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TWO-THIRDS OF A LONDON BUS CLICHE
View From Silly Point by Jamie (Mitch) Mitchell
Due to your correspondent going on holiday, The View took a week’s hiatus, during which Pompey 2s ran out comfortable winners in their local derby with Hayling Island – thanks in no small part to another classy Dan Wallis hundred, propelling the hosts to an insurmountable 276 for 8. Three wickets apiece from Paul Hungerford and Andy Chapman put the seal on a fine afternoon’s work, in bowling the visitors out for 197.
Last weekend saw The Unicorns playing host again, this time the visitors to a severely sun-scorched St Helens were Southampton-based Fair Oak 2s.
Winning the toss was as crucial as it’s ever been, with conditions (and likelihood of watching the football in its entirety) dictating a bat-first strategy. And with a sea of little faith watching on, Captain C-Bomb, Nicky Wyatt, to everyone’s astonishment, delivered. Pompey’s top order took full advantage of batting on a pitch at its most favourable, with 73 and 75-run stands for the first two wickets – Wyatt providing another 24, Jamie Mitchell picking up from his pre-holiday form with a fluent 74, and given Dan Wallis’ recent run of scores, and the imperious ease in which he passed 50, a double-take was required when he fell the ball after raising his bat.
The habitual middle-overs wobble coincided with a deteriorating surface, but solid contributions from the Hungerford brothers, Paul (32) and Lee (14), along with an unbeaten 15 from Ethan Randall, helped push Pompey’s score up to 242 all out. The premature finish to the innings generously enabled the visitors to catch more of England’s Swedish stroll than they’d initially envisioned.
The extended tea break appeared to have a passive effect on the Fair Oak openers, as they lolloped along at around 2-an-over through the first 20 overs, with Lee Hungerford’s left-arm orthodox spin (with tenpin bowling run-up/approach) being particularly frugal, in taking 2 for 18 whilst racing through his allotted 9 overs. From there, the visiting batsmen needed to conjure several overs of pyrotechnics to harbour any distant thoughts of a tight finish, all of which led to a steady stream of wickets - Paul Hungerford’s Tufnell-esque twirlers snaffled 3 for 31 from his 9, while Andy Chapman cleaned up the tail like a Japanese football supporter with 3 for 27 - as Fair Oak were dismissed for 177.
Pompey 2s will be sailing across the Solent this Saturday, where they’ll be looking for a 3rd win on the bounce at Ventnor 2s’ unique Steephill ground.
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