It's official - Tony Mc bowls quim. What other explanation could there possibly be for the words "Stumped b. McNally" appearing next to a batsman's name in a scorebook?
Initial indications were positive - we had eleven (thanks to Rich and Chris for finding ring-ins) and we were all there before 2 (just!). Tony chose not to toss in his rowing kit, so I substituted, lost and they batted. This is where it started to go a bit wierd. Tony recalled that the last time we played Oxenford, we dropped their opening batsman on about 20 and he went on to make a century. His solution - open the bowling with Raj and Rich's ring-in. His explanation - "Trust me". His explanation for dropping the opening batsman was less convincing. Chalky assured him that we'd get another chance. Unfortunately, Dave dropped it. So did Paul. Anyone else I've forgotten? He made a century.
Despite the fact that they made 227 or thereabouts, we actually bowled reasonably well. Raj's argument that he is "a wicket-taking bowler not a run-stopping bowler" was nor borne out by his figures (9 overs, 0/40). Rich's ring-in was much better when he worked out where the off stump was. Major Bielby revelled in being first change, while Chris' collection of slower deliveries occasionally confused the batsmen. Rich wasn't happy with his performance (is he ever?) while Tony wasn't happy with the stumping. A couple of run outs were about the only good things we did in the field - although it was quite funny to see Tony lose his cool when a single turned into a six!
The highlight of the first few overs of our innings was the umpiring. Raj got in the way of a Chalky straight slog. We don't think he was trying to stop it, mainly because he did. Chris called their opener for throwing - "Do I call it in a Sunday friendly? Yes, I do." He was a bit slower when he stopped chucking. Chalky and Dave were going along pretty well until Dave had a brain-fade. A few others did as well, most notably Rich and Chris, who both got out to Eddie. Chalky made his 50 a week later than the rest of the OBs. Does that mean he's a week younger?
We were languishing run-rate wise by the time Paul came in. He then began belting the bowling about, finally working out what we meant when we said "It doesn't matter how you hit it, as long as you hit it hard." They spread the field to stem his tide of boundaries, preferring not to go with the obvious solution of bowling one straight and getting him out. We started to think we had a chance but by the time Tony handed child-minding duties over to Uncle Rob, we needed about 26 off the last over. We lost. I blame the captain. Still, 201 isn't a bad score.
AO
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