On a scorching June day, the King’s Road made the train journey out of Marylebone for one of the highlights of the season; the annual fixture against the Corridors at Great Missenden.
After managing to walk the whole way to ground without dropping beers, the Road’s luck didn’t last when they were put in to bat on a pitch that looked dry on the surface but was undoubtedly soft underneath following rain on Friday.
Out strode Raju and CMac to open the batting and in uncharacteristic fashion they started quickly, scoring 7 off the second over thanks to some wayward opening bowling from Dors stalwart Swiss.
The optimism didn’t last long however, and CMac lost his wicket at the start of the third over to a ball that crept under his bat and hit off stump an inch off the ground, out for 4, bowled Smurf.
The fall of wicket brought out new boy Dan, who despite looking very solid in defence was unable to get some tight bowling from Smurf away for runs. At the other end, Raju, still panting from an all run three in the second over, decided to put the singles to bed and go aerial, chipping the ball to mid-on, out caught for three.
Ornithologically minded Tom Birch was the next batsman in but was quickly back in the hide after coming over all Bill Oddie and getting distracted by the Red Kites circling above him to be out LBW, missing a straight one from Smurf for 1.
The Road were struggling, with a combination of tight bowling and a stodgy pitch leaving them on only 12 runs after 10 overs.
The sun continued to shine however and some good running from debutants Paris and Dan saw the score start to creep up, with Paris in particular pushing the ball around nicely. Unfortunately for Dan he was unable to capitalise on his hard work at the start and was run out to a direct hit from mid-on. Welcome back to cricket, Dan. It’s a s*** game.
Keats and Will Gledhill both came and went in quick succession, but with Paris at the other end starting to play more expansively as the pitch dried out, the score thankfully continued to tick over.
At 55-6 in the 20th over, the in-form Oscar Newlove came out and finally gave Paris a partner to play with. In typical Oscar fashion, the ball started to disappear to the boundary with increasing regularity thanks to some strong leg side hitting and some lesser spotted orthodox shots in to the off side. Nine overs later the score was 127-7, Paris having reached his fifty with a tasty late cut and Oscar again falling agonisingly short of the half century with 47 in only 27 balls.
3.4 overs later the King’s Road innings was done, 153 all out. Paris the star man with 61 not out off 73 in a high quality debut knock that rescued the innings.
Tea was served and a typically good spread was served up by the Dors, veggie samosas and Duncan’s potato salad being particular highlights.
The second innings opened with Captain Brown running up the hill for the first over and immediately making an impact, his tight line luring opener Phil Smith in to feathering an edge to the third ball, caught behind by CMac.
At the other end Osman was getting some excellent movement but was unable to find the edge as Smurf and Sherlock steadied the Dors innings, with opener Smurf pouncing on anything short with gusto to keep the score moving.
The next overs followed a familiar pattern for the Road this season. Some good bowling and tight ground fielding was not backed up with catches when the chances came and at drinks the Dors look like they would reach the total with overs to spare, taking advantage of a pitch that had dried out and no longer displayed any of the stodginess of the opening overs.
Some excellent middle over bowling from Rossi, Oscar and Keats helped to peg back the Dors batsmen, Rossi the pick taking two wickets, including one from an excellent catch by Will Geldhill in the covers.
When Oscar finally dismissed Smurf LBW for 59 in the 29th over the Dors still required 35 runs to win and captain Brown sensed an unlikely tight finish was on the cards. Bringing himself and Osman back on earlier than planned, the pressure on the batsmen increased, Brown in particular bowling with real pace (sufficient to snap the handle of new batsman Davis’ bat).
Alas, it wasn’t to be and when Swiss struck the winning runs late in the 34th over to bring victory for the Dors, the Road knew they would have to wait until next year to break their Nag’s Head Meadow hoodoo.
Despite the defeat an excellent day was had by all and it finished in traditional manner – a visit to the Nag’s Head pub, Oscar ordering some bread and a very enjoyable booze train home, this year involving some fielding practice in the station car park and a couple of very tasty Stouts courtesy of CB’s beer box.
Full scorecard here: http://kingsroadcsc.play-cricket.com/website/results/4061512
Awards:
Champagne: Will Gledhill’s catch
Embarrassing: CB throwing a bottle at a stranger on the train
Tantrum: Rossi/Cmac fielding tiff
Man of the match: Paris