Match Report

U17’s Bardsey vs Saxton

10th May 2010

Bardsey 90-6 Saxton 87-8 Bardsey win by 4 wickets

After every other Saxton team had won their games (U 13’s, U 15’s, 2nd and 1st team) there was a huge amount of pressure placed upon the previously undefeated U 17’s to topple Bardsey and give Saxton a 100% record for the weekends fixtures, however, this is unfortunately no fairytale. Beaten in the last 2 balls left a dejected and unusually quiet Saxton team to face the high class portaloos after the match... With Todd and Jefferson out (Jefferson admitting to putting kickboxing before cricket - I will leave you to your own thoughts about his level of committment) replacements came in the form of Mr Volleyball and Jacques Kallis, leaving the team arguably stronger and were looking in an even better position to take the 3 points at the start of the match.

Bardsey opened up with a ‘not slow’ bowler (thank you for that intelligent and complete description Hezy) the second we’ve faced in 2 weeks, 0 – 100mph in half a second, meant it was tough to score at first, with Ben Williams skying one for the keeper and Donald tamely pulling a ball to short mid-wicket. Kallis and Jonny, numbers 3 and 4, both hit a 6, Kallis’ was a beautiful straight drive (something we will surely hear about for the rest of the season) and Jonny’s was battered away over mid-wicket. Yet, Saxton were unable to accelerate, they needed to find the right gear as soon as possible to give them a turbo boost. So, in stepped Tiger Woods... and out stepped Tiger Woods... Followed by Usain Baxter who was unable to repeat last week’s performance against Spofforth. Smiley, Chief, Fernando Alonso and Mr Volleyball all were encouraged by the travelling Saxton faithful, convinced that it was time to hit out, yet the Saxton innings stalled, never really having any serious conviction – why Chris was playing defensive shots in the last over remains a mystery. Pottsy + others were also fairly interested in grading the local wildlife “maybe she doesn’t have a nose” is possibly my favourite quote of the match. So, we finished on 88 after 18 overs, which is defendable, only if the fielding is spot on...

In a parallel universe, Jonny’s would have stuck, Chief wouldn’t have got stage fright and if only Hezy had a few more inches on him............... This would have removed a talkative opener, a cocky number 3 (who smacked Styan for 6 the ball after, placed between 2 cars, apologies to Mr Volleyball for bringing that up) and another cocky number 4, who despite having a few lives and being disliked by the entire Saxton team managed to floor the accelerator to pull off a match-winning innings and credit is probably deserved. Meanwhile, Mook was wandering around, determined to go anywhere but where he was asked to... typical golfers! Some shimmers of hope in the fielding with a diving Donald and sharp work from Ben Williams to keep the singles at bay, yet, we were quickly brought back to reality with Smiley letting one run away between his legs for 4 and poor communication from 2 Saxton players who don’t deserve to be mentioned (call for the high one, seriously, my sister could have caught that) “catches win matches” was the constant shout from Atkinson... how right he was proved to be.

The above mentioned number 4 was arguably ‘out’ twice, a swish at a short one from Styan led to a catch from Baxter (the nick could have been heard in South Africa) and I’m still convinced the run out was valid, even the opposition umpire seemed to agree. But, heads up, further down the road we’ll get some luck coming our way! Dennis and Woodsy bowled the final 2 overs and both had clearly been drinking their pre-match litre of petrol, both with machine-like speed and accuracy, making it tough for Bardsey, yet they pulled through with just the 2 balls to spare... unlucky boys, a slightly bigger total and the game would have been ours.

In case people are interested in monitoring half of the more reckless and older members of Saxton players safety, do not fear, the journey home was both safe and sensible. There was no-one hanging out of windows, no obscene gestures, no overtakes at a junction (I’m still having dreams about that, poor Chris), eyes remained glued on the road at all times and speed limits were obeyed throughout the short duration of ‘The Saxton Championship’ The team morale building exercise forced upon us by coach Ian (front passenger in team Stephen Schumacher) worked well and took our minds off the despairing defeat... on that note, congratulations to Schumacher upon claiming the checkered flag.

Let’s move it up a gear for an important cup game against Shadwell next week then lads.

A disappointed Donald