Match report

10-man Village win thriller at Brasenose against Far from the MCC

With the skipper winning the toss and choosing to field first, the gentlemen Villagers took to the field under changeable weather conditions. The opposition's opening batsman had little respect for this season's leading wicket-taker however as he crashed Timbo Ellis' first and third balls of the first over to the offside boundary. Tonya's first over from the Centre End was similarly expensive. 17 off the first two overs and things were looking ominous. Would this just be one of those days where the Villagers never quite came to the party? Time would tell.

Like the Chairman when it's his turn at the bar, Ellis' second over was tight. Like the skipper when it's his turn at the bar, Tonya's second over was even tighter - a much valued maiden in fact. But with Bill looking to share the bowling duties around and stop leaking early runs, Ross and Troth were brought into the attack soon thereafter. As the FFTMCC opener started to tee off, it was Ross who made the breakthrough, with the batsman launching the ball to mid on where Meier made catching look easy. It was not a day for catches, however, as the Village put down a number of chances through the innings - Tim Morton being the unlucky one who had several very difficult chances, none of which stuck. The memory of the wonder catch at Wolvercote was fading fast for the luckless Communist dictator. Even the skipper, Mr Reliable himself, spilled a difficult chance on the run down on the boundary ropes. Despite the drops, the fielding was good and the Villagers chased every ball hard and with traditional gusto. But the opposition were still finding the boundary all too regularly. With one opener out caught, the other retired hurt, oppo captain Dave Shorten - he of the floppy hat and expert cat-flap installer - was pushing his side forward and retired after the customary 30.

As a number of edges flew past the keeper, Radley Ross was delivering the kind of penetrative probing he'd learnt in the show rooms of private school, but it was Troth who took the next wicket, despite being more leaky than a Villager's bottom after a night on the beers. Alex, as ever, lulled the batsmen into a false sense of security by bowling some exquisite full tosses (which were dealt with appropriately), before bowling the rogue straight one that bowled their #3 all ends up. However, with his third over going for 18 runs, Smith decided enough was enough, and brought himself on to bowl from the Isis end instead. But he was to prove uncharacteristically expensive as well - expletives and self-flagellation followed as he was hit for successive boundaries in his first over, and again in his second. As another batsman retired after scoring 30, the Chairman was called upon to do what he does so well (no, not just write riotously jocular match reports) - take a wicket in his first over. And so it was that this happy knack continued as their #5 was clean bowled. Meier was unlucky not take a second in his second over as another catch was dropped out at mid-off.

With FFTMCC looking towards 160 plus from their 20, Timbo and Tonya were brought back on to finish the innings, which they did with much more control than they had opened with (though Tonya's final over was dispatched via some brutal hitting), restricting the opp to a very decent and competitive 148 from their 20.

I'll be honest, we had our backs against the wall here fellas. Sure, the outfield was fast, but the lack of an eleventh man really showed in the field as they found the boundary all too frequently. The skipper clearly had this in mind when he demoted the regular IVCC opener and opted to start the innings with old-man nous and unsubtle Australian slogging. Sam was his usual confident self, having had a good 40 minute warm up in the nets beforehand. But the IVCC innings was surprisingly cautious, all things considered. The bowling was straight and true, without being really threatening, and Sam and Mark worked the 1s and 2s to keep the score ticking over before a calamitous mix-up in the middle saw the old curmudgeon stranded halfway between the wickets and he was comprehensively run out. Sam, perhaps feeling guilty at the mix-up, was out soon after, caught by someone, somewhere, off someone else. The Antipodean is on a run of bad form at the moment, but one feels he is just an innings away from recording his first 50 for the Village. Will it be this season? Stay tuned to find out.

The Radleian was in next and he, too, was watchful at first. Happy to exhilarate the watching dog-walker with his extravagant Anton du Beke-esque leaves outside off, it was 12 balls before he hit his first boundary. But the shy, demure boy from Bicester gradually warmed to his task and all too quickly he was forced to retire after hitting a controlled 30. Up the other end, Fidel Morton was into his stride much quicker – hitting his fourth, fifth and seventh balls all to the boundary. Joined by Ben Davis, the Muscles from Brussels, the two began to pepper the boundary regularly and the chase was on. Davis rode his luck a touch – slogging to Cow Corner to see a man in a pink shirt and jeans take a great catch, only to step back over the boundary line thus recording a much-needed maximum for us. Both batsmen were in fine form and both retired after 30 too, bringing two more big hitters to the middle in skipper Smith and Cunstable Harding. Fielding arguably their strongest line-up to date, it was never in doubt as Tonya hit the winning runs with over 2 overs to spare in what was a remarkable finish to a competitive and highly entertaining game. There was even time for a few awkward encounters with the locals in the pub afterwards. What more could you want on a Friday afternoon in July?

Ali Meier

Chairman

31 July 2018