Venturers Vs Bill Owen, Wednesday August 21st

Bill Owen 182-8 dec; Venturers 186-5

We only had nine players, after two withdrawals because of deadlines (Prasanth) and French bureaucracy (Alex), and we had some trouble assembling those, as the local road menders had dug up half the lanes. We did, however, have a spectator, a cousin of Gregory’s who had come along for the contrast with her home on Manhattan. The opposition had eleven, but also fell into the holes in the road or left cakes behind. So it was later than we intended when we got started. For once we played according to the Laws, what is now known as a timed game. We did, however, agree a limit of ten overs per bowler.

Note for younger readers: that means that the match ends, if it has not done so earlier because somebody has won, after an agreed number of overs have been bowled after an agreed time. In this case we agreed, eventually, on 20 overs from 6:50. If the match is still incomplete at that point, it is a draw. A draw is not the same thing as a tie, which is a completed match in which the scores are level. If the scores are level in a drawn match with the last innings in progress, the side batting last has not won but is traditionally said to have “flippin’ murdered ‘em”.

The eponymous Bill Owen, celebrating his birthday (but forgetting the cake), opened the innings with Nigel, who keeps wicket and has made a lot of runs against us. Nigel was severe on Matt early on, when he dropped short, but Kevin was accurate from the start and Matt did not take long to find his length too. Bill Owen, who may have got away with a thin edge off Kevin earlier, eventually cut Matt hard to point, where Rasesh took a good catch. Nigel was dropped by the fieldsman we had been lent, but otherwise seemed secure.

At the fall of Bill’s wicket, in came the dangerous Sam, a Sri Lankan of considerable reputation as a batsman. He had a point to prove, as he had played against us twice before and was out second ball the first time and first ball the second time. Indeed, he did better today. The ball from Matt that he edged into Simon’s hands was his sixth. He has thus faced nine balls from us, has been out three times, and has not scored any runs. One of these days we shall have to pay for that.

Once Kevin and Matt had run out of overs, Simon and Gregory were equally difficult to score off, but it was a long time before we got another wicket. Mainly that was because Ian, Simon, Chris S and Rasesh would catch the ball and everybody else, including loaned fielders, wouldn’t. When we did get a wicket it was bizarre: Gregory, accurate until then, started his fourth over with three wildly misdirected short balls. The first two were wides, but Nigel just reached the third and walloped it at Chris S, who of course caught it. Gregory then went back to bowling properly and got no more wickets until his very last ball.

Simon eventually got somebody to give Ian a catch, but did begin to leak runs towards the end of his spell and gave Rasesh a bowl instead. This proved expensive as Rasesh didn’t seem used to it, although he showed signs of improving with practice. When Gregory ran out of overs the situation was made for Prasanth, who wasn’t there. His role was played by Ian, who looks about as unlike Prasanth as it is possible to look but otherwise did a good impersonation and collected three wickets, sensibly doing most of the catching himself. At the other end Chris M’s tidy over of slow left-arm just before the declaration showed who should have been bowling.

We thought they had too many runs and with only nine to bat we did not rate our chances of drawing highly either, but Chris M and Matt gave us an excellent start. Neither opening bowler really troubled them, though both bowled well, and Sam’s flattish offspin was also negotiated with some confidence. The very slow but extravagantly spun left-arm wrist-spin from the other end was a different matter. Chris top-edged; Matt, quite a bit later, miscued and Rasesh simply missed. By that time Chris S was playing well and we had enough time. We needed somebody to stay with him, but the opening bowler returned and Kevin, having a rare rush of blood, plunked him into mid-on’s hands. We needed Roger to stay there, and he did; but, still with more than forty needed, Chris hit across the left-armer and was leg before.

Ian, conscious that only Simon and Gregory were to come, was defensive, and time, by now measured in overs, was becoming a problem for us too. Without much warning, though, Roger gained confidence and started attacking; not wildly, but positively. Moreover, because of the agreement about not bowling more than ten overs, Bill Owen were obliged to use a fifth bowler (we had used seven); and when Roger attacked him too, successfully, we were suddenly winning easily. Another wicket might still have led to panic or forced us to seek refuge in a draw, but Ian remained solid and it never came.

Scorecard <table id="scorecardframe"> <tr> <td> <table id="scorecard"><tr> <td>Chris M</td> <td> 21 </td> </tr><tr class="alt"> <td>Matt R</td> <td> 38 </td> </tr><tr> <td>Chris S</td> <td> 54 (2 ct) </td> </tr><tr class="alt"> <td>Rasesh</td> <td> 5 (1 ct) </td> </tr><tr> <td>Kevin</td> <td> 7 </td> </tr><tr class="alt"> <td>Roger</td> <td> 40 n.o. </td> </tr><tr> <td>Ian</td> <td> 10 n.o. (3 ct) </td> </tr><tr class="alt"> <td>Simon</td> <td> d.n.b. </td> </tr><tr> <td>Gregory</td> <td> d.n.b. </td> </tr><tr class="alt"> <td></td> <td> </td> </tr><tr> <td></td> <td> </td> </tr></table></td><td class="gap"></td><td style="width:250"><table id="scorecard">