The visitor is rewarded with a delightful view over a large verdant expense sloping down to the busy a road just the other side of a row of trees. It's one of a dwindling group of clubs on the circuit to offer a good tea, and visitors are hosted at the Running Horses for a bit of staged managed fine-making after the game.
This being the first weekend of the school holiday, both teams turned up short. We had 10 players, they had seven, and it's to their credit that they even turned up at all as seven is two fewer than my normal cancellation threshold (not that we've done that for a while).
Anyway, we agreed to lend them one of our better batsmen (Arun) to ensure a good game, and also a fielder, a courtesy which they returned. Someone's dad turned up after a while and that made it 9 against 9.
Batting first and led by Raki, Tim Baxter and our holidaying guest, Rajiv, opened the innings. They met with some very accurate bowling from one end (at least) which Tim, who's been looking for better form of late he tells me, treated with much circumspection. His first 26 balls were rewarded with just 5 runs; but with a change of attack he began to score more freely, eventually falling to an LBW decision courtesy of John Hawkins. Of course, Tim was "a long way forward" and it was "sliding down", but judging from the swiftness with which the finger was raised, John was in no doubt whatsoever!
Nevertheless, Tim and Rajiv can boast 64 runs for the opening partnership, and once Rajiv fell three runs later for 26, the baton passed to Jonathan Wilmot and Kishen. They pressed the gas pedal to take us swiftly onwards. By the time their partnership had been broken, 102 runs had been scored. Kishen got a 75 green-inker, his best score (to date) for the Mandarins.
John came in unusually late for a Mandarins number 5, and just as he was reaching lift off... Well there was something of a mix up with his batting partner - several decades age difference etc. - Tim had the pleasure / duty of giving John out. An unbeaten nine from Abhijit and with our old friend Johnny extras lobbying in 25, we reached 211 from 35.
With plenty of runs to spare and a decent tea inside us, we felt confident of defending our total. Mickleham started slowly, with the first wicket coming in the 5th over (Jonathan pouching a top edged skyer) when we'd conceded only 17.
And then Arun took a bit of a fancy to yours truly and my military medium fare, smashing a swift 36 - mostly in boundaries. Thankfully it wasn't to last, being trapped in front of middle with one that maybe didn't get up as much as expected.
Abhijit bowled a full, tight spell (2-23) and Rajiv chipped in with a couple of overs at the end, unlucky to have his maiden Mandarins wicket cancelled. No one could say for sure whether the ball had hit the stumps directly or bounced back off Jonathan's glove. So it goes.
But it was the Raki who made the decisive play when he brought himself on at second change. Mickleham lived the illusion for a while, responding to scoreboard pressure; but then wickets began to fall at a regular pace as the skipper finished with a 4-fer.
Catches were all taken if I recall - Kishen, Ravi and Jonathan taking the credit. LBWs were fairly awarded by both side, four in total.
And finally, we adjourned to the Running Horses where fines were distributed in the usual objective fashion, implemented as usual via the Malibu Delivery System. Tim & Kishen are representing the boys in mandarin, below.
Andy Heard
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