River Park Recreation Ground
There are a few special phrases in English that provoke uniquely comforting feelings. When you hear the words “Once upon a time…”, for instance, you can feel yourself settle down, inside. For people of a certain age, the same is true of “Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin…”, being the introduction to the classic children’s broadcast, Listen with Mother.
The words that have the most beatific effect on the cricketer, however, are perhaps “We won the toss and elected to bat [or bowl].” It is partly the hopeful start that does it. We won the toss! We can win anything! It is partly that curiously archaic word, “elected”. (Who elects to do anything, any more?) But it is mostly the mantra-like incantation of the ritual phrase – a sentence that every cricketer has read time and again, season after season, a phrase that connects even the humblest village Sunday game with the fiercest-fought Test match. When you read those words, you know that what comes next is a story. And so, on Sunday 10 August, 2025…
We won the toss and elected to bat.
The Bard (20) and Benno (1) opened, facing down some decent slow-medium bowling, especially from the out-swinging Rashir, who in the end took four of Chilmark’s seven wickets. The pitch offered a lot of bounce, and Benno and the Bard accordingly fell to almost exactly the same shot – a cut that was not cut quite high enough, offering a straightforward top-edge to a competent first slip. Mike (1), uncharacteristically was bowled by an odd one that somehow came back in behind his legs.
G (23), OC (28) and the President (31 not out), however, made the most of the sunshine. G found a richly productive area behind the wicket, repeatedly steering it down the leg side for four. OC was typically focused and punchy, while the President offered some expansive drives, delivering a commanding innings – perhaps his best all season. Jules and Rupert were unlucky, but Head of Trout (16) contributed vital late runs, including a splendid six – the only one of our innings.
Our total of 172 for 7 was helped by some occasionally wayward bowling, with Chilmark conceding 15 wides and no balls, and the same number of byes.
Special mention must be made here of Shaun and Casper, who kindly loaned themselves to our 10-man opposition. And special thanks must go to Gill, Claire and Louise, who generously served the tea.
We took to the field feeling confident that this was a total we could defend. The question was, would the conditions allow us to take the nine wickets we needed? Head of Trout (1 for 22 off 7) and the President (1 for 30 off 11) made a coollyeconomical start, and when Casper (1 for 24 off 6) came back on, this time for us, he kept up the good work. For penetration, though, the Skipper turned to the spinners. Rupert (2 for 25) and the Skipper (2 for 26) both took two with their wily leg and off-breaks, respectively – Mike taking two in succession, and denied a hat-trick by a bold shot that lofted the ball well clear of the closely packed ring of close fielders.
The real story of the innings, though, was the Racqueteers’performance in the field. It was among our most committed and effective. G was leonine behind the stumps, and deliveredone very satisfying stumping off Rupert’s nasty, high-bouncing top-spinners. (It was its own kind of hat-trick, given that he had already stumped the same batsman twice already in the same over, although not to the square-leg umpire’s satisfaction.) The human shields of Jules and Rupert stopped ball after ball, struck hard along the ground. But above all, our catching was excellent. OC took one (of his three catches) storming along the boundary from cow corner, like a veritable Bos taurus in the ring at Pamplona; the Skipper did hisleaping salmon thing at slip, taking one well above and behind his head; Benno dived forward onto his face like a seal entering the water, to take a desperately tricky one that would otherwise have fallen well short; and Casper took a high catch at mid on with all the nonchalance of a sleepy cat plucking a moth from the air. The only drop was by the Bard, sprinting in for a one-hander, but to be fair to him it wasn’t much of a chance and in any case he was still recovering from a minor hand injury he had sustained – as he explained at tea – while grinding cardamoms in a pestle and mortar for the Racqueteers tray-baked lime-and-cardamom drizzle cake. And who said that cricket was a middle-class sport?
In the end we did not quite make it. Chilmark blocked out the last over, finishing 15 short of their target with their last two men still at the crease. It was a winning draw, as the Skipper put it – and winning in more than one sense. This was not only an exceedingly amiable match, it was one of those special ones where the whole team really comes together.
The match was a draw.
The Racqueteers Cricket Club 