Match
reports
Z
Never in the field of cricket have so many
fought so long and so hard for so little reward. That's
what Winston Churchill would have said had he a) not died
in 1965 and b) been watching the Cavaliers play Theydon
Bois on Sunday. The purple-and-whites put in a great performance
in a game that ebbed and flowed like the turquoise tide
lapping on the crystal white sands of the Maldives. But
I digress…
The morning after his 30th birthday party
and on the back of three hours kip, Cavs' skipper Jimmy
Hat won the toss, elected to bat and promptly dropped himself
to number 10, ahead only of Nine-Ten-Firmin. With last week's
top three all unavailable, Brindo opened the batting, accompanied
by Wordybonk on his long-awaited return from a lengthy Bunion-related
absence. Unfortunately, Saul was soon able to put his bunion-free
feet up, miscuing his 4th ball to midwicket without troubling
the scorer. This brought Snr to the wicket, and he took
advantage of being dropped by the keeper from his second
ball to build a platform with Brindo. After 20 overs, the
two were still there with Brindo looking in particularly
good nick, albeit seeming to relentlessly find the fielder
with his sublimely timed shots. The score at the half way
stage was only 64, but with not much bowling other than
their openers and on a pitch with an outfield knee-deep
in elephant grass, the talk was that anything over 160 would
be competitive.
Soon after drinks, Snr was fingered by Lloydy
and was replaced by Kiwi Debutant Aaron, who did little
to impress the selectors with a cross batted slog on zero
that saw middle stump go flying. Elbow came in at 5 and
nudged 9 before being stumped, after which Timmy F came
in and did a good job to feed the strike to Brindo who soon
registered his first Cavs 50. Timmy F and Lloydy soon perished
as they attempted to up the run rate, and Brindo's long
vigil ended with just 5 overs left, for a tremendous 85.
This brought Tanty to the crease, and he set off in the
only way he knows, bludgeoning 4 quickfire fours before
spooning one to midwicket for 19 in the penultimate over.
At the other end, debutant Ian Casey clubbed a dozen or
so as the Cavs finished on a creditable 196/9.
The Cavaliers felt that they were well in
with a shout for their first victory in 10 matches, even
more so when the Hat clean bowled an opener in the first
over of the Theydon reply. 20 overs later, however, the
numbers 1 and 3 were still batting and had accumulated exactly
double that which the Cavaliers scored in their first 20
overs. Needing just 60 off the last 20 overs, the match
was all but over, but the identikit Fosters had other ideas.
Snr did the main damage, enticing one to mis-time a skier
in to Tanty's hands at deep extra cover and then, moments
later, getting the other to do likewise and Jimmy Hat made
no mistake with a tremendous running catch at long off.
Timmy F kept the scoring low with a measly spell, and the
fielding was tight as old boots with Aaron in particular
doing a great job sweeping the boundary. Before long Theydon
were behind the asking rate and needed 21 off three overs.
A costly ante-penultimate over from Casey
(sadly, not accompanied by the Sunshine Band) seemed to
give the advantage back to Theydon, but a tight over from
Jimmy Hat left the hosts needing 5 off the last. The ball
was thrown to Frase, to bowl one of the most exciting overs
in the cavs history:
First
Ball: Batsman swings wildly and they manage to scamper a
single and then return for a second.
Second Ball: Wicket!: an inswinging yorker sees the batsman
bottom edge the ball on to legstump. Advantage cavs.
Third Ball: Dot ball.
Fourth Ball: Dot ball, cavs in the driving seat, oppo needing
three from two.
Fifth Ball: Chaos. The delivery evades the batsman and lands
safely in Lloydy's mitts. The non-striking batsman sets
off on what looked a suicidal single, but Lloydy somehow
contrives to miss the stumps with an underarm roll from
all of 3 feet. Tant gathers at the non-striking end and
clatters in to the stumps, but the umpire deems his team-mate
to be safe.
Last
Ball: Theydon need two to win outright, although a single
will see them win having lost one fewer wicket. Frase's
pitches one up into the blockhole,
the batsman makes room and squirts the ball in the minuscule
gap between Wordybonk at cover and Aaron at deep extra cover.
The ball creeps over the boundary and the Cavs have lost
a classic.
So,
gutted to have lost, but the Cavs' batting seems much improved
in 2004, and the fielding this week was a million times
better than last. If the Cavs continue to play like this,
that illusive victory is surely imminent - maybe on next
weekend's tour to Yeovil?
Man
of the Match: Brindo, for a quality 85
Champagne Moment: Jimmy Hat's safe pouching of a steepler
Cap of Dishonour: Ellis, for falling asleep on the boundary
during the Cavs innings and for a couple of dodgy misfields.
SAT Wordsworth and Aaron the Kiwi can feel very lucky to
have escaped, as can Firms for sulking at deep third man
for 20 overs.
