Telling Tails — Ravens vs Lambourne
We've all played in some pretty hot Saturday and Sunday games before, but last Thursday was a sizzling hot evening. With a week of change after our original oppo crashed out, it was thanks to Sam and Naushad's contacts that got us all out in the blistering evening sunshine and very thankful we are too!
These are the evenings we long for in those dark winter months, so worth slapping a bit of factor 50 on to see out the day with willow and pink leather in hand.
And we did begin that way, as we won the toss and elected to bat, mainly in the hope that we'd field with higher intensity if the temperature reduced later in the evening. Rich and Harry took to the middle and faced the lively bowling of our visitors. The ball it seems had put its 'key in the bowl' as it was swinging every which way. It was combined with some of the most consistent and quick pace that we've witnessed on a Thursday. Nevertheless it was welcomed as both Rich and Harry built a solid foundation with 55 off the first 6 overs.
Harry was hitting boundaries and pretty much nothing else, grabbing 23 before a leading edge went skyward to return him back to the shade allowing Sam to walk out and work the ball around beautifully with Rich, as the both rotated the strike and hit a couple of maximums to push the score on further.
The consistency of the Lambourne lads really did show though as the middle order bowlers were equal if not quicker than the openers. The ball was still swinging through the second half, most likely caused by the heat and after a bright and energetic start, Jamie was beaten by a pearler before I poked around at a few to grab a handful. George got his Ramsbury campaign underway and Joe was looking in fine form until his unfortunate run out. Hard luck mate! Laurence was (uncharacteristically) out cheaply towards the end and Nick grabbed some vital boundaries with the return of Sam who, combined with Nick to hit 14 off the final over seeing us to a healthy 164/7 off 20 overs. A very defendable score, especially given what we faced in the attack.
A quick drink followed by a very-village throw and catch session in the outfield to 'prepare' for fielding and we were underway.
The Lambourne lads looked to go after us quickly and soon found their stride. Despite this, some tight bowling was on show from Rich and George. Whilst both found the ball drifting to the boundary in their opening overs, their returns turned the tide, Rich's second over grabbing a vital wicket with just 1 run off it and George going for just 2, bringing some welcome pace to our attack too. Against many teams, that pace will provide many a wicket, but sadly not to be on debut. As we've found in the T20 format, one over can really turn the tide on the feeling of a game and take something which feels like it 'getting away from you' into 'tight again' and by over 4, things were pretty even.
With Nick leaving the field through injury (hopefully its short term!) it was Sam who willingly took the gloves. In support was Jago (aged just 14), who joined us in the field and who made a positive difference in plugging in the gaps and stopping the ball on several occasions. A vital role and a huge thank you for getting involved at short notice!
Jamie stepped up to dart in some danger, but couldn't find his usual turn (most likely down to the astro). Monty, fresh off the train back from London (and a horrid journey too) worked hard in his overs and played his part to make the batters uncomfortable, exposing that they didn't love the more pace-off deliveries, which was a tactical joy towards the end of the innings.
Chances were coming in the field too, but the sticky weather conditions were not replicated in catches as we dropped opportunity after opportunity. I think I counted 6 drops... some chasing backwards, some hidden in the sunlight, some swinging in the conditions and others were we'd naturally expect us to do better, but what we lacked in catching we made up for in run stopping as we dived, chased and powered through every ball to reduce as many scoring opportunities as we could.
Laurence 'Top Cat' Mitchell handed a few lives to the oppo as chances went begging, but with Joe alongside him, steered us through two in-form batters and slowed their progress down were possible, soaking up deliveries and keeping the run-rate down as much as possible.
Then came the big change, Cornwall Criss and Welshie Will, the vital duo which put the game back in our court (sort of). As it looks like the oppo might just run away with things, Will grabbed a vital LBW, with a run out in his second over and a series of dots in his third, it was a vital 3-over spell which dragged down the run rate. Realising the pace-off option was helping us to reduce the boundaries as the batters couldn't use the speed off the ball to drive easily to the boundary, turned things in our favour. Combining with Will, was our very own Cornwall, who only went for several singles across an equally impressive 3 overs.
As we the reached the death it was super tight and I put my faith in Rich to bring us home. A wicket of the first ball, followed by a dot, single, and another dot left the visitors needing 4 off the final 2 balls. Through desperation and quick fielding we grabbed another run out, leaving a new batter to face the final delivery. In the dying light on a beautiful evening, the ball sailed past the bat and safely into the hands of Sam behind the stumps to seal a last-ball thriller and a 4-run win.
The real winner though? Village community-driven cricket. Two teams, battling it out on a hot, but glorious midweek evening in the middle of summer. The visitors, Naushad and team, brought a wonderful spirit to the Rec, and played with heart and wide smiles. We'd welcome them back with open arms!
We look ahead to this week as we hit the road and head to East Garston for the return fixture against a firm favourite. We'll welcome the return of Ian to the team, hot off a triathlon and Jake who will be playing in his first game since his school days and donning cricket whites instead of his chef whites. Alongside Pol, who will join us for the first time in the T20 format. The Queens Arms after? Not even sure thats a question.
Go well. Cheers!