25th - 29th July 2010 - West Country Tour
25th - 29th July 2010 - West Country Tour
Tour Match - 40 Overs per side
Oldbury-on-Severn 233-7 (40 overs)
New Ash Green 234-3 (37.1 overs)
New Ash Green won by 7 wickets
A once healthy looking number of tourists had shrunk to a level where assistance was having to be called for to make up numbers, but the dedicated hardcore made their way to Oldbury on Severn for the start of the 2010 tour in weather that was a huge improvement on that dampest of all tours, 2009. In dribs and drabs the tourists entered the gardens of the Anchor, and ordered what appeared to be the compulsory start of tour meal of melted cheddar and ham ciabatta sandwiches. The appearance of local reinforcements in the (well proportioned) shape of a pair of Paynes was a welcome boost to the tourists morale, and without further ado they made their way down the short road to the ground, where the gates were firmly locked. It seems the start time on Oldbury time, as the natives referred to it, was a little different form that on the more efficiently organised Bushey Time, but after a few minutes the first few Oldbury players appeared and let the waiting tour party into the ground, and after a few more minutes and phone calls they had confirmed that they had eleven players.
Captain for the day Matthew Quantrill lost the toss, and Oldbury elected to bat first. Confronted with an uninviting array of potential bowlers Quantrill decided to divvy up the spoils evenly, giving 8 players five overs each, with increasingly expensive results. Oldbury were away to a very slow start against Andy Harrington and the first ringer of the week George Allwood from Temple Cloud. Harrington got the first wicket with a low catch by Joe Elisak. Harrington was replaced by younger son Tom, making his adult cricket debut, older son Josh being behind the stumps and doing an impressive job. The run rate began to increase, but Tom Harrington did pick up a wicket when Cassie Allen hit a full toss straight to Olly Cooper. After that Oldbury steadily took control, with Bill Pearce holding up one end solidly while Sam Phelps launched a number of huge hits into the inhospitable swamps and jungles surrounding the ground. There were chances, Harrington senior and Cooper junior being the most culpable, but Phelps struck the ball with great power and there was little the bowlers could do to stop him. Karl “Carnage” Bartlett and Joe “The Cheese” (don't ask – there is no good explanation) Elisak got through their overs without success, but the final pair did begin to fight back, mainly in the shape of Matt Bushe. Having not bowled all season he started his spell with a wicket maiden, bowling the persistent Pearce for 63. Phelps continued to hammer the bowling, making Quantrill very expensive, but when the score reached 200 Phelps generously donated his wicket to Bushe, flicking the ball gently into the covers, and retired to the pavilion to nurse a hang over he had spent most of the night developing. With Phelps out of the way Quantrill did get a wicket, and a maiden, to make his figures look mildly more respectable, but it was Bushe who really profited with two further wickets in his last two overs, including an LBW on the final ball, leaving him with figures of 4-28, as the innings ended at 233-7.
That was a challenging target, but New Ash Green had much more batting than bowling, as did Oldbury, so it always looked gettable. The use of 8 bowlers and a wicket keeper left just Alex “Captain Biggle” Payne and Olly Cooper having done nothing and being pressed into service to open the batting. Cooper failed to take advantage, being bowled for 2, but Payne was then joined by Andy Harrington, who was determined to get full value for his very short (one day) tour. The pair batted sensibly, and even with the rather lackluster running between the wickets enforced by Payne's lack of fitness they got off to steady start and then started to accelerate and make sure the required rate was always well under control. They managed to lose a few balls of their own, demonstrating in doing so that New Ash Green, with the noble exception of the President, were very much second in ball hunting skills. Payne was dropped a couple of times by the unfortunate Sam Phelps, and as he became increasingly tired, and after passing his hundred began to look increasingly desperate to find a way of getting himself back to the pavilion, Eventually he ended a partnership of 192 at the second attempt by walking down the pitch and missing the ball, standing and waiting for the stumping to be completed. The victory looked very secure now, but there was time for Karl Bartlett to find a fielder with his first aggressive shot and for his bat to be hurled some way back towards the pavilion in acknowledgment of his pair for the weekend. Andy Payne played himself in in his usual style, with a slog across the line for 4, and he and Harrington finished the game off in quick time, Harrington ending up not out on 75.
So a winning start to the tour, and after showers, a few drinks, the finishing off of a superb tea and wondering what George Allwood was planning to do with the two wasps he was swishing around in his J2O bottle the sides made their way back to the Anchor for a few more drinks and a meal for some. Fines were imposed with the usual array of foolishness, cruelty and dispute, and a good evening was hopefully had by all before the Harringtons returned to Kent, almost without Josh, and the rest made their way back to the various parts of Bristol and its surrounds they were staying in. A good start to tour, and although the numbers issues suggest that the remainder of the week may be a little more stressful we already have more completed games and more wins than last year, so whatever else is thrown at the party it is already an improvement. Tune in tomorrow for tales of what the younger elements of the tour were up to, and whether a combination of an interesting semi-mohican haircut and the mysterious use of the words “The Cheese” on his back has brought Joe any success in the fleshpots of Bristol.
Tour Match - 40 Overs per side
Coalpit Heath 197-9 (40 overs)
New Ash Green 149 all out (31.5 overs)
New Ash Green lost by 48 runs
So, as always on tour the first item of business is the previous night's shenanigans. Unfortunately it appears that all the bad boys have dropped out of tour this year and the angelic tour party did little more than re-acquaint themselves with the local innkeepers and make repeated visits to the local burger bar. The morning found the diligent young tourists heading down to Globe Sports to use the nets there. Even the fact that it had moved half a mile down the hill failed to deter them, though it appears that the tangible benefits may take some time to become apparent. One particularly angelic tourist did appear at the game though, Arthur Cooper deciding that the sartorial standards of the tour needed a boost by appearing properly dressed for a cricket match.
Arthur Cooper sets the standard at Coalpit Heath
So off to Coalpit Heath, where the opposition looked disturbingly old, well above the usual under 12 level, some of them possibly even old enough to shave. Joe Elisak was captain for the day, probably older than his opponent, and managed to win the toss and insert the opposition. Temple Cloud ringer number 2, Nathan Brooks, opened the bowling with ringer number 1, George Allwood keeping wicket and they looked a sound combination. At the other end the youthful batsmen didn't know what to make of the aerial bombardment from John “Spot” Howland. Brooks got the first wicket with a caught and bowled, and the number three soon pulled a ball to deep backward square where it was plucked out of the air on the boundary. Initially it was one wicket per bowler, so the openers remaining overs were fruitless, but once the bowling changes were made two more fell with Andy Mayers and Matthew Quantrill each bowling a batsman. The one wicket per bowler rule was then spoiled by the Coalpit Heath umpire who gave Quantrill a second wicket with an LBW decision. For a while Chris Brown threatened to take the game away from New Ash Green with some big hits but he mistimed one against Elisak and was well held by Howland in the deep. Matt Bushe, yesterday's leading bowler repeated the trick with two wickets, one to a stunningly casual one handed catch by Andy Payne (who will do anything to avoid having to run after a ball) and the other to a more straightforward catch by Karl Bartlett. Howland was brought back for a second spell and immediately got a second wicket, held by Elisak at mid-off, but the tenth wicket partnership frustrated New Ash Green especially with a couple of chances going down in a single over. Aaron Neal hit the ball hard, but it was Mark Govey who clearly had a cult following, with the home supporters cheering every run and going into paroxysms of delight when Govey managed to force a shot through mid-wicket for 4. The fall of the wickets isn't recorded, but the last wicket must have added about 50, and nearly managed to take the total past 200 in the last over, just falling short despite a gift of overthrows on the final ball from an over-excited New Ash Green skipper, who shall remain nameless. (But see above re the toss for a hint.)
The total had risen somewhat above the 150-160 that New Ash Green might have felt comfortable about, and their innings was soon crumbling. Karl Bartlett's unfortunate run continued as a couple of good shots found fielders before he was bowled for a third duck in three days, and Andy Payne played on shortly afterwards. There was a brief hiatus before Joe Elisak, George Allwood and Derek West (ringer number 3 for tour) departed in quick succession, leaving Matt Bushe to survive a hat trick ball from Kyle Rose by playing it away with his shoulder. Quantrill and Bushe had had a 90 partnership the previous week, and they set about repeating that. Quantrill was quick to pull to the short boundary, including successive sixes from Chris Brown, who was later to be signed up as ringer number 4 for the week on the strength of this. The partnership raced along to 57, with the run rate of 6.5 an over being kept in sight before Bushe got ambitious and lofted an attempted off drive in the air. Andy Mayers was the man to provide acceleration, and he and Quantrill continued to push the rate along. Kyle Rose had been taken off after his first hat trick attempt had failed, but he was brought back now, and crashed for 4 by Quantrill, before the first ball of his second over back was driven over long off for a huge 6 by Mayers. The ball disappeared into some bushes, and after a few minutes of fruitless hunting a spare ball was brought out, with electrifying effect. Clearly a doctored ball it was on the pitch for just two deliveries before the original was found, with both turning and bowling the batsmen, Mayers and the unfortunate Tim Cooper. The original ball was then returned and Rose struggled without his “special” ball, Nathan Brooks surviving the second hat trick ball and then giving the over a certain symmetry when he hoisted the final ball high over square leg for six. Unfortunately an attempted repeat of the shot in the next over wasn't struck as well and found the square leg fielder, and an over later John Howland was aghast to see umpire Olly Cooper's finger go up. Ending the innings and leaving Quantrill stranded on 65*.
Not a bad effort, but a few too many wickets given up cheaply left New Ash Green short of wickets though making the runs at the required rate. The game seemed to be enjoyed by most particpants though, and a relatively good evening in the bar, lengthy by modern cricket standards, followed, before the tourists departed in dribs and drabs back to Clifton, after once again recruiting opposition players to make up for flagging tour numbers. So, tomorrow it is off to Failand & Portbury, via the Pitch & Putt at Ashton Court, and another long day in the hot sun for the diminutive but determined band of intrepid tourists....
Tour Match - 40 Overs per side
New Ash Green 174 (39.4 overs)
Failand & Portbury 175-3 (21.3 overs)
New Ash Green lost by 7 wickets
So, the morning after the night before...except yet again there seems to be little to report. The senior tourists sampled the delights of Pizza Provencale and the roof garden of the Clifton Serviced Apartments, but the younger tourists are either incredibly well behaved or such a small and close-knit party that they decline to tell tales on each other. So, it seems, there is nothing to report. Everyone was certainly up bright and early for the golf, except the skipper for the day, Andy “Moonshine” Mayers, who was arriving late and in his haste chose the wrong archway to get into Ashton Court, one that he was soon to discover was slightly too small for his car. Dealing with the repercussions of this misjudgment kept him away from the golf completely. The tourists were meanwhile causing chaos, disturbing the attendant's breakfast by unreasonably trying to pay him money and hire golf clubs. A smartly equipped pair of golfers with their own bags and trolleys asked if they could go ahead of the tour party and promptly took ages to tee off, with practice swings and much faffing about, and once they had set off turned out not to be all that good. The tourists set off in three groups of three, and those whose scores are not mentioned seemed to want to keep them a secret. Carnage, Goldilocks and The Cheese went off first, and former professional golfer Cheese led the way, both in his group and in the competition as whole, ending up as the only player to break 80, by a single shot. They were followed by Bushey and Tim & Arthur Cooper. Arthur appears to be another former pro, but clearly was so disgusted by the standard of his competitors that having showed them the way for the first six holes he ducked out at the point where the course passed by the car park and left Bushey and Tim to fight it out. Tim looked elegant in his follow through, and comfortably won their group, though his 82 could only finish second overall. The closest, if lowest quality, contest came in the final three ball, where first time golfer Anna Stock watched Spot seize an early advantage, which Q steadily worked away at, only for the gap to jump dramatically when Spot chipped in from off the green for the only birdie of the day at the 9th. The gap shrank again, until Q had a disastrous 8 leaving Spot 6 strokes clear. He was still 5 clear with two to play but disintegrated under pressure to lose three shots on each of the last two holes and end up with an 86 to Q's 85.
The golf finished just in time to make it to the Black Horse for a few quick snacks before racing to Horse Race Lane for the game. Moonshine was the day's skipper, and decided, perhaps unwisely, that he had had enough of fielding first and decided to bat on winning the toss. After a couple of early fours from Shirley Payne the pace of opening bowler Harry...sorry Henry...Potter sent his middle stump flying, and next ball The Cheese bagged the shirt of shame for the day by edging onto his stumps. It was the end of the over, so there was a delay before the hat trick ball, and ringer number 3 Derek West survived it, and he and Q seemed to be rebuilding the innings before Q managed to get a leading edge on a full toss and lob up a simple return catch. Carnage earned cheers and a wave of his bat by getting a thick edge over gully for 4, his first runs of tour, but was soon gone, and although Spot hung about for a while as soon as he got off the mark he edged behind and was gone. West kept on going, looking a far more convincing bat than he had done the previous day at Coalpit Heath, but soon lost ringer number 1 George Allwood as well, though he too looked a better batsman than the previous day. Olly Cooper kept West company for a while, looking promising in making 7, but neither could really up the run rate even against the relatively gentle bowling now on offer. Cooper was eventually bowled and replaced by Bushey who played a steady supporting innings as West tried to balance the need to increase the rate with the responsibility imposed by the failure of batsmen at the other end. As time was running out Bushey was bowled trying to force the pace, but Moonshine was able to up the rate and West brought up his century with a straight driven six. Almost immediately afterwards he was caught trying to repeat the dose, and Moonshine fell in the last over, caught on the boundary, leaving Tim Cooper undefeated and ensuring The Cheese would keep the shirt despite a string of single figure scores.
Yet another superb tea was then enjoyed by players and spectators alike, the Senior Pro indulging in it for long enough to earn him a chiding from the other (professional) umpire for delaying the game. Eventually the sides returned to the field and in no time New Ash Green were on top, as Moonshine's second ball was gloved to the keeper, Carnage, and Failand were 0-1. Not only were New Ash Green on top in no time, but also for no time, as the number three bat, Mark Walker, turned out to be a very useful and aggressive batsman. The ball was soon disappearing to all corners of the field, and quite a few corners of neighbouring fields. There were chances, most culpably a relatively simple drop by The Cheese off Bushey, which earned him the distinction of possession of both the shirt of shame and the clapping hands hat at the same time. Bushey went for a few runs, but not enough to remove him from his newly installed place at the top of the season's bowling averages. Walker meanwhile continued battering the ball about until he finally mis-hit one from the Cheese to the safe hands of West, and departed in the 13th over for 85, made from a total at that point of 117. From this point the other opener, Lippe, took over the scoring, though he had left it too late to get to his own 50 before the end. Cheese picked up another wicket, letting a ball go completely wrongly, which resulted in a full toss that by some fluke swung viciously into the batsman and knocked out his off stump. Bushey reclaimed the hat off Olly Cooper's and there were no further chances as Failand cruised to victory with more than 18 overs to spare.
As has often happened at Failand New Ash Green found at least one opposition batsman they could not contain and scored nowhere near enough runs to make up for the battering he gave them, but it was a spirited display, and a good evening in the bar, including a lengthy oration on the subject of fines from the Senior Pro kept both teams entertained, with the junior tourists, including Spot, having sufficient energy remaining to indulge in various games on the outfield before returning to Clifton to get on with more of whatever it is that they get up to in secret at night. Tomorrow is another day....
Tour Match - 40 Overs per side
New Ash Green 292-4 (40 overs)
Temple Cloud 249 all out (38 overs)
New Ash Green won by 43 runs
So, did anything happen in the night time? Well, at last the mask of secrecy is slipping. It seems the boys were out till three a.m., and The Cheese scored. Though exactly what scoring consisted of is less clear – it seems that taking a girl outside for a little kiss (Tongues? Lips? Peck on the cheek?) may count, and in fairness that is an improvement on previous years when talking to a woman was regarded as virtually akin to marriage. There was one small flaw though – she already had a boyfriend. This didn't stop The Cheese from asking for (and allegedly getting – though no one yet knows who or what will answer if he rings) her number in front of the boyfriend.
Unfortunately the exertion involved in all this pulling was a bit much for the Cheesey ankle, injured in the previous day's game at Failand, and by morning it had swollen and coloured ominously. The team's resident Doctor, Mr. J.P.R. Thorn, immediately advised a course of leeches, but was persuaded that medicine had moved on since his youth, and instead Bushey took The Cheese to the hospital while the remainder of the squad headed for the bowling alley. Some 2 ½ hours later The Cheese was diagnosed with a chipped bone in his ankle and was out for the rest of the week and possibly season, though he returned to the fray on a pair of NHS crutches that Bristol Hospital will be very lucky to ever see again. This left the team one short again, but luck was on their side as potential ringer number 6, Farmer Giles Williams, rang up Q during the morning to say that his original plans had changed and he was now available if needed. A more than useful replacement for the injured Cheese, as will become apparent.
But first to the ten pin bowling. A staple part of tour for many years the annual ten pin contest has received epic reports in the past when there has been little cricket to report, but as a full week's outdoor play looks likely to occur this week we will be a little briefer on the indoor activities this year. The tourists were boosted by ringers 4 & 5 from Coalpit Heath, but there were still only 8 bowlers, who divided very easily into the categories of young (under 18) and old (over 45). In the way of these things the youngsters were soon off to a flying start, and were several frames ahead in a matter of minutes, but the wiser heads of the old men prevailed in the long run. With Q not fully fit and creaking after 9 days of cricket it was Spot who ran away with the individual competition, scoring a turkey in the first game and running up an impressive 183 before winning the second and third games with less spectacular but still solid scores. Q limped in with the second best individual score, though tied overall with ringer number 4, and Mini Cooper managed to sneak in 3 points ahead of Senior Cooper in the overall scoring, though whether that had anything to do with Very Senior Cooper taking one turn for Senior Cooper and scoring very little we would be too gentlemanly to speculate on. By the end of three games (buy two, get one free) almost all were ready for lunch, except Carnage who was just warming up and threatening to break 100 if a fourth game were played, and a dash to the very attractive Ring O' Bells at Hinton Blewett was followed by a dashed meal and a dash back to the ground to be vaguely on time for the start.
Realising that some of his team were still in the pub waiting for their food, and that the lack of first team players in the Temple Cloud side and the strength of his three ringers put him in the possibly unique position amongst NAGCC captains at Temple Cloud of having the stringer batting line up, John Howland was persuaded to revert form his original decision to field first and instead choose to bat. Q and Farmer Giles set off steadily enough against a youthful attack in what felt like a howling gale, but they soon started to up the pace, Farmer Giles in particular. Both were dropped behind from thin edges about half way through their innings, but they saw off a variety of bowlers in racing the score along past 150 by the halfway mark. Farmer Giles made his century and then tried to hit in the air to fielders, but found that the more relaxed the more fluent his strokeplay became, and the more the ball raced along the ground. Eventually he resorted to advancing down the pitch to Polly Flinders, and making no effort to return to his crease as the keeper fumbled it eventually onto the stumps. Carnage had by now been promoted to number 3 and was soon off the mark, and then soon off the field as he lifted one back to the bowler. Ringer number 5, Rory Woodland, soon proved able to put bat to ball as well, and Q ended his own innings with a bit of a heave, leaving the two Coalpit Heath ringers to put on a useful partnership before number 4, Chris Brown, was well caught on the boundary by George Allwood, who had by now given up the wicket-keeping duties. Moonshine was under orders (from Captain “Biggle” Big Al) to hit at least a 4 from every ball, but failed abysmally to do so with a series of ones and twos. Scoring off every ball might normally be deemed a success, but in his case the words failure was on everyone's lips...well, Biggle's lips anyway. Ringer number 5 finished with an excellent 65 not out and the final total of 292-4 was one of the highest in the club's history.
Despite the fact that it wasn't the highest total in club history Spot still took a remarkable gamble in opening the bowling with Captain Biggle, a move which should have delighted his opposite number, who was opening the batting, until he swung at his second ball and managed to get a thin top edge and bobble the ball up in the air just within range of a diving Carnage behind the stumps. His ignominious return to the pavilion was greeted by his own side with the loudly voiced assertion “You absolute tw*t!”, an opinion he was probably in complete agreement with. Payne wasn't done yet, as the other opener was ringer number 2, Nathan Brooks, and soon afterwards he was also bamboozled by the gentle loop of Biggle and managed to get a thin edge onto his stumps as he tried to force the ball away. With Olly Cooper also striking with a top edge to fine leg Temple Cloud were leaking wickets, but Biggle in particular was also beginning to leak runs, and Temple Cloud were well up with the required run rate of just over 7 an over. Biggle was replaced by the leading wicket taker on tour, Bushey, and Mini Cooper by ringer number 5, Woodland, but neither could make a further breakthrough as Gary James (a previous holder of the ringer for New Ash Green on tour title) hit a few big shots, while Billy Garrett held up an end. Although James was having to do most of the scoring himself he was managing to keep the rate up with that required, and when neither of the change bowlers could take a wicket (the closest being a difficult dropped catch by the skipper off Bushey that gave James a life) Spot turned to his heavy artillery in the shape of Ringer number 4, Chris Brown, and Moonshine. Both had poor overs early on, and for a while it looked like even they weren't going to be able to stem the flow of runs, but slowly they began to get a grip, with Brown even managing to bowl the only maiden of the match. James immediately made up for it with another impressive over, but slowly the run rate was beginning to creep up, and eventually the pressure told, with Moonshine getting two wickets and Brown one, including the essential wicket of James, well held on the boundary by Biggle for 125. With James gone the rest of the side didn't look like making the 10 plus an over that were now required, and Spot held back the last two overs of his fast bowlers' spells for emergencies, and turned instead to Olly Cooper and Farmer Giles at one end, and more interestingly to himself at the other. It was the Spot flight that ripped through the tail, the more senior of the Temple batsmen feeling under enough pressure to try and pull to leg, but finding a fielder each time, and the more youthful trying to swing far too hard and missing completely as the ball bounced very gently onto the stumps and nudged a bail off. Finally Ringer number 1, George Allwood, came in with something to prove to the tourists, as his batting for New Ash Green had not so far been a conspicuous success. He succeeded with a couple of good blows, but from the last ball of Spot's third over, and with the threat of a Senior Cooper over looming, he lofted one to the safe hands of Moonshine and the game was over. Spot finished with tour leading bowling figures of 4-25, and a win which mirrored very well several defeats at Temple Cloud over the years.
A young opposition side was unlikely to indulge in late night entertainment in the bar, but they did put out a side for a game of stumps, and a side bravely skippered by Spot managed to produce a second victory of the day for New Ash Green, though on this occasion some distinctly dubious umpiring in a very tight contest may well have turned the tide in the tourist's favour. A few more drinks were had, and before long the tourists were wending (or hobbling in one case) their weary way back to Coalpit Heath, Box and Bristol as appropriate and girding their loins for the tour finale at Barrow Gurney.
Tour Match - 40 Overs per side
Barrow Gurney 283-6 (40 overs)
New Ash Green 189-9 out (38 overs)
New Ash Green lost by 94 runs
So, last night, last chance for further scoring, but it seems the crutches may have attracted the wrong sort of sympathy for the Hopping Cheese, and although he and Bushey were apparently out till the late hours there was no news of any further progress on the snogging front. Bushey emerged late from his room and set off to pick up the President, while the junior tourists headed for the net at Globe Sports in the hope of a late improvement in their batting form under the watchful eye of coach Hopalong. Most of the senior tourists went to visit the SS Great Britain, star attraction of the Bristol Docks, and returned full of enthusiasm and life memberships, with plans to return for further visits in the future. From various sources the party drifted towards the Princes Motto in Barrow Gurney in sufficient time to have a meal and still be on the ground almost in time for the start.
In the absence of the injured President Captain Biggle lived up to his name and assumed the captaincy. Both sides claimed (probably accurately) to have more batting than bowling, and Biggle negotiated a chance to prove how little bowling he had first. He then spoiled all the good work the team had done in getting through their lunch in time by delaying the start for about 15 minutes while he screwed studs into his brand new cricket boots. Ringers 1 & 7, George Allwood and Dan Besser, opened the bowling with little success as Barrow Gurney powered away at 7-8 runs an over. Biggle turned to the pace of Moonshine, bowling a rare spell off his full run up, but although he beat the batsmen a number of times the edges flew to the boundary and Ben Figuierdo in particular proved equal to the challenge. Eventually it was the tour's main strike bowler, Bushtaq, who made the breakthrough when he bowled Grove, but the runs continued unabated. Figuierdo looked very capable of making a big score, and at drinks the Barrow captain could be heard advising him to retire at 100, but he was still 33 runs short of that when he completely misread a swinging (?) full toss from Bushtaq and lobbed it up to mid off, where Biggle was caught completely by surprise rolling himself a post drinks cigarette. For a moment the confusion on his face was evident as he had to choose between taking the catch and keeping hold of the half rolled cigarette, but luckily the ball was coming to him slowly enough that he had time for a detailed examination of the issues before discarding the tobacco and taking the catch. If the tourists thought they were back in the game, though, they were much mistaken as the third wicket pair managed to put on another 89 runs, with only a slight slowing in the scoring rate imposed by the spin of Ringer No.3 Derek West. Eventually as Barrow tried to up the rate in the hope of reaching 300 Moonshine, returning to bowl a second spell off his shorter run, got the breakthrough, bowling Barrow skipper Milton, and then picking up two more wickets through an LBW and a stumping as batsmen advanced down the track to him in a bid to keep up the run rate. Spot also picked up a wicket at the end, at rather more cost than Moonshine, and although the numbers in the scorebook added up to various wildly different figures Barrow settled for a score of 283-6, a score aided by a great deal of end of tour fielding from players struggling to bend down to ground level.
On this ground 283 was by no mans an impossible target, as demonstrated by Q who scored three fours in the first over, none of which would have had much hope of being more than a single on most grounds. Although he scored a few more fours his timing didn't get any better, and his tour ended with a tired lob in the air from a full toss in the 7th over. Bushtaq and Biggle stayed together for a while, but the scoring rate began to fall and it was soon clear that the tourists weren't going to pull off a famous win. Moonshine may have been their last hope of scoring fast enough, but he was bowled for a duck, and after Biggle had made a six and out it became more a matter of individual pride than team glory. Carnage managed to put together three scoring shots in an innings for the first time in the week, and Mini Cooper played a solid innings, so the Hopalong coaching in the nets may well have done them some good. Senior Cooper received a cheer for his first run of tour, and he also survived some time in making four, before Ringer No. 1 holed out first ball in a bid for death or glory. Spot then stayed to the end while Ringer No.3, Derek West, secured his spot as the leading run scorer on tour before being stumped from the last ball and conceding top of the batting averages to another ringer.
Another heavy defeat to end tour, but a game that most on both sides seemed to have enjoyed. The tour averages show the extent to which ringers were relied on, particularly for batting, but also that some of the Kentish tourists stepped up where needed, with Bushtaq being leading wicket taker on tour despite not having bowled a ball previously in the season! Spot and Moonshine were hot on his heels, having played one game less, and there were plenty of contributions from other unexpected sources (Biggle for instance) while the ringers managed only 2 wickets between them. The shrunken tour party seem to have enjoyed themselves enormously, but a a few more home grown tourists to reduce the reliance on ringers and to give the chance of a days rest to those participating would be much appreciated! Back to Kent, back to reality, roll on 2011.
Here They Are!!! The 2010 Tour Averages