16th May, 2021 | Weybridge Vandals | Weybridge, Surrey
Weybridge 271/6 (35) defeated ACME Cricket 209/7 (35)
ACME's golden start to the season finally falters at Weybridge
Prologue:
Desborough Island, in Weybridge, Surrey, is the largest island in the Thames. For those interested in pop culture, it was used as an unlikely stand-in for Mississippi in the video for Culture Club's hit single Karma Chameleon, which spent 6 weeks at Number 1 in the charts in‘83.
For those looking for the cricket angle; this is 2 weeks longer than ACME managed to remain undefeated in the 2021 season.
The story begins:
If there’s one thing that vexes a Sunday skipper more than anything else it’s rain. Not so much the prospect of missing a match, although that is certainly disappointing. Nor is it the prospect of sitting in the changing room, playing cards in between passing showers;
In reality, it’s the knowledge that as the clouds gather, and the Met Office supercomputers “Chance of precipitation” starts rising, so too does the number of messages that arrive asking you to channel your inner Nostradamus / Michael Fish and advise whether the game is going ahead.
So it was on Saturday.
Fortunately, an evening call to the Weybridge captain assured that not only did they have excellent cover, but also excellent drainage and full confidence that the game would go ahead the following day. Communications were made to assuage concerns of those of wavering commitment and Sunday morning had the Weybridge skipper sending photos of actual sun overhead. The game was afoot.
Dil was first to arrive at the ground and sent heartening pictures of blue skies and lush outfield, giving strength to those en-route. Hampshire may have been under heavy rain all morning, and Kent with standing flood warnings, however Deacon travelling from Southampton and Suvagithan and Niranjan from Tonbridge were steadfast in their commitment.
Slowly but surely, ACME assembled.
At this point, bad news fell. Two key players sent last-minute messages detailing unexpected technical difficulties; In the case of Whiting, a combination of old-age and heavy duvet, while Goel reported *cough* car troubles. Both being top 5 bats and one the seasons lead wicket taker, this was a blow.
Eyebrows were raised, commitment questioned, however later, under stern cross-examination of the ACME Tribunal, Whiting proffered incontrovertible evidence and a tearful, remorseful defence; As an ardent and life-long Culture Club fan, naught but the most serious of afflictions would have prevented him from making his annual pilgrimage to Desborough for the purpose of covering his body in the very dirt walked on by Boy George all those years ago. Apology accepted. Case closed. We move on.
In the pending case of Sandeep, however, no such ironclad alibi’s were forthcoming, and with evidence he fled the country rather than face the ACME tribunal, we’ve been left with no choice but to dispatch the ACME transport squad to look for verifiable evidence of vehicular trouble.
Security footage of a disguised Goel fleeing the country.
If spotted, approach with caution
But in the words of David Prest, “what about the bloody cricket?”
Good point… where was I? Blazing sunshine… that’s right....
Fortunately for us, Bahyr had turned up to score and Zaheer, who lives locally, dropped by to watch a few overs and both were soon roped in to make an ACME XI. Whites were borrowed from the opposition, a toss was made, in which I did the polite thing and lost to the hosts, and Weybridge duly chose to have a bat.
ACME opened the bowling with Haris, turning out for his first match of 2021, and Suvagithan bowling for the first time in at least 3 years. The pitch, retaining a reasonable amount of moisture from having being kept under covers until close to the start of play, presented surprising lift although limited pace for both bowlers and both opening bats played and missed on multiple occasions.
This bounce led to the first wicket in the 4th over, with Katyal fending off a rising ball, which caught his gloves and ballooned to the keeper for an easy catch. This brought Weybridge first team regular, Martin, to the crease who made his intent clear with a cleanly hit 4 from the first ball, then showing his comfort to the shorter ball by following up the next over with three crisp 4’s off Suva.
A double bowling change saw Prest, then Sarma brought into the attack, just as the first shower began to fall. While David found the rain to provide little problem, Sarma, bowling seam with a wet ball, found control hard to master; a problem that was to affect most bowlers at some point through the innings.
In spite of the rain, David picked up the second wicket of the match in the 10th over when Prince Nirwan miscued a pull-shot and Sarma back-pedalled to take an excellent catch behind the square leg umpire.
To look at the scorecard after the match, the following period of play looks to be punishing. It was 18 overs and 156 runs before the next wicket fell, as Martin, and number 4 bat Honey Nirwan, scored freely.
Bowling was certainly awkward under continued rain showers, however we did ourselves no favours dropping Nirwan no less than 5 times. He struggled early against Prest, and had we held any of the earlier catches, it is possible we may have found ourselves chasing 50-odd less, which could have made all the difference.
In the end, It was Deacon that made the breakthrough. Realising that if you wanted something done, you’d better do it yourself, he somehow managed to uncover swing with a wet ball and went through an advancing Martin (103) to find the top of middle stump.
Perhaps a case of too-little, too-late, but around this point, ACME seemed to rediscover the art of catching, with the remaining 3 wickets going to hand; a caught behind and two catches in the deep (Suvagithan off Haris and Niranjan off Suva).
However by this point, Weybridge had amassed a formidable 271 and there was nothing for it but to drink tea, eat cake and prepare to chase.
This preparation was aided by the arrival of Rob Lynch, former ACME captain, and family, who provided a welcome social diversion before the serious business of the run chase began.
Former ACME Captain Lynch and Family. Doing what he does best - drinking tea and making wisecracks.
Proceedings began in a sprightly manner as Hoskin, then Sarma took advantage of some early wayward bowling, before Hoskin (18) managed to tie himself in knots in the fourth over trying to sweep a spinner, and instead lobbed the easiest of catches to square leg.
At this point, the ever capable Haris and his partner Sarma took over the chase. Runs flowed almost as freely as they had for Weybridge earlier and ACME found itself at 120 off 17 before Sarma (49) missed a full-toss to be bowled. At this point we were almost at the required run rate, and with Suva coming in we were still in with an outside chance.
Runs continued, until Weybridge brought on O Powell, who bowled a tight line and managed to choke the runs off at one end. Even with Haris and Suva scoring freely at the other end, the pressure eventually was obvious as the required run rate began to climb.
Ultimately this led to wickets, with Haris (57) bowled trying to release the pressure, then Niranjan (15) and Suva (29) also falling as they too tried to push on towards the Weybridge total. Even with a late batting flourish from Abbas (21), it was not enough to reverse the flow and eventually, Bahyr (1*) and Dil (7*) batted us out to the 35 overs, reaching 209/7.
While the scoresheet showed ACME losing by 62 runs, it was a remarkable match, staying competitive well into the final 12 overs. Also thinking back to those dropped catches and a potential 50-saved runs, then the game was a lot more evenly matched than a brief glance at the score might suggest.
Would the presence of Whiting and Goel have made the difference and allowed ACME to threaten Boy George and Culture Club's 6 week run at the top of the charts? Perhaps. Another wicket taker, a few more runs, and just maybe, but the truth is, we’ll never know and really, in the world of Sunday Cricket, winning matters, but only so much….
Haris Mashkoor, taking the fight to Weybridge
More photo's available at:
Full Scorecard:
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