Location – Heath Park
Result – Won
Man of the Match – Chris OB
I’d like to start by apologising for any panic and alarm caused by my last report when I prematurely reported the demise of our Dear Leader – Mr Griffiths. It turns out that it was all just a bad dream – the consequence of a late night cheese sandwich and an over-active imagination. I can confirm that he’s alive and well and continues to lead the Canes to ever-greater feats of triumph and glory.
With a number drop-outs (let them hang their heads in shame) the Canes got under way against the Casuals with only 9 men – though Jim and J Lo did show up later to bring us up to a full quota. Griff won the toss, inserted the Casuals, and decided to see what they were made of by opening with Sully – the Sultan of Spin. Unfortunately his radar seemed to be focused on a line some 3 feet outside the leg stump. This ensured some hairy moments for Greg behind the stumps as one batsman in particular produced a shot that I haven’t seen before – a vicious hook to send the ball to the boundary on exactly the same line that it was originally travelling (and missing Greg by a whisker). This didn’t faze the Sultan though who simply moved COB to a short long-stop(?) position and then proceeded to bowl to his field – almost resulting in a sensational catch from the Cobster from one rocket shot.
The innings proceeded on damp, uneven pitch that ensured that batting was never easy and I believe the Casual eventually reached a total of about 97 for 6 off 20 overs. The details are already getting hazy though there seemed to be a very large number of wides and no-balls, and also DCs and NOBs. The highlight was a fantastic run-out when a diving Lewis prevented a boundary, simultaneously scooping the ball up to Chris – who then hit the stumps direct from a long way out. If any thing beats that for the Best Run-Out Award then I’ll eat Griff’s jock strap.
I actually missed the first 3 balls of the Hurricanes reply – by which time Slogger Rees was out for 8. Now it may well have been an innings full of graceful and elegant stroke play – though I rather suspect it was a typical Nathan knock. Though we were always ahead of the required run-rate thanks to a number of decent contributions (I think the Sultan was top scorer – or maybe it was Chris) wickets continued to fall on the difficult pitch. Griff was caught on the boundary, Jim was bowled by a scooter – though much of the rest is a bit of a blur.
Eventually, with 7 runs required for victory, my good self came to the middle at number 10 determined to see us home for a rare win over the Casuals. With Imran’s wise words still ringing in my ears (‘there’s plenty of overs – take absolutely no chances’) the first delivery was a gentle long hop. Well, what else could I do but dispatch it to the boundary? Three needed to win. The time had clearly arrived when I’d finally be the team’s hero – especially when the next delivery was equally inviting. Unfortunately this time I failed to get any sort of decent connection and lobbed up a simple catch. Hero to zero. However, Imran and Greg held steady to see the Canes home to victory by the narrowest of margins.
Man of the Match – unless decided otherwise by the Committee at the Three Arches I’d say that Chris was the stand-out contender. ‘That’ run-out, ‘almost’ a blinding catch of Sully, plus some big hitting.
Danny
Highway Hurricane's 