"Huzzah, a Tony O match report."
Catches win matches. By extension (I've done maths, you're allowed to do this), dropped catches lose matches. Unfortunately, the one that I took, which was pretty good* didn't compensate for the eight that we dropped (by Croc's count).
Masterful captaincy, none of it down to me, saw the game moved half an hour closer to the Rhodies Saturday night pissup and also reduced it from a 40-over slogfest to a 30-over slogfest.
I let them bat first. Sam and Bumby opened the bowling, and would have done OK if it weren't for the cavalier batting. In the second over, they thought they'd found the weak spot in the field, when Rhodri dropped one that went straight to him, albeit at high speed. They continued trying to hit it to him. Unfortunately for them, they didn't always manage this. Unfortunately for us, they discovered that we actually had a few other weak spots in the field. They scored at six-per-over from our opening bowlers, Bumby eventually getting a breakthrough by deciding to hit the stumps rather than waiting for someone to take a catch. I seem to recall Ed taking a catch but the scorebook doesn't show this. Tony Mc and Croc came on, easing Quentin (turncoat) to his fifty. Sam showed that some of us could actually field, producing a direct hit from cover. Croc produced non-bounce to get an lbw, Tony Mc positioned Bumby expertly and had a catch taken. Jez's brother Marcus turned out not to be a better spin bowler than Jez, but is in fact a very handy pace bowler. Rhodri chose not to rely on the fielders when securing his wicket. Seven for 195ish.
A decent effort tea-wise, although Martin's suggestion that everyone not make tuna sandwiches resulted in a lot of ham sandwiches.
I chanced fate and decided to open the innings with Rhodri. The Rhodie opening bowlers were not their best bowlers, but the going was initially quite slow despite all the wides. Rhodri then forgot one of the golden rules of cricket: don't run out the Australian captain who writes the match report. I don't give a rat's arse about rigged elections or murdered farmers, but how a country where the words "Wait, wait, no... oh fuck!" don't translate into a beer is still part of the Commonwealth is beyond me! Ed got out to Stanton (turncoat), but this did bring Rich to the crease. Putting his Jack Cox Trophy disappointments behind him, he proceeded to belt the bowling all over the place, no doubt while complaining that he couldn't time anything right. Chris Tavare, sorry, Rhodri had nine after fifteen overs, and even a few choice words from his captain (along the lines of "Stop playing for rain, Lewis, make some runs!") couldn't inspire him. He was eventually dismissed in the sixteenth over, having amassed eleven singles. Croc didn't stay around long, deciding that he didn't deserve to be there after playing such a poor shot and allowing himself to be stumped. The scorebook says he made one, but he claims to have run two quick singles. We didn't believe him. Two slow singles maybe. Marcus looped one back to the two-headed quimmer, er, Tasmanian bowler. Sam did a really good Tony Mc impersonation. Tony himself played one shot to the off side, not for runs of course, before returning to his bread-and-butter slogs and hoiks. Rich reached 75 with Bumby's support before holing out with one ball to go. Charles came out to watch Bumby hit a six. Eight for 150.
Result: a moral victory, since they used thirteen players in batting and/or bowling roles. And since they're only in Oxford because they can play sport.
* Did I mention it was an inside edge. To my left. Down low. One handed. With my eyes closed. And my shoelaces tied together.
AO