Sunday League XI
Matches
Sun 19 May 2013
Rickmansworth Cricket Club
Sunday League XI
87/7
133/8
White Swans CC
Sporting gestures, but no supporting batting

Sporting gestures, but no supporting batting

Keith Williams20 May 2013 - 16:31
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Sportsmanship was alive and kicking at Rickmansworth on Sunday, but a lack of supporting batting left the Sunday XI short of a gettable target.

The day started with a small mystery: where had Rory Cusack acquired that freshly-pulled pint of lager from? The answer ("I pulled it myself") left skipper Sean Lindsay concerned that putting Rory in charge of a bar was akin to putting Jimmy Savile in charge of supervising school changing rooms.

Having found a responsible replacement for Cusack Jnr. (well, Keith Williams), talk turned back to more important subjects. Callum Cusack, ever keen, spoke in great detail about how he'd spent the winter plying line and length in his maiden's corridor of uncertainty. Meanwhile skipper Lindsay outlined his attempts to get a refund out of www.match.com, on the basis that the pictures of the laydeez thereon showed them to be half the women they really were. Alas, further discourse on this subject was curtailed by the need to go and play some cricket.

Fielding first, opening bowlers Jason Phillipson and Lindsay kept things tight, Phillipson being rewarded by castling opener Paul. New batsman Indy batted like he had a train to catch, blasting a straight six off of Atul Patel after he was brought into the attack. Matt Scales, replacing Lindsay, bowled with all the luck of a man who dived head-first into a bucket of tits, only to come up sucking his thumb. However, he was rewarded by clean-bowling the dangerous Indy, leaving White Swans 53-2 from fourteen overs.

The visitors could have been further in defecit, had Rickmansworth not reprieved Caldwell after he had been bowled by Patel; the aggrieved opener protested that he had not been ready for the delivery. Patel was soon replaced by Bilal Mohammed, who saw off Salmen and Caldwell, both caught well by Ian Milligan.

Lindsay then turned to two flighty spinners, Tony MacDonald-Barker and Ken Brown. Tony Mac struck twice - Deep falling to a superb Brown catch and Dan lbw - while Brown avenged a huge six from Dyer by having the batsman stumped next ball by Mark Wembridge. The Aussie 'keeper was then responsible for another stumping, Dave Harvey dismissed first ball having absent-mindedly wandered out of his crease. However, Rickmansworth kindly called the veteran back for another chance.

After tea for the players (and more lager for Cusack Jnr.), Rickmansworth went into bat. Any hopes of a repeat of the bowling largesse shown by the hosts were soon dashed, as White Swans' openers were fast, accurate, and bowled their full seven overs apiece in one spell. At this point, Rickmansworth were 20-1, the visitors were in full cry, and Rory had fallen asleep.

Any attempts to up the scoring rate were dashed by parsimonious change bowlers Paul and Dyer (again, both sending down seven overs in a single spell apiece), and by a home batting line-up unable to get on top of a tight fielding and bowling performance. Kudos at least to Milligan for surviving a hostile opening spell, and sympathy to Mohammed for retiring with a leg muscle injury. Naveed Mahroof, however, decided it was all too boring, and retired at the drinks interval, to the bemusement of all concerned.

Lindsay and Scales managed to take advantage of Swans' own veteran spinner, Dave Harvey, in posting average topping-up double-figure scores, but in reality this game was all over after the first fourteen overs. Rickmansworth will need to think of the positives in the bowling and fielding performances, whilst hoping that Chris Gayle might be available for the next match.

Match details

Match date

Sun 19 May 2013

Kickoff

14:00

Meet time

13:15
Team overview
Further reading