Fairey leads by example
When the Captain (Mike Fairey) arrived at 2.15 for a 2.30 start to be greeted only by the groundsman and his dog and with no prior knowledge who had been selected for this contest amongst ‘Gentlemen’ further concern set in when the first 4 WN arrivals had a combined age of over 200.
Having lost the toss and seeing the strength of the WN bowling attack the opposition elected bat on what looked a hard and fast pitch. WN fielding only 10 players the captain need not have worried. A tidy spell of bowling from Thompson R, Courtauld, Harrison, Waters Jnr(alias Baldrick) and Waters Snr and a bamboozling spell from Alex Thompson backed up by Sam ‘heckling’Coates behind the stumps restricted the opposition to 172 off 30 over’s after a rain affected innings and an early tea taken.
Notable events were a sharp run out from Baldrick at cover, a ‘shane warne’ moment from Alex Thompson to bowl the opposition’s best batsman through the gate and without fail the highlight being Sue Waters fantastic tea, despite causing the Captain some difficulty in getting his players away from the cakes and back on the field. Waters Snr needing an extra over to digest his scones before returning to field.
Now with a wet and sticky wicket and a target of 173 off 30 over’s victory for WN was far from guaranteed. The captain required a positive start and sent in Scholey and Harrison and with a fine cover drive for four from Scholey to start the reply the captain relaxed and headed towards the remaining cakes, fatal ! Scholey was bowled the next ball and at 4 – 1 trouble loomed. Harrison and Fairey settled things down with a partnership of 80 before Harrison fell for 36 followed quickly by Baldrick for 1 and with WN 81-3 at the 15 over mark and with plenty still to do ‘come the hour come the man’ and once again a solid partnership from Thompson and Fairey took WN to the brink of victory. Fairey fell for 78 leaving the seasoned ‘pro’ Hammond (not out 5) to help the ‘finisher’ Thompson R (not out again 33) to see WN over the line with 3 balls to spare.
A game played in a true ‘Gents’ spirit in the lovely setting of Hillington CC and a close contest amongst equals made for a very enjoyable afternoons cricket.
