The Art of Draw

Honours even at Bentworth...

A balmy Spring day greeted Waverley's warriors for their encounter with Vagabonds of Bentworth (the home of 2012 Olympic gold medallist Peter Charles). Armed with that fascinating fact were Stuart Webb ("Rafa"), James Wright ("Jim Jam"), Russ Golding ("Raoul"), Marcus Carmichael ("MC"), Adrian Day ("Mog"), David Stockwell ("Stockrates"), Sam Tempest ("Troy"), Adam Carmichael ("AC"), Matt Du Gay ("Doogs"), Peter Brewer ("Mr B") and Will Knox ("Will, son of Knox").

Fielding first (as is traditional on anything approaching a warm day), Waverley's attack was led by grumpy quick Doogs and speed-merchant AC. Both bowled tidy lines: Doogs with pace and aggression, AC with flight and guile. As a result, both were rewarded with marathon spells as the run rate remained economical despite the lack of wickets. Doogs eventually got the breakthrough with a lobbed catch to Jim Jam in the covers, with AC picking up a caught and bowled off the last delivery of his spell. The going then got a lot tougher for the visiting side as the Vagabonds skipper came to the crease. The short boundary was targeted and Will, son of Knox was the unfortunate bowler in the firing line (although it could have easily been any of the Waverley bowlers). Skipper Mog introduced himself into the attack and he was also not spared by the big-hitting number three, who raced past the 50 mark. From the other end, Mr B wheeled away with more success and picked up a wicket for himself. With the declaration approaching, the Vagabonds captain brought up his century with a brilliantly-executed reverse sweep. Mr B then claimed two wickets in two deliveries and Vagabonds sportingly held off the declaration to give Mr B a chance to complete his hat-trick. Although the ball was aerial, it didn't go to hand and the home side declared 203-5 at tea.

Rafa and Jim Jam commenced the Waverley response after an excellent tea (courtesy of the Sun Inn) and both batsmen got off the good starts, with a mix of boundaries and good running between the wickets. Rafa was then trapped LBW and Raoul followed him three balls later without troubling the scorers. However, all the time Jim Jam was at the crease the target looked to be in reach and Jim was certainly not wasting any time as he glided past his half century. But in chasing one down the leg side he gloved it to the keeper and when MC was castled shortly thereafter, Waverley were wobbling. Stockrates and Troy also trooped back to the pavilion in fairly quick time and when AC feathered one behind to the keeper (for the third duck of the Waverley innings), it was all about securing the draw with nine overs to go. Mog also found himself back in the hutch, by Doogs and Mr B never looked like giving the home side a sniff. In fact, some aggressive batting from both added some useful runs to the board and gave the visitors a respectable total, also securing the draw.

The Man of the Match Hat went to Jim Jam for his knock, with Raoul winning the *Anchor Hat for an unprovoked assault on Rafa during the tea interval. The Supporter's Egyptian Hieroglyph Pink T-Shirt was awarded to one of the Vagabonds fielders, whose attempt to vault the fence surrounding the pitch caused said fence to collapse and left him sprawled on the floor (to the amusement of all). The Pink T-Shirt wasn't going to be awarded until Stockrates unwisely admitted that he plucked his eyebrows...