More Circket

oh the tension, first game at home, third game of the season and the urge to play cricket means i am up and ready by 8am, only 6 hours to go, only 6 hours before the start of a new competition, the all inclusive calorie laden point carrying tea competition.

first suggested by our illustrious skipper both teams are to grade the tea with marks out of 10. genius.

to set the standard dc1 went first and as he gave me a lift to the ground i was able to glimpse into the future and the future looked good.

but first the cricket, the reason for such indulgences to begin with.

to go with our new skipper we had a new opposition, namely beckington a village near frome.

last sighted circa 1977 they rejoined the league this year, so for the entire history of punk rock they vanished, which is quite a punk thing to do i suppose.

luckily there was a lack of flares, disco, liverpool winning everything, spitting, safety pins, dead kings and my schooldays which i remember the first time round.

they won the toss and put us in to bat on the grounds that the captain wanted to enjoy his tea. i have missed this theory in the books i’ve read on cricket but then it’s so long since i’ve been able to practice that it might be good theory and i have just forgotten it.

the spirit of the twos is good this year despite the weather and our openers strode out under cloudy skies to do battle in earnest.  the score ticked along slowly, the opposition, a crafty combination of youth and experience of the kind we face so often, revealed themselves to be chirpy, friendly types capable even, of enduring pagey’s umpiring.  they also revealed themselves to be competent cricketers the bastards and as dc1 feathered a ball downwards in front of slip one of the youth element pocketed a classy catch.

grant, finding his way as our number two and reg, similarly in a new role at three followed quickly.

so, cometh the hour cometh the matt, and indeed the jonse.  as i am sure he would admit matt was due a score and  set out to make today the day.  willingly and confidently assisted by jonse he started slowly, playing himself in, watching the ball and not taking any risks.  this is in the coaching manuals i believe.

every time jonse takes to a field his love of cricket shines through along with the self development of his game.  here his quick running, clear shouting and powerful shots kept the scoreboard ticking and complimented matt’s more cautious approach.  the outfield was fast and they both opened up as they went on.

at 30 overs they were in the zone and looking to accelerate.  a shout from the skipper reined them in a bit. with ten overs to go and five wickets down there was no need to rush.

matt approached his 50, we approached 150, jonse was in his thirties.

they batted together until the 38th over in a partnership of over 100.  matt passed his 50, jonse went for it more and more and was out for 38. matt was out for 54 and the cowboys finished on 164.  last week we bowled a team out, this week we batted for 40 overs .

the interval. tea. competitive tea. journalistic credo and that business with rebekkka brooks, deleted text messages from horses and her alleged backing for dave as captain or president or something, prevents me from mentioning my score for the tea but needless to say it was lovely.,

beckington got the runs.  not from the tea.

dave littleton bowled well, wayne and the rest of us battled gainfully but the lack of bowling and the lack of practice showed.

i would like to say apart from me, but i cant, i snapped a muscle, dropped a catch of my own bowling, let one through my legs and went for 7.5 an over.

a couple more drops and beckington always looked on to win the game. the experienced batsman made the most of their luck and guided the youth to victory.

i dont know where beckington have been since elvis died but it is nice to have them back. their captain thanked us after the game for the atmosphere and attitude saying how welcoming it was for the kids and they joined us in the masons arms afterwards for a beer.

using a complicated system known to a chosen few the tea was graded 7.5, from now on the official standard.