In a season of hard run chases, this looked like one of the hardest. We had opened with our classic pair, Head of Trout (0 for 56) and Farmer Chris (1 for 46), and they had bowled with smooth, indefatigable accuracy. Our first change bowlers, The Pope (1 for 53) and the Skipper (1 for 42) had snagged a wicket each. The Pope found a beautiful length while the Skipper continued a run of form with the ball, exploiting the dusty conditions to eventually deliver an misjudged drive into the hands of the waiting Bard at long-on. Kiret (0 for 22), Jules (0 for 42) and Flighty (0 for 12) worked away at the middle order, Kiret in particular looking dangerous. But the Vagabonds were just too comfortable on their own (slightly scorched) turf, and one of their batsmen retired on 100.
It is probably fair to say that we have had happier days in the field, although all our three wickets were catches, and OC is looking ever more skilful as a stand-in keeper. Skilful and occasionally explosive: on another day he might have claimed at least two wickets. His appeals, alas, fell on deaf ears. (Although as someone was heard to mutter maybe it wasn’t the ears that were the problem so much as the eyes – all said in good spirit, of course…)
The Vagabonds had not scored especially rapidly. Head of Trout’s economy was under 5, and be bowled no fewer than 11 overs. Our other specialist bowlers all turned in economies of 6 an over, or thereabouts. But the Vagabonds had batted for 43 overs, and it did rather add up – and it left us with a target of 275. Daunting, perhaps. But the Racqueteers are not easily daunted. Our first three batsmen (Kiret, 14; Bard 1; Benno 8) fell fairly quickly, but OC (37) was as explosive with the bat as he had been behind the stumps. He exploited the fast outfield with a sequence of powerful, flowing fours before being caught trying to repeat a lofted drive over mid-off.
The heroes of the day, though, were Popey (50 not out), Flipper (22) and Skip (40 not out). Popey anchored the innings, playing with his usual balance, care and tenacity, and reaching his second well-deserved half-century in successive Sunday matches. Flipper increasingly found his feet, his flowand the rope. The Skipper and the Pope’s partnership was a special one – they put on at least 100 runs together, even as the Vagabonds brought on what seemed to be bowlers of ever-increasing quality, and even as the bounce became ever more wayward. It might seem a strange thing to praise a batsman’s leaves but Skip’s were canny, judicious and, for the bowler, psychologically disruptive.
The game finally timed out at 36 overs, with our score on 208. A draw then, but there is this comfort to be had: if we’d had the seven extra overs that the Vagabonds had enjoyed, and if we’d continued to score at a similar rate, then we would have made it. It would have been a deeply satisfying victory. It has to wait until next year. We had better bring our best game.
The Racqueteers Cricket Club 