Chapter 1: How to Cage the opposition
I really wanted to continue blogging after my marathon effort and naturally cricket is my main summer hobby, so here we are, thank you for reading.
It is my intention that this blog will reflect the events of our season both on and off field as well as include some other topics.
The season for me started last weekend when we arrived a local ground for what ended up being a friendly after another cry off from league opposition. We now sit top of the league by default and although that is where we wanted to be after two games, we'd much rather be there by merit rather than having points conceded to us.
Nevertheless we met Normandy in a friendly and it needs to be said what a lovely bunch of fellas they were. The banter on the field was in very good spirits and a good laugh was had all round.
After captain Ben lost the toss and we were asked to have a bat (I really hope he lost the toss because if he put us in on that, I have some concerns).
After a decent opening start from the likes of Mr. Kennedy and Keith Miskelley, there was a little flurry of wickets and the middle order soon found themselves a bit busier than they'd anticipated at that time. After a solid knock from Wiji with some accompaniment from myself and a big boost from the sundries column, we managed to get to 150. As the subtext above suggests, on that pitch 150 was a good score. We did have a couple of interesting incidents whilst running between the wickets including Garfield and Mo having a clash of heads leading to a two-inch gash above Garfield's right eye (which required stitches), fair play to him, he carried on and lasted another three balls.
We got to tea which had been laid on by Ben (what the skipper had done for the team last week was nothing short of absolutely amazing and we all owe him a debt of gratitude) and we had something to eat......
This is where the notable incident of the day took place. The pavilion (glorified shed) had been surrounded by a cage (put in by the council to protect it from youths). The door of said pavilion cage unfortunately doesn't automatically open from the inside or outside once it's shut, rather there is a code. Now this generally isn't much of a problem is you either A) don't shut the door, or B) know the code that opens the door.
Unfortunately, our skipper's two-year-old son, being ever the conscientious lad, thought the door needed to be shut - therefore locking the entire opposition in the caged pavilion.
Immediately this was a bit of a giggle (Mr. Kennedy even turned his chair around to spectate on proceedings. Quite quickly afterwards it became apparent that this wasn't a two minute thing and they were going to be caged for a little while. Credit where it's due, the oppo saw the funny side of what can only be described as a debacle. Guesses were made at the code (It wasn't 1988 - even though we were just off Haydons Road), tools appeared with the idea of removing sections of the cage and even a suggestion of trying to pick the lock was suggested.
Finally the fire brigade were called, however in the mean time we still had a game of cricket to finish. So the opening batsmen climbed over the top to escape the cage so that they could come out to bat and restart the game
The fire brigade turned up just after the restart and opened the door via the use of some magic code only they knew. We have two fireman in our squad and neither of them were available this week - just think how much easier that could have been!
As we took the field, we managed to get some early breakthroughs leaving the opposition with an uphill struggle and it's likely we would have wound the game up a lot quicker if WE HADN'T DROPPED NINE CATCHES!!!!!!!!!!
A couple of nice bowling spells to note from Ben and Manny in particular as well as a solid effort behind the sticks from Sachin saw us win well .
Seriously nine catches went down (to nine different people as well)
To Sum up the day...
- We batted okish, bowled well and fielded fairly poorly.
- Locking an entire team in a cage is quite frankly the funniest thing i've ever witnessed
- Catches win matches but so does bowling people.
- Isn't a cage that doesn't open once the door is shut contravene some kind of H&S law?
Tea Score: 7/10 - for sheer effort, Thanks Ben.
So for next week.....
As the injury crisis in our squad deepens, we can now boast:
- 1 broken toe (Kendo - fell down stairs)
- 1 broken wrist (Tim - not entirely sure )
- I broken thumb (Liam - probably should have caught the ball instead)
- 1 torn calf (Chairman Gomez, whilst playing tennis)
So the next few weeks means a chance for some to step up and give Ben a real headache at selection, with a couple of guys starting to look in form, there is a chance we can kick on and really maintain out league position.
We're at home next week where there is a fully stocked bar and a great excuse to watch, score, umpire or even play (seriously though if you'd like to join in, in any capacity, The Old Wimbledonians would love to hear from you). Everyone is welcome at Old Wimbledonians from novices, to pros and to those who just want to support. We have a wide range of excellent local sponsors who are also a great part of the club such as Tennison Property, Laser Crystal Awards and Snoggys so look out for those guys as well and help support them in the local community the same way they are supporting us.
So in conclusion,
The craziness of cricket continues on. It's always madly fun. Assuming next week I have chance I'm hoping to writing a slightly more serious entry about how team sport and camaraderie can have an extremely positive affect on mental health.
Thank you,
Simon
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