2006 Season - Anstey & Glenfield - 2006/08/20
Paul recalls...
We assembled around two tables outside the Crown at Anstey for a post match post mortem. Normal ribaldry, micky taking, assessment of bowling figures, availability for the next match etc etc. The banter was good and we had won convincingly. Pedigree & Magners the favourite tipples.
The Vicar was on his mobile, he was reporting in on the day and commented on a new bloke, who had had a good game for us. This new bloke had been adjudged man of the match by Terry & Max (so Max told me later in the car). But this new bloke wasn�t a new bloke at all, well not to anyone that has been around for a while. Not to anyone that recalled that his last year at Dorchester in 1992 after 7 seasons or so with the club, before succumbing to the lure of the golf club rather than the cricket bat.
He�d arrived at the ground 6 hours earlier and shook hands with old chums and said hello to the new guys, before kicking off with the inimitable laughter, old stories and banter, yep ��a guest appearance from Mark Dawson!
Before he had arrived (travelling with Crossy, therefore was never going to be on time) I had trotted out in to the middle and secured a tails/we�ll bat combination which looked pretty good at 37-0 after ten and even better at 110 -0 in the 17th.
Jez and Nick had battled their way through difficult first few overs, as the pitch was slow following some decent overnight showers, in fact it was double slow and the ball was nipping around from some dibbly dobbly bowling. But at 110, with Jez having completed yet another 50, the partnership was broken, leaving Nick in the middle.
Nick has turned up for some games this year a little on the frail side and some times more than worse for wear, but today he was in a right state. Unshaven, Worzel Gummidge hair, eyes watering and generally right out of it, he had conceded to my wishes of opening only so that he could �get it out of the way so he could get some kip�. Therefore it was to everyones surprise that whilst he wasn�t at his classy best he was building another half century.
Timing the ball was proving difficult as I found out, then Crossy and then Smudger in quick succession, with us totalling 14 between us and Ian picking up his second blob in two weeks (forecast by his dad � Mr Chairman before he went in). And shock horror with Smudger�s demise his average plummeted from 200 odd to 100 odd.
So we�re 150-4 now in the 28th and in walks Daws. Before too long Nick finally fell for 75 of the hardest runs he has ever scored (nothing to do with the bowling, everything to do with potential bowel movements).
KB (a bit like KP) and Benno got 3 & 4 respectively (much guffawing when Benno joined Daws at the wicket � Book Ends type humour).
Then Bradley went in, elevated to number 9 in his second start of the year. His last game at Calverton had seen a very nice last wicket stand of 29 with Smudge and this time whilst only contributing 2 himself he assisted in a very healthy unbroken 31 in the last 6 overs with Daws.
It was vintage Daws�.big long right leg and padding one minute, chopping carving and driving the next. The highlight was a super long off drive for six, which he admired, without considering running as he knew it was middled.
And so our unbeaten batters strolled off � my mate Mark (29 not out) playing his first DCC game for 14 years and Bradley, my son, 11 years old. Happy days.
Now we have had some cracking teas this year and I mean some belters � Breadsall and Broomleys fighting hard for the coveted Golden Teaspoon award, so expectations were high. Regrettably those expectations were shattered as we sat glumly with soggy cobs and the news that the test match had been forfeited.
The black clouds were assembling menacingly around the ground and a quick finish was required � something we are not famous for.
Their openers started quite well, then a moment of magic� a slip catch! Now we don�t get many slip catches, so when they come along they are special, but this was double special. Andy induced the edge and as Smudger (yes keeping again) went to his right and part gloved it, the ball carried on at pace until first slip dived full length, slightly backwards and held a one hander inches from the floor.
That man Mark Dawson!
And as I was only a few yards away I couldn�t resist diving on him in celebration for a truly great catch. The batter was less chuffed and he huffed and puffed all the way back to the dressing room, his �el Tel� hair do blowing in the ever growing breeze.
Mick and Andy had pretty good 8 over spells and the Vicar picked up a wicket with another Daws slip catch. By this time we were in the chair and the Anstey innings tumbled from 35-2 and went to 51-8. This was predominantly due to very nice spell from Benno who collected 3 wickets for 10 runs in his 8 overs and Brown Dog senior (Brown Dog junior not available) who bagged 7-1-16-3.
In the middle of all that Andy bagged two catches (Statto required to check when that last happened) and Benno got 2 wickets in two balls and stone me if one of them wasn�t another slip catch�..it was like London buses now, Daws with 3 slip catches!!!.....DCC with 3 slip catches - is equivalent to a couple of years aggregate slip dismissals��it was all a bit surreal.
Their batters were not enjoying it, one kicked the bail after being bowled and the second inexplicably threw his helmet on the ground half way back to the hutch. He backwheeled, picked it up and then threw it again when he got over the boundary line!
A bit of resistance at the end, which Benno and Brown Dog snr snuffed out, but the last wicket was proving difficult and we were now eager to get to the pub. Nick was looking better and unbelievably getting ready for another drink.
The ball was wet so I didn�t want to expose Bradley, I didn�t fancy it very much, Jez had got a fifty, so it had to be done�.. I turned to the slow (even slower than mine) bowling of Mr Dawson and in his second over�a flat bat straight back to him at pace for a tidy caught and bowled. 77 all out.
Game over. Won by 130 runs.
Anyway back at the Crown at Anstey, the pub was crowded and smokey, but we made the best of it� �.a bit like the game really.
Club President Colin enjoyed his day. Although top of the Fantasy league, he had invested �1 in a transfer of the absent Jamie for the incoming Prodigal Mark Dawson. How right can you be?
Each time Daws took a catch he waved to Colin on the boundary edge and they shook hands at the end.
Good Fantasy judgement that, knowing to put in that �new bloke�.