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This was an extremely hot day, to the extent that this day saw the
record for the hottest recorded UK temperature smashed to the tune of
101 degrees Fahrenheit at Gravesend. Thenkfully, we were only playing
in a miserly 99 degrees. Cap'n Beefy walked out to the wicket with
Westfield's captain and for for the toss were surrounded by a gaggle
of WECC players, expectant in the hope he'd win and we could bask in
the shade of the parasols outside the pavilion. In the best traditions
of this season he probably tossed his double-headed coin which came
down tails, and West End cc once more took to the field.
Price and Newton
opened for Westfield and didn't hang about. Anything off of a length
and line was dispatched to the boundary in no uncertain fashion - 13
came off the first over - and despite a few shots sailing through the
air, the strength of shots meant that they usually went nowhere near
our men despite consistently good fielding in the heat. Their
partnership was fifty up in the 6th over and 104 by the end of the
twelfth over. WECC's opening bowlers had proved rather unpenetrative
and we needed something special. Two overs it came;
the Captain himself replaced James at the pavilion end and tempted
Price to attempt another shot to square. Although he'd hit
it hard, low and straight it nevertheless went straight toward Neal Haworth whose
diving catch clutched the ball just shy of the ground to give us the
breakthrough. Andy Horn came on at the other end and struck in his
first over, a swinging sod of a ball right in the blockhole trapped
Mudger plumb leg-before for zero.
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Ian defends a
high bouncer |
Everyone suitably
entertained |
Neal sweeping the
leaves |
The run-rate had
been checked, but momentarily. Price and new partner Norris stepped on
the gas even more and the next six overs passed at nearly eight
apiece. Horn was bowling the sixth of these (the 23rd over) when the
seemingly unstoppable Newton was himself stopped on 124. Firmly-hit to
mid-wicket (in similar fashion to the first wicket in fact) the ball
was athletically intercepted this time by Phil Dawson who managed to
get his fingers between the ball and the grass. Newton stood his
ground but for a moment; the umpire's finger was slowly raised skyward
and he had to go with the total on 177
for 3.
That difficult
catch proved inspirational to WECC. Just two balls later Horn's
nagging accuracy proved White's undoing, the swinging, straightening
ball messing up his wicket somewhat. Barrett and James were
re-introduced into the attack with miserly second spells, yet
Westfield still wouldn't be persuaded to give up wickets lightly despite being
virtually strangled in the run-stakes to 2 runs an over on what was
still very much a batsman's wicket. Eleven overs, 24 runs and a wicket apiece to James and Barrett
passed before Westfield broke the psychological 200 barrier. The final
four overs realised just 14 runs to leave West End with a not
unattainable target of 236 off 40 overs.
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Adie L hits the
jackpot - and a 6 |
Bit of a scary
moment for Adie |
Back to the script
for this one |
The established
left-hand-right-hand partnership of Ian Brown and Johnno Greathead got
off to a steady start in the face of some testing deliveries, but
managed to find the boundary with a degree of confidence. In the tenth
over however, a full-length delivery from Rapley beat Ian in the
flight and with nowhere to go was out lbw. Johnno remained in steady
form with new partner Neal Haworth, indeed his only scoring shots were
confidently stroked fours! Neal wasted no time in playing himself in
and it was only a matter of time before his first boundary, a big six
through the onside trees.
When the score was 49, Johnno was caught in the slips to the faintest of
edges. Matt Oliver was
"inconvenienced" for a short while and, as sometimes
happens, was not immediately available as next man in. Thus, Adie
Lamberth stepped (into something - ed) in to fill the sudden
vacancy. When Adie comes in with his inimitable style of somehow
leaving the biggest gate you could imagine, the bowlers eyes light
right up. One of two things will happen: either he makes a good score,
or will get out quickly, either way he will attempt giving the ball a
good pasting while doing or dying. The new pair upped the ante to the surprise of
Westfield who suddenly found themselves on the back foot in the face
of well-run singles and strong shots for both fours and sixes. One
memorable Lamberth six nearly cleared the ring of trees by the
pavilion, one of the longest boundaries on the day and led, not
surprisingly, to a temporarily lost ball!
The entertainment continued breathleslly, and only a mere six overs
passed after Johhno's demise when, at ten-to-six in the evening sun,
the hundred came up via another crashing six from Adie. Both he and
Neal took advantage as more bowling changes initially made little
effect on proceedings. As the temperature showed little sign of
abating the heat took its toll on these two key members of our
fielding side who were making all possible efforts to keep in
contention. However, the pace inevitably dropped a bit and
concentrations started to waver. Neal got a stinker that popped up and
had him caught in the covers bringing in Matt Oliver (at last, I hear
you cry) who struggled against spin-bowler Norris who was himself
struggling to find any length and line. The first time he did though,
the ball started off way outside off-stump and Matt's keen sense of
direction suggested he leave it safely. On doing so, the ball cruelly
turned in one hell of a way and then some to take his leg stump out.
Think of Shane Warne's first ball to Mike Gatting c.1993 and you get
the picture. Craig Weston followed Matt in, then out as an in-cutter
from Paul Chaplain curtailed his innings.
A tiring Adie Lamberth was out before too much longer, bowled by
Rapley for his magnificently entertaining 61. West End lost a bit of
ground and although both Phil Dawson and Andy Horn got off the mark,
progress was slower than was desired with a tighter reign being
exercised by Westfield's bowlers. Although runs were still being
scored wickets fell at an ever-increasing rate and West End were
finally all out in the 35th over for 181, an excellent run-chase from
the word go which for a long time threatened to make it all the way
and was good cricket to watch. While we mustn't forget Westfield's
team - remember well over 400 runs were scored on this hottest of days
- this was a superb performance from West End.
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