Chilmark vs Horningsham

26 April 2011
Friendly

We opened the 2011 season with a fixture against new opposition, Chilmark, from near Salisbury. They came with a reputation for being a good crowd and more than lived up to this in a very friendly 35 over game with a superb finish.

From a distance the field was looking beautiful, though close up the outfield was bumpy in places after a winter of football and the attentions of those cows, and it was also slow, which partly accounted for the relatively low scoring. The pitch itself did not behave as well as we hoped when we invested in relaying it over the winter, with a few balls keeping very low and others popping up.

After the luxury of a cup of tea served by Amanda Dye before the start, our captain preserved his unbroken losing streak at the toss and we found ourselves fielding first on a hot afternoon, initially with 10 men. Callum and Sam bowled tightly, the opposition, who were short of several of their best players, batted carefully, and it was a slow start - only four runs conceded in the first five overs.

A flurry of runs off the next few overs drew a positive response from our captain. He rested Callum (4 overs for 8 runs), brought himself into the attack, and took a wicket with his fifth ball of the season, an artful long hop that the No. 2 played on. 26 for 1 after nine overs.

About now Finn made a fashionably late entrance onto the field, blaming a heavy week end, and sporting a shaggy mohican hair cut and black shorts. In spite of this and his consumption of several cigarettes during play, he fielded like a gazelle all afternoon.

Sam meanwhile was receiving more punishment than usual, but was reluctant to be withdrawn until he taken taken a wicket. This he achieved in his final over, bowling their extremely competent opener, Stott; a good finish to a useful work out ahead of our first league game next week end. 50 for 2 after fourteen overs.

Now the game shifted a gear with double bowling change. Peter Stevens on debut was struck immediately for a six and a four, but recovered well and might have had a wicket, but couldn't hold a sharp return chance. Colin McCord's impact was immediate and astonishing: a hatrick with the last two balls of his first over and the first ball of his next. He was assisted in one of those wickets by an excellent diving catch by David O'Connor. It wasn't until Colin's third over that he conceded a run off the bat, by when he had four wickets. To be fair, after dropping two catches, he owed it to us. Angus then took him off to stop him getting unbearable. 67 for 6 of eighteen overs.

A second double bowling change brought Christy O'Connor's medium pace on from the top end and Tom Oborne's flighted googlies from the bottom. While Christie kept his end tight, Tom created more chances. One batsman tried to go after him in his first over and skied a catch to mid off, which Angus dropped. No matter; the other batsman charged him rashly in his second over and was stumped by David O'Connor, who was enjoying a flawless afternoon with the gloves. Two balls later an attempt at a quick single by the incoming batsman led to the run out of his rather disgruntled partner, with Oborne senior this time providing the sharp return from point for O'Connor to whip off the bails with the batsman's bat still in the air. In the space of four balls the Chilmark man umpiring at square leg had given two correct but tight decisions against his own team; a commendable show of fair play. 85 for 8 off twenty four overs.

This brought in 13 year old Jacobs, standing in for his injured father, and the young lad held out bravely while his partner batted intelligently and skillfully, with several excellent drives and sweeps to keep strike. They added 27 before Colin McCord returned to grab his fifth wicket - and prove he can catch, off his own bowling - and Tom Oborne induced an edge to finish them off a couple of balls later. 112 all out.

Tea - sandwiches, scones, refreshing slices of melon and watermelon - was excellent, and Horningsham's new opening pair of Oborne senior and Angus Hilleary went into bat in good heart. A few balls later they had redefined the term 'opening pair' , and Horningsham were two down for not much. 5 for 2 off two overs.

Fortunately Tony Reeves is a reliable man to have at number 3, and Callum is developing into a fine all-rounder. This was not Callum's day, however, as a ball from the quick opener jumped at him from a length and induced a top edge for a catch at square leg. Peter Stevens hit a four and six - losing the ball - then feathered an edge behind, and walked before the umpire could give him not out. Colin McCord looked in decent nick but had to go when the ball - or possibly vibrations from his bat hitting the ground - dislodged one extremely unstable bail from his wicket. 47 for 5 off eleven.

This brought David O'Connor to the wicket, and last year's opening pair found themselves in partnership again, with all the fancy stroke players out and the team in a mess; a point which was not lost on them. Indeed they looked set to take us carefully towards the line until Tony was adjudged lbw attempting a flick to leg. 55 for 6 off 19.

David, now joined by Sam, kept the score ticking along without risk until he too was adjudged lbw attempting a sweep to long leg. 70 for 7 off 24.

Christy and Sam kept things going for a few overs. But Chilmark smelled blood and went for the kill, bringing back the quick strike bowler. Christy backed away from his first delivery and was bowled. Sam went shortly afterwards, leaving us at 80 for 9. Tom Oborne and Finn Gunning at the crease, 33 to win off seven overs. Any chance? Tom played nervelessly, solid to the good balls, finding gaps, dispatching loose ones to the boundary, and Finn batted aggressively, powerfully, but with care, and together they reeled the target in. And so it went down to the last over and 2 to win. Finn took a single, Tom swept a 4, and they had compiled 36 chanceless runs to bring home a game that had been all but lost. A tremendous partnership and great finish to an enjoyable warm up for our season.