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On a day when the threatened heavy rain held off,
St. Anne’s broke their duck to beat The Gents for the first time at
the sixth attempt. Perhaps the awarding of a trophy (the inaugural
42-11 Cup, which unlike the Ashes will physically stay with the
victors until won back) inspired the visitors, perhaps the lack of
one or two Gents’ stars was significant, but there could be no doubt
about the justice of the outcome, for St. Anne’s, inspired by
Ulsterman Simon “Scratch” Begley, batted with more panache on a
difficult wicket and held their catches. It is a tribute to them
that they achieved this win without a significant contribution from
the masterful Tristan Haddow-Allen, who had a quiet game.
Buck opened with début boy Graham Butt, who soon
castled Tristan and had Clements well held high by square-leg
Turpin. From the Ditton Road end, Mr. Hill, described, perhaps
unfairly, by one Gent as a “nihilist” after dusting off the mustard
sandwiches stand-up routine, was on the money, bowling Felix Haddow-Allen.
Scibo opened with a wide but still bowled Territt in his first over,
though that was the last success for a while as Begley and Nicol
turned round the innings, watchfully seeing off Thompson. Ruthless
with the full-toss and anything short, Begley went to a punishing
fifty (the first by St. Anne’s against The Gents, it contained a six
and 8 fours), though he was dropped several times. Scibo had Nicol
well caught at long-on (Turpin again) and Buck got three wickets,
including Mr. Rose, a real character with black face paint,
Harlequins cap and giant comedy pads and all, second ball. He
usually plays for Rain Men and we also had the pleasure of seeing
him August last.
153-8 was a fair total but one that The Gents had
reasonable hopes of overhauling. The wicket had been two-paced but
the outfield was fast and the batting had looked good in the nets.
Alas, 38-6 was not quite the start Buck had in mind. You could
imagine his saying, in another time: “You know Wilson, sometimes I
think I am running a platoon of fools.” He watched aghast and
spluttering as poor Ken Toft ran himself out without facing a ball
in the very first over, trying to complete a second to mid-on
Chadwick, who parried the ball a few yards behind him, recovered
well and speared in an excellent throw to Tristan. Poor Ken.
Buck rightly opted to give several who had not
bowled a bat up the order, the result being a classy caught-behind
nought from Paul Turpin, who can obviously bat and will in our
opinion score a fifty this season, and a stylish 6 from James Lewis,
who was bowled by a grubber. Justin had gone the same way (the
Ditton Road end wicket was dying and not a game gone yet) and Buck
edged to slip. Thompson shone for a brisk 25.
Some very good cricket then ensued. Scibo and HP
played out three maidens before Mark in particular started going for
his shots, being absolutely brutal on the leg-side. The two ran well
and saw up a rapid 52 stand that was only broken by a scintillating
piece of cricket, Adam Clements pouching Scibo high over on the
deep-extra cover boundary for a career-best 42. Such a piece of
fielding deserved to win the match and it did, despite a few runs
for Mr. Hill. So confident were they that St. Anne’s used seven
bowlers, all worth the name. Devlin’s perseverance brought him a
four-wicket haul but Chadwick, a left-arm over quick, was also
eye-catching.
So it was not a disaster then with so many
players missing but the fact remains that simultaneous appearances
from the Patels, Husain and Wright will be the exception not the
norm in 2005, so others must be prepared to take responsibility. The
early signs of this were encouraging and it was good to be back. |
