Match Reports 2013

Not With a Bang…

L ast league game of the season and an oppressive end-of-term atmosphere was all around as we rolled up, in what appeared to be quite close to the middle-of-nowhere, to take on Burbage E&R on their patch.  A pleasant ground to the eye turned out to comprise a wicket of “uneven” bounce and an apparently benign outfield, which disguised some lethal man-traps (one of which nearly terminated the Vice-Captain, whose non-reaction time prevented him from getting a well-hit off drive directly between the eyes as it hit a bump in the grass and just about parted what’s left of his hair).

Not for the first time this year, the Skipper called wrong and we were invited to field.  After our first official huddle to commemorate and reflect on the absence of our No. 1 supporter, Bob Wills, the MCC opening attack of James Ford and Chopper Christie bowled with commendable control to remove the first 4 Burbage batsmen rather inexpensively.  While Fordy bowled his overs in one long spell up to drinks and recorded the miserly figures of 12-3-18-2, solid (but largely unrewarded) support was provided by the Minor and Major Chivers once Chopper went off for a rest in the long grass.

Particularly noteworthy, during this period, was the wicket of the Burbage number 2: caught by Dixon at first slip!  To be honest, Colin Cowdrey could not have made this sharp chance look more simple, although his reaction to hanging on to such a catch would have been more muted than that of Dicko, I suspect.

The cold beverage break, however, induced an odd energy transfer from Marshfield to the opposition batters.  Quite quickly, our sharpness in the field was lost, catches went down (mea culpa included), and the end of their innings could not come quick enough for the tired MCC eleven. Burbage numbers 5 through 9 all made respectable contributions and ran well between the wickets (only one mistake there, in fact, which saw Dicko – that man again – running out the unfortunate victim with a direct hit from a distance of about 11.5 inches), such that we faced a target of 184 by the time that we took the 10th wicket with just one ball of the 45 overs remaining.  Chopper and Dicko finished with 3 wickets apiece but, atypically, at a less than frugal cost run-wise.

Replete with a decent tea, we set off in pursuit of what should have been a gettable score.  But, what am I saying?  This is an article about the MCC 3rd XI, after all.  In shortish order, we had descended to 41-5 and only the backbone shown by Willsy, Ed Brown, Charlie Chivers and, especially, Fordy (23*), saw us to the ‘respectability’ of 120 all out with 10 overs still available.  Still, the wagging low order did ensure that we attained the 7 points necessary to ensure us 6th place in the division, a small consolation for a less-then-inspiring conclusion to the season.

MoM clearly goes to James Ford for his excellent all-round performance.  Champagne moments have to be Dicko’s catch and run out, a ‘double’ the like of which we will almost certainly never see again! 

An agreeable beer was enjoyed en route back to Broadleys for the end-of-season banter and further boozing.  Last year, we finished 6th in the league as well and were relegated (I blame the then skipper) – what will happen this time, I wonder?

Richard Guy