There is an atmosphere at the manor today as we come to terms with the tragedy that was Saturday.
We lost. By over 70 runs to a team of old men and youngsters. Not unlike the composition of our team but two of them were smaller than me.
Still it is all about the game, well it is when you lose.
Another 35 over game and we put them in. Pudding of a pitch and we started well until the first catch went down. Pussy at first slip dropped an easy one and the man went on to anchor the innings and score 50 odd. It was downhill from there. We bowled well as a team but the fielding left much to be desired (more of that later). Vice was unlucky to have two drops during a great spell and ended up with nothing for a little (clearly no scorebook to hand). Slates also kept his end up, which explains the smile on Mrs Pimms’s face later, and picked up one wicket. The game rolled on and, at drinks, they were 58/1 from 17 overs. Wickets started to tumble a bit, which may have been a tactical error, as they had an out-and-out slogger who came in late and hit some big shots. George (Dory) Amos bowed a good spell and picked up one. Jordan Oaten suffered from the slogger but also picked up one. They could have set us a less stiff target if we could have taken our catches. The hat was worn by Semtex (straight to him at square leg), Oaten (a decent drive that burst through his hands), Dory ( the dolly in the covers). Tom missed a hard one later but for some reason remained hatless. Culpa Mea. Ground fielding was pretty good though out with lots of bodies on the line action apart from your Skipper who clearly talks a good game but fields like an older man than he is. Anyway, 170 odd at the innings break which was 40 more than they should have got. Dartsy did the stumpy job and, despite whinging relentlessly about his poorly finger, did a good job.
Tea. Excellent provisions from her ladyship and booze from me.
We bat. Well, we walk out with bats and wave them about a bit. Pussy hung around a bit and Saddam seemed to be doing it all on his own, with a fair amount of luck but we never looked close. Vice a second ball duck. Skipper a dazzling 8. We failed by 70 odd.
But, and this is why cricket is the greatest sport in the world, Dory and Oaten at Numbers 10 and 11 showed what fearless cricket and having fun is all about. They struck hard at every ball and hit some great shots. the joy was clear to see and I had a front seat view as an umpire. It was brilliant. We were not going to win but it was irrelevant for 20 glorious minutes as these two young tigers of the team reminded me at least of how brilliant our chosen sport can be. Jordan and George, thank you.
That is your lot. We have a lot on at Stone Manor re-setting the fox hunting tracks. We all meet again on Saturday.
– Ross