Waverley mince to victory

Back to winning ways after hiccup at Lynchmere...

Having being humbled at Lynchmere the previous day, the Waverley juggernaut was looking to get back to winning ways in a 40 over match against Hambledon, a new fixture for the season. Stuart Webb ('Rafa'), James Wright ('Jim Jam'), Andy Minshaw ('the Mincer'), Russ Golding ('Raoul'), Simon Brewer ('KV'), Jamie Harris ('DJ Teabag'), Simon Knox ('Chewy'), Sam Vass ('Chaminda'), Adam Hart ('the Kiwi'), Peter Brewer ('Mr B') and Adam Carmichael ('AC') were those hoping to get things back on track.

KV won the toss and decided to bat first on a pitch where a scoring shot would either bring you one or four (the boundaries were that short). Rafa opened up with Jim Jam and steered his first delivery through gully for four. The third delivery bounced viciously and looped to the man at gully. Jim Jam and the Mincer gave Waverley acceleration at the start of the innings, both striking the ball with intent. Jim Jam then pull one to mid-wicket, but was dropped. However, the Mincer called him through for a single and Jim Jam was run out at the bowler's end. This brought Raoul to the crease, but he didn't hang around for too long before slapping the ball back down the bowler's throat. Waverley didn't lose momentum as the Mincer and KV kept up a steady flow of boundaries, with the former soon passing fifty. Bowlers came and went but didn't look like troubling either batsman, until KV attempted one lofted shot too many. Teabag also got in amongst the runs, ably assisting the Mincer who soon notched up his and Waverley's first ton of the season. He went on to make 111 before chopping on, ending an impressive innings. Teabag and Chewy kept the board ticking over and despite Teabag being stumped after dancing down the track, Waverley were able to post a very competitive 262 after their forty overs.

After the break, grumpy quick DJ Teabag got Waverley off to the perfect start with three wickets, two clean bowled and a sharp return catch. He was ably supported by Mr B from the other end, who picked up a deserved wicket when some good glove work from the Mincer resulted in a stumping (and belive me, those gloves need to be seen to be believed). With Teabag bowled out and not many runs on the board, KV obviously wanted to make a game of it. He therefore tossed the ball to AC, who sportingly provided their young number three with forty three runs in three overs (twenty two of those coming in the first over of his spell). He was withdrawn from the attack in favour of Chewy, who worked well in tandem with Chaminda at the other end. The Knox bagged three wickets in a spell that ended the home side's chances of winning the game. Chaminda chipped in with a wicket, a catch at slip by AC to somewhat redeem his efforts with the ball. AC was subsequently brought on for a second spell and was far more economical, two stumpings from the Mincer giving his figures an air of respectability and preventing Raoul from getting his first wicket for the Club. Waverley ran out winners by 105 runs.

The Man of the Match was a no brainer, a ton and three stumpings seeing it deservedly end up with the Mincer (although special mention should go to the Kiwi for some excellent work in the field). The Supporters Egyptian Heiroglyph Pink T-shirt award went to Raoul for his demonstration of the fetal position during the tea interval. Lastly, the Pink T-shirt was awarded to AC for throwing himself to the floor while umpiring to avoid being decapitated by Teabag. And at long last, we see the return of Comments from the Clio. AC and Teabag discussed a range of topics, including Teabag's relief that AC got some wickets so he wouldn't have to talk him down from a tall building on the way home. However, during the post-match analysis AC observed that Rafa had been unlucky not to have contributed much to the proceedings. "He umpired well enough", observed Teabag... swings and roundabouts I suppose...