“Winter Nets a Roaring Success
As MAD Get Early Season Tonking”
Match: 10 / 192
Lost by 126 Runs
|
Team |
Total |
|
Horspath CC |
239 |
|
M.
Westmoreland 3 - 32, J. Pearson
3 - 31 |
|
|
|
|
|
FFTMCC |
113 |
|
D.
Edwards 49, I. Howarth
15 |
|
|
An exhausting winter program of nets and exercise
routines choreographed by Andrew Darley had led the Far from the MCC to enter
the 2010 season with high expectations. Certainly of improved performances in
all areas of their game. Hopes were further raised by The Mad’s resume of
available players being bolstered by enthusiastic hopefuls, and the positive mental attitude eschewed by
James Hoskins, who insisted that this season The MAD “were going to remain
unbeaten – and become the best Sunday team this country [had] ever seen.”
A new decade
– same old toss. Descending on the picturesque village of Horspath for
the season’s curtain raiser, second term skipper M. Westmoreland was forced
to revise his line-up due to the enforced absence of Essex teammate, S.
Dobner. Steve, after failing to make his own party at Wembley stadium the
previous day, had trotted out the same laughable excuse about volcanic ash
and being stuck in Tenerife, and so Club Stalwart and drinking legend, A.
Morley, filled the void. Andrew’s inclusion in the team was perhaps ironic;
since this would be first time he had actually played on his local Horspath CC ground – despite being a fully
paid-up member of their club for several years. This took several of the team
aback when the story unfolded, but when the cheap beer and spirit prices were
discovered later in the day, the penny duly dropped. The ground at Horspath had long been the fixation of
many of The Mad team – journeys past the pitch on the little windy road
between Cowley and Wheatley had often given rise to the question of “why do
we never play here? It looks such a lovely place, and gosh, it has its own
bar, and I bet the beer’s cheap….” And thus it was, after protracted
negotiations with fellow fixture dude, Max Eason, I. Howarth was able to
scribble Horspath CC down as hosts for the season’s starter.
“Right, kids
– ‘ow best to fuck this up, eh?” The unseasonably hot weather didn’t
detract from MAD skipper Westmoreland’s intention of letting the hosts have
first knock on a dry and manicured pitch. Martin’s reasoning was simple in
that “this Horspath lot have strength in depth, and you lot can’t be trusted
to set a decent total. Henceforth we’ll skittle them for less than 400 and
chase it down.” Without further ado, new ball opening pairing of D. It soon became obvious that if the ball broke through
the net of Mad fielders, it was going to rocket into the leafy hedgerows
across the smooth flat outfield. This it did on several occasions, until
Pearson took the first MAD wicket of 2013, having G. Hamilton (11) smartly
snaffled by keeper J. Hotson behind. When
Team MAD
celebrate news that S. Dobner is still stuck in Tenerife. Post-match, a number of the Horspath boardroom staff
would sympathise with The Mad that their Australian cricketing coach opted to
play in this game. Tasmanian, A. Gibbins, hairstyle moulded like Kevin
Pietersen’s effort during the 2005 Ashes series [a plume of colour at the
back], would now accelerate the Horspath innings up until the drinks break.
He nominally opted to despatch anything in his half of the pitch into various
houses behind the sitescreens, or slap it into the
picnic and playground area by the clubhouse. It was a brutal assault, with M.
Reeves (4-0-31-0) and I. Leggate (3-0-34-1) copping much of the bumming,
whilst a swelled local crowd relaxed back into their collapsible chairs to
enjoy the show. It may well have been the approaching drinks break that
distracted Gibbins, but after despatching a I. Howarth (4-1-27-1) delivery
onto nearby Wheatley, he allowed the next ball to cut through his defences to
be castled for an entertaining 78. It’s doubtful Ian
realised Mr. Gibbins’ full repertoire of cricketing skills, because if he
did, he’d have maybe thought twice about the send-off he gave him…. After seeing Horspath reaching 150 at the half way point, it was with great credit that The MAD were
able to finally restrict their opponents to 239 all out in the end – all this
despite multiple grassed chances [naturally]. In finally putting his bowling
yips to bed, Captain Westmoreland led by example in returning the quite
exemplary figures of 8-2-32-3, backed up by a highly impressive debut from J.
Pearson (7-1-31-3). N. Hebbes (5-1-29-0) shouldered some donkey work at the
death, whilst D. Edwards (1-0-3-0) tossed down a curious over which seemed to
baffle the opposition tail – maybe giving the skipper a hint as to where he
can find a few overs in future…?
Where has he
been? Martin turned in his best bowling display in years. Tea was an enjoyable and old-fashioned affair, with
players from both teams sandwiched into the small clubhouse as they scrambled
over the impressive buffet on offer. The vegetarians seemed happy enough, and
if they’re happy, then the caterers
have generally done a bloody good job. On resumption of play, N. Hebbes justified his
skipper’s confidence in him by “getting bored of outside off stump bowling”
and feathering a catch behind for a desultory duck. Nick’s stay at the
crease, albeit brief, was at least extended when he was asked to perform as
runner for the Achilles suffering, I. Howarth (15). Despite Nick’s best
efforts to run his teammate out, it was umpire J. Pearson who stepped up to
the plate, awarding a neat lbw decision to a ball which apparently hit Ian’s
bat before thudding into his pad. No doubt Howarth will forget about this
incident and never recount it at any point during the rest of the season….
D. Edwards
(49) put up sterling resistance for The MAD. T. Smith would also leave for a duck, before M.
Westmoreland (12) steadied the ship with a few lofty hoiks
to cow. Martin’s stay at the crease cut short however, when Mr. Gibbins
taking centre stage again to ruin his timber. The Tasmanian star deciding his
off-spin was “too much to the liking of sloggers” and was now sprinting in
off a kilometre run up. I. Leggate (4) had the audacity to edge one for four,
as did M. Reeves (10), before he perished to M. Meredith at the other end. A.
Morley (0) didn’t edge any, and D. Watching this procession of MAD wickets to fall was the
obdurate D. Edwards; the doughty opener serenely repelling the best that
Horspath had to offer. A dot matrix system was punctured at various intervals
as he smited the odd boundary here and there. It was a shame when Dan fell,
just one short of a well-deserved half century – the redoubtable Mr. Gibbins
(4-0-12-4) altering the shape of his timber too. And the same star of the
show accounted for J. Hotson, who became the visitor’s fifth duck of the day.
This all left Pearson (0*) protecting his average with The MAD all out for
stubborn 113.
Warm applause
for the Horspath team – they proved decent friendly rivals. So a loss to start the season, but clearly a day where
cricket was the winner. Beautiful April weather, combined with a lovely
ground and hospitable hosts, all leave the Far from the MCC looking forward
to visiting their new found friends next year. We wish them well. ‘The LBW Inspector’
|
*
Statto Scorecards
|
Far from the MCC versus Horspath CC Played at Horspath, 18 April 2010 FFTMCC won the toss and elected to
field Horspath CC won by 126 runs Far from the MCC debuts: James
Pearson (107) |
10 / 192 40 over match |
|
Team |
Horspath
CC |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
# |
Batsman |
How Out |
Total |
Balls |
4s |
6s |
FOW |
|
1 |
S. Hay |
c Reeves b Leggate |
21 |
|
4 |
- |
2-39 |
|
2 |
G. Hamilton |
c Hotson b Pearson |
11 |
|
2 |
- |
1-20 |
|
3 |
B. Hubbard |
b Emerson |
12 |
|
3 |
- |
3-80 |
|
4 |
A. Gibbins |
b Howarth |
78 |
|
3 |
8 |
8-215 |
|
5 |
J. Mohammed |
c Hebbes b Westmoreland |
39 |
|
3 |
- |
4-154 |
|
6 |
B. Henderson |
b Westmoreland |
11 |
|
1 |
- |
5-184 |
|
7 |
M. White |
run out (Pearson/Hebbes) |
7 |
|
1 |
- |
6-191 |
|
8 |
J. Henderson |
c Emerson b Westmoreland |
4 |
|
1 |
- |
7-208 |
|
9 |
M. Meredith |
b Pearson |
27 |
|
4 |
- |
9-232 |
|
10 |
H. Moon |
c Edwards b Pearson |
10 |
|
1 |
- |
10-239 |
|
11 |
G. Handley |
not out |
0 |
|
- |
- |
- |
|
|
Extras |
(W5, LB10, B4) |
19 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
TOTAL |
(all out, 40 overs) |
239 |
|
|
|
|
|
# |
Bowler |
Overs |
Maidens |
Runs |
Wkts |
|
|
1 |
Emerson |
6 |
0 |
40 |
1 |
|
|
2 |
Pearson |
7 |
1 |
31 |
3 |
|
|
3 |
Reeves |
4 |
0 |
31 |
0 |
|
|
4 |
Leggate |
3 |
0 |
34 |
1 |
|
|
5 |
Howarth |
4 |
1 |
27 |
1 |
|
|
6 |
Westmoreland |
8 |
2 |
32 |
3 |
|
|
7 |
Hebbes |
5 |
1 |
29 |
0 |
|
|
8 |
Edwards |
1 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Team |
Far from
the MCC |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
# |
Batsman |
How Out |
Total |
Balls |
4s |
6s |
FOW |
|
1 |
D. M. Edwards |
b Gibbins |
49 |
(121) |
9 |
- |
7-110 |
|
2 |
N. J. Hebbes |
c Hubbard b Meredith |
0 |
(4) |
- |
- |
1-10 |
|
3 |
I. Howarth |
lbw b Moon |
15 |
(20) |
3 |
- |
2-35 |
|
4 |
T. P. W. Smith |
b Moon |
0 |
(4) |
- |
- |
3-40 |
|
5 |
M. T. Westmoreland * |
b Gibbins |
12 |
(26) |
3 |
- |
4-79 |
|
6 |
I. C. Leggate |
b Gibbins |
4 |
(6) |
1 |
- |
5-83 |
|
7 |
M. K. Reeves |
b Meredith |
10 |
(19) |
2 |
- |
6-98 |
|
8 |
A. Morley |
b Moon |
0 |
(9) |
- |
- |
9-113 |
|
9 |
D. Emerson |
b Moon |
0 |
(1) |
- |
- |
8-110 |
|
10 |
J. W. Pearson |
not out |
0 |
(9) |
- |
- |
- |
|
11 |
J. Hotson + |
b Gibbins |
0 |
(3) |
- |
- |
10-113 |
|
|
Extras |
(NB2, W7, LB2, B12) |
23 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
TOTAL |
(all out, 37 overs) |
113 |
|
|
|
|
|
# |
Bowler |
Overs |
Maidens |
Runs |
Wkts |
|
|
1 |
Meredith |
5 |
2 |
8 |
2 |
|
|
2 |
Handley |
5 |
1 |
22 |
0 |
|
|
3 |
Moon |
5 |
1 |
15 |
4 |
|
|
4 |
White |
8 |
2 |
25 |
0 |
|
|
5 |
Mohammed |
3 |
2 |
4 |
0 |
|
|
6 |
Hay |
3 |
0 |
6 |
0 |
|
|
7 |
Gibbins |
4 |
0 |
12 |
4 |
|
|
8 |
J.
Henderson |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
9 |
B.
Henderson |
2 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
|
|
MOTM: J. W. Pearson Champagne Moment: M. T. Westmoreland
& N. Hebbes’ comedy fielding Buffet
Award: I. C. Leggate’s Wembley hot
dogs |
Opposition:
V057 / 01 Ground: G046 / 01 Captain: C011 / 21 |