The previous week had been a washout – steady rain in the day or so preceding the fixture on 15th August meant that Dartford decided that conditions were not suitable for play. I did a quick pitch inspection that morning (shortly before Dartford did their own one) and, in fairness, it was the right call. If ever an omen was needed that we shouldn’t play, a fox had left us a very unpleasant comment on our fielding in the form of a great big shit at silly mid on. Oh well, Bexleyheath 5ths can wait until next year.
This week, we welcome a new oppo side to Oakfield Park – Old Colfeians 4ths – and we are not quite sure what to expect. On the one hand, it’s a 4th XI and we are assured that they are about our level – on the other hand, we’ve been down that road before. Time will tell…
The skipper gets us off to a decent start, at least, by winning the toss and asking them to bat first. When Slates (a welcome return to the side after a month away) and King Louis get both of their openers out, Ryan gets their number 4 and Slates gets their number 5 in rapid succession, the score stands at 49/4 with just over an hour gone – things are looking positive. Their number 3 has different ideas and opens his shoulders to start hitting out. The next wicket falls on 116 and the tide seems to have turned. There are some good runs down the order for them and they make it to 169 in a shade under 40 overs. The bowling has been pretty good, with wickets shared around, although Walkie has (unusually, to be fair) a poor day with the ball. He is also involved (or not, as it turns out) in an injury incident when Ross (who is keeping in Stumpy’s absence) gets hit in the face by a rising ball from Camo (his ‘quicker’ ball, it seems). Skip hits the deck like the proverbial sack and _almost_ everyone hurries over to see if he is okay (or mock him – either would be standard in this team). Walkie, our designated first-aider, strolls over and, when challenged about this, comments that his training has taught him not to run to the scene of an injury… Meanwhile Ryan is the pick of our line-up with 2-13 and throwing down a late runout.
Vice and a now-recovered Billy begin our reply after a slightly short tea break, providing an opening stand of 30. Both openers go in the space of six balls, while Gracie continues his bad trot with the bat by recording a 2-ball duck and Muttley looks strangely out of sorts in making a 17-ball 2. Things are looking really ropey at this stage, as evidenced by a rather depressing series of updates on the group chat for those following the game virtually, but this is the dark before the dawn. King Louis (coming in at 3) and Walkie (seeking redemption with the bat, coming in at 6) proceed to put on a match-winning stand of 110 over the next 19 overs, playing positively and working well together. The atmosphere on the sidelines is a mix of elation (we have really pulled this out of the bag) and trepidation (willing them both on, particularly Alex, who has not scored a 50 for us previously). The joy and goodwill when both young men hit the runs for their respective 50s is genuine and great to see. Walkie is caught in the field on 51 (off 53 balls – 8 x 4s, 2 x 6s), enabling him to walk off to a standing ovation, before Slates see us to the win with some quick runs at the end, with Alex finishing unbeaten on 55 (6 x 4s). Make no mistake – this is a very encouraging win, chasing a pretty decent total, especially after the state of the innings after the first hour.
Unsurprisingly, the two star batsmen share the Big Pat Award for their match-winning performances, but Walkie also manages to ‘win’ the Sh•tbag award, both for his bowling earlier in the day and for his ‘measured’ approach to his first aid responsibilities when the skipper was felled, despite his continued protests. All around, a very good day for all concerned, even Ross with his new shiner.
– Paul