4/8/07 - Leighton Buzzard 2 V 2nd XI

The team took the slow road to LB on a blazing afternoon and found we were in the field. Spurning the chance for a fifteen minute fielding practice, we rejected a sharp, but critical, chance in the gully at an early stage and settled back to watch opener, Brazier, play his shots – offering him regular reprieves in order to prolong the pleasure.

Finally Jim gave latest signing, Ed Oakley, his first wicket for the twos by clutching a firmly struck pull, two-handed, both feet off the ground, as it went away from him at mid-on.

We continued to let Brazier off as both hard and rather the opposite chances went down. In between drops he went on getting well forward and striking firmly. Finally Lewis, nearing the end of a lengthy opening spell, tried a half volley on leg stump. It was struck hard and high towards the mid-wicket boundary.

Starting from backward square, Hugh was seen eating up ground with enormous strides as he raced along in front of the tennis courts. Finally he threw himself however many metres his full length is and took the catch marginally above ground level.  It would, as they say, have been a great catch in any class of cricket, but Brazier’s 59 out of 92-3 had laid a daunting foundation.

After that we took wickets with some regularity, including three in one over from Ed, but nonetheless the score mounted to 174 all out. The team was too busy having tea to offer the openers any chuck-downs and our batting soon looked like an out of practice side trying to remember how to play an innings.

The first ball crashed into Hugh’s crease-bound size nineteens and he looked up to find, as Shakespeare could have told him, that parental mercy is a rare commodity. And from that moment on our batting simply did not match up to the challenge.  Only Jim, elbow high, bat classically straight, looked as if he knew what game he was trying to play. But when 20* is top score, 174 looks, and is, mountainous.

79 all out was a poor showing. Even with the early disasters, we hardly looked like a side either trying to scrape up a few more precious batting points or even a rather improbable draw.

Each of the other sides we have played recently have been seen practicing in the field before the game and making sure their openers had five minutes chuck downs to loosen them up before the innings. It is time some of the very welcome younger recruits to the side started taking a hand in these matters.