Match
reports
And so the mighty Cavaliers landed in Worcester at the
start of their tour and, after the tedium of city traffic
and Toothy’s racecourse knowledge, they finally arrived
in Holt Heath to take on Holt & Grimley CC in a Twenty20
do or die. The Cavs warmed up before the game with cans
of lager and ball throwing drills, which it soon became
apparent do not mix.
With the Holt lads turning up in dribs and drabs the contrived
toss (yes, another one) put the Cavs into bat with a few
more fielding for the oppo. Terrey and Bainsey strode to
the wicket and faced a quick, spiky young opener who soon
got into his stride, hitting the deck hard and getting balls
to Chris Rea. Indeed, only his second ball took the edge
of Terrey’s bat and flew to point. However, at point
was a Cavalier – TimmyF – (who was too busy
discussing how the harvest was turning out with Farmer Giles
standing at third man) and the chance was spilled. This
was not to be the only catch that a Cavalier put down during
the game.
Mahmood - with a heart of a lion, the head of a coot and
the balance of a baby foul – continued in classic
mahmood fashion. Scruffy singles, lovely cover drives, edges,
groans, gloves, yes, no, waiting. At the other end, Todd
really only had one thing to worry about and that was his
opening partner. Seeing it like a fuzzballon, Todd laced
most balls for 4 ensuring the innings got off to a terrific
run rate. On 35 he’d had enough and retired to allow
Ellis to carry on the onslaught. Elbo has the best hand-to-eye
in the Cavs and if only he got more sleep and sealed a few
more deals he would score big and be up there with the big
boys. A blistering 26 also saw him retire to allow some
tour virgins into the theatre of dreams. Enter stage left
Luke Firmin. Like his brother, Luke supports Spurs and has
a tattoo to remind him of that fact everyday. Unlike his
brother he does not feel the need to strike a football 40yards
with the outside of the boot every time it is played to
him. Clearly good with a football at his feet, a cricket
bat in his hands is still a little foreign. However, getting
off the mark is always a good idea when on tour and money
was saved when 3 runs were hard earnt before one got through
the gate and splayed his stumps.
When Mahmood’s luck finally run out (caught) and
Adam P not troubling the scorers (double bubble on tour
fines means Adam will be living off pot noodle for the summer)
it was over to Toothy and The Fireman to restore some order.
Firms strut to the wicket pigeon chested like a man on a
mission and, holding his bat like a meat cleaver, defended
beautifully whilst knocking it around for 4 singles. At
the other end Toothy, in full David Bellamy wig and beard
was having a torrid time. Deciding that he would rather
take a blow than get himself out he was lucky not to be
given ABW (arse-before-wicket) on a couple of occasions.
Alas, these two did not last too long and both were castled
bringing skipper Lloyd and Truro express to see out the
last few overs. The run rate was pushed along again as both
played fluent cricket and delivered some much-needed boundaries.
There was time for another Cavalier
(Mahmood) to drop another catch for their hosts before the
innings closed on 146/7 with Lloyd and Mayor Penny not out
on 12 and 9 respectively.
Needing more than 7 an over, the Cavs felt confident that
Holt & Grimley could be held back and their confidence
grew after the start given to them by SOB and TimmyF. With
little more than 25 on the board after 7 overs things were
looking good for the tourists. SOB in particular was bowling
with pace, skid, aggression and accuracy. He’s come
along way over the years and has learnt well from the Cavs
feeder club based in the sticks of Northants. Ready for
a step up Seanie bowled really well and ended on figures
of 3-0-5-0 being very unlucky not to take a wicket. This
was mainly down to dropped catches that once again crept
into the cavaliers play and would continue throughout the
innings. In total, 11 catches went down and if you think
that catches-win-matches then you need not read on to find
out the result of this game.
Wickets did tumble but the run rate started to increase.
Yes, catches were dropped but good middle order batting
also saw the home team accumulate at a quickening pace.
Bowlers Luke, Meo and Adam all took some medicine before
toothy finally made a breakthrough to temporarily stall
the innings, when SOB took a good catch in fading light
that can only be described as “dark”. The match
was won on the last ball of the game when Holt ran a leg
bye, which basically summed up the Cavaliers fielding performance.
Too keen to get on it and finish the job was a criticism
captain Lloyd expressed at the end. However, an enjoyable
game was ended back at the Red Lion pub when Farmer Giles
was finally able to confirm that it would indeed be a bumper
harvest of Barley this summer.
