Tour Manager’s Diary, 2005
See also: http://www.andyheard.co.uk/suffolk/2005/pictures/page_01.htm
Yes,
it’s the Weather Again!
It may seem unnecessary to begin this report
with a discussion of the meteorological conditions prevalent in
It’s odd really, because
Cool and showery conditions were weathered on
Saturday and most of Sunday, but by evening the sky was clear and the Kesgrave
ground looked really rather fetching. By Monday in
Anyway, back to
Mandarins 94 all-out, a total that allowed a
nice long tea interval, through much of which we held an extensive catching
practice; no doubt our athleticism spooked the
Mandarins 94 all out, Essex 95 for 2, won by 8 wickets.
|
Baker 10 |
Colley: 3 overs 1 for 3 |
Pimpernels,
The Pimpernels match was moved at short notice
to Brandeston Hall, a local school with a nice pitch in a super location really
close to a nice pub. What else could anyone want? We supplied a few
players to the opposition to keep the whole touring party employed, and a
competitive game took place that Pimp’s edged with an over or so to spare,
unusually after having received 43 overs to Mandarins 41.
The first innings was made up of yet another 50
from Paul Mills, and solid contributions from Barrie,
Andy [McKeon] and the uncomfortable looking Marc Thomas, who was nursing a
persistent back problem. Touchingly, the
Pimpernels fielders felt certain that Marc had run himself out deliberately.
Jonathan Wilmot was unlucky to do the splits
after slipping on the greasy surface, very soon afterwards limping off with a
hamstring injury. Later in The Station he was to be seen hanging around
with a club sweater tied around his leg; unfortunately the picture didn’t come
out.
With Michael Crosse, Andy Heard and Gus
O’Donnell playing for the opposition, there has to be a modicum of needle on
the field. This was expressed deliciously when Gus plucked Damian’s
Paterson’s square cut out of the air for not a lot, and Chris Healey and Martin
Hurst fell in consecutive balls from yours truly in a penultimate over
slog. This and one or two other suspicious incidents of
near-competent play was the cause of much muttering about loyalties,
especially when the standard fielding returned to its dismal norm when I
substituted for Jonathan.
A desperately slow start by Pimpernels against
Ollie and Martin’s opening spell soon opened up into a steady stream of
runs. Mandarins had their revenge when
Michael’s running proved too slow for Damian’s swift pickup and throw, run out
for not many. Paul Mills’ leg spinners were just too tempting for later
belligerent batting, and only Martin seemed to cause any difficulties for
batsman on a damp and the difficult surface, spearing in 9 overs for 22 runs.
Mandarins 163 for 8, Pimps 164 for 4 won by 6 wickets.
|
McKeon 37 |
Mills: 3 overs 0 for 19 |
Kesgrave, 22nd August
And so
to Kesgrave, a new fixture for us, but one that’s in a convenient location at
this stage of the tour. Nick Davidson doubted that they were very good,
and it’s true, we’ve had some one-sided fixtures on recent Sunday games.
Partly because of this, our slightly reluctant skipper (that’s me again) chose
to bat on well-rolled easy going track, and was only slightly dismayed when
Kesgrave’s bowling order followed no particular
order – and why should it? But ten bowlers were used, and only one or two
were very good. Actually,
it would have been 11 bowlers used but for the fact – and I’m not making this
up – that a Kesgrave player was sent off by his own captain after about
an hour. Best described as an attitude
problem, it set off speculation from Andy McKeon as to just how much disrespect
a Mandarin could get away with before I would be goaded into a similar
response.
Another feature of the game was the number of
injuries and resulting players leaving the pitch or needing runners. Their keeper was felled by an unexpectedly
sharp throw from extra cover, who later needed a runner; and Chris Healey
strained a calf muscle that at first mandated a runner and later obliged his
retiring hurt to take no further part. And our keeper, Michael Crosse,
had to temporarily leave the field after it proved impossible to retrieve a
dislodged contact lens whilst wearing keeping gloves.
Anyway, Michael ground out 14, Nick hung around for
ages at number three to make a solitary 4, and Marc would surely have made more
than 24 but for back pain. Big hitting near the end from Damian, who
amassed a swift 30*, and we went into tea after 40 overs at 173 for 9.
Jon Porter and Ollie Gardiner opened for us
after tea, both producing tidy spells against the early batsman. The
serious disrespect only arose once the breakthrough came and their captain
entered. A tall athletic guy, he has
perhaps played the odd game or two at a slightly higher level. His 50
came in 18 balls, and I must point out, this was by no means a small pitch, and
the outfield was about as slow as it gets. Apparently this is twice as long as
his personal best. At no risk of hyperbole, it was a pretty awesome demolition
of bowling that we would normally rate. Field placement seemed a little
academic in the circumstances - after all, few Mandarins fielders catch
anything that’s launched into this kind of low-earth orbit. Fortunately,
at 50 a well-earned retirement was taken.
The final twist to an entertaining game occurred
with Kesgrave needing a few but with the last pair on the field. Ollie rapped one against pads that were
judged to be adjacent, and a tie was the result. Bravo!
As an epilogue to this, Kesgrave invited us back
to The Bell, their local, and
indulged us in a post much supper, with beers, fines and our captain being
presented with a sponsored team shirt and tie, which I shall wear with some
pride in the future. All offers of match fees were declined, an unequalled
degree of hospitality from a fixture that will be surely repeated in 2006.
|
|
Porter: 4 overs 1 for 24 |
Other Diversions
As Helen Porter put it, the three P’s: Pub, Perudo and Poker.
There was also tennis, golf, bird-watching and more poker.
Chris
tried and failed to get the sound on the TV to work (he’s only a sound engineer
when not playing cricket, after all), but Marc showed us how. That allowed us to see Haider’s interesting
DVD of great historic moments in cricket; introduced by David “wooden”
Gower. As the rain fell on Saturday
afternoon, there wasn’t a whole load else.
There
were other oddities, chief of which was probably Ollie capturing a huge
caterpillar – Fred – who hung around in a little box watching him play poker.
All in all, despite the difficult weather, another good tour.
I was sad to see it pass so quickly.
More
pictures are at http://www.andyheard.co.uk/suffolk/2005/pictures/page_01.htm
Andy Heard,