Captain in Crisis

Club Captain Shooting Blanks

Club Captain and HCCC Founder Fraser Tant was today reeling after registering a Cavaliers's all-time record of three ducks in four matches. Commented the distraught club supremo: "I'd rather not discuss it, thank you. Just leave me alone"

Tant's succession of batting debacles began on the 2004 tour, when sent out by skipper Jim Handford to bat at number 5 in a 20 overs evening match. Despite the sage advise of the somewhat more illustrious middle order batsman Robin Smith just three days earlier at a charity cricket function ("Get your head down, play yourself in, play each shot on each merits and play along the ground") Tant greeted his first ball with an attempted cross-bat hoik to cow corner and heard the death rattle moments later. A much better tour innings followed (a mighty 1 not out, although to be brutally honest that one was a fortuitous single when an edge went through the slip cordon) before Shenley came to Harpenden to challenge the Cavs. Here, Tant survived a caught behind shout off his first ball, before accurately steering the next in to the sizeable gut of first slip in what proved to be an inadvisable late cut. The clatter of bat on dressing room door in the ensuing "Tantrum" echoed around Rothampsted park for many minutes.

Frase's latest ignominy happened during the draw against Essendeon. Having played sensible forward defensives off his first two balls, the club skipper was presented with a juicy waist high full toss just outside off stump. Where normally he would have tried to launch it over the top for a trade-mark mighty six, Tant chose to close the face and smash the ball along the ground through Mid-on. The ball flew at Mach 3 towards the mid-on who produced an unbelievable diving, finger-breaking catch that stunned both sides. Back in the hutch, for yet another duck.

"It's a shame for the lad" commented acting skipper Simon Foster. "We all know he's got ability, but once the demons get in that head of his, anything can happen. We've all had a few ducks in our time, and I'm sure that Frase will get himself out of the doldrums in the near future."

Keep your eye on harpendencavalierscc.co.uk to see whether Frase can turn things round in the second half of the 2004 season

words - FT