Nine and a half man Flyford suffer disappointing but thankfully brief afternoon

 

Some days you know the only point of going is to extract the most personal enjoyment you can out of the game.  Sunday was one such game for your correspondent.

 

Going into the day with only 10 on the team sheet is always a little disappointing but to lose a player only a couple of hours before made it inevitable that it was going to be a difficult afternoon!

 

The weather did not help.  Leaving the picturesque environs of Barnt Green the sun shone brightly and it looked like the weather forecasters had got it wrong again.  However, as Mark Twain once famously said “If you don’t like the weather in England, stick around”.

 

As we drew closer to the ground the sky turned an Armageddon shade of grey and the rain was falling at biblical levels.

 

Still, the English Village Cricketer if both resilient and optimistic in equal measures and having consulted the radar weather app we waited patiently for the dark clouds to pass.

 

Having put the start back half an hour and reduced the game to 38 overs a side the covers were removed, civvies changed for whites and the game could proceed. 

 

A special shout out to Josh Nullis here, as having come along to watch the first hour before going off to work keeping the nations railways operational, he was pressganged into opening batsman for the nine-man Flyford.  Josh contributed a useful 9 runs, which in the context of the afternoon as it played out was not a bad score.

 

Flyford suffered a painful figurative blow and opener Steve ‘Bev’ Bevan a very literal one having got a ball that jumped from a length and struck him on about the worst part of the arm where the bone has only skin as protection.  Bev retired to the pavilion and threats of scalding water from Derek, which I understand on Bev’s part was a wholly justifiable case of jug avoidance.

 

Back in the middle despite the best efforts of the Flyford batting runs were hard to come by and despite the heroic Bev coming back to the middle the scoreboard only spluttered and creaked to a barely respectable 100 runs.  Paul ‘Scritty’ Clarke top scoring with 15 and Aaron Monk deserving a mention with three lusty blows for four at the tail end to save the Flyford total from total embarrassment. 

 

At tea stand-in captain Joe Allsopp decided that Flyford were never going to have a chance trying to keep the runs down so had to attack and bowl Hockley Heath out for less than 100.

 

The first ball from Joe ‘Chappers’ Chapman saw that strategy start to wobble as it was crashed for 6 by the Hockley opener.  

 

Perhaps it is best that Hockley Heath disappeared with the score book before we could take pictures.  This of course means your correspondent cannot give accurate bowling figures.  That perhaps is a blessing as it would not make pleasant reading for either the bowlers concerned or for you, gentle reader.  Suffice to say the 101 target was reached thanks to some brutal hitting by one of the Hockley openers in a mere 10 overs.  Oh well, at least we got the game in before a later shower that said ‘hold my beer’ to the earlier one rained down upon us, literally.

 

It is said that in victory the wise celebrate in defeat the wise learn.  Perhaps there are some lessons to be learned from this somewhat difficult afternoon.  Perhaps we need some more players, playing 11 with 9 is not easy and a little dispiriting.  We need to buy some new cricket balls.  Bowling to good batsmen with a ball around 60 overs old is not easy.  Finally, the sooner we get an iPad and make sure it is at every game so that we keep all the details the better!

 

Never mind!   Onwards and upwards and though the prospects of a game look slim until after the Euros have finished, the indomitable spirit of ‘The Flav” will prevail and in a few weeks’ time, but for this report, this game will be but a slightly painful memory.

 

AWARDS;

 

Man of the Match: Aaron Monk, sterling bowling and a cameo with the bat

 

Tit: Scritty for giving an LBW that would have missed another set of stumps

 

Champagne Moment: Alex for a low diving stop that Jonty Rhodes would have been proud of.

 

Thanks for coming: Josh Nullis

 

 

Sadly no Scorebook