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The game of cricket can provide many emotions - joy, satisfaction, disappointment, elation, frustration, competitiveness and apprehension are just a few that are most commonly associated with the fine game.
Every now and then you may get the slightly ironic cheer as an unfortunate player will drop a catch, misfield etc. When you hear one supporter claim that their sides have not hurt so much in years from laughter you can safely add mirth to that list as the Pompey Pensioners played Al’s Arthritic Aussies on Sunday.
The omens were not good as prior to the match the PP’s dressing room assaulted the senses with the heady whiff of Deep Heat combined with the musty smell of clothes retrieved from various long term storage places. PP’s confidence rose slightly when they learnt that some of the Aussies had only flown in recently and surely they would be jet lagged providing an advantage to PP.
This report will not go into the detail of the match as our Australian friends came out deservedly on top. PP did provide a game though the skill levels of some of the less frequent players did for some unknown reason, provide much raucous laughter. possibly aided by the fact that the supporters appeared to be spending some time with glass in hand - presumably only water & tea on a Sunday.
The effort made by the team was reflected by the list of injuries shared in post-match dressing room, upon reflection the team should have run a sweepstake on who was going to suffer what injury on the day and it was probably only the prolific use of ibuprofen as prophylactics that allowed some of the guys to get up the next morning.
The final emotion that this game brought out was camaraderie, as both sides gathered post match to share a beer or three and tell a tale or two. The general consensus is that everyone enjoyed the day and the fact that you can get two groups of people who were mostly strangers to each other prior to the match and leave as new friends is testament to the power of sport and cricket in particular.
Big well done and thank you to Al and Jan for organising the event and the possible start of a regular event for future years - Perth next Ashes anyone?
Paul “The 15th Man – I could run quite fast once” Kooner-Evans
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WIND OF FORTUNE
Astonishingly, just two of last weekend’s Hampshire League Div 2 fixtures fell victim to the elements. For the sides that got a game in, Friday’s rain, and Saturday’s howling gales, had the potential to serve up some unusual results – and boy did this deliver for Pompey 2s. A 17-run win away at Redlynch & Hale, combined with defeats to the top 2 (Compton & Chandlers Ford, and Bournemouth 3s), has pushed the Unicorns up to 2nd, and looming large on the rear-view mirror of 1st placed Compton.
The visit of Redlynch & Hale was anything but routine, however, as Nicky Wyatt lost another flip, and the New Foresters invited Pompey to bat first in conditions ideal for windsurf drag racing.
The expected early-overs grindfest from openers Wyatt and Jamie Mitchell (try to get THAT image out of your head) went the way of Newquay’s Boardmasters Festival (or a Wyatt ’92-’95 boast), as they put on 89 for the first wicket in 17 overs. Wyatt’s lower centre of gravity, and keg-like build, seemed unaffected by the prevailing gusts, as he bullied the hosts’ bowling, before slapping one straight to the cover fielder on 48. After an early life, nicking one between wicketkeeper and first slip, Mitchell, having turned up to the game in near-enough the same clobber as Wyatt, tried to be dismissed in the same manner – twice! Both straightforward chances were inexplicably grassed, leaving Mitchell to pursue an alternative mode of dismissal – an unseemly hack across the line of a straight delivery did just that, having his stumps re-arranged, for 44 (for 4).
While a fully padded-up local Competitive Dad had his two young boys bowling at him in a boundary-adjacent net, Dan Wallis joined younger brother Tom out in the middle – their strokeplay betraying a sibling rivalry every bit as fierce as the father-sons battle that was raging nearby. A skied leading edge accounted for Tom for a frustrating (by his lofty standards) 30, and Dan fell not long afterwards for 22, also picking one of the few non-catch-averse fielders among the home side.
Wickets continued to fall as Pompey craved quick runs during the dying overs of the innings, but a quick 14 not out from Ethan Randall, and some serious scrambling from Matt Walton ushered the visitor’s score to 205 for 8 from their 45 overs.
Without the sun on his back this week, Ishy Ahmad showed that he isn’t just a fair-weather bowler, as he removed both R&H openers, and along with Dan Wallis, kept the hosts’ scoring rate down to two an over. The introduction of Lee Hungerford and James Holder brought them a wicket apiece, to leave the home side p*ssing in the proverbial at 61 for 4.
Whether it was a few choice words, or orange squash has a similar effect on R&H’s number 5 as the intake of spinach has to Popeye, but the game changed wildly from the drinks break. Hungerford and Holder were being dealt with as harshly as a heckler at a seasoned stand-up, and it was more of the same when Wyatt turned to Ethan Randall and Paul Hungerford.
Hind quarters were in need of oil as the hosts reached 120 in an eventful 31st over, during which Randall was hit onto the pavilion roof, then had R&H’s number 6 caught by Dan Wallis at first slip. Bums were certainly squeaking as the hosts’ number 5 raced past 50 in a flurry of fours and sixes – at this point, the game had swung in the home side’s favour.
From Pompey’s point of view, with the home side still needing around a run a ball, it was always going to be a one-wicket game, and the 35th over produced that prized scalp. Once again, Randall had one ball retrieved from the pavilion car park, and when he followed this up with another long hop, the pavilion was bracing itself for another peppering. However, the spinach must have been all used up, as R&H’s number 5 had somehow plinked it into Pompey’s safest pair of hands, Tom Wallis, to depart for a 44-ball 72 (with 5 fours and 6 sixes!).
A few overs later, Paul Hungerford took two wickets in two balls (one of them may have been Micky H’d) to rubber-stamp the likelihood of a Pompey win, finishing up with figures of 2 for 40. Randall had another caught by Dan Wallis (who took three catches in all), to claim 3 for 40, leaving Pompey one wicket away from maximum bowling points. Although opening bowlers, Ishy and Dan Wallis, returned to take the final wicket, it was calamitous run out between R&H’s last pair that ended what had been another tight encounter in the New Forest – the home finishing 188 all out. Ishy was the pick of Pompey’s bowlers once again, with 2 for 16 from 8.4 overs.
Weather permitting, the 2s return to HQ this weekend, to face South Wilts 3s.
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