SCORECARD

Rain fails to dampen Fitmen spirits.

The old adage “Catches win matches” came to the fore again in round 1 of the 2014 series against Highcroft at the Graveyard.
Skipper for the day Ricardo Harris sporting a very fetching coloured neck scarf, along with (as always) a pristinely coiffured Barnet manufactured a winning toss (due to the oppo’ only having 4 present at 2PM). I am sure he would have bowled first on a moist greeny-brown looking wicket anyway, but the assembled “masses” of the Fit-ish XI lumbered onto the playing arena.
Guy and Ash opened up and pretty much won the game in the first 40 minutes with excellent spells. The pitch offered movement, the guile of the bowlers delivered swing and seam and the opening 3 batsmen were back in the hutch by the end of the 10th over. Guy bagged all 3 – one with the assistance of a very well taken catch by Tucker, and the other 2 clean bowled. Ash was very unlucky not to take wickets but tied up the other end suffocating any free scoring shots.
1st change brought on Sharif (clad in seal skins to protect his delicate frame from the elements) and the irrepressible Raj Singh, the oldest swinger in town, who immediately nibbled out 2 of the middle order in quick succession. If he hadn’t bowled his slower ball (refined throughout the winter nets) which both were dispatched to the boundary…his 2 for 8 would have been 2 for zero. Good bowling all the same. Sharif grunted and growled his way to 1 for 15 before Chris Jones and Ade Martin were quickly brought into the game before all the wickets had fallen. Martin 0 for 6 off 5 was miserly whilst Jones 1 for 31 was a touch more generous, but he did grab the key scalp of their “biffer”. Whilst Chris gets the wicket, huge help was given by a brilliant catch by Tom in the deep, preventing the ball from going for 6 was one thing but holding the catch was quite superb.
Highfield – All OUT 107.
The renovated club house was in top shape and allowed all to gorge on the delights of tea in comfort. The new barmaid Tina Caesar was buxom and bawdy, but delivered the ales in the wink of an eye. Well done TC, top work. Pakora from Raj deserves special mention, although I’m not buying salad leaves again if no one wants to be healthy!
Despite occasional downpours throughout both innings, the pitch and outfield was holding up very well and the classic opening pairing of Howarth and Caesar jnr strode to the middle. A quick fire 6 off 13 balls was enough for Howarth before he pulled a ball straight to square leg. Tom was caught off their “quickie” for 10 bringing the evergreen Rob Green to the crease. His tenure only lasted 1 ball with a snorter to leave him clean bowled for the golden of duck variety.
Neck-scarf and all, Harris loves a challenge and facing the hatrick ball wielding the borrowed 3LB Hawk, nerves in the club house were shredded. Not so for the ever confident one who produced a dazzling display of class, crass and crash bang wallop to deliver a match winning 58 off only 35 balls. Tucker came in, had a look, played a few nice shots and then departed, leaving (a very lucky) Sharif to come in at 6, take 21 balls to score 1 and then score 19 off his next 11 deliveries to bring the game home.
Always nice to get the first win of the season. Bring on the WMD !