Mother Nature at her most fickle frustrates a positive Flyford effort.

Mother Nature is a fickle mistress.  A deceiver.  A spinner of tall tales and a temptress to boot.  All this week she has flounced around in her summer finery, her friend the sun smiling on us like a long lost benign uncle.  Summer had arrived, temperatures soared, the shorts came out, and so did our expectation of a season finally getting fully underway.  What easily led fools we are!

Match day dawned bright and warm and it stayed that way up to start time, which very kindly had been put back to accommodate your correspondent’s dash back from family commitments dhan sarf.  Flyford were a little short on numbers but Nomads very kindly made up the numbers so it would be a full eleven a side game.

A word here about the Nomads.  The ground is a joy and the epitome of the village cricket ground.  Nomads are a very welcoming and hospitable club, thanks to them for switching venues.

Flyford skipper Joey Poole continued his season long streak of winning the toss, he is now 2 for 0 as our cousins across the pond say.  Skipper decided that Flyford would have a bat.  Flyford openers were the Skipper and our honourable Chairman Dan Miller.  It should be said at this point that Chairman Dan had not even picked up a bat since last season, as he reminded us in the dressing room.  The cynical might say he was getting his excuses in early, a practice I fully subscribe to!   You would not have known it at the crease as Flyford’s openers made hay while the sun shone.  At that point we were beginning to think that Mother  Nature had relented, the Met Office prognostications of storm and tempests were not true, and that she was going to smile on us after all.   More of that later.

Then, batting wise, it all started to go a bit wobbly. First Dan Miller was out for a very creditable 48 To a good catch in the deep.  Joined at the crease by our other Joe it seemed like the ship was steadied for a bit but wickets began to fall at all too regularly a rate until you very own correspondent strode to the wicket to shore up the now creaking middle order.  However despite the wise words offered to your correspondent by the ever reliable Mark ‘Walks’ Walker along the lines of “we have 20 overs to go, no need to try and hit the cover off it”.  Unfortunately that advice went in one ear and straight out of the other.  Probably as there is not much inbetween.  In your correspondent’s defence it was a thick top edge that 99 times out of 100 would have gone over any slip and whizzed to the boundary for 4.  Not so this time and your correspondent had turned a collapse of worrying magnitude to something approaching Brobdingnagian proportions.   Fortunately the ever reliable Walks was there and joined by one of the Nomad subs and normal service was resumed.

However, Mother Nature had seen enough of us having fun and decided to have some with us.  Storm clouds were building from the pavilion end and amid a soundtrack of thunder and a lightning light show we had the first of our downpours.  Kudos at this point to the Nomads who had the pitch covered in minutes and uncovered just as quickly when the rain finally relented.  Perhaps they could be employed at our Test grounds so they we could get back to cricket sooner after rain breaks!

A word here for the Nomad youngsters who bowled and fielded with enthusiasm and commitment.  Good to see youngsters coming through and playing in senior cricket.

Special mention to young A Ward with a very well bowled 5 for 26, not bad for 14 years old!

Flyford had amassed a very creditable score but saw their innings reduced to 35 overs by which point the rain was back under increasing angry skies.  Someone or something had really upset Mother Nature, as she opened the sluice gates again while tea was taken.  Flyford posted a very creditable 242 for 6 from 35 Overs Which left Nomads chasing nearly 7 runs an over.  Game on!

Eventually she relented enough for Flyford to take the field, the first over taken by Pete Holpin who dropped straight onto a line and length.  At the other end Skipper Joey was coming down the hill and finding early movement.

However the wicket taking honours were today to go to Mr Holpin who picked up two wickets in fairly short order.  One to an edge taken behind and the other to a bamboozling full toss slower ball that had the batsmen so confused it went between his legs before hitting the base of middle stump!   A word of commendation to the Nomads opener who having got a faint touch did not wait for the umpires signal and walked.  All too rare these days but in the best tradition of village cricket. Despite the batsman’s protestations of it being a no ball, Nomads were two down and Flyford were scenting victory.

However Mother nature having flirted with us for the last hour or two and after a few spectacular flashes of forked lightning that had your correspondent thanking providence he was a short arse who was not wearing a first world war german helmet, the rain returned and having due regard for player safety on an increasingly slippery outfield it was decided that the game was abandoned as an honourable draw, Nomads having reached 53 for 2 from 10 overs,

The ultimate irony being that once the final shower had passed the sun came out and shone mockingly on a field too wet to play on!

This weeks awards:

MOTM – Dan Miller for a great knock first game back

Tit – Mother Nature  for flirting with us all afternoon, and finally running the day

Champagne Moment – Your Correspondent’s catch standing up to Pete Holpin.

Thanks For Coming - Scritty!