A game best forgotten

Waverley wilt in face of Mincer's gash...

Waverley looked to bounce back from Saturday's defeat when they travelled to West Sussex to play the first of the season's two game at Rudgwick. Andy Minshaw ('the Mincer'), Stuart Webb ('Rafa'), Ian Verrinder ('IV'), Sam Vass ('Sausage'), Simon Brewer ('KV'), Marcus Carmichael ('MC'), Peter Brewer ('Mr B'), Bob Moxham ('the Sponge'), Jamie Harris ('DJ Teabag'), Simon Knox ('Chewy') and Adam Carmichael ('AC') lined up for the visitors.

The game was only three overs old when things started to go wrong from Waverley's point of view. The Mincer tried to hook a head-high beamer, missed and had to leave the field with a nasty gash above his eye. He left the ground in the back of an ambulance and is hopefully on his way to a recovery (although the Pink T-Shirt received its first nominee of the day). The visitors never recovered from this early blow was wickets fell at regular intervals. Only IV, Chewy and extras made a meaningful contribution to the total as Waverley limped to 149-8 at tea, with a lot of frustrated batsmen not quite believing how they'd ended up back in the hutch.

With the Mincer making a nuisance of himself in A&E, Waverley faced the prospect of having to defend a modest total with only ten players. Enter Johnny Mathis ('the Crooner'), a hastily arranged twelfth man who donned the gloves as Teabag and Chewy opened the bowling attack. While Chewy toiled up the hill for no reward, Teabag struck twice early on to give the home side pause for thought (the second wicket a good catch low down by the skipper). KV and Mr B were then introduced into the attack and when each helped themselves to two wickets, Waverley suddenly found themselves in with a shout of a result. However, Rudgwick's big hitting fast bowler ended any chance of victory as they coasted home with about ten overs to spare.

The Man of the Match Hat was awarded to extras, who top scored in the Waverley innings with thirty five. Although AC almost walked off with the award, the Pink T-Shirt went to MC for taking evasive action when faced with a butterfly. The Supporters' Egyptian Heiroglyph Pink T-Shirt award found its way to Mr B, who mounted an unsuspecting Rudgwick batsman in the process of taking a caught and bowled. Time for Comments from the Clio and the usual hodge podge of topics were discussed, the highlight being the ultimate buffet menu devised on the way to the game: meat samosas, cheese and pineapple on sticks, chipolatas and party rings by the box-load. Quantities may vary depending on whether an invite to such a buffet found its way to Jim Jam...