Match Reports 2013

no ‘wayne’ in sight as 3rd xI makes it 3-in-a-row!*

{^*This pun is copyrighted to one T. Bishop.}

H aving recorded very solid home wins over Burbage E&R and Buscot Park, our next two games were also at the Withy, with first Devizes, and then Westbury, in the cross-hairs.  Buoyed by the taste of victory, the skipper and his trusty deputy were able to turn up at Monday night selection for both games with a surfeit of talent keen to strut their stuff in the WCCL Division 7.  However, despite the unusually clement weather, some of these stalwarts were washed away by unexpectedly torrential ‘wayne’ into the 2nd XI.  While others would buckle under such a downpour, the 3rd XI comprises sterner stuff and, on both days, 11 able-bodied men turned up, literally chomping at the bit.**

**Poetic license alert: firstly, describing any MCC 3rd XI as “able-bodied” contravenes the Trades Description Act, of course, and, second, the only ‘chomping’ observed at our games occurs (to astonishing extent) at tea time.

First up, Devizes, on a perfect summer’s day, with the Withy looking, well, as good as it gets!  Skipper under pressure to win toss and bat and, remarkably, he managed both, and then (even more incredibly), accompanied by a rampant RedRum (who went on to make an excellent 35 including a huge 6 over deep cow), 50 runs were posted without loss.  A bit of a stutter looked as if it had been rescued by some decent blows from Willsy and Dicko (off, it must be said, was some quintessential buffet bowling), but then the 3rd XI went into “batting collapse” mode and we were soon rather unfavourably positioned at 155-9.

Fortune favours the brave, though, and the arrival of our Mr. (always not out) Cricket, aka Professor (young) Mr. Threadgill, to join this week’s “blast-from-the-past”, Mark “Squeaky” Salen, resulted in the 3rd XI’s very own Ashton Agar moment.  Squeaky biffed his way to an outstanding half-century (completed off the last ball of the innings), while Prof. T made a highly respectable contribution to the 53-run unbroken, last wicket stand, including 3 boundaries smote with real ‘vim’, to say the least.  Target set for the oppo: a much more challenging 209…

And so to an excellent tea, delivered by the Chivers family, with a selection of cakes that my Vice-Captain will do well to surpass, if and when he dares to respond to this challenge to his prowess.  Despite the skipper’s best efforts, however, the allure of this patisserie de luxe proved too much for his teammates, and 6 overs into the Devizes response, the opposition had reached (and were cruising at) 50 for 1.

Only the old, and progressively exposed, head of a Pierce was considered capable of stemming this antediluvian ‘wayne’ on our parade, and so it proved.  Trouble was, while Piercy applied the vice, Dicko (from the top – where else?) was skinning the hutchlings.  The young Devizes players, and their usually redoubtable captain, committed hara-kiri, then Squeaky caught a screamer and, all of a sudden, the game was over: opposition skittled for 82, Dicko (gulp) 7-19, Piercy 3-23, and victory by 126 runs.

So, a bit of an up-and-down game, that eventually appeared as an easy win for us.  Cue celebrations and considerable debate about champagne moments and MoM.  In the end, it was difficult to deny the champers tribute to my loyal deputy, who played a full part in securing maximum batting points with (dare I say it?) some lusty hitting and some selfless running between the wickets that necessitated an ER crash cart being on stand-by and a real need for mouth-to-mouth resuscitation at tea (but no volunteers came forward…).  MoM clearly a toss-up between Squeaky and Piercy… er, I mean Dicko, I think.  Tough to argue that a 7-fer is not a shoo-in but, then again, a match-assuring 50 not out, in his first game of the season, deserves the accolade too.  You all know the result of the straw poll held in the bar after the game, but I invite your comments and opinions when this report is posted, so that an objective assessment can be made.

Richard Guy

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