Ockley v The Min

Played at Ockley on 12/05/1991

The Min batted first and scored 175 for 6 wkts. Ockley were 93 for 9 wkts when time ran out
Result: Match Drawn

Match Report

From our Cricket Correspondent

We may have had to endure a distinctly dodgy tea and a good 4 hour wait for the first witty shout from the A29 but there was plenty of incident in Ockley for Min aficionados to chew on.

Having been inserted it quickly became clear that boundaries were going to be hard to come by, even for the mighty Earn and his new opening accomplice, the artful David W. Together they set a solid foundation with scampered 1s, 2s and even, dare I say it, the odd sweaty 3. All of this hectic work was necessary because of the length of the outfield which meant that the ball tended to bounce twice before dying an unseemly death shy of the rope. Naturally this galled the Earn before long and after he had holed out trying to get some action the legendarily meek Min middle order swung into action.

Mo took up the reigns and set about hitting a lively and aggressive fifty, with some actual boundaries for good measure. He was ably supported by Will and Bes who both chipped away with nice contributions. Coyley and Jim then managed to produce a more traditional middle order wobble. But while Wiggy champed at the bit, like a greyhound in the slips on the sidelines, peddling an endearing sense of his own humbleness - “I’m wasted down here I am. I was fantastic in the nets all winter. Fantastic.” - Harry and Mo put the finishing touches to a really good, perhaps with hindsight always unassailable total of 175.

It continued to be Mo’s day as Earn later took 5 wickets for him. The characteristically aggressive bowling of Wiggy and Harry was simply too good for the Ockley top order to get near and so the spin option was employed. In the absence of Ned - up to his elbows in lemon drizzle cake it must be assumed - it fell to Earn to provide Mo’s change bowling. Earn hit one of those purple patches which put one in mind of the summer of ‘89. He rolled back the years and the wickets tumbled to reveal the soft underbelly of the Ockley line up. Sadly that underbelly proved to be two quite proficient youths with a propensity to ‘allow the umpires to make a decision’ in the event of an edge, the sound of which twice echoed around the ground. Their dogged resistance held until Bes brought himself on for a final glimpse of the tinted splendour of the late 80s, taking two swift wickets to set up a tense finish. With an Australian feel to the ring of steel around the bat, the Ockley number 11 denied us the victory we perhaps deserved, but he did have a fabulous set of whiskers and an endearing manner to compensate. So 1-0-1 and a very solid start.

Man of the match - Mo

Pickled Egg - Richard Beswick for a dropped catch.

M Gupta’s 2nd 50. R Earney’5 5th Michelle

The Min Innings

Fall of Wickets

Bowling

Ockley Innings

Fall of Wickets

Bowling

Win/Loss Ratio

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