Anticipation filled the air, the spark of nostalgia.. EVERYWHERE?! And so, as the 6th ‘scheduled’ match day of the season dawned (wisely Gems only booking this down as our 2nd home game) it really felt as if the dawn of summer had arrived.. It was also finally time for the Wanderers to step into action on our own recently adopted pasture for the first time in 2018!
{A washed out April putting pay to the first attempt}
That time was delayed a little as the lady with all the answers was struggling to bypass a few Minis in the Brighton area!.. In the meantime the rest of us were greeted to a delightful looking square but lush (aka heavily hay strewn!) outfield. Not much value for keeping it on the deck one would think 
“What’s a good score? 160-180.. 200?!” the usual chat. One would think 180 would take some getting for most..
Big G won the toss (new skip brings new fortunes it seems!) and with a strong top 7 against a few youthful looking opponents he took the positive move of batting first. And himself an Jordan strode to the wicket with barely a hint of trepidation between them.. And so to the action we go!
After a couple of quiet overs scoring wise (skip being dropped off a big skier early doors!) things BURST into life with Jordan punishing the young opening bowlers severely for any mistakes in their length, ‘Gwyll-i-am’ soon joined the party with the first maximum and at drinks part 1 these two beasts of men had accelerated us to 76-0 off 10!!
This rudely timed interruption clearly affected our skip as he soon perished to the added experience of C.J the change bowler for 24. This brought the in form Mr Barber to the crease and not long after Jordy was cleaned up by the pace of their skipper for a sparkling 42 to usher Matt Butcher to join Will and the squeeze was on!
Drinks part 2 came and went and soon after Matts battle was over and at 118-3 after 21 it was your match reporters opportunity to have a go… I am happy to report that after a slow (aka Boycott-esque!) first few overs Will and i began to stitch together a partnership with memories of Arundel last year fresh in our minds.
The run rate started to increase again as both men fed off one another’s positivity. The combination of big hitting and running between the wickets truly was poetry in motion and ‘liquid cricket’ was once again the go to phrase 😉
With a mere 8 balls remaining yours truly attempted one slog too many and had to trudge off for 64.. Will remained to massage his season average “cough end the innings in style cough”with a delightful 68* and Ash just had enough time to trouble the scorers with a swift 8* 261-4 off our 40!!! STUNNING. And with Joe not even making it to the crease a real embarrassment of riches indeed.
Tea was taken and the skip had put on a real smorgasbord of delights. The opposition took their time to take stock of the whirlwind that had just blown through their bowlers, the sun continued to shine and we took to the field eager to make early in roads to make the game safe..
Lord Sponge had certainly got the message as ball one was RIGHT ON THE MONEY! Top of off with laser like precision and the ball was rolling!!
Baker J kicked things off from the west end with a maiden and then Luke found the magic again in BOTH his following two overs!! His accuracy was simply immense, the Yellow Stumps were indeed in more than a small patch of their own self titled colour and soon after Joe picked up 2 for himself and we had them under the cosh at 20ish for 5!!
D.J relieved Luke and one would surely expect a let up in the relentless accuracy and scrooge like bowling?! NONSENSE! If anything the precision of the deliveries increased! Their skip had his back truly against the wall and went into zero risk mode as the dots racked up.. Runs began to flow from the other end as Ant (partly due to some shoddy ground fielding!) and Ash both got a bit of tap and even i was dragged out for a trundle.. (Dave had since signed off for a stunning 8-3-11-1 and still remains the oldest swinger in town, MAJESTIC.) Did it all matter much in the grand scheme of things? Not particularly 😀
Jordypops joined the attack and finally ended the long vigil of their main man for 78 with a dodgy lbw call (other opinions are available) as the match drew to a close. Some excellent defence from their tail saw them just about see out the 40 overs, deny Luke what would have been a well deserved 5 for, and the hands were shaken with the home side running out victors by a 135 run margin.
Many thanks to both Dave and Gemma for scoring a full innings each! The weather for staying beautifully lovely throughout and little Junior for behaving himself.
And a special mention to Danno for some cracking (eccentric of course) glove work which would have done M.J (and possibly even Monsieur Noakes!) proud.
The man of the match points were (clearly!) a tough decision in such a team effort and this was the outcome..
5 Luke Smith
3 Lloyd Crathern/Will Barber
1 Dave Field/Joe Baker/Jordan Wilson.
If you made it this far, i applaud you! until we meet again folks,
Yours sincerely,
Lloyd Crathern.
