of fielding.
Harmy and Warney went for a lot, but were bowling to the ringer at the time. No chances were created and the game trundled to its inevitable conclusion. Fields went defensive then attacking again but the breakthrough could not be made, and the stem of blood, I mean runs could not be stopped and Rosaneri became moribund. Slaps came on to attempt to resuscitate but a brave attempt proved futile. Relatives thanked him, some even invited him to a free meal at the family restaurant.
What can we take from this match? The learning curve continues to er, deviate from a straight line and continues to curve. Tony’s and Coxys batting style is most agreeable for this short format cricket. We all gained time out on the wicket and experienced varied bowling. I can’t comment on the bowling due to fielding in a different postcode, but Kirks wicket taking was a tonic for this newcomer. I did notice that whilst I was covering cow corner at one end, cow corner from the other end was not being covered. Hence the ringers numerous boundaries towards the tree by the clubhouse. We all need to think about our basics in batting and bowling, with constructive advice only please from the more experienced.
There’s no point to being negative about a 20/20 game, it’s only a short long hop away from baseball.