Sunday

WORLD TOUR – Match 17

Well, that was an interesting match. Canada aren’t renowned as world-leaders in the field of cricket, so we expected a fairly easy game. When we arrived at the ground, though, and saw how small it was, I could see several of you practising extravagant strokes – obviously with sixes in mind.


We weren’t disappointed. Most of us who managed to make a start (and didn’t just swing away at the first ball they saw) were well rewarded. The runs certainly flowed. I’d like to pay particular respect to Richard for his long-overdue half-century, and our vice-captain, Frangelita for her century. Both of them scored entirely in boundaries – look at the score-sheet: 124 runs off just 30 balls!


We were all guilty, though, of greediness – in looking for too many sixes. Even I (I’ve only ever hit a six once in real life – my normal selection of shots keeps the ball low) was tempted into the odd aired shot. Seven of us caught out tells its own story. Who knows how much we could have gone on to score, had we just been a little more cautious.


Even so, I believe our total of 743 all out is a club record.

Tea was pleasant. If you like moose fritters, that is.


I think our score completely demoralised the Canadian team – and Tom bowling their opener with the first ball of their innings didn’t help them either.


We fairly quickly ran through them – as usual, I found that tail-end batsmen just don’t know how to play spin, and so Phil and I picked up a few wickets between us.


So, we win again.


Next week we’re off to the Netherlands, for the last match in our world tour.

Saturday

WORLD TOUR – Match 16

Well, after the last few matches, I suspect we all thought this was going to be a stroll in the park. The USA aren’t, after all, noted for their cricketing prowess.

They won the toss, and elected to bat. I said I’d try to give you all at least one over to bowl at them, provided they lasted that long – and I’d start with those of you who don’t normally bowl.


Call me selfish, if you like, but it’s my game, and I’m captain, so I did reserve the right to take one end as mine from the start, and bowl all my overs in one go. Sadly, you didn’t all get a chance to bowl, as we knocked them over fairly quickly.

I took the last four wickets with the first four balls of my final over. My only slight disappointment is that Carol and Vicus between them managed to stop me getting a ten-wicket haul for the first time in my life. Still, I think 9 wickets for one run (and that was a no-ball) is still probably my lifetime best (so far, anyway).



We had time to play our innings before tea; Phil was urging us to get it over with as soon as possible, as he’d seen the size of the burgers we were having. I had intended to put myself down at number eleven, to give the rest of you a chance to bat, but a slip of the finger put me in at number one instead – so I quite deliberately lifted my bat, and allowed myself to be clean bowled (although even then it took them three balls to do it).



It was not my intention that the rest of our top order batspeople should follow that example – but that’s what happened. Finally, Richard (who has been working hard to improve his batting, I know) came to the crease with Frangelita, and they knocked-off the runs very easily – Fran finishing with a stylish six to win the match for us.


Next week Canada.

Sunday

WORLD TOUR – Match 15


Not as easy as the summary makes it look. I’ve played Sri Lanka before, and they are very good bowlers, so when they won the toss and elected to bat, I knew we would have to work really hard to keep their score down, to give us any chance of scoring the necessary runs ourselves before they bowled us out.

Fortunately, you all played your part well, no catches were dropped, and they ended up only scoring a measly 17.

We managed to score the 18 runs needed – mainly due to a fine six from Jona – although we did lose a few wickets on the way. Sadly I’ve lost the photo of our score card – but Jona ended on 9 not out and Carol and Frangelita scored 4 each – the other run was a wide.

Next week we’re off to the USA.

WORLD TOUR – Match 14

Pakistan won the toss, and elected to bat. Tom got a couple of early wickets, but they battled on more strongly in the middle order, and eventually put on 73 runs.


Having seen a lot of catches dropped in previous matches, we did have a long session of catching practice before this match. I also moved the field around a lot, putting Fran in at second slip – an inspired choice, it turned out, as her gymnastic ability was displayed to the full as she held three catches. Disappointingly, two were dropped deeper in the field, off my bowling – so once again, I had to resort to getting the bulk of my wickets by bowling men out.


Unfortunately I’ve lost the picture showing our bowling stats. The key figures are: 3 catches for Frangelita; Phil 1-17, Tom 4-14, RealDoc 1-12 and me 4-9.

Tea was, I’m told by the rest of you, very tasty. I had a splitting headache, and really didn’t want to bat.


Perhaps that was a premonition, as it turned out that their two opening bowlers were very, very fast. They tore through our opening batsmen, and it was only when the Doc and I came to the wicket that we managed to put in some solid defensive play, and just block and block (with the occasional swing at a loose ball). As an indication of how tough it was, only one boundary was scored in the whole of our team’s innings – a six which Medusa stole off a no ball.


Anyway, I managed to block them (for 66 balls in total) long enough for some slower bowlers to be brought on, from whom we finally managed to pinch a few runs. They very kindly gave us 33 runs in extras, which made a huge difference, and we just crept home, at 74-7.

Never mind, a win is a win.


Next week we’re off to Sri Lanka.