2007 Season
Broomleys vs DCC
Smudger scribbles:
It did actually feel like summer for our now regular trip down to Broomleys with Benno reporting that the in-car thermometer was touching 84 degrees. Broomleys looked a picture as always as we arrived although we only had ten players with thanks again to John Siddons and Richard Barlow for making guest appearances. Having said that, two appearances each this season makes them regulars by my reckoning.
The clear blue skies were blemished by a dark cloud which was Crossy�s inability to say �tails� at the toss (hurry back Paul) so a long hot afternoon in the field awaited us.
The Vicar and myself opened the bowling and rather tidy it was too with Broomleys moving carefully onto 45 after the first 16 overs for the loss of one wicket; Crossy taking the catch at mid-wicket after I�d dropped one in short which had only got about ankle high, a fair reflection of the searing pace I was generating.
The returning Dean, Kev and Benno then shared the bowling and Broomleys slowly began to pick up the pace. Ian took the second drinks break to talk Dean into leaving the seam up for another day and trying his luck with a bit of spin and the move was partly successful in stemming the flow of runs.
Which is more than could be said for myself. Benno�s sixth over, the 36th of the match saw one of the Broomleys� batsmen slap the ball to me at deep coverish and off I ran round the boundary for a bit of fielding. As I was picking the ball up, I could hear Benno shouting �bowler�s end, bowler�s end� with some degree of urgency so I decided to forego the accuracy part of my return and just get the ball moving as quickly as I could. Almost as soon as I�d let the ball go, I heard Nick say �Ooooh, that could be expensive� and never was a truer word spoken as the ball whistled past the stumps and the waiting Benno, missing the target by about ten yards. The backing-up Dean had no hope either and the ball sped across the outfield and over the rope on the other side of the ground. Their umpire, after consulting his calculator, raised both arms to signal six and it�s not often that a six is scored with the ball spending the majority of the time on the ground.
That minor aberration aside, we managed to restrict Broomleys to 208 off their 40 over which bearing in mind the fast outfield and the flattest track this side of Trent Bridge, was a reasonable effort on our part. Benno and Kev picked up the other two wickets to fall with John taking a nice catch in the deep and their opener scoring a ton.
Tea was taken which was the usual tremendous effort from the home side with jacket potatoes and beans and jelly and ice cream just some of the delights on offer. Naturally, with such fine fare being enjoyed, volunteers for opening the batting were few and far between with Nick and John finally getting the unwelcome nod from Ian.
So while those two went out to bat, the rest of us found the sturdiest chairs possible in a well ventilated area as the baked beans began to kick in and a rendition of a certain scene from Blazing Saddles was played out, quite possibly note for note.
Anyway, back to business and Nick started out as if he had a bus to catch, respectively guiding, pulling and cutting the first three balls of the innings to the boundary and we were off to a flyer. John took a slightly more patient approach but looked untroubled until he missed a straight one and was gone for nine; the score on 50 after 13 overs. Richard was next in but both he and Nick were out in consecutive overs; Nick scoring a fine 47.
This brought Crossy and Ady to the middle and Ian was soon getting stuck into the Broomleys� bowling until one shot left him on the floor with a reoccurrence of the back injury he had suffered earlier in the season. A quick costume change saw Ady transformed into Florence Nightingale and administering first aid and Ian was soon back on his feet again. However, he was out shortly after for 21 with the score on 117 for 4 after 24 overs.
Dean was in next and the run rate soon increased with one over going for twenty tchew. Ady and Dean carried on in a similar fashion and seemed destined to steer us to victory until Dean holed out for a quality 45 which included a couple of big sixes. This left yours truly to see the job through with Ady and I even had the luxury of batting out a maiden before the victory target was reached in the 38th over, Ady just missing out on a 50 having scored 48 not out.
So a good win for Dorchester and it was nice to be able to sit outside after the game without having to wear a jumper.
Let�s hope this is the start of the summer at last.