The following occured on Wednesday evening in an Indoor league division 3 match.
Last over, 6 runs needed. One wicket left.
Nerves, excitement and the constant hoover like hum of a broken air conditioner unit filled the hall. First ball – 3 runs scored. Second ball – 1 run. Now only two needed off 4 balls. Surely game over. Three inspired dots followed by the bowler. The pendulum had well and truly swung back in favour of the fielding team.
Pressure was now at unparalleled heights. Last ball. Two to win. The Batsmen came together to have a brief chat. Run no matter what. A good strategy for such a desperate time.
The bowler ran up and jumps.
Ball thrusted towards the stumps…..
Bat on ball… A mighty Thwak for all…
RUN!!! was the call, and the ball…..
went straight towards a fielder….
BOWLERS END!!!
A universal cry went up high,
Chorused by team mates nearby,
Telling, which way, to the fielder….
A calm and composed flick,
and towards the stumps the ball did….
Victory incoming to the ball releaser.
Batsman in no man’s land,
well short of making his ground…
Surely a dramatic win, with just a bit of luck,
As the ball stayed true, the stumps it struck……
And the bails did not come off!
And the bails did not come off!
The Batsmen ran through completing the run and thus the game was won.
Bayshill CC……. Watched in disbelief from the balcony as they were on next vs St Phillips North.
Yes hello dear readers, and I use the plural in hope. For it is I, Hugh Jardon. Back from wherever the hell I’ve been. Mustard has held the pen of power for far too long, but now it’s time for Jardon and his jargon to make a splash all over Mustards beloved blog.
“Duty calls” Mustard announced as he left his cave on a chilly Saturday morning. Lake District his destination. His Parole officer awaiting his arrival.
3 hours later, after deciding if he was going to wear trousers (he did) mustard got into his 1970 AMC Gremlin and made the 3 hour trip up the m5 and 6 towards Conniston. Where he shall remain until his Abbott ale and Mustard with beetroot sandwiches supply runs dry. About a week.
Back to the second game on Wednesday night.
The mighty bays. 2 wins out of 2. Just witnessed long standing indoor rivals Cranham (also 2 wins out of 2) lose their third. A chance, for Bayshill to show their quality and claim first place outright.
A toss well won. And bays elect to field. Tight lines and pressure applied from the openers, got Bays off to a strong start. After the first 4 overs Phillips North were restricted to 18 runs. Bays taking their first wicket in the process. A tidy run out by Tom Liley, scooping up the ball one handed and tossing it to keeper of the evening Fran- Francesca- Stirrup who whipped the bails off.
Indoor debutant Angus The Gun Gus Guthrie took over with the ball. His extra yards of pace proved immediately effective. Taking a wicket in his first over. A heavy ball, finding a thick outside edge. The ball diverts strongly, hitting the back wall before rebounding to Indoor Skipper Crazy Horse Horner who takes a catch of the season contender, grasping the ball very low down. His efforts highly appreciated by all and a Phillips North batter declaring it to be one of the finest catches he’s seen.
Two balls later, AVD gets in on the action. Using his indoor experience, cleanly picking up the bouncing ball off the wall. With Phillips North trying to sneak a run he threw the ball with such poise and balance (and in extreme slow motion) to keeper Stirrup for the same result in the previous over. 25 for 3 off off 5 overs.
The 4th wicket fell 3 overs later. Adi Rai providing bays with more jubilance with a tidy bit of fielding. Bays’s third run out of the night. Score 44-4 off 8.
The last two PN batters proved resilient. With aggressive batting that got rewarded. A flurry of blows and a few boundaries later they found themselves 68-4 off 11.
The final over went for 7 runs including a caught, juggled, caught, juggled and finally – caught and bowled from Tom stopping North’s Ryan Bignal’s important 23 runs. Harry Curr at the other end ended the innings not out on 18. Total score of 77.
Teams swapped sides and pleasantries were exchanged. Your bayshill chosen representative padded up. Task in hand, knowing what needed to be done to get their 3rd successive victory.
And….. well to put it politely, we properly f#@!&d it up.
The dangerous Adi Rai, unfortunately got caught first over for 1 going for a mighty blow off a laboured full toss delivery.
Fran and Crazy rebuilt very impressively. Taking the score from 8 for 1 to 44 for 2 off five overs.
Chris nearing his 3rd retiring score of 25 in as many innings, asked the balcony how many he needed. 5 was the response. Unfortunately Chris could only manage one more. Chipping a ball to legside. Off the wall it bounced and just fell short of the mid on fielder. However, Crazy was halfway up the pitch before having to be sent back. The ball surpassed our skipper and we were two down needing 30 more runs.
Tom Liley came in at 4. Fran now on strike, taking charge of proceedings. A good delivery from the bowler and a good long think from the umpire, and the finger of doom t’was raised. Fran trapped in front LBW having to leave the field of play for 19.
Angus next up, eager and confident much like his bowling. The Bays still calm as there was one plenty of time still to get the runs. A couple of sighters he took before (and much like Adi’s dismissal) striking the ball with force. Unfortunately finding a fielder.
AVD at 6, started out pragmatically hitting his first two balls for singles to keep the score board ticking. It should be noted, the aggressive and unorthodox fielding positions by St Phillips North was an inspired gamble, as it effectively piled on pressure to the latter end of Bayshill’s batting order. A full and straight delivery by Sprigmore trapped AVD in front, and P North celebrated their second wicket of the over. Tom left last man standing 61-5. 18 runs needed off as many balls.
A similar situation like their last game where hitting the walls would be enough. An over of doing so (and in hindsight, rueing the decision not to run some orthodox 3s) along with a few wides ten was now needed off 12 balls.
Game in the balance Bignal who’s innings with the bat proved to be so valuable, matched his efforts with the ball. Producing a wicket the very next ball claiming the victory – bowling Tom for 11.
A missed opportunity indeed for The Bays.
The Rotunda proved safer grounds for the bays after their retreat. Doombars, Mahous and Camden Hells were tasked successfully to raise morale.
For that is what the Bayshill do. Win or lose we booze.
No game next week. But the week after Bayshill will be looking to get back to winning ways vs the Civil Servants……. and this time, it’s personal.
This has been Hugh Jardon signing off.
www.banmustardfromwriting.org/freethejardon