Across the country, avid sports fans awoke to the promise of a day full of intrigue and drama. Who would prevail at the end of long months tussling for the premiership crown, the blues or the reds (you can tell this report was written by a fan of the bloody footie, can’t you?) In Spain, who would be the quickest to drive their car in circles many, many times? And, in a pleasantly leafy corner of Croydon, could the brave paladins of KRCSC triumph in their first away fixture of the season?
Abandoning his habit and Gregorian chanting for the day, the Road were skippered for the first time by Brother Birch. Much to his relief, he got the first thing right and won the toss, opting to bat and take advantage of a sunny afternoon and a good-looking pitch. First into the breach were Pinkney and Chinmay, the latter of whom was coming off the back of a confident 58* the previous weekend. Sadly, he could not pick up from where he had left off and was trapped LBW second ball.
This brought Birchy to the crease, who looked to play a captain’s knock and settle things down with Pinks. The next 5 overs passed uneventfully, with both batters looking comfortable against the Beddington openers, until Birch got under a wide one, spooning it into the hands of a grateful fielder at cover. An excellent captaincy decision, he told his teammates back in the hutch, as it released the Road’s figurative Kraken, Mandy. It was not long before the Reading Ranger began to tuck into the bowlers, hitting three back-to-back fours. Pinkney, too, was keeping things ticking a long, finding the gaps and putting pressure on the fielders with some aggressive running. A particularly delicious cover drive all along the floor for four hinted at a typically classy innings from the opener. Unfortunately, Pinks was bowled in 18th over for a well-made 26.
With the score at 67-3, the innings was finely balanced. You may well expect mere mortals at this point to play watchfully and look to rebuild. Yet, as has long been known to the denizens of south London, Mandy is no mere mortal. He looked to take the attack to Beddington bowlers, striking the ball to the boundary with a combination of exquisite timing and raw power. One pull was hit so hard and high for 6 that those watching on could be forgiven for letting out a little wee. Number 5 Connor looked to match Mandy as he pulverised a ball arrow-straight to the boundary. Sadly, he met his undoing shortly after, bowled by a ball so slow and looping, it is certain to give all amateur cricketers across the land nightmares. Keats was to discover this just two balls later, as he too succumbed to some wily slow bowling.
Number 7 Oscar to join Mandy now, who was set on 38*, but losing partners at an alarming rate. The Road continued to look for quick runs, however, with Oscar reaching 10 from half as many balls before being bowled by the Beddington spinner, Green. Ominously for the Road, this was just the start of a potentially match-turning over. In the next two balls, both Bibby and Shermer were adjudged to be out LBW, completing a hat-trick and threatening to undo the sterling work of the man at the other end. Yet they need not have feared, as number 10 Sainthouse (a personal favourite of Brother Birch, for obvious reasons) looked comfortable from ball one. He confidently supported Mandy to his 50 and helped bring the Road total up to 140. Yet it was Mandy to fall next, bowled for an excellent 74 – in the process, he had also passed 1000 runs for the Road, a fantastic achievement and one that we are all unspeakably grateful for.
This left the last wicket pair, Saint and the self-described ‘boundary merchant’, Ali Tyzack. Both played exceptionally well to add another 24, the former hitting some lovely shots on his way to a Road top score of 20. When he too was finally dismissed, the score was 164 – a defendable total on a slow pitch.
Half time and our brave heroes feasted on teas, preparing themselves for what would have to be an excellent fielding and bowling performance if they were to secure a victory. First to be let loose on the Beddington batters were a combination of inswing and outswing, good and evil, spiritual equilibrium – Bibby and Sainthouse. Both bowled probing lines with great discipline, Saint being rewarded in his third over, taking a sharp caught and bowled chance.
However, Beddington hit back, their opener and number three putting pressure back on to the Road, playing some aggressive shots to up the run rate. Mr Six himself, Luke Shermer, bowled some dangerous deliveries that could have easily taken a wicket, but he was unable to stop the flow of runs. Ali bowled diligently at the other end for little reward and the batters began to look worryingly assured at 62-1 from 15 overs. Yet they did not count on the ‘demon fielder’ Richard Bibby, who slung a throw like a hellion’s spear to the bowler’s end, running out the number 3 Isaacs for the Road’s second wicket (Shermer, the cheeky imp, later tried to claim this in his figures.)
Galvanised by this inspired piece of fielding, the momentum once again began to shift in favour of the Roaders, who were displaying outstanding levels of dynamism and energy in the field (if you can believe it!). Mandy had been brought on at one end, darting his offspinners into the pitch, tying both batters down. Meanwhile, Ali was bowling with increasing venom, as he probed away on a fourth stump line. He got his just deserts in his 5th over, finding the edge of Ayush’s bat as he felt outside off stump, the ever-reliable Chinmay doing the rest behind the stumps.
Opener Gardner valiantly batted on, passing 50, but the quality of fielding and bowling from the Road was beginning to suffocate the Beddington innings. Oscar bowled his first overs of seam of the season, generating good pace and generally keeping things tight. Meanwhile, Pinkney was brought on at the other end to keep the pressure on with lovely, wobbly medium pace. He was rewarded with two wickets, while Oscar claimed one, all caught by the circling Road fielders. Bibby returned to see things off, not giving any scoring chances from his last 3 overs. Gardner achieved a well-constructed 100, scampering a single in the last over, but it was not enough to deny the Road, who had been turning the screw since the 16th over. Beddington finished on 135-6: 19 short of their target.
Jugs were kindly provided by the hosts and Mandy, who accepted the inevitable Player of the Match award with a typical and frustrating magnanimity. All that was left for the Roaders to do was to have a drink, have a giggle at the absent Chris Brown’s expense and ride off into the Sunday sunset, satisfied with an excellent win and team performance.
AWARDS
Champagne – Bibby’s run out
Embarassing – Browny turning up looking for a game
Tantrum – Saint & Bibby having a whinge about not getting the new ball
Mandy of the Match – Mandy (obvs)
FULL SCORECARD: https://kingsroadcsc.play-cricket.com/website/results/5449468
Author: Tom “Brother” Birch