SCORECARD

Allround Fitmen team effort trumps exuberance of youth

It was with a slight sense of panic when Skipper for the day Raj arrived to the ground in the knowledge he had completely cocked up and picked 12 players for the game; fortunately the minor crisis was averted, even as the skip was preparing to drop himself. In typical Fitman tradition the solution came in the form of a still inebriated Tom Houlgate after a late session with Mr Carling the night before. Clear the afore-mentioned relished the idea of a hair of the dog rather than exertion around a cricket field and who can blame him? And so onto the match.

In slightly overcast skies, and with the weather forecast threatening rain later in the afternoon, it was with mild surprise when the Oppo Captain won the toss (calling tails) and decided to have a bowl first. This news was met with enthusiasm by the Fitmen, most of whom subsequently retreated to the bar for much anticipated lubrication.

Mo and Jawad started steadily against the tight new ball teenage tearaways but crucially did not lose an early wicket. Characteristically it was a long hop that did for jawad as he tamely pulled to midwicket. With the introduction of Tom Caesar, the scoring rate steadily increased and at drinks the score was a solid if unspectacular 90 odd.

There was a further acceleration to the scoring once Uncle Mo found his mojo again and passed 50 for the first time in the season: Mo would end up making 92 and Tom continued his good form with back to back 50s.

Once these 2 were out, there were vital contributions from the other batsmen (with the noted exception of Faraz getting a golden ) and late cameos from Chris “Velo” Jones and Dave Healy ensured the Fitmen went into the tea break with a satisfying 253 runs to play with.

Towards the end of the Innings there was a steady drizzle which meant play would have to be delayed. The Oppo skipper, possibly thinking about the long drive home, was doing his best to talk us out of getting back onto the field. However, the executive decision was made that play would, in fact, start at 5pm and fortunately the rain also ceased around this time.

“Deadly” Dave Healy opened the bowling (along with Raj) and proceeded to do his best “grumpy fast bowler” routine and sledge the young batsmen; especially the left hander who made an injudicious hoick across the line (a reoccurring theme) on a few occasions. This led the oppo skipper, who was also umpiring at the time, to defend his young charges causing the Fitmen Skipper to intervene. The situation, however, was exacerbated when back to back lbw shouts were refused: in fact the umpire was raising his arm and finger to give the second out but another word from the bowler scuppered that prospect. Despite this minor incident, both openers bowled tidily and both were rewarded with a wicket apiece.

The oppo batsmen were intent on scoring and were adept at putting the bad ball away and were actually ahead of the Fitmen in terms of the scoring rate until the main turning point of the game occurred. Sensing that the batsmen were beginning to look more comfortable with the quicker bowlers and were not taking any chances with the frugal Sharif, the Skipper decided to introduce Sam “Lara’s stalker” Lockyer into the attack 1 over before the drinks break. This was the breakthrough we needed and, with the left-hander not knowing whether to stick or twist, was subsequently bowled. Regular wickets continued to tumble and the squeeze was applied at the right times to ensure the Oppo were never likely to challenge our score.

In the end the Fitmen were deservedly comfortable winners by 42 runs. The pleasing aspect was that all the bowlers managed to get at least 1 wicket (apart from the unfortunate Sharif) and the catching and fielding were very good, with 3 solid catches and 1 run out from Mo.