Match report

The Good, the Bad and the Sewage

Iffley Village made its customary trip to where it all began, Appleton, for the annual midweek 20 over thrash. Having won the toss and decided to bat, things didn’t start very well. Either the perfume emanating from the local sewage works, or the threat of impending rain, overcame the top order, with the Villagers finding themselves 20-3 at one stage. However, through the driving rain, Meier (24) and the Skipper (50) rebuilt and put things back on track. With new kid on the block, Kieran McCall, showing some real batting class to finish the innings on 36*, the Villagers closed their innings on a very respectable 138-5.

Despite the protestations of his squelchy team mates, the Appleton skipper insisted that 45 minutes of persistent rain was not serious enough to take his players from the field. Therefore, the Appleton lads took to the changing rooms to wring out their whites and headed back onto the field with a sense of quiet confidence. Unfortunately, the timing displayed by the Appleton opening pair was as soggy as the outfield. With the Villagers coughing up countless catches and run outs to put the opening pair out of their misery, by the time the first wicket did fall (a McCall/Tyler run out), the run rate was becoming unmanageable. Whilst the Appleton middle order showed some intent, the earlier monsoon had made the outfield slower than Rob Key running a three. Combined with some tidy bowling from Dennis, both Ellis brothers, Dickie Tyler and Daylight, the task proved too big for Appleton, with the Villagers romping to a 27 run victory. Lovely stuff.

If this was a school report, it would read like this:

• Batting: regular lapses in concentration but overall a solid performer – C;
• Fielding – this student displays almost no talent and even less application – E;
• Bowling – always enthusiastic and, on the whole, very credible – B.

If practice makes perfect, we clearly don’t practice fielding.

Bill Smith, Skipper, 7 June 2019