|
Felixstowe Corinthians won by 147 runs
Match sponsored by Keith Bishop
Well after my holiday walking with Dean Sykes I was, as promised, in need of serious counselling as in a kissing gate on the Pembrokeshire coastal path he forced himself upon me and gave me a French kiss; tongues with Sykes? I know to any red blooded male nothing will seem so repugnant. I had the taste of that slightly salty tongue with me for the rest of the day; in fact the experience haunted me for the remainder of the week and at nights whilst sharing a bedroom with him I hardly dared shut my eyes. Anyway enough of such nightmares as, after a week away, I returned refreshed and raring to take on the might of the unbeaten Felixstowe Corinthians in the home watch at Brockley
Blackledge was back after his chastening experiences captaining the side at Coggeshall with ten men (he didn’t even have the dog) although Alan Grimwood did help out. Whilst I was away Mark played in a match at Brockley which illustrated the gulf between his approach to life and mine; a couple of years ago at the end of a game against Haverhill my car windscreen was smashed by a big six, I returned to Newmarket in a very bad temper until at Lidgate my exhaust fell off. Mark’s windscreen was also smashed in the recent game and his response without so much as a pause for breath was "Good shot."
Well that’s the bit that Bob Fenner enjoys done with now the match report. Our wicket plays match better with the hard new ball earlier in the afternoon and I bat better when fresh rather than after the turmoil’s of an afternoon in the field and yet despite the sound and wise advice of Martin to bat first I foolishly, on winning the toss, elected to field. It was a chastening afternoon and after just a few minutes the delights of the Pembrokeshire coastal path seemed a distant memory.
I must look at the alignment of the Reed family beds as it seems a number of the household are struggling to get out on the right side including Shinn who spent his first two overs muttering about having to bowl into the wind [now if our President, KB, reads this report he’ll be thinking "getting some of his own medicine" as as a young fast bowler I had many similar "conversations" with KB who at that time was long suffering first team captain] having gotten his temper under control (a bit sooner than I used to) he bowled tightly however Kimber failed to produce the fine form of previous weeks and a early dropped catch proved crucial as the Felixstowe openers both went on to score fifties. An excellent catch by the athletic Mingay bought some relief from the onslaught and the young bowlers again all tried their hardest and showed great reserves of character with Brame and Grimwood picking up useful wickets. It was good to witness that the majority of the team also supported each other with lots of verbal encouragement. Despite a couple of crucial dropped catches the teams’ fielding was of the usual high standard.
252 was always going to be somewhat challenging, realistically the young Brockley side were never going to get near the Felixstowe score, with contact lenses in I fiddled about for a few and Blackledge was unlucky to be caught out by a spectacular catch. The batting collapse of our middle order was disappointing with a number of our young batters playing poor shots that they will have been disappointed with. T. Fenner, trying hard to follow his wise old granddad’s advice, to build an innings became bogged down; he needs to incorporate his positive and fearless stroke play into longer innings as the careful approach seems to affect his fragile confidence. I do take some responsibility for young Brame’s horrendous cross bat heave as my pre match lecture on the need to play the ball later obviously caused some confusion; Jack like Tom is a natural stroke maker and advice from those involved in his coaching mustn’t constrain this natural flair. There were some positives with our batting as all the tale enders played useful innings. Mingay after hours practising his forward defensive shot with his batting coach [Joe Reed] rolled it out with considerable success; if Phil can now turn this straight bat shot into a drive he will score runs consistently. Kimber also has worked hard on his batting and his score of 10* was his highest second team score. Shinn considered himself unlucky to have been given out bowled after the wicket keeper appealed for a stumping however he did accept my conciliatory gesture of fish and chips on the return journey home. Best of this week’s young batters however was the talented Steve Fenner; who’s batting once again impressed; all members of the team should learn from Steve’s positive shot selection.
Once again we enjoyed a magnificent tea; it appears we have the reputation of providing the "best teas in the league"; I do look forward to the time when we have the reputation for being “the best team in the league”.
Quote of the day came from Kimber who in the changing room after the game said," I’m getting fed up with losing." I empathised with him!
This week’s man of the match is Steve Fenner; keeping wicket for the first time he conceded few byes, caught a good catch and was tidy and elegant proving his grumpy old father correct who had told me, "He’ll make a good keeper". The thing is Bob he’ll also make a fine bowler?
Phil Mingay’s beautifully judged high catch was a contender for the "Champagne Moment" but in Blackledge’s post match absence I have awarded it to Grimwood for holding his nerve after being hit for six and bowling Corinthian’s hard hitting batsman with a well disguised slower ball.
Phil Reed |
