Concorde v Temple Sheen

Match Report

On what must have been the hottest day of the year so far, it was something of a relief to lose the toss and to be asked to bat although this is very much against our DNA. Whilst not entirely comfortable with the prospect of setting a target, we did appear, on paper at least, to have the basis of a competent batting side and on what looked a firm and reliable surface, 180 looked to be a total we could aim for.

For a while, this indeed looked the case as Paddy, oozing class, and Edgar, in his usual uncomplicated way, set off. It was a surprise when Ed fell with the score at about 20 but Paddy and Justin looked untroubled as they accelerated the scoring rate, Paddy driving elegantly down the ground and through midwicket and Justin being harsh on anything short so that 50 came and went without mishap and the score had reached 70 before Paddy was dismissed for a score in the mid twenties. Nick Freeman has been looking in good form recently but he went cheaply and when Justin followed him soon after for a belligerent 40, things looked rocky.

Chris Turvill looked as solid as ever and with our old friend Monty Lynch at the crease, there was no need for panic. However, Monty is not the lithe athlete he once was and having backed up excessively, he was unable to regain his ground and was run out. Chris and Jerry Wright steadied the ship temporarily but when Chris was adjudged LBW, a shiver ran down the collective Concorde spine as the shadow of recent batting collapses loomed and so it proved. The tail came and went in swift succession and the final total of 124 looked well short of being competitive.

Without any recognised opening bowlers, our attack was opened by Cudders and Chris Turvill. Chris bowled tightly and to everyone’s surprise, Ian took a wicket with his first ball, bowling the opener with the score at 4. He then followed this up with a wicket in his third over and another in his fourth to reduce the Temple Sheen innings to 25 – 3 and to bring hope to Concorde hearts. Jerry Wright replaced Chris Turvill and 2 catches went down in his first over including one off the awkward looking but firm striking no 3 which could have changed the game completely.

Ian retreated for a well earned rest with 498 career wickets to his name and was replaced by Edgar who dropped into a good line and length and was rewarded with an LBW decision which took what felt like fully two minutes to be given and then produced a pearler which pitched on middle and leg and hit the top of off stump. The odds now looked in favour of a Concorde win at 71 – 6 and when Ian returned to pick up two more wickets and, of course the all important 500th wicket, a Concorde celebration was being primed. However, the later Temple Sheen batsmen were older and more experienced and they dug in, moving the total forward inexorably towards its target.

A couple of moments of farce then arose as first, the batsman, having dropped the ball dead at his feet, then stepped forward and played a perfect off drive to the dead ball some 30 yards past the bowler. When a wry comment of “are you going to fetch that now” was aimed in his direction, he appeared to have a sense of humour failure and with a roar of rage ran 40 yards down the wicket to pick up the ball and return it to the bowler all the while shouting at the bemused fielder who was about to pick it up, not to touch it! Shortly after, Jerry Wright delivered a ball to the batsman (not sure if it was the same guy) who, not content with hitting his own wicket also edged it to the keeper, but then, having achieved the not inconsiderable feat of being out twice to the same ball, stood his ground, apparently not believing that he was out at all! To be fair, I don’t think it was truly dissenting behaviour but rather that he was temporarily confused by the situation and when the umpires finger went up, he was on his way.

Sadly, the 10th wicket pair batted very well to see Temple Sheen to the win which on balance, they probably deserved although in all honesty, there was very little quality cricket on show from either side.

Finally, huge congratulations to a club stalwart, Ian Cudworth, for his achievement in reaching the 500 wicket mark and in the process for going out on his own as having taken more “fifers” for the club than anyone else. Having Captained the side and acted as team secretary for more years than I can remember, he deserves to go down in the history of the club as someone special!