Match
reports
Cavaliers vs Chester Boughton
Hall, Sunday 12 June 2005
“I am just going outside and
may be some time”
L.E.G. Oates, 1880-1912
“Just popping out to bat. Won’t
be long”
T.J.Firmin 1972-
But as Firms set out to face the
final balls of the tour, bravely soldiering on through the
biting winds of an arctic Chester Boughton Hall CC, we had
no idea whether he would come back a hero, hitting the winning
runs in a thrilling encounter, come back with his head bowed
after falling at the last hurdle or, like Oates, not come
back at all.
That we had got to such a position
at all was credit to one Simon Foster and his captain Gareth
Lloyd, whose rearguard batting had brought us back into
contention after our hosts had amassed a substantial 201/8
in their 35 overs. This was largely to do with some hefty
stroke play from the Boughton skipper, who looked no stranger
to a buffet and helped himself to the assorted ‘bowling’
of Messrs Firmin and Burton whose combined 11 overs cost
a mighty 104 runs. This somewhat let Boughton off the hook
after typically tight spells from Jim Handford (3/29) and
Nick Brindley (0/18) and great work in an otherwise subdued
(ie, hungover, tired, freezing cold) field from Ellis Thorpe
who took three tidy catches. The Boughton skipper had made
98 before giving his first half chance – a swirling
skier that a fully compos mentis Fraser Tant would have
truggled to hold, let alone one still spannered from the
night before. He made amends ten runs later, dismissing
the batsman on 108 underneath another skier, but by then
the 200 was up and the Cavaliers new they would need approaching
6.5 an over to make it three wins out of three on tour.
Tant and Thorpe opened the batting
and quickly set about getting the Cavs off to the start
they needed. When Tant was first to go for 25, the 50 was
up and ten overs had yet to be bowled, so the purple-and-blacks
were on target. However, this saw the introduction of Aussie
Pace Ace ‘Angry’ Anderson, and he soon had the
heart of the Cavs batting back in the warmth of the hutch,
clean bowling Thorpe (19), Handford (4), Jay Wise (10) and
Brindley (5). The Cavs were up against it.
At the other end of this collapse,
however, was Foster Snr, and he was calmness personified.
Batting in a lid – a first, and one that proved successful
– he was keeping Angry at bay and protecting Lloyd
while cashing in on the weaker bowling at the other end.
Their partnership was worth nearly 100, and the look of
disappointment on Lloyd’s face when he holed out to
mid-on brought tears to the eyes of onlookers (or was that
the biting wind again?) With Foster there, however, we were
still in the game but his dismissal for a hard-earned 70
and that of Aaron Terrey soon after swung the game back
in Boughton’s favour.
And so it came to the last over.
The Cavs were on 193, 9 short of victory and with two wickets
left. First ball – an almighty 6 over long off from
Shaun Roy and Cavs can smell victory. Second ball –
Roy hits two through midwicket, just one more run needed
from four balls, surely the Cavs will make it home? Third
ball – a dot: Nothing silly from these two experienced
campaigners. Fourth ball - suicide: Burton calls Roy through
for The Single That Never Was and the latter is run out
by a distance. Number 11 Firmin strides out to the crease
for the last two balls, the briefest of innings from this
most stoic of Cavaliers. Fifth ball - A single will win
it, and the field closes in. The pressure on JB is immense.
Will he try to deftly avoid the fielders and nurdle a single,
or will he try to repeat his Hatfield heroics and bludgeon
a boundary over the top? This is JB, of course, so he opens
his shoulders and middles a mighty blow that goes for miles…
straight upwards. The bowler gets in position underneath
the skier and 22 players hold their breath as we wait to
see what happens. Will he drop it and in so doing allow
Firms and JB to scramble the winning single, or catch it
and see the Cavaliers lose on the grounds of the scores
being level by the Cavs losing more wickets?
It’s held.
So, the Cavs tie or lose depending
on who you speak to, but a great tour comes to a close with
a thrilling, high scoring match. Skipper Lloyd is inconsolable
for a while, but a few pints later he’s up again and
the end-of-tour festivities get underway. Acting Fines Master
Ellis Thorpe does admirable as the fines kitting goes through
the roof. Burton gets the Orange Cap of Woe for a combination
of dreadful bowling and his last-over dismissal, Snr gets
man of the match for his fine 70, and after a phone a friend
moment to Mitch back home in Stoke Newington, Shaun Roy
gets the nod as Player of The Tour.
