BELT @ Charlton Down 28/05/23

The start was delayed, after Skipper lost the toss, due to late arrivals.  Big Dog was still avoiding an accident on the M27 after attending a christening, Brett was circling Charlton Down trying to find the ground and Mike H was, well, Mike H.  Foz bowled a fine maiden and then Leo, after bowling a huge wide, delivered a ball that the batsman found unplayable – the late in-swing trapping him LBW (2-1).  Foz was getting some rip off the surface that was causing some difficulties for the batsmen.  Tom offered an early chance when an edge from Leo couldn’t be held by Skipper behind the stumps.  Foz was still proving to be difficult to get away, but Tom drove Leo well in his next over, taking 14 from it (28-1 from 6).  Foz struck next ball, again a delivery that came in and trapped the batsman low on his pads infront.  In the same over, Tom stepped across looking to glance down leg-side only for the ball to clip the edge of leg-stump (29-3).  Leo (1-26) was replaced by Ben at the Pavilion end and Shan came on at the far end.  Ben was finding a useful shape to his deliveries that the batsmen were struggling to deal with, getting an edge to where 1^st slip would have been, before getting the wicket with an in-swinging delivery that hit low on middle stump (47-4).  Shan was proving to be impossible to get away, only conceding runs off the edge to third man.  His wicket was again an unusual dismissal.  A leg-side delivery with the batsman getting a fine edge and Skipper diving low to his left taking the catch.  The umpire did not hear or see anything but the batsman, a fellow wicket keeper, walked (96-5).  Ben (2-37) got his second wicket by tucking up the batsman with another big in-swinging delivery that clipped the pad before clattering into the stumps (101-6).  PW came on at the pavilion end and was into a useful rhythm, although needing to push through the length to bring the batsmen forward.  David replaced Shan (1-25 from 10) and was soon asking the question of the fast bowlers “what’s so tricky?” with Leo taking a catch at backward point and then the incoming batsman edging onto the stumps (123-8).  PW (1-12) got the wicket of the BELT top scorer on 49 with a straight delivery that rushed onto the batsman with lift that got a top edge that Skipper took comfortably (125-9).  David (3-1) bowled the last batsman to have figures of 3-1 from 1.1 overs!  125 was a reasonably good total on a pitch that offered some variation in bounce.

Tea was provided by BELT and was excellent.

Big Dog and Ben opened the Wanderers’ innings and following 3 maidens Ben was trapped LBW and David, although forward, was also LBW, both without score.  Shan was in no mood to hang around, hitting his second ball for six to cow-corner.  His 21 came from 28 balls as Big Dog tried to reign in some of his natural attacking flair before he was bowled by Tom who was on excellent form with the ball (34-3).  Skipper joined Big Dog in the 14^th over with a degree of re-building needed.  Skipper was off the mark thanks to a leg-side full toss dispatched to the boundary but was soon in need of a big slice of luck when an attempted drive was looping up in the air with Tom under it.  He inexplicably mis-judged it and made the chance difficult – dropping it in the end.  A six to cow-corner followed but the order of the day for these two was to stick around until the last 10 overs.  There was one nervous moment when Skipper misjudged the fielding calling for a single, only for the throw to be wild enabling a second run!  With the score on 105 and 8 overs remaining Big Dog (22 from 90 balls) was LBW.  Brett’s innings was short and sweet – a two edged away and then a glorious straight drive for four before the next delivery got tangled in his pads before going onto the stumps (111-6).  Leo took no notice of Skipper’s advice, playing a ramp second ball for two.  With 8 runs required, Skipper was caught at mid-on trying to drive over the top for 55 runs from 64 balls.  PW (0*) struggled to connect with the ball, but the pair were chalking up the required runs in extras.  Leo (4*) scored the winning runs with a drive over square leg.

A thoroughly enjoyable game against a great opposition on a beautiful day at a wonderful location.  Many thanks to Charlton Down for their facilities for the day.

MOM: Skipper’s innings

Catch of the day: Skipper low to his left

Quote of the day: Tom in the bar explaining his crucial drop: “It looked like a 9-iron to me but in fact it was probably an 8-iron as it kept going over my head”.

Thanks to James for his scoring and encouragement!