7th June 2026 – Racqueteers vs St Cross River Park – Write up by Head of Trout
Like the England Football Team replete with shirts emblazoned with the three lions and full of expectation ahead of the World Cup football, the Racqueteers strode out onto the field of dreams (River Park) in their cricket whites emblazoned with a green man wielding a tennis racket to face St Cross in one of our notable local derbies.
With the preceding day being somewhat wet we were on the new all-weather strip.
Having won the toss, we elected to bat and first up were Kiretand Rishi who faced St Cross’ openers. Pace opened the bowling and then it was line and length with the ball cutting in, and it was this, that saw the undoing of our openers, 13 for 2. We needed to steady the ship and who better to do this than Skip, who together with OC put us on an even keel and then OC took on the bowling with avengeance scoring a magnificent 85 with a plethora of 6s and 4s. Pope and Flighty followed adding an additional 47 runs and Flipper brought up the rear adding 4, which took our score to 168 off 35 overs with 5 wickets down.
It was time for tea and what a tea it was. Before us was a veritable feast created by Shaun and Benno: pasta and Spanish omelette, an array of delicious cakes and sandwiches washeddown with orange squash and tea. ‘Manifique!’ ‘Delicious!’‘A very high bar.’
It was time to test their batsmen against the might of the Racqueteers’ bowling. Trouty opened from the ‘Pavilion’ end with his signature straight and full length wabbler, which the batsmen found difficult to get away. Flighty took the second over and claimed an early wicket, 3 for 1, things were looking good. Trouty then got the slightest of edges and St Cross’ captain Abdul was caught behind by the ever alert and skilfulG, 23 for 2. Fielding was tight with Jules, Shaun and Kiretprotecting the boundary. The Racqueteers were feeling confident.
St Cross though had other ideas, and they gave us a masterclass in batting with two successive batsmen scoring 50 and 53 respectively despite sustained pressure from Rishi, Kiret and OC. It was St Cross’ turn to feel confident. Rather nobly and reflecting the spirit of the game, their batsmen retired, forfeiting the chance to return to give their fellow team mates a chance to bat.
Popey then stepped up and his left arm angled deliveries got two wickets in quick succession, 134 for 3 and then 141 for 4, with a fantastic catch from the ever-reliable Flipper. Rishi came back in, lbw (152 for 5), Popey got another wicket, caught Flighty (153 for 6).
Could the Racqueteers snatch a victory after all? Tensions and excitement in equal measure were running high. St Cross needed 16 runs to win. Enter Rishi. With a superb full length ball the batsman was caught by OC who took a glorious catch153 for 7 and then Rishi struck again making it a match-winning 158 for 8.
Both sides clapped each other off the field after a game where everyone joined in and cricket was the ultimate winner.
The Racqueteers Cricket Club 