Bowlers rule the roost

But Abinger cling on to secure the draw...

Another Saturday at Abinger predicted (as usual) to be wetter than an otter's pocket started with the rain only noticeable by its absence. On display for the visitors were Adrian Day ("Mog"), Simon Knox ("Chewy"), Sam Vass ("Peppa"), Simon Brewer ("KV"), Jamie Harris ("DJ Teabag"), Warren Vass ("Wozza"), Sam Tempest ("Troy"), Peter Brewer ("Mr B"), Adam Carmichael ("AC"), David Stockwell ("Stockrates") and Will Knox ("Will, son of Knox").

Having won the toss, Mog elected to bat first and both he and Chewy made steady progress in the early stages. Mog in particular was finding the boundary consistently and had soon raced into the forties. Sensing a 50, the skipper was then out stumped having danced down the track to a flighted delivery. During this time there had also been a fairly heavy rain shower, which transformed the pitch into a slow bowler's paradise. Chewy and Peppa kept the scoreboard ticking over, mainly by exploiting the gaps in the field and rotating the strike with singles. However, the loss of Chewy (trapped LBW) sparked a batting collapse. First, KV holed out in the covers without troubling the scorers. He was followed shortly thereafter by Peppa, Teabag and Troy. Wozza produced a handy cameo by contributing 20 runs to the score but the home side were finding it difficult to score runs thanks to a combination of slow bowling and good fielding from the home side. By the time Mr B, Stockrates and Will, son of Knox had also been dismissed, Waverley had posted a fairly modest 154. Special mention should go to Abinger's D Burge, who claimed six wickets.

After tea, Mog decided to mimic the home side's tactic of taking the pace off the ball. Grumpy quick Adam "leg theory" Carmichael and Stockrates were given the task and it was Stockrates who got the early breakthrough with the worst delivery ever bowled in the history of the game, the luckless batsman chipping the ball to Teabag at mid-wicket just after the second bounce. However, Stockrates soon settled into a nagging line and length that made it difficult for Abinger to advance the scoring. AC's leg theory was also proving effective at eliminating the runs. A rare delivery outside the off stump brought him his first wicket after a thin edge behind was pouched by KV. AC then bagged a second wicket courtesy of a very good catch from Stockrates over his head at square leg. Abinger then had to contend with Troy (on for Stockrates), whose excellent début season for Waverley continued with more good bowling. Backed up by his fielders, he helped himself to four wickets as he castled one batsman and saw catches held by Teabag, Mog and Chewy. Mr B had replaced AC down the hill and he was also bowling a very tidy line. Already well into the 20 overs, the question was now not whether the home side would win, but whether they would be able to see off the Waverley attack to secure the draw. When Mr B was rewarded with a wicket, the match was finely poised with Waverley needing two wickets to win with two overs remaining. Despite fielders swarming the bat, Abinger's batsmen didn't crack under pressure and negotiated the final two overs without incident.

With Mog having inadvertently left the awards in his garage, there was not the usual presentation after the game. However, the Man of the Match Hat would have gone to Troy for his four wickets, while the *Anchor Hat would have made its way to KV (who put a couple of catches down behind the stumps). The Pink T-shirt would have been awarded to Wozza for sending his old man to fetch the ball whenever it went past him, as well as diving unnecessarily if the ball headed in his general direction. However and without any shadow of doubt, the main talking point after the game was Teabag's first foray into the showers at a Waverley match...