Fatty’s Fourths Fight Foe Fantastically but Fail to Finish Favourably

 

New skipper Karl “Wilf “ Rand was pleased to get to Broom Road on Saturday lunchtime and put behind him all the administrative burden that is captaining a Twickenham XI in order to concentrate on what, even for the first game of the season, could be a pointer to both sides promotion aspirations. With a seasoned side assembled on the resplendent looking arena, much improved from last weeks pudding and with the freshly hewn outfield grass having dried, the ever increasing heat prompted wishes to bat and duly the captain obliged winning the toss and passing the new ball to his Ealing counterpart.

 

Walder and Sanchez marched smartly to the wicket as oft times before to be faced with the experienced Price and new signing Ittyabirah, whom the aforementioned Price had been heard bigging up in the pre-match huddle. His rep was not without substance as he moved it smartly off the seam and with the evergreen (or should that be evergreyer) skipper and keeper Bob Fisher standing up to everything scoring was very difficult. When Price did drop one short Sanchez attempted to release the shackles but only guided an easy catch to point and at 8 for 1 in the 12 th over, the captain joined Walder to try and move things along. With the openers showing no sign of tiring, patience was called for and as the run rate doubled (from 0.66 to 1.32!) Walder and Rand settled in for the long haul However Walder was smartly caught behind to one that bounced and Rand played all over and round a slower one from Price. At the other end the indomitable Mark Smith was pouncing on anything hittable and together with Tom Huntington added 46 for the 4^th wicket before Tom was bowled by the first change bowler Nandabattlu, the first of 4 wickets for him, 3 bowled which was a testament to his you miss, I hit style of bowling. With a useful batting line up, T’s were well placed to accelerate the scoring rate as the Ealing side began to feel the heat but Smith fell shortly after reaching 50 and though debutant Jason Combrinck, of that ilk, blazed away for a sharp 19 (6 scoring strokes - there’s obviously some genetic link so how come they all look different?) the early season rustiness showed as wickets fell and at 130 for 9 it was not looking good, not least from the bonus points perspective. However the grizzled veteran Bill Wright and the purely grizzled Richie Payne made what had gone before look very mysterious as with some ease they secured the next 2 batting points and saw out the overs, posting a potentially defendable 163.

 

As the tea was displayed for the delectation of the assembled athletes it became apparent that Mr and the future Mrs Hough have a future in catering once academia fails to hold its glamorous appeal. The chicken tikka sandwiches were a particular favourite of this fatboy along with the sausage rolls while the athletes had bananas and the youngsters a plethora of sweet treats. A very solid B+ in this correspondent’s opinion and the rumours of Sushi are eagerly anticipated.

 

After being subjected to an oration almost Churchillian in its inspiration Richie Payne opened the bowling as the T’s looked to make early inroads. It looked like it could be back to the Green early to watch the 2’s as a mixture of arthritic wicketkeeping and the Ealing openers’ intent saw the score at 22 for 0 after 2 overs. Dilleigh had signalled his intentions with a 6 back over the bowler’s head in the first over and in a bold move skipper Rand posted a long on when he was next on strike. This seemed to play on the batsman’s mind as a late decision to leave one alone saw him glove it to the keeper and in keeping with the excellent spirit in which the game was played he smartly walked. As the bowler’s lines and lengths returned after the winter, more dots appeared in the scorebook and the innings subsided to 29-3 as Phil Walker took a stunning catch at short mid-wicket and then one equally as good at short extra cover. When Chatterton came in at 5 the T’s sensed an upset and a general tightening of the collective Ealing sphincter. As he chased a wide first ball from Huntington he appeared to get a faint top edge which the diving Rand failed to hold one handed. As his innings progressed this did not seem to be an expensive miss because the youngster looked to be on his way back to the hut at any time and the introduction of the wily slow bowler Wright did nothing to improve his standing. However at the other end Tasseim looked very solid, using his feet well and hitting the ball hard, so much so that when he did hit one in the air to Phil Walker, even those bucket hands could not hold on, an event that summed up the T’s lack of a break as the partnership progressed. Payne, having bowled beautifully, was replaced by Smith who soon found a good rhythm and with game poised as it went into the last 20 overs he forced Tasseim onto the backfoot with one that jagged back and hit him on the knee roll, for all the world looking like it was hitting the top of middle and leg. At  118-4 T’s would have been favourite but as the umpire’s finger stayed resolutely in his pocket, for the first time in the day shoulders sagged and the batsmen sensed that it was to be their day beginning to find the boundary with more regularity. JP Bowman replaced the luckless Wright and Chatterton’s good fortune continued as several times he avoided the ball with the edge of his bat.

 

The partnership remained unbroken as the T’s score was surpassed and the news from the Ealing skipper that he had never seen his next 3 players bat, and they were followed by the 3 veterans, left the Twickenham team reflecting on what could have been as they went about the domestic chores that accompany a day’s cricket at Broom Road.

 

All in all a solid performance that promises much for the season ahead. Everyone showed an excellent attitude and the spirit was first class. Hopefully everyone has shaken off their close season cobwebs and we will see improvements next week at Old Actonians. A special mention for Richie Payne who has too long been away from Saturday Cricket  (and will be batting a lot higher up the order!) and Phil Walker who despite not having played for 18 months contributed massively in the field and with his positive, never say die attitude but all 11 who took the field can hold their head up and feel positive that victory is just around the corner.

 

Wilf