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May 16th 2009
Radway vs Syresham
Syresham 141 - All out Radway 145 for 6
Radway?s first win of the season came through a low scoring, rain shortened tight
encounter with a well drilled Syresham outfit that fought hard to the end. In extremely
windy conditions and with the constant threat of rain looming, the game twisted and turned
with each side taking control in parts.
Craig won the toss and wisely elected to field given the conditions and the rainfall of the
previous day. Restricting Syresham to 141 was a great effort all round - but let?s look at
it a bit more closely. Not a single catch was dropped by Radway all day. If you are a regular
reader you might now be thinking there cannot have been any chances in that case, as we are
generally adept at downing at least 50% of opportunities in this department. In fact the
fielding in general was sharp with several direct hits from fieldsmen around the ground keeping
the Syresham batsmen thinking.
Mark H assumed the position of ?glove man? for the day following a ?proximal interphalangeal
joint dislocation? (yes?that is what it?s called and it sounds a lot more serious than a
dislocated little finger so I?m sticking to it) to Andy?s left mitten early in proceedings.
This was a result of misjudging the speed or lack of from a rising delivery by Sam. Mark?s
awareness behind the timbers later brought about the strange occurrence of a stumping off a
fast bowler, the batsman beaten outside the bat but not retreating swiftly enough into his
ground. And this level of concentration was mirrored in the most part all around the field.
Even, Barnes, once he had decided to show up, was moving freely, encroaching on the batsmen
in predatory fashion, and avoiding a fine by taking a miscued pull shot that lobbed up to him.
This was just as well as he had been fined varying levels of between £50 and £100 for time keeping,
organizational and commitment issues that we expect to be resolved before his next outing.
Bowling proved interesting. Sam bowled an exceptional opening spell of seven overs for three runs
and really caused problems. The Behemoth fared somewhat differently. Admittedly he was running into
a powerful wind, and the size of his shirt does equate to the square footage of a main sail, so I
suppose we should have some sympathy. However the figures of 9-1-63-2 might tell a trained accounting
brain that 44.7% of Syresham?s runs came from only 20% of their allotted overs ? all bowled by Matt!
I shall leave the remainder of the critique to the ritual abuse that he is sure to receive in The Avon
over the next couple of weeks until he gets a chance to make a comeback. His two wickets were crucial
however ? bowling one batsman round his legs as Ed did sometime later in proceedings.
Ed bowled another very tidy spell adding more and more pressure onto Syresham who were struggling
to score off anything that wasn?t bowled by Matt. His three wickets kept new batsmen coming to the
crease and never allowed the opposition to settle. Craig, who took two wickets himself, got the ball
to bounce absurdly given the pedestrian velocity with which he likes to propel the ball (apparently
it?s a new slower ball cutting bouncer that he?s developed in the off season). Phil enticed the late
order batsmen into errors taking a further two wickets, one of which came from an unusual ball which
is best described as unorthodox in direction and length but is alleged to have moved a mile. Sam,
coming back into the attack at the end, decided to take the advice of that well known bowling coach,
Barnes, ruining his immaculate figures by being deposited into the field for six by the number eleven.
Last time he?ll be making that mistake then!
Tea is generally the highlight of my game, allied with the post match debriefing in the pub.
These are areas in which I feel well qualified.
We have a new benchmark set in tea standards following this game. Superb stuff and thank you.
The run chase threw up a few interesting conundrums as we needed to be ahead of the run rate at any and all
times after the twentieth over of our innings.
Otherwise we would have lost had the game been stopped due to weather. Therefore we needed to have 72 on the
board after 20 overs.
Syresham get through their overs remarkably swiftly, something we should take away from this game (allows more
time in the pub!) and they kept a tight ring field in place to start with. Mark H and Sam were restricted to
36 from 16 overs before Mark opened up the arsenal and scored boundaries all around the ground. His innings
of 43 was brought to a close by a catch held on the leg side boundary. His first shot, an edged hook over fourth
slip, also raised eyebrows and is worthy of mention.
We then lost a few wickets which kept Syresham?s confidence high as they could see that they were ahead on the
run rate and making inroads into our lineup. Barnes eventually steadied the ship very well and kept the run rate
ticking along. At the thirty over mark, we needed 50 off the final 10. Syresham?s mistake was to put people back
on the boundary as those batsmen who have the temperament and/or fitness to run singles and twos were allowed to
do so. For the rest of us, well we couldn?t care less where the fielders are??it just adds to the challenge.
But this allowed us to get control of the game and move to a position where we had the upper hand. Andy had joined Mark
by now and together they quickly knocked off the remaining runs needed to draw level with plenty of time to spare.
But the story doesn?t end there. Having got a great 36, which was crucial to the victory, you would expect the last run to be a
formality for Mark. With overs in hand, Mark and Andy discussed seeing the game out together, just knocking a single
somewhere and not looking to end it dramatically. Barnes? take on this discussion was to take a swipe at a slow
full toss that hit him on the pad and cannoned onto the stumps. The umpire asked the bowler if he wanted the wicket
detailed as bowled or LBW. The game was brought to a close the next over with Matt having blocked his only
delivery and Andy on 22, undefeated at the crease.
Multiple jugs were consumed back at The Avon, as is customary for Radway sides if any of the following criteria
exist: - we win, we don?t, the game is abandoned, a meeting is called for, there is a ?Y? in the day, we have
any money?or not.
Excellent victory that sets the season going properly.
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