On thursday evening we found ourselves at Farmer Chris’ The Holt hosted by the equally competitive and hospitable gentlemen of Milburys CC. The hosts batted first. Skip’s cunning plan involved opening up with a rarely seen pairing of the loopy Sepia (1-17) and laser-like Rishi (0-20). While this delivered some initial success (despite the curious case of the mysterious levitating bail), the home team batsmen quickly got into their stride and continued to score consistently throughout their innings. The President (1-19) Famer Chris (0-21), Dolphin (aka Cris; 1-29), Head of Salmon (0-20) and Benefit (aka Adam – 1-13) all applied themselves manfully to stem the flow of runs but the impressive total of 145 for 3 off 18 overs was always going to be challenging, especially given the gathering storm clouds and the consequent fading light. Nevertheless Skip (26 retired) and Dave (25 retired) established a solid platform scoring freely. Taking up the pace The Bard (8) and Benefit (13) kept the board ticking over. Cris gloved behind off a snorter from the always impressive Varney. Rishi then proceeded to go ballistic – hitting 27 (retired) off very few. However, despite the best efforts of Jolly (2 not out) and President (20 not out) it was never quite enough – our closing score being 136 for 3 – A score which I think we would have taken if offered at the start of the match.
Be of good cheer my dear teammates all is far from lost for 2023 as we will have a chance to put the record straight when we entertain the travelling Milburys on our home turf on a Sunday later in the year…
Racqueteers LOSS by 9 runs
The Racqueteers Cricket Club 