The weekends fixture against Southend EMTCC was looking to be in jeopardy as Sunday approached with the weather forecast predicting inclement weather which wasn't helped by a heavy downpour at 11am.
Having made contact with the opposition they assured me that all was well at Southchurch park so we all headed down.
On arrival the ground was being set up to be ready for the match and after a small delay of 30 mins having lost the toss the opposition decided to bat first (possibly feeling the chances of getting a full game in were unlikely) in a 40 over game.
I decided to open the bowling with the recalled ex captain Bill Foley who came in as a replacement for the unfortunate J Montellier who sustained an injury to his knee while netting during the week. A lesson to be learned for any of the younger members (if we had any) that you should always watch the batsman in case the ball comes at you rather quickly!!
Bill came in off his long run up ably supported by P Offord at the other end. The aforementioned Foley tore through the Southend batting lineup in 2 spells after basically being a magnet to the ball between spells with it following him around.
At the close of the Southend innings he returned with figures of 5-27 off his 8 overs. Obviously inspired by Dan Deadman's exploits last year with one of his victims being a first ball duck for one of their youngest players!!
With Southend's total after 40 overs being 212-8 and a rather large dark cloud skirting round us thankfully we were able to take up the run chase with on paper was a very strong batting lineup.
I decided to open with myself and Ilan and after a few overs of getting used to the bowling Ilan picked the run rate up and we were moving along at a tidy run rate. Having reached the score of 111 while standing at the non strikers end next to our Umpire Stewart he announced to me that I should look at the score as it was at that dreaded English number 111 being "Nelson". I then proceeded to tell him that the batsman at the other end was South African so it should have no effect but alas one hefty swing too many resulted in Ilan departing for 64. I was then joined by Ged Williams and with the field more spread out and the slower bowlers for Southend working in tandem boundaries became harder to find and the run rate slowed down a bit which began to put us on the back foot. With the loss of a further 3 wickets I was joined at the crease by Noel Smith and with the slow bowlers ending their spells I was eventually out for 59. Prior to me departing I had mentioned that the reintroduction of the seamers might play into our hands with a bit more pace on the ball it became easier to find boundaries. Well in did for Noel anyway!!
After a few hefty wacks from Noel including 2 x 6's we were brought back into requiring a run a ball with 7 balls remaining.
Why say that particular number by including the last ball of the penultimate over I hear you ask!!
Well if you were one of the 33 people watching the game live on the stream, supplied by Southend or the 25,000 people have watched it again on different social media posts you would of witnessed Noel (40) giving an almighty heave at the ball and promptly not only being bowled but actually losing control of his bat as it went airborne!!
It is my understanding that the United States of America went to DEFCON 4 [I think you meant 1, Ed] in preparation of an imminent Thermonuclear attack when it registered on Radar. Also the International space station panicked as they assumed SpaceX had launched a unscheduled rocket to pop up for a visit!!
Anyway back down to earth the game went into the last over with Mike Boyce and Simon Jackson requiring 7 runs to win off 6 balls. Each delivery whether it was hit or not did not matter they were running and like a scene out of Forrest Gump they ran!! How there was not a run out for any one of them will remain one of the Earth's enduring mysteries!! So here we were with one ball remaining and our President facing the last ball of the innings requiring 2 runs to win the game and the field brought up, the bowler promptly bowled a juicy full toss on leg stump and our esteemed President took full advantage promptly dispatching it for 4 runs to win us the game!
This brought on wild celebrations by Simon and concluded a very enjoyable game of cricket that with the weather forecast didn't seem it would take place let alone complete.
Anyway onto our next game this Sunday v Willow Herbs at home (Alleyn Court), 1 PM start.
Under the new guidelines pockets of up to a maximum of 30 spectators are permitted outside so you are welcome to come and watch but bring your own refreshments/food.
P.S. Our following game on 30th May away at Great Canfield I currently only have 9 players available so if you are available to play and you've not already told me let me know.