Waverley leave Vagabonds drifting

Good all-round display as visitors ease to comfortable victory...

On a marvelous day for cricket, Waverley's wanderers were greeted by a series of differently dressed scarecrows as they drove through the village of Bentworth (including one dressed as a cricket player, which sadly could not be persuaded to take Raoul's place in the team). The Waverley XI was therefore made up of Stuart Webb ('Rafa'), Johnny Mathis ('the Crooner'), Russ Golding ('Raoul'), Dan Nicholls ('the handy batsman'), Simon Brewer ('KV'), Bob Moxham ('Sponge Bob'), David Stockwell ('Stockrates'), Jamie Harris ('DJ Teabag'), Simon Knox ('Chewy'), Peter Brewer ('Mr B') and Adam Carmichael ('AC').

The hottest cricketing day of the season so far meant that it was inevitable that Waverley would field first, with grumpy openers Chewy and Teabag getting things underway. After an initial burst of runs it was Teabag who struck first, the Vagabonds opener playing onto his own stumps. Chewy then castled the other opener and the runs dried up. The visitors then stamped their authority on the game when Chewy picked up his second wicket and Mr B, on for Teabag, struck in his first over with a good catch from Rafa at mid-on. When Mr B trapped his second victim LBW the home side were on the ropes. AC had been introduced to the fray by this point and picked up a wicket with his first delivery, which proved to be a sign of things to come. AC cleaned up the remaining four Vagabonds wickets, even finding time to jug-evade a hat-trick on his way to a five wicket haul. Ably supported by a good fielding display (the handy batsman and Stockrates proving to be particularly athletic), the home side were bowled out in double-quick time for 127. Waverley therefore turned around and went out to bat for 35 minutes before tea.

Despite chasing a fairly modest total, Waverley endeavoured to keep things interesting by losing two wickets before the interval. The Crooner was castled for two and a few balls later Raoul was similarly dismissed without scoring. Rafa and the handy batsman, making his first Waverley appearance, successfully negotiated the remaining overs to tea (during which Stockrates was heard to make a Eurovision-related comment, but more on that later). After tea Rafa and the handy batsman really started to push the scoring along, the handy batsman in particular playing an array of powerful strokes before eventually being bowled for a well-made 39. During this time one of the home side's fielders picked up an injury and Vagabonds were kindly loaned Teabag as a stand-in fielder. It was DJ "Judas Iscariot" Teabag who pouched a sharp, low chance to dismiss KV for only six runs. However, the finishing post was in sight by this stage and it was only a question of whether Rafa, ably supported by Sponge Bob, would manage to get his fifty before the winning runs were scored. As it so happened, it boiled down to Waverley needing one run to win with Rafa needing one run for his fifty, which he duly delivered to not only carry his bat but ensure another Waverley win was achieved.

The Man of the Match hat found its way to AC for his five wickets (the fact that he was quicker off the mark than Rafa to buy at jug also helped), while Stockrates was awarded the Supporters' Egyptian Hieroglyph Pink T-Shirt award for expressing at tea his excitement about watching the Eurovision song contest on catch-up. The Pink T-Shirt was, inevitably, awarded to Teabag for catching his own skipper while fielding for the opposition. Time for Comments from the Clio and the journey to and from Bentworth ranks as one of the great car journeys, with panelists AC, Stockrates and Teabag being treated to Stocky's iPod roulette on the way there, followed by a Teabag party mix on the way back (not to be confused with a Twinings Christmas hamper of the same name). Today's comment is courtesy of Stockrates: after passing a group of cyclists involved in a race, Teabag asked Stocky whether he'd ever consider wearing lycra. "I don't think I have the package for it", replied Stocky. That's what SHE said...