Sunday 18th September 2011
(written by James Christensen)
Match Report 11: The formidable foe
Game Two of the Indian Summer League brought with it the challenge of a long awaited re-match against The Googlies; a team we’d encountered as LMS fledglings, way back in June, in only our second ever outing as a team. To say they went to town on us (back then a bunch of rookie T20 greenhorns), without mercy or remorse, is an understatement. They restricted us to 91/ 7 in our twenty overs, and then completed our humiliation by knocking off the required runs in a mere 12.2 overs, losing just one wicket in the process.
A formidable foe then, and now a chance to truly test ourselves, to see just how far we’d come throughout the summer. We were pretty sure we were much better than the bunch of blokes who barely knew each other, let alone each others’ cricket games, at the start of the season; and to put in a competitive performance here, against one of the power houses on the Wirral, would finally prove our mettle.
But what’s this? We arrive and find a rather different looking Googlies to the one we remember. Sure, there are one or two faces who look familiar, but who are these overweight geezers filling their ranks; huffing and puffing, struggling to convert oxygen to carbon dioxide on a regular basis, and unable to field the ball at their very feet, due to wobbling protuberances of beer belly? (You’d be well and truly forgiven for thinking that a depleted Googlies had sent their press gangs into the pubs about five minutes before the game!)
It soon became apparent, then, that it was us who had become the formidable foe…
Greasby Roaders batted first with both Nick and Charles making splendid 50s, in what was a record opening stand for the team. Charles unleashed a textbook array of classic covers drives and sweetly timed square cuts that would have been fours, but for the sodden outfield; while, at the other end, Nick batted with the calm assurance of a man who was brimming with a new found confidence. This was Nick’s second successful knock as an opener in as many games, and he has surely now cemented his claim for a regular opening slot. His thoughtful accumulation of runs was the perfect foil for Charles’ more flamboyant stroke play, while he showed he could also pick up the run rate later in the innings.
In fact, our batting would prove so successful that half the team wouldn’t even get a chance to venture to the crease, due to the failure of The Googlies to snare a single wicket; Nick and Charles retired with unbeaten half tons, with the other not outs going to Phil G (28*) and Stephen (18*). (I must say that it was great to finally see Phil G getting a chance to spend some quality time in the middle, and unleashing some good looking strokes in the process. Well played mate!)
At the end of the innings, Greasby Roaders had made 147 without loss, leaving The Googlies a gettable but challenging run chase (given the slowness of the outfield). But would it be enough? We all remembered the game we stole from The SCC; our opponents amassing 161/ 0, with us stealing the game on the last ball with five wickets down. If experience had taught us anything, it was that we should not be complacent. The all important question was: Did The Googlies bat better than they bowled?
And the answer came back as a resounding…. No! A couple of their batsman actually made (half serious) quips about going easy on them, as they came out to the crease- pleas justified when Rob struck one of them a painful blow with a chest high bean ball, landing midway between the sternum and the err beer gut! Ouch! The poor old Googlies were eventually bowled out for a miserable 110, giving Greasby Roaders a comfortable 37 run victory.
If our batting had been an exhibition of ease and comfort, then our bowling was surely a master class in producing a tight, pressurised attack; an attack that forced errors and always had the opposition guessing. James, Paul, Mark, Rob and Stephen bowled four tight overs each, with no one giving the opposition a chance to get started, and contributing the sort of pressure that would force wickets on a regular basis. Apart from the 47 scored by an ‘old Googlies,’ at the top of their innings, the rest fell cheaply and the result never seemed in doubt. The wickets eventually went to Mark (1/ 35), Rob (2/ 20- on both occasions sending the stumps flying in characteristic Rob style!) and Stephen (4/ 6!!!), with one run out.
Special mention must go to our illustrious captain, Stephen, who bagged an incredible 4/ 6. Yes, you read correctly, four wickets from four overs, and only conceding a miserly six runs in the process! That’s an economy rate of 1.5 per over! I must admit, I never thought we’d see Rob’s benchmark 4/ 10 bettered, at least not so soon, but there it is! Well done, Skipper! For my money, definitely the man-of-the-match performance, in a team of good performances.
Our fielding was likewise tight and generally sharp. I say “generally,” because I am yet to relate the re-emergence of, what I have dubbed, the ‘Barabbus Effect.’ In the sword and sandals 1961 film, Barabbus, we follow the life of the bloke that Pontious Pilate spared in preference to our Saviour. Turns out that Barabbus, played by Anthony Quinn, spends a great many years in an underground mine as a slave. When he is finally freed, he comes to the surface to be greeted by a blazing, Middle Eastern midday sun. So what’s the first thing you do then? Shield your eyes? At least look away from the sun, until your eyes have had half a chance to become accustomed to the brilliant daylight you haven’t seen for 15 years? Well, if you’re Barabbus, what you do is to stare directly at the sun for a solid five minutes or so, allowing it to burn you retinas out, while blinking uncomprehendingly, like a total idiot!
Applied to the cricket field, the Barabbus Effect manifests itself when fielders in the deep have to cope with looking into a setting sun, when trying to catch a well struck missile. Now, for some reason, this phenomena generates a great deal of mirth from one’s team mates, somewhat like the mirth that arises from seeing someone hit in the nether regions when batting; funny to all except the victim! (What is it about these instances that bring out the inner sadist in cricketers, who are usually such an intelligent and good natured bunch?)
Well, on this occasion, it was yours truly who fell victim to the Barabbus Effect. I was fielding on the boundary, square of the wicket, hat pulled down on an angle in a futile attempt to try and get a clear view of proceedings, when bang, the ball is suddenly headed my way. I look up, and like Barabbus I am totally blinded. There is now no way I can field this ball, least of all catch it. I calculate that it must be going to land pretty close to me, so I take what I think is the only sensible course of action. I crouch to make myself as small a target as possible and put my arms over my head. Danger averted, I stand up, look around for the ball, which has gone over the boundary, and squint towards my team mates who are now all rolling around on the ground laughing. I look towards them, crestfallen and indignant at the same time, with an expression that says, well what would you have done? ‘Barabbused’ yourself to the blind home, while copping one in the forehead? In fairness, it can’t have looked good from the other side of the wicket; a guy who looks like he couldn’t catch a cold, ducking as if expecting a mortar shell to land. In my defence, I can only defer to the testimony of my team mates who have likewise fallen victim to the Barabbus Effect- Phil G and Rob; neither of whom, I recall, caught that impossible ‘solar’ catch either!
In the final analysis, it has to be said that the game was not much of a contest, and certainly not the tough match we’d been expecting. And now, there is but one match that remains. This time it is against a genuinely good team; The Bromborough Penguins, one of the bigger of the big guns on the Wirral! This, my friends, will be the real deal. The added bonus is that whoever wins on Sunday will be the Indian Summer League Champions. Yeah, okay, a fairly minor title in the greater scheme of things, but a title none the less. And what a great way it would be for us to cap off the season! Win, loose or draw though, nothing can detract from the huge strides forward we’ve taken over the summer. To paraphrase a football cliché, it’s well and truly been a season of two halves. Our first six games yielded but one win, while our second six yielded five; a total turn around! Well done Greasby Roaders! Whatever happens come Sunday, we can well and truly hold our heads high. In my opinion, we’ve already won…
So it’s once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more….
| Googlies vs The Greasby Roaders |
| Date: Sun 18 Sep 2011 |
| Batted First: The Greasby Roaders |
| The Greasby Roaders Score: 147 for 0 after 20.0 |
| Googlies Score: 110 for 8 after 20.0 |
| The Greasby Roaders won by 37 runs match stats: http://lastmanstands.spawtz.com/SpawtzSkin/Fixtures/GameDetails.aspx?FixtureId=30952&LeagueId=559&SeasonId=35 |
