Waverley slump to defeat

Batting collapse sees Waverley fall short...

Despite the bad weather earlier in the week, Waverley completed their Bank Holiday double header with a trip to Eversley. On display were Andy Minshaw ('the Mincer'), Johnny Mathis ('the Crooner'), James Wright ('Jim Jam'), Simon Brewer ('KV'), Warren Vass ('Wozza'), Sam Vass ('Sausage'), Russ Golding ('Raoul'), Jamie Harris ('DJ Teabag'), Bob Moxham ('the Sponge), Adam Carmichael ('AC') and Peter Brewer ('Mr B').

On a green and slightly damp pitch against an opposition of uncertain strength, the skipper decided to have a bowl first and tossed the new ball to Teabag and Jim Jam. Teabag was hampered by a hamstring injury but still bowled well and for no reward. Jim Jam's short pitch bowling provided a different sort of challenge for the batsmen and he picked up two wickets, the first a well taken catch from the Crooner and the second a rank bad ball that the unlucky batsman managed to lace straight down Sausage's throat at deep mid-wicket. Mr B was introduced for Teabag and quickly picked up a wicket, a plumb LBW. The Crooner was able to demonstrate his all round cricketing ability with a pacey spell of bowling, a thin edge to Mr B at first slip bringing a deserved wicket. However, the partnership for the fifth wicket frustrated the visitors and for the second match running, catches went down (albeit shared around, AC choosing not to hog that particular honour in this match). Two of those drops came off Raoul's bowling; however he kept plugging away and was rewarded with a notch in the wickets column. AC had a luckless day, the ball flying through gaps in the field or otherwise narrowly missing the stumps. The Sponge fared much better, bagging two wickets with catches again going to the Crooner and Sausage. At tea, the home side declared on 212-7.

After a most excellent spread, the Waverley response was spearheaded by the Mincer and the Crooner. Despite losing the Mincer early on, the Crooner showed he had soul with a couple of lusty blows to the boundary before he gloved one behind to the keeper. Waverley were wobbling when Jim Jam pulled a full toss to mid-wicket but skipper KV and Wozza (who had also been excellent in the field) put on 59 for the fourth wicket, the partnership finally broken when Wozza was castled. KV followed up his ton against Abinger by reaching his half century; however the game quickly went south from Waverley's perspective as first Sausage and then KV (68) were dispatched back to the pavilion. What followed was a total collapse as Waverley lost their remaining four wickets without troubling the scorers, left sixty eight runs short with ten overs to go.

The Man of the Match Hat was awarded to Wozza for both his fielding and batting performances. Keeping it in the family, Sausage was awarded the Pink T-Shirt for complaining that his hand hurt after taking his first catch. Time for a Highlight from the Honda, which goes down as joint quip from AC and Teabag as they observed both Jim Jam and Raoul being outwitted by a dog running around their parked car. "No wonder we couldn't catch anything in the field", remarked AC. "We can't even catch a dog", replied Teabag. You know you've been on the panel too long when you start finishing each other's sentences...