Anyone that has played in or watched a Valley End vs Finchampstead Sunday League game before will know that normally these matches are a run fest, with a number of hundreds scored by both teams, and normally result in a pretty close finish. This Sunday's game didn't disappoint, as just short of 600 runs were scored in 80 overs on a beautifully prepared Valley End pitch.
Anyway, as normal, Sunday morning rolled around only to find a few of the Valley End faithful still up drinking and running around the outfield falling over. Three good wins for the 1's, 2's and 3's had put the boys in high spirits and the celebration drinks were certainly flowing!! After some filthy runs in the 3's, and on his debut with the big boys, 'Big Gun' Durandt put in quite a performance managing on a number of occasions to accidentally dive across the outfield (causing himself a few minor bumps and bruises) and find some interesting places to 'sleep', much to the amusement of Matt, Peps and Ben. To cut a long story short, our entertainment (mainly watching Steve fall over) lasted until 7.30am, when Peps and Ben decided to finish their last drink and go to bed/sofa! Matt, however, had other ideas, deciding that an hours sleep would do him nothing but harm so chose to pull an all-nighter, staying up listening to music while Peps and Ben had all of 45 minutes sleep!! 9 o'clock coaching came around far too soon for all the guys; Nev (having picked his parents up from the airport at 3am) resorting to 2 hours of game with his group, and following some high quality TV and Matt grabbing a little sleep against a brick wall, the team arrived for our 12.45 meet.
Captain Nev, much to the disgust of the team, lost the toss, and we were asked to have a bowl first. What happened then is somewhat of a blur, partly due to the epic hangover and massive fatigue, and partly due to the fact we were chasing the cricket ball to all parts of the ground. Stevie Welly bowled well up top, generating some decent shape and bowling good lines, and was unfortunate not to pick up a wicket. Matt 'I don't need to sleep' Mclachlan toiled away hard from the other end, resembling more a lame 3-legged dog in his run-up than a highly tuned fast bowler, but bowling his fair share of good and bad balls. In an exceptional opening partnership of 185, only really one chance was created; an edge behind off Matt's bowling. Normally this would have been a simple catch for Ridley behind the sticks, but due to his overnight activities, and the fact that any sharp movements might cause him to throw up, he decided to leave it to Tom 'catching form' Nevin, who promptly dropped the ball. Matt finished with 0-45 off his 8 overs, and Sam Behr replaced Stevie to bowl some seamers, and once he had worked out that he couldn't bowl short balls to the set Finch batters, bowled well and kept the run rate down going at only 5 per over. Nev came on to bowl a couple of seamers until the 20th over, when Behr stepped in to replace Ridley behind the stumps. Nick replaced Nev and after a few reasonably expensive overs eventually got the breakthrough bowling Cheetham for a well made 76. By this time the other opener, Ward, had moved onto his hundred, sometimes being fortunate to chip the ball into gaps, but on the whole playing well and punishing the rather lacklustre Valley End bowling attack. Ward was joined at the crease by Finch number 3, Matthew Jones, who unfortunately we knew all about! On the two previous meetings of the two clubs this player has scored over 200 runs, never looking like getting out! He promptly took centre stage, smashing 65 off just 24 balls including some big dingers all around the ground. Chris Goodman bowled well in the middle overs ending with 0-49 off his 7 overs, and Nev eventually got some revenge by picking up Jones with a few overs to go! Stevie Welly, easily the pick of the bowlers, came back to pick up Ward caught and bowled for an excellent 126, and Bell bowled for just 8, finishing with 2-43 off 8 as Finch posted an impressive 304-4 off their 40 overs.
A look around the changing room at half time saw a group of disheartened young Valley End players, perhaps somewhat in shock at the score that had just been posted by the Finchamstead team. After a few words of encouragement from the more senior players assuring the team that 305 was not out of reach, we ventured inside and tucked into a delightful tea (thanks Jilly and Wendy!!) which obviously immediately cheered us all up, gotta love teas!!
Over tea, specialist captain Nev had decided that rather than let all the kids bat up the order as normal, we had better have a proper go at chasing Finch's score to try and regain some pride for the team, so Ben and Sam Behr went out to open the batting. Ben promptly tucked into the first two overs playing some nice drives and pulls, as we raced off to a flying start. Having faced only a ball in the first two overs, Sam went to flick a ball down leg in the third over, and unluckily snicked it behind down leg to the keeper where he was caught; 9-1. This brought Peps in, fresh from finally jumping back on the run boat on the day before and feeling confident if a little exhausted! Peps and Ben played nicely together, Ben hitting 6 fours before being caught behind off a ball shaping away for 26; 41-2. Matt joined Peps and the two set about re-building the innings, both enjoying the pace on the ball and scoring freely. A change of bowling brought a change in approach, as one Finch spinner served up an all-you-can-eat buffet of full tosses and long hops to Matt, while the other bowled a decent line and length to Peps, generating some turn as well. Matt filled his boots with the buffet bowling, hitting three 6's and five 4's in his innings of 50 off 35 balls, before playing all round a straight ball from the better spinner and being bowled; 133-3. Peps moved to 50 the next over, and was joined by fellow senior player Nev, keen to get some runs to make up for his expensive bowling spell. After a couple of nice fours, Nev departed caught and bowled for 11, and George Blackmore decided to hit a six then get bowled round his legs for just 7; 165-5. At 20 overs, around the fall of this wicket, we were easily up with the required run rate despite having lost 5 wickets; run chase still on!
With 140 odd to win, all we needed was one good partnership now and we would stand an excellent chance of winning the game. At 165-5 Peps was joined by Putley, who normally enjoys coming into bat against spinners. Now rather than worry about what the bowler was doing with the ball or how the pitch was playing, the question Putley chose to ask Peps was this: "don't you think this guy looks like Danish Kaneria when he bowls??". After a brief moment of laughter between Peps, the Finch keeper, and anyone else in earshot, the game continued. Unfortunately, however, Putley's question didn't provide him with any useful answers, as he was soon bowled by Kaneria for 1. Durandt was in next, still feeling dreadful after his late night. Any thought anyone might have had that the run rate might be maintained by some good running between the wickets was instantly dismissed, as Durandt explained to Peps that he would only be ambling singles in risk of throwing up! Stevo hit a couple of awesome 4's early on, including a spectacular drive through the covers, but thereafter looked much like a drunk man swinging a piece of wood around randomly. Anyway, Steve was soon caught at point for 15 off 15 balls (Kimberley will not be impressed with your strike rate big man, no loving for you tonight!!), and Peps was joined by Chris Goodman; 201-7. Chris started nervously, anxious to get Peps back on strike from the outset. However, with 100 odd needed from 14 overs there was still no massive rush, and Chris began to settle into his innings playing some nice shots all around the ground. With 10 overs to go, and 80 to win, Peps knew that a few good overs would pretty much see us home. The first of these good overs came in the 31st, as Foster bowled a series of short balls to Peps allowing him to hit two 4's and two 6's in one over, reaching his hundred in the process. Peps and Chris played well for the next few overs, keeping the run rate down below 10 an over with a combination of clever batting and good running (mainly from Chris) and bludgeoning the ball to the boundary with no desire to run at all (mainly from Peps). With only 4 overs to go and 36 required, the opening bowler came back to finish his overs. Peps quickly decided this would be the over to get the majority of these runs, lowering the run rate needed from the last 3 and as such reducing the pressure on us. A couple of fours later and this plan was looking good, before Peps tried to plant a full ball over the road onto the new ground, and was bowled for 126 (there go all my runs for the season!!). With 9 an over required, it was a tough ask from there on with a new batter at the crease; Nick tried his best but was bowled for 4, and Stevie was bowled in the last over for 1, leaving us 293 all out, just 11 runs short of the target. I must mention Chris again who played beautifully for 35* and perhaps deserved more for keeping us in the game at the end! Well played to all, especially in the batting department; hopefully this game will act as a good learning experience for some of the youngsters and next time we're in this kind of situation we will pull it out of the bag!!
Man of the match definitely goes to S.Durandt for his performance in the activities of the previous night - good effort! And well played to the boys especially Stevie Welly for his bowling and Chris Goodman for his batting! I realise this match report has actually concentrated almost entirely on the cricket, but I'm sure normal service will resume next week! My final thanks I guess have to go to the Finch team for an excellent and very good tempered game of cricket, hopefully more of the same in years to come!!
Peace,
Peps x
