The first June fixture, at North Walls Rec, is what you might call a bit different. It features not so much the thwack of leather on willow as the thump of stick on drum – but that’s what you get when on the other side of the stream they’re holding the cheese ’n’ chill festival. Or rather, the cheese ’n’ chilli ’n’ rock n’ roll festival. Hard rock with your hard cheddar, with a side-serving of red-hot chilli peppers – and, for dessert, a string of white vans parading past behind the bowler’s arm.
If the setting wasn’t quite as bucolic as usual, the weather was glorious: perfect sunshine, but not too hot. The wicket didn’t seem to have quite got the summery message, though – it played low and slow. The Rioteers batted first, and struggledto make runs or indeed hold onto their wickets. It wasn’t just the low bounce, though, it was the quality of our bowling. This was not our paciest line-up but what we lacked in zip we supplied in line and length. To paraphrase Head of Trout, it was all focusing and probing.
That and impressive economy. Farmer Chris opened with a maiden and finished with figures of 1-23 off five overs. Andy B (3-12), joining us from Andover (should his nickname be Andover Andy?) put it on the spot with impressive consistency, taking three wickets, with four maidens off his seven overs. Leo (1-9) gave away just nine runs in four overs, while Head of Trout (2-17) finished his five overs with two wicket maidens on the trot. To mop up, on came our slow spinners. Both claimed a wicket: the Bard (1-6) with a bit of leg spin, and Sepia (1-5) by totally boggling the batsman with a little extra flight and tweak to take the final wicket.
In all, eight of the ten wickets we took were clean bowled, and in extras we gave away just one no ball and one leg bye. And not one wide. The highlight, though, was the run-out: Jules picking up the ball with speed and commitment, and fizzing it back in to G at the keeper’s end. The fact that it was off Sepia’s bowling made it particularly special, because this match was dedicated to Sepia’s dad, also Jules’s grandad, who recently passed away.
If a target of 77 looked easy, it turned out not to be as easy as all that. Perhaps it was the excellent quality of the tea laid on by Leo and Mrs Head of Trout. Perhaps it was that ungiving track. Perhaps it was the Rioteers’ focused bowling attack. The Skipper (17) and Leo (13), opening, started building a strong partnership – they are the pair to watch, this season – before falling to catches. At which point, on came the Bard (12) and Sepia (12). They were not much faster with the bat than they had been with the ball, but found a few runs – Sepia managing in spite of requiring emergency treatment in a delicate area and, consequently, needing a runner. Head of Trout (5) was looking good before tumbling to a low bounce, so it was left to Wykeham Jon (5) and Jules (2) to finish the job. If it took us 33 overs to make our 77 runs, who was watching the clock on such a lovely day? We won by 5 wickets.
The Racqueteers Cricket Club 