SCORECARD

Catches win matches

Ribald discussion in the Martin household whether this was:
A. Aphorism – A pithy observation which contains a general truth. Comes from a Greek word meaning “definition”. A term first coined by Hippocrates
B. Truism – A statement that is obviously true and says nothing new or interesting

The work of the Fit Captain sways from the sublime to the ridiculous at times. Nutter laid low by Covid and Jackie baby with a lightly sprained wrist, led to Monty Martin and Tony Thaper stepping up at the 11th hour.
Tails called, Fitmen bat 1st.
Tom who last won a match with his fellow Fitmen on the 8th Sept 2019, was asked to open up with ex-fast bowler Joe looking to follow up on his excellent mid-week knock. 20-30 MPH gusting wind made life difficult for all involved. Slightly sticky track made driving treacherous all day. Definitely one for the pulling and glancing fraternity. Tom showing his class facing decent accurate bowling made it through to drinks whist Joe 13 off 23 and the ever athletic Stevie Nicks 24 off 38 both helped the Fitmen set a solid foundation. Sharif given a chance at 4, made 1 off 14 balls to leave the Fitmen 88 for 3 after 20. We should never doubt our ageing grunter however. Actions speak louder than words! As we will see later…

Vice-Captain Howarth who deserves all the credit (but give him an inch and he’ll take a mile), tinkered with the batting order to push Stu Mould into the affray to deliver much needed impetus. It had taken our club comedian 53 matches to register his first club 50 and yet amazingly within 11 days he had his 2nd. 5 fours, 3 big sixes and taking only 29 balls, it was a quite remarkable knock. Jonny Bairstow on Ketamine! No one found batting easy on either side all afternoon, making this a high tariff half century indeed.
Tom was out bowled straight after drinks, so it was down to Howarth to play the supporting role in a 64 run partnership with Stu. One key element of the days play was the number of dropped catches by the Old Dom’s – 5 in total if memory serves. On a tricky pitch, giving batsmen so many 2nd chances, in turn gave the Fitmen the ability to post a very good total, when if catches were taken, maybe a 150-160 was more on the cards.

Monty Martin in at number 7 scored his first Fitman runs with 7 off 9 balls including an exquisite swish through mid-wicket for a boundary. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, but that’s not a shot in my (One shot) kit bag. Well done son! Billal next in delivered his own batting Fitman PB, a superb 48 off 36 with 7 fours and a maximum. The opening bowlers came back on and the fact that Bicey only managed 8 off 16 and Ade 4 off 12 balls, shows that it was tough out there, yet Billy made run scoring look easy. Superb work. Tony Thaper scored the final run of the innings to finish on a respectable 229 for 9.

Fair play to the Old Dom’s for putting on the first tea of the season. With the wind blowing, a hot cup of tea was just the tonic.
Ade and Billal opened up and despite one over being pinged for 3 boundaries, managed to keep the score down whilst both grabbing a wicket apiece. Memories of Sharif’s disappointing day with the bat were expunged with a brilliant spell of bowling. 8-0-33-4 were his best figures since June 2019 and along with a sharp caught and bowled he was ably supported in the field by some excellent catches.

Tom C held onto a superb diving catch at extra cover to remove their best bat, Howarth’s soft hands safely pouched another and Stevie Nicks caught another 2, but moment of the day had to be the catch held by Monty. A high steepling catch down at deep mid-on with a really blustery wind to contend with, he had to make up some ground as well. As the ball travelled towards him an audible “ Oh No” came from Monty as he pouched the catch. Even more pressure that I’d bet him £100 if he managed to hang on to a catch. A proud dad moment for sure.

Even with a bad back, Joe Little can still ping it down faster than any of us, although it was a vegetable product of a long hop that got him his wicket…again Welcome to the way of the Fitman Joe! Just to add a further sprinkle of glitter to an already very good day at the office, Stu then bagged another 2 wickets and the game was almost done.
For the record, Old Doms after 20 were on a similar 90 runs as the Fitmen had been, however they had already lost 8 wickets, with zero dropped catches.

It could have all been very different. A spirited 10th wicket partnership kept the Fitmen honest, but in the 31st over Stevie Nicks castled their No.11 and a win by 90 runs was garnered.

With the sun shining there was just time for a cheeky post-match pint and discussion at pretty much the half way point of the season (21 Fixtures to go), of possible records and matches to come….
Man makes plans, God laughs