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Sparta Left out in the Cold

With shades of Tottenham vs. West Ham from a few seasons ago CCC were struck down by a bout of mysterious food poisoning on the eve of Monday night’s fixture against ÓðÜñôá! Rumors that landlady and all round good egg Susan from South North has eloped with James Mooney under a cloud of suspicion are yet to be substantiated. Alan however has promised to buy gold bats and bespoke whites for the club on the back of the suspected settlement he is likely to gain from suing South North cricket club.

On a sunny but cool evening in Heaton I reluctantly agreed to play 16 overs, won the toss and elected to bat.

We had the pleasure of having Nick back in our ranks but having not swung a bat in anger in almost two years decided to go with our regular formula. Alan and I opened on what proved to be a difficult surface to score from and duly made a slow start. Just as we were getting going however Alan was out in the unluckiest of manners. I smoked (first ball I had timed!) a straight drive only for it to ricochet off the bowler in a pretty feeble attempt at a catch and crash into the stumps leaving a backing-up Alan some two feet short of his ground. Nicco then entered the fold and injected real impetus into the attack, taking the game to Sparta playing his shots from the off. I then started to score more freely as we began to build a platform. Nicco holed out after not quite catching one flush which brought the welcome return of Nick to the crease. After a slightly rusty start by his standards he proved that form is temporary but class is permanent. I was bowled after a little partnership with Nick leaving Simon to take up the reins. A little like Nick he took a little while to find the middle of the bat but when he did he propelled us up towards a ton with some much needed boundaries. Nick was out caught looking to push on leaving Greg and then Guy to add a few more quick runs in the dying overs finishing on 117.

A solid fielding and bowling display followed which was just what was required considering the modest total off 16 overs. Nicco and Guy opened from either end with Alan and Matty providing ample support as the change. In reality none of the batsmen really caused many problems other than their opener Roe who eventually top scored with 36, Alan eventually dispatching him with the ‘one that goes straight on’! Although they were in touching distance by the penultimate over we were right into the tail thanks to Alan with 4, Nicco 2 and Guy 1. Guy had the responsibility of bowling the last over with them requiring 13 however any nerves were instantly dispelled when Guy removed the middle stump of their tenth and final man. Other highlights included two smart catches from Jared and an excellent run out that saw a combination of Guy’s tenacity and pace and Nicco’s superb arm.

Back to winning ways and still top of the league, roll on next week.

Cap – Simon W’s brisk runs

Duck – Jared’s catch avoidance, urinating in the shrubbery and defacing the scorebook with sour cream.

Roger – subs dropped off in full less 1 debutant.