Marshfield “3rd XI” win another one!

For the second time in three Saturdays, MCC celebrated cheap(er) beer back at Broadleys as all three sides recorded victories… it’s been a while since that has happened, I’ll wager.  The key to success, of course, lies in player availability and, while the 1^st XI has enjoyed consistency in its ranks, the 2^nd and 3^rd XIs have suffered wider variability in composition than usual, an observation clearly reflected in our current league positions.

This past weekend, however, the pendulum was on the ‘abundance-of-riches’ side of the spectrum such that we really fielded 2.5 2^nd XIs plus 0.5-worth of usual 3^rd XI suspects.  Even more remarkable, there were available stalwarts who were regrettably left without a game…

At Tormarton, the 3^rd’s took on Warminster with a side of evident talent that included Perry, Pollitt, Iles, Elliott and Chivers, names not typically associated with Creedo’s band of merry men and (now frequently) women.  The opposition skipper, having seen that Tom Lamb was not in our side, figured he would have a bowl and get in the bar as soon as possible.  However, while one of the Marshfield openers was a known and unthreatening quantity, Warminster were not prepared to parry the plundering pair of Perry and Pollitt.

The first 9 overs saw 50 on the board, of which Glenn had contributed 38 before he inexplicably decided to get stumped off the first ball bowled by Warminster’s captain.  This brought Princess Pollitt to the wicket for his last appearance of the season in a MCC cap (shame!) and he did not disappoint. Indeed, 34.5 overs later, with Marshfield on 236-1, young George walked off with bat raised having clobbered 106* off 100 balls exactly.  The other contributor to the unbroken partnership of 183 was considerably worse for wear, having contributed fewer runs in significantly more balls (some things never change).

George’s effort was excellent and included some incredibly straight hitting down the ground.  His innings was otherwise carefully constructed on a pitch that is never completely batsman-friendly and with a couple of bowlers who knew what they were doing (Puskar being the miserly stand-out, bowling his 9 overs for only 18 runs).  Running between the wickets failed to produce a classic pantomime moment between George and your correspondent but it did at least hold the spectators’ attention at times.  By the end, maximum batting points had been acquired and Warminster had been denied a single bowling point, another milestone that has probably never been achieved by Marshfield’s 3^rd XI.

Following an excellent tea, including another Jane Christie cake of diabolical dimensions, we took the field inspired by our leader’s rallying cry of ‘don’t let’s screw this up’.  Opening the bowling were Charlie Chiv from the pavilion end and Ilo from the other.  Both were straight and sharper than anyone we’ve seen in Div.7 this season.  No surprise then when the opposition number 2 tried to break the shackles only to be caught smartly at mid-off by Will Christie off Ilo.  Cue raucous cheering from the assembled Christie clan on the boundary.

After a period of consolidation, but few runs, Rob tuned in his radar properly and clean bowled Warminster’s numbers 3 and 4, reducing them to 27-3.  Charlie took a well-earned break having finished an excellent, but unrewarded, spell of 6 overs for 9 runs.  Ellsy took over and had a wicket off his first ball; soon after, Ilo grabbed his fourth scalp and finished his 9 with a superb 4-28 and almost no chuntering.

In the meantime, Ellsy was on a roll, bowling like the demon he always dreamt he would be.  At regular intervals, he removed a succession of Warminster hopefuls.  An opportunity for a hat-trick was refused but that didn’t stop him from recording what I understand is his best MCC analysis to-date: 7.1-4-13-6, figures that saw him end up second on the WCCL weekly bowling honours board.  A terrific effort!

Spare a thought for the Preston trundler who bowled 23 dot balls in his 4 overs, the other one going for 6 over the outstretched arms of Glenn Perry.  Commiserations too to Will, GTan and the skipper, who were denied the chance to bat or bowl.  Still, no matter, there’s always next week!  A great outcome then, with maximum points (26) achieved to lift us off the bottom of the table.  MoM has to be shared between George and Ellsy, with a special mention to Ilo.  Next week, we take on the league leaders at Christian Malford, and a repeat performance would be handy….

 Professor Richard Guy