SCORECARD

A game of 4 bits
Old Mo 181 all out; Coftonians 185-8
Coftonians win by 2 wickets.

Early season optimism continued past the toss and deep into the Fitmen innings. It then stuttered, returned for a bit and was then snuffed out.

A losing toss by the oppo gave Raj the luxury of choosing to bat. On returning to the dressing room and casting his eye round, he then spotted we only had one opener and eyes were averted from the skipper’s gaze...who boldly decided to join Tom in the middle.
All went well on a warm and sunny early season day. Raj only saw about 5 balls in the first 5 overs by which time Tom had powered to 25 at 78 only to fall for a leg stump bail nudger.

Raj then began to find the middle of the bat before a trademark uppish one. Mr T looked comfortable and along with Umberto (checking out Sharif’s new borrowed bat) looked to be taking the game away from Coftonians before T fell to a skier. Tuckerrr mercifully didn’t hang around to try and boost his single figure strike rate, Taz middled a couple and then Sharif got stuck in long enough for Rich to get to his 50 in fine style ....he ended with 66 at 166 and is first Fitman to gross triple figures this season.
Sunny (indoor batsmen of the season) blasted a quick fire 20 at 130 before all hell broke loose and from a promising position at the 30 over stage the 200+ target galloped away over the horizon.

A remarkable achievement of a golden duck in every game was continued with Ash the victim this week…………there’ll be some nervousness at Bromsgrove on Thursday night. Guy also didn’t trouble the scorer but lasted three times as long as Ash before Nutterrrr nurdled a boundary off his first ball to keep Richard company at the end. The Fitmen pretty much shaded ¾ of the first innings but then lost the last 25% in big style.

Half time, change ends. Mrs Singh’s Parkora was right up there but the bottom dredged salmon sarnies (that would have shocked Greenpeace) complimented the mechanically reconstituted cheese filling variety perfectly. On the plus side spicy chicken wings were back on the menu………..mmmmm……..and of course the delightful mini pasties that taste so much nicer warmed up but weren't, so didn't. Aspalls, Spitfire and EPA washed it down……

181 – was that enough? Your correspondent thought this was 20 light but that the hosts had the bowling firepower.

This proved spot on to start with as the Guy’n’Ash show conceded more than usual but picked up more wickets than usual as well - 3 wickets at 4.86 and 2 @ 4.43 respectively. 5 had gone well before 3 figures were up and whilst Coftonians games are never a canter, this looked like a reasonable opportunity for dressage by the Fitmen.

The Cava moment was provided by Keeperrrr…………..skier….. “keeper” went the shouts......."Sunny" went the slips…….’"parry it" went the crowd and he duly claimed the assist as he touched it over the bar to S. Singh.

With 6 and 7 at the crease you felt that another wicket would come soon and the end would be in sight. The visitor’s youth policy (average age has plummeted from recent times) saw that didn’t happen and a belligerent rear-guard action began to turn into a real threat. From the threat (splattered with a couple of hefty sixes) came the ascendency and suddenly it was the home side scratching for the vital wickets. A couple did come but being well ahead of the strike rate a couple of decent blockers could see them home.

That didn’t happen, it was more a Bothamesque smash it at ‘em and even when the 8th wicket fell, there wasn’t enough on the board to give the home bowlers a chance. Even 20 more runs might not have done it, but certainly a 200+ score gives a psychological edge.
Another good close game played in the usual excellent spirit.

Revenge is of course a dish best served cold and indeed there is 4 month wait to cool down before the next opportunity against Coftonians. By which time I. Surplice may well have recovered from his trip to the flesh pots of Spain in his inter-generational Stag gate-crash. His return should get the visitors back to their normal strike rate……roll on September!