Telling Tails — Sunday vs Wilcot
Some of you know that I started writing this match report before we'd even set foot on the field.
Our 2025 campaign got underway with our usual Sunday Funday, and despite pre-writing the opening segment, I had no expectation that we'd have the outcome we did.
During the off season, our classic opening pair, famed through mutual love and respect (and the occasional score of 14, IYKYK), hit milestone birthdays. It meant we shaped up with our opening partnership seeing 110 years on this planet. Alan got us underway with Jeremy in support. But with age comes experience and these guys showed the rest of us how it's done.
Sean dropped one... in fairness, it was screaming towards the short boundary and whilst it went through his hands for 4, it probably stopped a 6. It was one of a few boundaries during Wilcot's innings.
Alan then got his campaign underway, relying instead on his own skill as he bowled the opening batter. The nerves settled across the field and the smiles opened up from on-field captain, Lee, who was ensuring we kept the pressure on and not let Wilcot settle.
With Alan getting his first wicket in his 60s, pressure was now on Jeremy to get his first wicket in his 50s. It only took 1 more ball as he bowled Wilcot's batter at the start of his third over.
As Sean showed up to replace Alan, our opening triple had amassed over 170 years between them. It took Warwick to replace Jeremy at the Manor End to bring the average bowling age down. But age was never of concern on Sunday, if anything, we looked like a fine wine, ageing with beauty and coming into fruitful abundance in our maturity.
The wickets tumbled at regular intervals and Wilcot never really got going. We took every remaining catch, with Nick chasing one a long way with the gloves, but he held on, Charlie grabbed a classic in his stomach, but this time avoided a broken finger unlike at Nomad's last season, and Jeremy took another high one to finish Wilcot off. It would have been over sooner if Sam (on debut) had been a cm closer to the stumps with a heck of an effort for a run out from the boundary. It was unlike Wilcot to not get going and to collapse this way, but at 55 all out, we'd been excellent in the field too, stopping singles, closing down angles and of course, a moment of genius to put a slip in for Alan's final over... one delivery, the edge was found and Lee did the rest with a great take.
Alan took 4 for 11, Jeremy 1 for 11, Sean 2 for 11 and Warwick 3 for 18. Wilcot only had 1 duck, but not a single batter hit double figures!
We should be proud of this result, but also mindful that we'll have harder weeks to come and shouldn't rest on our laurels here. But I think it's clear that strong nets turn outs and winter sessions will have had an impact when you compare this result to how we opened away at Wilcot a year ago.
We knocked off the 56 required within 7 overs, Laurence and Lee opened things up (a far younger opening age than when we bowled) and went swinging, hitting more boundaries in the first 2 overs than Wilcot had amassed in their whole innings. And Lee, who was finally out for the first time since 2023, hit 30. His wicket was somewhat celebrated from myself on the sidelines as it meant Sam (welcome mate) could get out to the middle and selfishly it meant I might get a hit. But I should have left the pads in the bag as we finished things up in time for a couple of early pints in the dappled sunshine at The Bell and the return of Alan's accurate scoring system. Delightful.
We move on to Thursday as we open our T20 campaign against new opposition in The Wicketers.
Go well, cheers!
