ARCC 3rd XI 190/10 – Bletchley 2nd XI 115/10
Aston 3rd XI picked themselves up after a very disappointing first outing the week before to produce a near on perfect display of cricket. Once again at home on the new field of dreams, which included a new mobile tea bar for the scorers.
Jerry lost the toss again and we were asked to bat first. A new opening partnership of Gary Condon and James Reynoldson began proceedings and initial signs looked promising for the pair until Condon elected to play the wrong shot, he totally lost his body shape and was clean bowled in the 5th over. A shot that resembled the open country side and farm yard surroundings and he became the 1st batsman out playing agriculturally on the new ground. Dave Ridgley replaced the Chairman and both he and Reynoldson made batting look easy for a while until Ridgley fell with the scores on 45. Enter stage right and in at No 4 Rob Grosse. The 1st ARCC batsman to score a 50 and the 1st to hit a six on the new ground. Reynoldson was next to go and Tom Condon shortly followed. Was there a mid order collapse on the cards? The answer was no and Lee Anning in at No 6 put on a stand of 65 with Grosse. The pair took the attack to Bletchley and at one stage it looked like we were going to get 220 plus. Anning scored his 1st runs on the new ground and was the 1st player to play and have a wife expecting at any minute. Fortunately the new arrival held firm on a difficult shaven wicket and Anning was able to complete the game. With the score on 98 Anning hit the next delivery for 4 and became the 1st player to get the team a point on the new ground. Grosse (55) and Anning (28) fell pretty close to each other. If Anning had listened to the sub batting coach he would have certainly scored more. The team regrouped and the scoring rate slowed a little. Sam Shepherd got off the mark with a boundary 4 with his 1st ever runs on the new ground and kept the tail together as partners came and went around him. Pete Roberts fell to the 1st ever mad shot on the new ground (no surprises there aye mad dog?) and Joe Smith, Guy Redguard-Siler & Jerry all made contributions and we finished on 190 with Shepherd being the last man out to one of his own wicket taking full toss deliveries. The boy should really no better. From a batting perspective we should really have made more and fell about 20/30 runs short of a perfect innings. Although batsman applied themselves better than the week before they got out at the wrong times and umpire Simon Tremlin’s hands were too cold to leave his pockets and the opposition got away with bowling wide of leg stump. Tremlin claimed a 1st on the new ground and he became the 1st person to use the new urinals as the drinks break was taken.
Tea was a much better place to be this week. Confidence was high and the expectation of winning was spread amongst the team. A few cream cheese and cucumber sandwiches were consumed and Jerry’s army were back out in the middle. Guy Redguard-Siler took the 1st ball and Grosse took the 2nd over. Bletchley’s stone wall approach was greeted with banter from all angles as GRS & Grosse piled on the pressure. GRS got the long awaited break through and was the 1st bowler to take a wicket on the new ground. His left arm was too fast and he clean bowled his victim with the scores on 28. What followed was an excellent breathtaking individual piece of bowling from GRS. With the score on 34 GRS (4/16) clean bowled No 3, 4 & 5 to complete the 1st ever hat-trick on the new ground. His over set the scene and raised the intensity of the whole team, and wickets began to tumble at regular intervals as the bowlers all took control. Jerry, Grosse, Shepherd and Roberts all took their 1st wickets on the new ground and Reynoldson became the 1st ever player to take a catch on the new ground. Not much to chose between GRS and Grosse for the man of the match award but it was fitting that after scoring the 1st ever 50 it was that Grosse took the last wicket to complete the 1st ever victory for ARCC on the new ground.
Jerry was a happy Captain and paid tribute to all the players in his post match speech for the way individuals applied themselves which contributed to a near on perfect team performance. Not the finished article, room for improvement, but a great reaction and progress from the week before.
A point to note:
Guy Redguard-Siler has issued a warning to all players. Please do not look for match balls in the long grass without the help and assistance of a mine detector. He was heard saying. “With my experience, one can never be too careful” when he was tip toeing around in the hunt for a loose ball on Saturday.