For those that are interested we won the Saturday fixture. Quite easily in the end although had a scare when they were 40ish for 7!! We scored 171 all out in 39 overs. Casper had taken 4 wickets at the end of his 5th over. So we brought on 1st change early which let their skipper get is eye in, whilst Spawny took 3 wickets in customery style.
Aside: Spawny's bowling is mythical. Its the modern day cricketing equivalent of the Sirens. Off 5 paces seductive and deceptive half trackers sit up infront of batsmen who glaze over licking their lips, get the horn even, at the thought of the huge score they are going to amass in very few deliverys. Only to flounder on the rocks of the Manny road field, who this week were Casper and Croc.
The only oppo to offer any resistance was their skipper, formerly minor counties, who raced to 50 before Casper was brought back to stem the flow. Charging Casp once to often we were releived when our 5 wicket glory hero ripped his off stump out the ground (ripped it about 30 degrees from the vertical actually but I always said the stumps are put in too tightly). Twas all over.
Had a lovely barbecue after. Casper the hero did the decent thing and chatted to Adam Allies all evening.
Skip
The traditional King's School double header didn't attract the weather which had been promised. We made them feel at home by trotting out enough people that they recognised.
On Saturday, we were there in numbers ridiculously early so we could have a kick of the footy to warm up. Skip won the toss again so we batted first again. Nigel continues to struggle as an opening batsman. Chalky crafted a three-ball duck, then began to herd the kit into a large pile. I got out immediatley after thinking I was going to make a heap of runs. Skip did the same, except that he made a half century. The scorers didn't realise this, so we clapped his 53rd (and last) run. Ravy Davy made an brief impression, before Migwara's golden duck. Chalky started spreading the kit around while Boring Matt Benson did the same to the bowling on his way to a very dull 48 from 47 balls - although the scorers probably missed a few balls when they were asleep. Spawny didn't last long, doing the right thing and letting Caspar bat. TFG made 30 before Major Bielby - fresh from doing nasty things to mice - stranded him in the last over. 9/171 - all out as Skip's cunning plan of naming the unavailable Charles didn't entice him into coming along.
Tea's highlights included Bill presenting Caspar with a plate of tomato-less sandwiches, and Chalky's secondhand story involving Thai women, budgies, fish and toads. If you weren't there, be thankful!
Since we hadn't practiced our slips catching, we naturally started with Spawny there. (See last week's report for the relevance of this.) Casp was generous with the ball, only taking wickets with the 3rd and 4th balls of the innings, then opening their score with a no ball. Chalky managed to convince the oppo that he was the fielder they should aim for, then took a sublime catch to end Rob's first over. Sneaky bastard. Casp took his 3rd wicket in the 5th over, and his 4th in the 9th. Skip took mercy on the oppo (or at least tried to) by bringing Spawny on. He spawned a couple of wickets from long hops in his 1st over and another in his 5th. Spawny bastard. Migwara suffered from bowling to their captain (who made 69). Croc got a tailender before Casp removed their skipper for his 5th of the day and a 62 run win.
A slightly changed side turned out on Sunday. Skip was replaced by Skup, Chalky by Carlos, Dave Foth by Brian Lawrence, Croc by Dave's mate Owen, and the available Charles was present. The oppo fielded the same 11.
Skup took my advice that we should bat first because Rob had to play with mice and would be late. Bri and Carlos started well before Carlos missed one. He couldn't even console himself with having run Antipodeans this week. Skup enticed the oppo into another unexpected catch. The other two Kiwi's put on 50, with O displaying lightfootedness not often seen in our side. Bri made 58 before coming a long way down and missing one. Nigel was not comfortable at six, especially when Saturday's opening bowlers came on at 3rd and 4th change. Charles was plumber than plumb, more out than Liberace. Migwara failed in his quest for a King pair, not comprehending that its not a good thing to achieve. Casp upped the scoring rate briefly, and the innings ended when Spawny skied one. 151 was enough to win on Saturday.
Casp was less effective with his opening spell, probably due to his exertions at the Zodiac. Rob also couldn't get a break through, so we had to spawn some wickets. Another 3-for for El Rotundo. Spawny bastard. Migwara and Skup failed to knock anyone over. They needed about 30 from the last 10 overs, so we had to call upon Casp and Rob again. Casp took 3 wickets in his second spell, whilst enduring taunts from Skup to the effect of "It'll just be a short spell." Nine isn't a large number, is it Skup? Evil bastard. Major Bielby got one, but couldn't handle the pressure of the last over with 6 required. The inside edge for 4 didn't help. 3 wicket loss. Skup had to pack the kit. 5 byes wasn't too bad considering the state I was in. Drunken bastard.
AO
If you have any comments about these pages, please email Anthony O'Dea (odea@physchem.ox.ac.uk) or Paul Miyagawa (paul.miyagawa@somerville.oxford.ac.uk).