Schoolboys humbled in historic MCC victory

Match Report – Maladroits CC vs Charterhouse Maniacs
Saturday 7th May
MCC won by 5 wickets
Edmund Buzz reports....

Following golf and a pub lunch 11 men arrived at the field of dreams fully prepared to be thrashed by a bunch of schoolboys again, as is the usual custom. Two things were different this year. Firstly, it wasn’t raining. Secondly, Maladroits welcomed back their founder Charles Bathurst Norman following a two year absence. This gave everyone a spring in their step and, when asked to bowl by Boggers, we entered the field of play quietly confident that this could be the year.

It didn’t start well though. Maniacs got off to a flying start off the bowling of Moore and Drought and were fairly rocketing along, helped by a bone dry track and a lightening outfield. Moore soon struck though and what followd was one of the best over’s ever bowled by anyone (including Marshall, Lillee, Hadlee, McGrath, Flintoff, Newman). He was unlucky to only snare one victim but did pick up a second wicket later on.

Captain Brewer brought on his second change bowler Bolland who bowled tightly from the tree end. Toovey soon came on at the dip end and, in his own words, bowled poorly as he wasn’t sure which strip to aim at. Following a quick start the rest of the innings was spent trying to claw back the run rate and some good bowling from Retter, Bowes and Carrington did a pretty good job of restricting the home team to 230. They got way more than they should have done though – one of their batsman nicked it so loudly that we didn’t even bother to appeal but was not given out and eventually went on to make a century. Other highlights included a highly amusing dropped catch by Toovey who literally didn’t get a hand to it, the ball crashing into his chest and bouncing off. “Sorry chaps, I wasn’t concentrating”.

A poor tea in what used to be Mrs Cole’s Crack was disappointing but Maladroits were confident that we could chase down 231 to win. BN and Retter opened up and unfortunately Retter didn’t last long. In fact, not even long enough to even try out his new bat! BN played some nice shots before falling to his usual late cut, bringing Brewer to the crease. He and Lees put together a lovely partnership, with Lees looking classy and playing as well as he has ever done for the Maladroits. Brewer went for a well constructed 43 and Bowes came with the run rate required at about 7 an over. Some buffet bowling was dispatched and Lees continued on his way (despite looking knackered and being covered in sweat) past 50 and beyond. The loss of Bowes to a full toss brought in JC, the urban destroyer, and before too long the run rate had dropped considerably and Maladroits were closing in on an impressive victory. Lees was eventually out for a superb 87 and JC bashed 41 in no time to win the game with an over or so to spare.

M.O.M – Lees for 87
Fielder of Day – Bathurst Norman, a commanding and energetic display at short extra
D.O.D. – Toovey – dropped a sitter and kept everyone waiting for 40 minutes at Clapham Junction!!
Tea – 43%

No Dusty?

MCC come up just short in early season run chase

Ed Lock reporting...

Sunday 17th April 2011

GAME 1: 2011 Season

East Sheen 238 for 5 (35 overs), Maladroits 223 all out

The usual opening match against Sheen had a promising start with the sun in the sky, a newly refurbished pavilion and Boozer winning the toss with his trusty weighted coin.

Unsurprisingly, Boozer opted to field first at which point we were greeted by the best wicket that this Maladroit has seen in the last 5 years; flat and true for the batsmen yet full of bounce and turn. Unfortunately, Tricky as opening bowler, opted out of using the test grade track and instead chose to bowl either over the batsmen, straight to slip or behind him, immediately earning him both Quote and Dick of the Day.

At the other end, Glen was the yin to Tricky’s yang, bowling consistent line and length and keeping the batsmen pinned to the stumps. However, as the game progressed, even with Ash and Matty bowling well, wickets were hard to come by. And, once the oppo’s number 4 tonked 10 runs off his first two balls, Mala morale began to ebb. A few regular dismals could not contain East Sheen obtaining an honourable score of 238 for 5 off 35.

An unusually low cal lunch of coronation chicken, rice and flap jack raised the team’s spirits, except for the bearded kiwi contingent who yearned for a more diverse meat selection.

So, on a full stomach, Carrington and Lock marched into bat, admittedly rusty but confident due to the short boundary and fast outfield. Carrington quickly got into his stride tonking fours over the bowlers head and accelerating the run rate to the required 7 per over before being caught on 29. Lock fell shortly afterwards for 32 and allowed the already beading Lees to enter the fray and hit an aggressive 42. Bowes with his usual MCC grace strolled to 36 whilst the new mini Bowes looked on. By drinks, the Droits were on course, but Sheen’s soft middle order underbelly was about to be tested. Boozer looked comfortable at the crease, but unfortunately the wickets fell around him until our hopes were pinned on Scouse at no.10 with his new sledgehammer. Some creative running from Scouse worked temporarily before he was run out allowing Tricky to come in needing 15 off the final 5 balls. The anti climax was sealed with a golden duck, leaving the Droits scratching their heads for a game that should have been won.

Special thanks to Tricky for making an ordinary game thoroughly entertaining.

Match Summary

MOM	Glen – 2 for 32 off 7
Fielder of the Day	Nick (trusty debutante at long on)
DOD	Tricky – 12 ball over and smacking his ankle with a practice shot before going in and getting a golden
Quote	Tricky x 2 1. ‘I am not stone drifting, I just don’t know where I am’ 2. Tricky to Umpire: ‘How many balls do I have left?’ Umpire to Tricky: ‘4’ Tricky: ‘Aaaaaaah F*#K!!’
Teas	77%

Burnt clutches, butter fingers, wheelchairs and childrens boxes... what a tour- La Manga 2010

Maladroits tour to La Manga - September 2010

Edward Bowes reports...

Squad: Brewer*, Carrington, Retter, Ryder, Drought, Roundell, Lowis, Boland, Bowes, Toovey (& Lees)

Final position: Defeated in the semi finals

After a flight cancellation debacle on the day we were due to travel, it was with immense relief that 11 Maladroits made it to London Gatwick on time and in good heart, early on Friday morning. Good fortune was already on our side as it turned out that Boozer was right at the front of one of the longest check-in queues in world queuing history just in time for the other 10 members of the team to rock up and place their bag down.

A flight, some more queuing and a drive later we arrived at La Manga Club Resort fit and raring to go, and also quite hungry. No game that afternoon meant we had three lined up back-to-back on the Saturday - a daunting prospect but well within the fitness capabilities of the Maladroits team. It was lucky we had brought a large squad…

A beer and some food followed at one of the most expensive cafes in world café history (hope that dry chicken leg was well worth the £6 Tooves??) before a night out on the lash began. Some wimped out early, in the knowledge that 3 games in a day was a big ask, but some went long. Dressed up in garish jackets and ties (Simon) and surrounded by chavvy golf tourists, the Maladroits did themselves proud by absolutely nailing the Pulp classic ‘Common People’ whilst pointing at all the revelers in the bar…. superb choice of song by Leesy, probably the high point of his tour.

10am Saturday morning. First match vs. Buckhurst CC Maladroits to field first.

Simon ‘Round as in circle e double l’ opened up from the top end and immediately dug in a sharp bouncer that took the surprised batsmen on the glove and ballooned to the slip and gully region. Bowesy leapt forward like a salmon, doing incredibly well to even get to the ball on the full. Unfortunately he put it down but it was a really fantastic effort.After that the ‘droits bowled and fielded pretty well with memorable performances coming from Tooves, who bowled tidily for his 2 for 24, and Paddy who bowled well but also took a great catch. Maladroits had been set 112 to win from 20 overs – a target that was well within reach and looked even more achievable after JC and Ash got after the bowling in the powerplay overs. JC got 37 and set up an opening match victory, with Ash (24) and Glen also playing their part with the bat.

The second match was against Combined Colleges CC and Maladroits fielded first, preferring to chase down a target. The bowling and fielding was slightly less tidy but Simon again bowled well, and threateningly, as did Matty. A few catches started to go down, setting the trend for the day and living up to the Maladroits name. A target of 146 was always going to be tough but was certainly gettable. An early wicket brought Bowesy to the crease and he managed to make up for the first game by hitting a few sixes and getting the run-rate going again. He was soon to be joined by Ryder (rural destroyer), the soon-to-be Dad, and together they gelled like Haynes and Greenidge, or Langer and Hayden. Ryder batted like a dream, nudging and nurdling his way to about 30 before powering on like a hungry farmer (which is what he is) to take him past 50 and take the Maladroits to victory. Played two, won two. You can’t do better than that. 100% record. No mistakes. Clinical and efficient.

Then we played the third match (v Sahara CC). A match characterised by the most amount of drops ever seen in one innings in the history of world cricket. It was comical at times and spectators must have thought, having seen our previous two games, that we taking the p*ss in an attempt to push their total up and give us a real challenge. However, this was genuine eponymous ineptness. It would be remiss to list the ‘dropees’ here, mainly because it would basically be just a list of the whole team. In amongst the catching, or lack of it, there was some good bowling. However we bowled 15 wides, which, at 2 runs a wide, was simply not good enough and cost us dear. A target of 192 was a lot. Ash strode to the crease for his last sober innings of the tour and proceeded to play the sort of innings that the Mongoose bat was made for. He made 50 and only actually connected with the ball 9 times, hitting seven 6’s and two 4’s! Some of the shots he played have never been seen before in world cricket – a six over extra cover off the back foot. Bowes made a few at the other end and others chipped in, in a valiant attempt to keep up with the run rate. At one stage the oppo were getting a little quiet but it couldn’t be maintained and we were soon out of it but not before a comedy over from Lees. Fearful of a seeing off a maiden over, not a good thing in 20/20 cricket, an increasingly sweaty Lees looked to hit a 6 over long-on off the last ball. Unfortunately he only succeeded in turning it into a wicket maiden!!

A good effort to chase down a big score but a defeat nonetheless. However, we had made it to the semis on Sunday morning so all was not lost.

Saturday evening saw all the players and administrators gather in the resort’s Mexican restaurant for an unexpectedly decent buffet. The Maladroits also put up a good show in the raffle, buying a lot of tickets and taking home 50% of the prizes, including 6 bottles of wine and a child’s box. Another victory for us and La Manga CC, our opponents in the semis sensed that we meant business.

The usual tour high jinx then carried on late into the night, highlights being the drinking of jaeger bombs out of the aforementioned box, Glen wiping out and effectively ruling himself out of the crucial semi-final and Ash getting more drunk than any other human in the history of drinking.

10am Sunday morning. Semi-final vs La Manga CC. Top pitch.

Maladroits sent into the field again, La Manga to bat first. Simon ‘Round as in circle e double l’ opened up from the top end again and again looked sharp. He accounted for a quick opening wicket and this brought a familiar-looking Yorkshire lad to the crease. We had played against him before, for Sporting Alfas, and Boozer dropped him on 0 before he went on to get 80. We were hoping this wouldn’t happen again but, sure enough, a thin nick from Simon presented itself as a very tough diving chance to Boozer. Like Groundhog Day, he dropped it again! Some good bowling from the spin twins Bowes and Toovey as well as tidy stuff from Matty, Paddy and Ed Ryder meant that La Manga were being well restricted. That was until the number 5 batsman came in and smacked it to all parts, making 50 odd in 15 balls! There was a not a lot the Maladroits could do about it but it meant we had been set another total over 180.

Ash and Bowesy opened the batting, with the former prepared to take on the quick Spanish international opening bowlers with no lid, half a bat and still drunk. After his innings the evening before expectation was high. This was short lived however as his swung and missed the first three balls before being castled by the fourth! Top quality Maladroits cricket – awesome one minute, dreadful the next! JC soon departed, unluckily guiding a bouncer straight down third man’s throat before Ryder and Bowes put on a bit of partnership. We were always behind the run rate but at one point there was a glimmer of hope. Ryder was bowled, playing the sort of shot that his job title would suggest, and Bowes was caught in the deep and the Maladroit effort was close to being over. Not before another comedy batting effort from Lees, who set off up the other end after one of his trademark late cuts only to be sent back. Dropping his bat and then dipping for the line like Usain Bolt didn’t save him unfortunately and he was run out by some way! Some nice batting from Simon and Boozer showed La Manga that we weren’t going to be rolled over and they both had a nice gentle end of season knock.

A defeat in the semis. Some great cricket played against a pretty high standard of opposition. Maladroits can be proud that we played, and competed, at this level. Above all that, we played in the right spirit throughout and all had a jolly good time.

Huge thanks to JC for organising the tour and to Boozer and Ash for their administration work to make it all run smoothly.

Scintillating final ball win to do the double on Sheen CC

East Sheen CC vs Maladroits CC – 12^th September 2010-09-14

East Sheen

Maladroits won by 2 runs

JC Carrington reports…

The last game of the season on UK soil saw a somewhat depleted team of 9 men turn up to an unusually sunny East Sheen Common. Typically, we lost the toss and where put into bat. Nails and Ash opened the batting and got off to a steady start with Nails holding down one end as Ash took on the opening bowlers in his usual aggressive manor. The first wicket fell as Ash missed a good away swinger and was promptly ‘stumped’ whilst standing a foot outside his crease and practicing the shot he should have played (this as later to earn his DOTD award).

As so often happens, 1 wicket will bring 2, in fact it bought 3 with Glen and JC only just avoiding ducks whilst competing on who would get a chance to bat again (lowest score had another go since we were short on numbers). Who did the captain turn to when in need to stead the ship, none other than Mike Brenner! Nails continued to play some lovely cover drives and work the ball around the field while Mike took his opportunity batting up the order and smashed some classical straight drives past the bowler. The opposition captain was running out of ideas and as a result bought on his strike bowler in the form of Dusty the Destroyer. Whilst his first over was dispatched for 15, he recovered by taking the price wicket of M Brenner, who holed out to cow corner – great knock for 41!

This bought Matty to the crease, who was under pressure to score some runs on this ground having produced some match winning performances away from home but not quite converting this form at East Sheen. Needless to say, he got off the mark with a tick outside edge through the slips. He was then bowled by the ever present Dusty with a ball that apparently turned. By this point, Charlie had recruited a 10^th man from Gumtree, who he promptly put into bat. First ball, a little nervous on debut and with Dusty in fall swing there was only going to be one result....OUT. This was a first of Dusty and in unknown territory bowling a hatrick ball, the field was bought in and the pressure was on the new bat – Simon, another debutant who hadn’t picked up a bat in 3 years. If in doubt, hit across the line....OUT!!! Scenes like this will never be seen again on Sheen Common. With Nails departing for a very well played 54 (thank you to the Drovers for loaning your player out) and the score in the balance at 125 for 6 we needed a captains innings. Boozer did not disappoint! A very well timed 63 not out lifted the total score to 225 all for 9, with a little help from 9 lives Toovey.

With 40 overs and 10 wickets to make 226, East Sheen where in confident mood during tea (which were to the usual high standard to which we have become accustom). Some tight bowling and solid fielding was required, and despite only having 10 men, the Maladroits where more than up to the task. Opening Bowlers Glen and Venu both made up for their issues with the bat with tight, aggressive bowling, immediately putting East Sheen under pressure (1 for 28 off 8 and 1 for 31 off 8 respectively). However, the run rate ticked along nicely (not helped by JC’s 2 overs!) and the captain had had only one option – Toovey and Matty Boland took up the challenge. Matty bowled well for his 2 for 34, however Toovey was the stand out bowler, himself having a chance of a hatrick. His final figures of 3 for 39 were rewarded with the Man of the Match award. Despite some heated exchanges towards the end of the innings, the Maladroits held firm with Ash bowling a quality final over for just 3 runs when 8 were needed.

Great finish to the domestic season. Onwards and upwards for the Tour to La Manga!

MOTM – Toovey

Fielder of the Day – Simon

DOTD – Ash

Outstanding performances – Boozer (63*) / Nails (55)

Teas – 78%

Chasing success run comes to an end in valiant chase

v Jesmond Jaguars
UCL Pitches, Dulwich, Sunday 1st August 2010.
Lost by 24 runs
Ash Retter reporting.

The early start many had been waiting for half worked as we kicked off 30 minutes late at 12.30. We went into field first, and the first ball promptly got dispatched for four, and under the fence - with a locked gate it took 10 minutes to retrieve. This was not the start the intrepid 10 had been looking for.

Bowling was generally good, Bolland and Drought opening with 0 for 38 of 7 over with 1 maiden and 2 for 41 off 8 respectively. First change Retter tried hard but was expensive, uncharacteristically 0.76.8.0., and Watts chipped in with a cracking spell of 6 overs for 38. Bowler of the day was Dusty II with 2.40.6.0 - Tooves bowled exceptionally well. Burton-Brown completed the attack with a respectable 1.42.5.0 against his own team. Thank you sir. Notable performances in the field for Ed Lock, after introducing himself as a specialist fielder to new recruit Paddy, and most amusingly seen crawling on all fours swearing after a ball as it trickled over the boundary just out of reach. Mikey also earned himself the DOD title after taking a boundary catch at least 5 yards over the boundary rope at long on, more heartache for the wounded Retter.

The Jags batted well and on a quick outfield the boundaries flowed. After 40 overs and a long spell in the field at tea the MCC had been set a mammoth 283 to win.

Tea was good, the dinner ladies served up some nice hot pizza slices and jammy dodgers, amongst other things, in what was a pretty good spread. Added bonus was larger on tap, something to think about at fortress sheen.

The MCC openers took on the first wave of the Jags attack well. Lock defending and Retter keeping the score board ticking over. 7 an over was always going to be tough. The stand lasted about 7 overs with Lock falling. In stepped Watts with a message from the captain for Retter - to control himself as the illusive maiden 50 was close. True to form he did not and was caught spectacularly at deep backward point whilst slogging the first ball of the new spinner. Captain was polite, batsman was furious. 54 for 2 off 10 overs. It was to be Ed Watts’ day, stroking a fabulous 90 odd, ably supported by the other stroke playing lefty Mr. Drought who notched up a solid 40 exactly when it was needed after quick departures of Lees (8) and Bert (3). 87 for 4 off 20 overs. Drinks. At 30 overs Watts and Paddy had got us to 189 for 4. What looked like an un-reachable total was not and we were just about in the game. Unfortunately Paddy fell. We were running out of overs and the run rate was ticking up. Boozer was steadying the ship and pushing some runs, with an injured Bolland was disappointed, but also probably slightly relieved, to leave the crease run out on 6. It seemed harsh pushing the singles with an injured Matty without a runner, but we had no choice. 206 for 6 off 33 overs. Mikey went in with one express mission, to slap it over the rope every ball (no change there I know). A excellent partnership between Brewer and Brenner ensued, until a superb catch downed an on fire Mikey. 249 for 8 off 39 overs. He came back out with a respectable 15 and handed the baton to Tooves. I think we needed 34 off the last over, 5 sixes and 1 four. Unfortunately this was just out of our grasp, we manged 6 in the over. A tough loss for the Droits in what should go down in the annals of MCC cricket as a gallant run chase, and an all round good game. We were left ruing fielding with 10 men, we could have won if we could have kept the runs down a little.


MOM: Ed Watts with bat and ball.
DOD: Mikey.
FOD: Mikey.

Eight out of eight for Maladroits chasing down scores..

• v Mike Leas team
• Bank of England
• Sunday 25th July

It was a hot muggy day at a dry Bank of England ground. The track seemed flatter and with less movement than Stephen Hawking in a swimming pool. The Maladroits only had 9 players with Ed ‘Will he’ Ryder running late, but sadly the opposition had even less. This meant the decision on who would get first use of the batters paradise went down to who had the most late players and not the toss.

Mike Lea’s team opened with perhaps the least scary opening batsmen of the season. One was so old he had played alongside W.G Grace and the other had the body shape of W.G. Grace. The Maladroits sensed early wickets. Several maidens from Tricky early on and sharp bowling from Blinky kept the score reasonable. However, with the loss of the shine on the ball, and the batsmen’s aging joints warming up, runs started to flow over the lightening quick outfield. A few loose balls were dispatched with disdain by the largish batsmen and even his free-bus-passed partner joined in. It wasn’t long before the unlikely opening batsmen had brought up a 90 run opening partnership with very little risks and even less footwork.

This led to a change in the attack with Glen “The Liger” Lowis brought into the attack in combination with Matt “Rod Latham” Boland. Lowis found line and length immediately and bowled some rippers, finding the spot and nipping the top of off stump to remove the larger of the two batsmen. Boland soon removed the other batsmen, who happened to be playing in his 63^rd consecutive year of cricket. Ryder eventually decided to turn up and signaled the start of even more wickets falling.

Glen started ripping through the top order like a German machine gunner on d-day, cutting them down with perfect line and length. One wicket saw the bail fly nearly to the boundary on the full. Ryder chipped in with a wicket to remind the crowd he was worth waiting for. By this time Scouse had lost about 3 stone through running (for charity?) from fine leg to fine leg and Mike had invented a new fielding position at close-in gully/point. Pick of the day for fielding was a close call. JC was challenging himself in the field by walking after balls, waiting until they got close to the boundary and then sprinting and diving at the last minute; thus making himself look much flasher than necessary. Meanwhile, Tricky was commanding at the top of his voice for someone to back up a sharp throw at the stumps, only to nutmeg himself with the ball and concede 4 runs. Luckily Both redeemed themselves with catches, although Tricky put on a show to the crowd by not only catching a ball, but juggling it as well. Not satisfied with the performance he also pulled a long series of handkerchiefs from his sleeve, bent a spoon and sawed the umpire in half.

With Mike Lea’s team on the ropes, and with a falling run rate, Blinky was brought back on from a different end where he soon discovered the mythical Line And Length. The ball was whipped down at near world-record pace and wickets were smashed. He bowled with venom and guile and cleaned up the middle order. At the end of the 34 overs (1 short due to the scorers confusing the 3 bearded kiwi bowlers) Mike Lea’s team had set a total of 191. Glen finished with 3 for 24, Blinky 2-20ish and Boland and Ryder with 1 apiece. Total figures were hard to determine due to the scorers’ screwups.

A pleasant tea of sandwiches and scones was topped off by two (probably of legal age your honor) young ladies doing their best to flit around in tiny skirts distracting most of the Maladroits. Rod Latham was heard to announce that he had cream on his scone.

With an imposing total ahead of them, the Maladroits were confident as the pitch was flat and outfield fast. Promised no match fees if he got a 50, Tricky opened up and bludgeoned the attack like a Canadian Seal Clubber. Playing all the shots in the book (not a cricket book) he dispatched the ball to all parts of the field. JC was his usual self at the other end, latching onto anything loose and punishing it like a hire car. Tricky eventually fell for 30 off about 3 balls to bring Lowis in. Lowis partnered with JC and continued to keep the run rate racing along. JC brought up yet another classy 50 which signaled his time to get himself out (some say just to give someone else a turn). Captain McBain came in fresh from jetting around Europe’s cheapest destinations and he picked up where JC left off. Hitting a few huge shots to the boundary he was looking good until missing a straight one and getting cleaned up. (Surely Boozer was tempted to inflate his match fees with ‘taxes’ and ‘surcharges’ just to get one back for the British holidaymaker.) Glen’s hitting eventually stopped when he was also cleaned up by a straight one, so a new fresh pair of Boozer and Mike were at the crease. Mike creamed one for six before departing almost straight away.

With still a few runs to get another Maladroit collapse was on the cards. However, Boozer played his anchor role with the text book in his back pocket, while Beale entered and opened the shoulders and smashed. One six nearly went back past mid on and straight over the tree on the full. The highlight of the innings was the shot that smashed into the bowler, felling him. Not content with nearly killing the bowler, Beale ran down the pitch and hurdled the him, almost literally rubbing dirt into the wound. Boozer and Beale (playing the innings of the season) continued to entertain the supporters until no runs were left to chase. The Maladroits cruised to victory with 6 overs to spare, wondering what total they could’ve set if they had only been able to bat first.

MOM Chris Beale for a great second spell and 29 not out.

DOD Tricky for ‘back up’ comments

Fielder of the Day: Scouse for running all over the field.

Honorable mention: Captain Baino for bringing down two cute girls

Matty’s maiden ton seals big win in Bradfield

• v Bradfield
• Saturday 24^th July
• Bradfield College
• MCC won by 7 wickets

Glen Lowis reports

News came through earlier this month, with the promise of the best pitches and a hog roast that could break all Maladroit records for match teas. As we drove along the M4, knowing we’d only have 10 to take the field, it was fair to say that we were all focussed on the hog roast, not the cricket.

Arriving at Bradfield College, it was immediately evident that this school was both older and bigger than my native New Zealand, and rather awe-inspiring. The wireless, electronic scoreboard was an early nominee for MOM honours. This was a setting that some of the Maladroits were more used to than others, and the pressure was on for a first-class performance.

Although we couldn’t smell the hog roast, we took to the field with the determination to earn the best tea of the season. It was a two pronged Kiwi pace attack to open the bowling. Pace and venom from Blinky ‘The Fist’ Beale (0–20) at one end, swing and guile from Lowis (1-10) at the other, and loads of energy from all in the field set the scene early on. With the Bradfield openers trying just to survive and not overworking the scorers, the first wicket fell courtesy of a Lowis swinger that curved around the lefthanders bat and knocked over middle stump.

Beale was given a few tips from Boland and found renewed vigour to send down a couple more tight overs, and when the bowling change came after 10 overs, Bradfield had struggled to 1 for 30. Paddy (2-5) and Ash (1-10) took to the bowling crease and the run rate dipped even further, and once they’d picked up three between them, Bradfield were in trouble. More inspired bowling saw the hosts limp to the drinks break at 5 for 60-odd.

Back from the drinks break, and it was more of the same in the when the sixth wicket fell to Rick (1-15) with the score on 83. With the match turning somewhat farcical, Boozer brought on the big guns of Mark Bowden (0-23) and the newly reformed spin-bowler Matty Boland. Bowling a mix of leggies and big full toss pies, Matty’s first (10 ball) over went for about 15 but strangely wasn’t in the scorebook.

The Maladroits proceeded to provide the Bradfield 7 and 8 plenty of scoring opportunities to ensure that we’d still have a game on our hands. Blinky came back on as a ‘spinner’ and JC took up the ‘attack’ from the school end. Offering up a loopy full toss first ball, JC was smashed, through the gaping hands of Lowis at mid-off and to the boundary. When questioned later, Lowis said that “the bowling didn’t deserve a wicket” and was proven right as it only got worse. After putting on 103 for the 7^th wicket, the two batsmen were denied their 50’s in the final over, finishing on 48 and 49 respectively and lifting Bradfield’s total to 6 for 186.

Out came the tea, as Bradfield put on a fantastic spread of ham, sausages, salmon, salads, strawberries and cream – and finished it off with some fine locally brewed ale. It was a tea of the highest order, but without having seen a pig on a spit, there was a little bit of disappointment.

As light drizzle swept over the ground, Matty and Mark walked out to the middle, keen to make a positive start. The bowling was solid enough, but on a good track and with 40 overs to chase down an average score, the Maladroits were optimistic from the start. With positive intent they kept out the good balls and hit anything that was short. The outfield was still relatively slow, but with their weight behind the ball, the boundaries didn’t take too long to start flowing.

Mark was out cheaply (10) before Baino joined Matty at the crease and upped the tempo. Baino quickly collected a couple of boundaries as both batsmen were level on 11. Matty had had enough and started to let loose as he sensed that this would be his day. At drinks, the Maladroits were slightly behind the required run rate, but well ahead of where the hosts had been at the same stage in their innings. Matty passed 50, for the second time this season, with a boundary, while Baino continued to build his innings.

Having brought up a chanceless 50, Matty unleashed a flurry of boundaries and was well into the 60’s. Baino, keen to make 50 on his ‘droits debut, was cut short on 38 bringing Paddy to the crease in the 25th over, with the score 2 for 142 and a win looking inevitable. The question was, could Matty push on and bring up his first ever hundred.

Into the 80’s, Matty was like a man possessed - possessed by a demon who wanted nothing more than to get him out - as he was dropped/missed three balls in a row. He ticked through over into the nineties and, when on 95, was all but out.

Rapped on the back pad in front of leg stump, his heart sank as the bowler appealed wildly, supported by his field. His fate in the hands of Lowis, he couldn’t bear to look and by the time he raised his head he saw the umpire’s index finger signalling the ball would have missed leg (and maybe a little bit uppish too). He hadn’t heard the NOT OUT decision and on thinking he had been fired, started to trudge off. Lowis yelled to a distraught Boland, telling him to come back while the fielders all began to celebrate seeing him walk on a dubious LBW shout. Lowis was left with no option but to call over, run back to square leg and hide out.

Play settled down a bit, until on 96, Boland lobbed a sitter out to square leg – only to be dropped again. His innings rapidly deteriorating, Matty squared up and pulled one to the boundary, raised his bat in triumph and retired before his average could be ruined.

That brought Rick (7*) to the crease, and by the time Paddy (12) fell the damage was done and it was up to JC (11*) to knock off the last few runs for a Maladroit victory with 5 overs to spare.

• MOM: Matty Boland (101*)
• Fielder of the Day: JC
• Debut: Baino, Paddy, Rick
• DOD: Glen (for ‘firing’ Matty on 95 and having to call him back)