Another Big Defeat For 3rdXI at Lacock

Marshfield 3rd’s vs Lacock, Lacock, 6th July 2019

Lacock won by 10 wickets

After a long session in the field the previous week, and with Jim away, your correspondent was left in a quandary. With a weak-looking side, with more bowling than batting, and a track record of embarrassingly low scores when batting first (e.g. 24 all out at Warminster, 58 all out against Trowbridge) it seemed the natural choice would be to suck up the hot weather and opt to bowl. And yet. Lacock were not strong in the first match of the season, bowled out for under a hundred at Tormarton. If some runs could be posted, might scoreboard pressure come into play? Surely some of the capable cricketers on hand might just for once come off and finally get some runs? There was a lot of soul searching on the drive to Lacock, and even when walking out to toss. When the coin came down as ‘heads’, your correspondent found himself saying ‘we’ll bat’, almost without thinking.

And then came the problem of the batting line-up. Missing regular opener Guy, off losing yet another game with the 2nds, and with Jim absent, it was clear I would have to back up my decision to bat by fronting up. But who to take with me? Dicko has been incredulous for much of the season as at how high in the order yours truly has been, and he has in the past performed well with the bat (292 runs in 2013, averaging 20.86), so he was the obvious (ish) choice.

Astonishingly it worked, and an opening stand of 67 gave Marshfield their best start of the season, and yet, in reality, both openers should have been out in the first couple of overs. Dixon looped a dolly to gulley, who preceded to drop it like a wet fish, and then Woodman checked a drive, looping the ball gently to mid-off for an even worse drop. A day for both batsmen to recall when they next bemoan never getting any luck when batting… After the two lives, the partnership flourished, with plenty of bad balls to hit and a supplement of extras. Rose, the tall left-arm opener from Lacock suffered most, with some wayward bowling leading to him conceding 38 in his nine overs.

It all looked serene until it all fell apart. Your correspondent, talking an excellent game (‘patience’, ‘wait for the bad ball’, ‘let’s go big today’) slapped a wide one straight at cover and departed. Dixon now watched in dismay as a stream of partners came and went, Trotman (0), Duckett (1), and Bond (1) all barely troubling the scorer (although all that ‘fall of wicket’ nonsense in the book still has to happen, so I don’t really understand the expression). Evidently wanting to join the party, or perhaps just in shock at still being at the crease, Dixon now succumbed too and Marshfield had gone from 67 for 0, to 74 for 5 (truly a collapse worthy of the 3rds). This became 89-6 as Tanner, just having despatched a mighty 6, then missed a straight one. Enter Will ‘Mini-chops’ Christie. Fortified by eating a black pudding roll, and fresh from (miss-) selling shoes to the good folk of Bristol, he launched into a counter-attack, and with support from a cautious ex-ex-Skipper Pierce, advanced the total to 131. Just as the next batting point seemed to be on the cards, Will was removed, and now Sandra, Charles and Hannah really did fail to trouble the scorer, each out for a duck.

At the half-way point, with 138 runs on the board, there was a sense that if wickets could be taken early, then there was a chance of at least a good contest, if not the win. Starting up with the regular opening partnership of Dixon and Christie, it rapidly became apparent that it was not going to plan. Dixon proved his usual frugal self, Will Christie was punished on the odd bad ball, but with 10 gone and not a sniff of a chance, Sam Duckett was tried. His first three overs produced some extravagant movement and were the most threatening yet. At this point, a lesson for the future was learned. Like the British at Arnhem, four overs was an over too far, and in his fourth, he lost his shape and was plundered by the Lacock openers. Graham Tanner (suitably forwarned the previous evening, to give him time to warm up) came on and bowled a superb spell of tidy bowling, going for just 14 off his full allocation of 9 overs. With more runs to play with this could have been crucial, but Lacock were happy to wait for opportunities elsewhere and just see him off. With the target approaching Hannah Palmer was given her first bowl in senior men’s cricket, and performed with credit, not least with the rapidity at which she returned to the start of her run-up. Other bowlers could learn from this. Amelia Bond also came on, but sadly only managed two deliveries, the last a wide to concede the game (and deny Culling a 50).

Marshfield left Lacock with mixed feelings. Despite a weak batting side, runs had been put on the board, but clearly not enough. Lacock had enough time and the sense to wait for the bad ball, and take no risks. With 30 or 40 more runs, the scoreboard pressure may have helped, but the lack of a cutting edge, so apparent at Allington the week before, was evident again.

One last thing – after a swift pint in the pub at Lacock, the majority of the 11 retired to the Flemish Weaver in Corsham. Tremendously dark and atmospheric (i.e. too little lighting), some encouraging mottos on the bar ‘You can’t drink all day if you don’t start in the morning’, ‘Of course size matters, no one wants a small glass of wine’ and my favourite ‘alcohol may not solve your problems, but neither will water…’ Most interesting was the revelation from a certain G. Tanner that should the 3rd team need a skipper in future he would not be averse…

MoM to Graham for his excellent spell of bowling.

 "Tumble" Tim Wooman