Firsts Match Report for 14th June 2008 vs. Rathbone's Ov's

Not our greates hour - S.Parker

This game was not one of Springfields greatest!

I was very excited about this game as we had got our best team out all season and we had just won our previous game on the same ground. However, I lost the toss and they elected to bat; I thought this might be our day as I wanted to field anyway.

We opened the bowling with Mark and RP, as Pat had injured his shoulder during the week and could not bowl. We started very confidently with Mark getting an early breakthrough, bowling Jonny Gough. Off 10 overs they were 31 for 1, but it went down hill from here! It seemed everybody had the wide bug and we started to give them runs, and they started to gather pace. Mark finished his spell with 1 for 28, most of them being wides and no balls! I took RP off and tried Kevan but he struggled to control the swing with the right and left batsmen. I decided to bring myself and Phil on to try and reduce the run rate, and we did succeed for a few overs. I managed to get a wicket and break the partnership, but then I started to give away runs as well. I was also given two warnings for bowling two high full tosses, one more and I would have been taken off which I think is ridiculous for a spin bowler, but anyway. I also took the important wicket off Peter Gough who was batting very well and managed to reach 66 before he was caught behind by Neil. At the other end, Phil was bowling well and restricting the batsmen.

Phil and I had a break so we could both come on later, so I bowled Jason and John - I think the umpires didn't like John as they kept calling wide after wide. Jason started with a ball that was more dangerous to the player standing at cover than the batsmen. (Next time, Jason, get loose a bit more!) I am afraid it went down hill from there for him. A net session might be called for! OVs passed the 200 mark and our heads were dropping more and more. Phil and I came back on as we both had a few overs remaining, the first ball I bowled was hit straight towards Deep Mid On and RP took a great catch, Chris Jones went for 66. In came Tom Minty who I bowled round the legs for 1. Bobby Minty did not fair any better and was bowled for 6.

OVs finished on 268 for 7 off 45 overs, we bowled 47 extras, yes 47 EXTRAS, and… wait for it, 32 of them were wides! We therefore actually bowled 50 overs.

We opened the batting with Peter and Mark. We started off nicely with Mark hitting a few fours, but then Peter tried to do the same and was caught one handed by Tom Minty. In came Pat who was still struggling with his shoulder and looking to get some runs after not being able to bowl. Unfortunately the Quennevais pitch got to him and he played too early on a pull shot and hit it straight to square leg. Then it was John's turn. He looked solid and started to put a partnership together with Mark. However Mark was out shortly after to another good one handed catch by Jonny Gough and was out for 28. In came Jason to make a mends for his bowling. He hit a few fours but decided to go for another big hit but got bowled. Then came the middle order collapse. First, Neil was bowled first bowl, and then I came in on the hat trick ball and was bowled as well. I have not got a clue how the ball managed to get through my defence but it did. Next up was Kevan who had to rush to get ready, after wearing his jeans, a T-shirt and a jumper and still complaining it was too cold. (Kevan, just remind me what you are training for again and what sort of weather should the sport be played in!) After he had warmed up (quite literally), he hit a few good shots which woke John up, and in one ball he doubled his score to 8. John then started to play a few shots and started to rack up the runs. Kevan was out for 12, then in came RP hoping to get a few runs to build another partnership with John but he didn't and was caught out in the deep. This brought Phil to the wicket and he started to scamper between the stumps to get a few more runs for John. Another good partnership looked hopeful until Phil was out caught. Then in came Suthan at number 11 (yes, he did open last week but wanted to bat at 11!) If you have never seen Suthan run between the wickets then you should. You can usually him calling YES about five miles away! He and John started to put a few runs on the board and he was helping John get to his 50 until Suthan tried to go for another quick run to A Brown (well anybody would have done the same), but to all our surprise he picked it up cleanly and had a direct hit. Unlucky, Suthan.

We were all out for 137 with John stranded on 46 not out. He was there for 100 minutes and showed all of us how to do it. Even when wickets were falling all around him, he held his head. This is why Phil nominated him as Man of The Match.

Over all this was not a great game of cricket for Springfield and a game I think we will all want to forget. So far this season we must have bowled about 100 wides and given 150 extras. We are third in the table after five games. If we can bowl better for the next five games I do not see why we will not be in the same position!