Hinton Charterhouse vs. The Venturers, Wednesday 20th
June 2007
Author: Ian Gillard
Hinton 167-4 Venturers 89-7 (20 overs),
I read somewhere that Hinton Charterhouse play cricket. In fact it may have been the walls of their pavilion, which is a shrine to the game, but one does not need to venture within those sacred walls to realise this fact. All you need to do is watch them play and it is readily apparent.
Duncan lost the toss and we were asked to have a bowl, which was not a bad result with only 1 outfield player in the squad not normally called upon for this duty. The decent seam attack was thinned by Duncan’s injury and he elected to rest both himself and Andy Watts for opening the batting, leaving the bowling honours to Chintan and Ian G. This was going to be difficult considering the quality of our opponents who took the field in the form of some youngsters whose obvious ability was enough to set alarm bells ringing, but Chintan opened our assault with a spell of accurate full-length deliveries and was unlucky to concede runs in the first over due to a spate of misfielding. These lapses were simply down to the two batsmen hitting the ball very hard over a bumpy outfield, but in the first over from the other end the fielders had little chance. Low confidence and a gusty headwind meant it took some time before a sufficient number of balls had landed on the pitch to permit the first over to end, but 13 runs were conceded, which rather took the edge off the maiden that Chintan sent down immediately after, which had the distinction of being the only one of the match.
Duncan’s faith in a better second over from his tallest bowler was almost rewarded when a straighter one lifted sharply off the pitch to the taller, and better, of the two batsmen. The ball sailed high into the air over Gareth at cover but the ball went down, which might have been due to his being a “specialist point fielder” and therefore unused to the high ball. With another 13 runs conceded and no confidence-boosting wicket Ian was very wisely asked to contribute further away from the cut strip, where his game was essentially finished stopping a fizzing, low bouncing drive awkwardly on a forefinger. He was replaced by Simon, who had the batsmen landing shots between fielders, but could not get the breakthrough. He was in turn followed by Ian B, who tempted the tall opener out of his crease to be stumped by Toby just short of his fifty, and with a dozen overs gone and the score just over a hundred we had a breakthrough. Some good bowling from Lee at the other end helped keep the score under some control, but despite Gareth holding onto a decent hard-hit flat catch and Andy W taking a really brilliant running catch at long-on, the match was getting away from us. Chris also bowled a decent short spell at the death, which accounted for their number three who looked in good touch.
The final total was 167, which was a lot, but actually not as bad as we thought it would be after ten overs and Duncan and Andy W took guard against a pint-sized quick bowler who bowled well and went for very few despite some lusty strokes from both batsmen. His run was about the longest we have seen but the batting was really good and quite up to the high standard of bowling, so in the eighth over when Andy top edged a good spinner to slip, it was an unexpected end to a strong innings of twenty-something from a first-wicket partnership of nearly forty. Richard joined Duncan at the crease and the two looked in good touch as they continued the good start, but Duncan eventually hit the good spinner to cover and it was no surprise when the young player took it easily. The score was 51 with ten overs gone, and Gareth strode out with quick runs needed and seven wickets in hand.
Now a victory was fairly unlikely, but a dignified 100+ score was certainly there to be had. Scampered singles mount up and a few weeks back Matt and Ian B put on thirty-odd from the last three overs doing just that, running five on the misfielded final ball. Unfortunately this game was different and a few overs later, when Richard called his partner through for a third run both batsmen found themselves at the same end. This misfortune became comedy when the long throw to the other end arrived as Richard started for the pavilion to be totally misfielded by the wicket keeper. The batsman abruptly darted for home, but when a fielder backed up and threw a simple pass towards the keeper from ten yards, he turned again towards the dressing room still halfway down the pitch. The keeper then missed the stumps and dropped the ball, and Richard put in a final dash to gain his ground. In the event Richard was still a yard or two short and after waiting for confirmation completed his journey back to the pavilion.
The mirth on the pitch at the bungled fielding, including the bowler lying helpless with laughter, was matched only by the frustration on the boundary as runs came slowly and eventually a big shot saw the ball collecting the off-stump. The resulting pressure on the middle order for quick runs was evident with Chintan and Fluffy holing out almost immediately trying to get something going, and Simon playing on off some good bowling. Amid the confusion Lee might also have batted with similar success, but injuries and quick wickets made a mess of the batting order and if he did I completely missed it. Chris and the crippled Toby put on a show at the end but although our opponent’s high standard of catching, ground-fielding and long throws was not matched by their bowling, the overall effect was enough to leave our total on 89, with 61 of these scored by the top three in just thirteen overs.
The pint afterwards was still deserved and the competition was friendly throughout making it a pleasant evening in some late sunshine at a fabulous ground. This is not all though as the final mention goes to Lee, who had a good game and won our vote for the Venturer who ‘looks most like a genuine umpire’. Standing inconspicuously with a trilby, white coat and relaxed stance he looked every part the professional umpire, and although some of our game was not as good as theirs, Lee at least gained us a narrow victory in this often-neglected discipline.