Belper, Derbys 5 August 2001
Paul, rather splendidly won the toss, and we had a bat.
Weather : Generally very sunny indeed. Lovely day for it, etc etc
Belper is always a super place to play, even if we only had 10, but a good 10 nonetheless. Batting was a good idea as we were without Blake, Bennett and Street(s) so bowling was going to be fun. Belper's side was a mixture of youth and experience, 9 parts to 2 by the looks of it, but, as we know at Papplewick and Calverton, youth does not equal any less talent.
Rob and Steve opened up, and soon got us off to the usual flyer, with 50 up in 8 overs, if memory serves, and Rob joining in the hitting too, with 4 boundaries on the trot at one stage. This made up for him getting 1 out of the first 33, and that was off his first ball. However, the slow full toss demon ball accounted for him on 22 and in comes Crossy. 3 bats later, and he's back in the pavilion without getting going. He used Rob's new bat and pronounced it "Too good, its weighted properly" and discarded it. 2 things arise from this 1) Crossy IS a slogger after all and 2) What's Rob doing with a proper bat? Jamie also came and went, and with Steve getting to 50 and then out (average now under 90) we needed a bit of a thrash at the end. Cometh the hour, cometh Dave Spencer. With a bat that makes balsa look like mahogany, Dave thrashed it to all parts, recording a well deserved 50, his first for a few years. At the end, we made 220odd and called the ambulance for Dave.
A sandwich and cake fest later, Belper came out and started brightly. However, once the openers were out, the runs dried up and a bit of batting practice was had. Griff and Smudge bowled nicely and Steve Gaunt showed why he is our Alec Stewart. Andy Gaunt finally had a bit of luck and Dave Cross, roped in to be 11th man batting took first slip and came out only once to short midwicket where a full toss zinged not far from his face, right off the meat of the bat, and he never flinched. What a hero, we all thought. "I never saw it", said Dave.
Some lovely overs of spin at the end had us in stitches and we ended up winning, but the result was only part of the day. Super day's cricket in a lovely setting. What more do you want?
DCC 22X-9 off 40 overs (S Gaunt 50 odd, D
Spencer 50 odd)
Belper Meadows 150 ish off 40 overs