Squalls, No Brawls and Low Balls

The rain abated and the locals were swiftly rounded up, within two shakes of a shepherds stick the Belper meadows boys went at the puddles feverishly with their spongy appendages. Quite how they managed it we will never know, so much water moved in so little time and not a wood shaving in sight. The covers removed and half an hour drying time gave time to ponder over the delights of what looked like a batsman’s paradise. By the time the fumigation team had ruled out the possibility of a low level serin gas attack and declared the changing rooms safe for human activity Crossy had negotiated the toss and Dorchester were batting in a shortened 32 over encounter.

Controversy soon rocked the Dorchester dressing room, the captains decision to open with Smudge and Steve Gaunt passed somewhat unnoticed as it was the postponement of a mid match tea break till after the match that infuriated some and frustrated others. The presence of 4 cellophane covered trays laden with triangular cut sandwiches and a plethora of home made cakes in the pavilion, on show all day teased the tastebuds of many and sent some to distraction.

Many believed this was to blame for the slow start, Smudger and Gaunty trudged through the almost turgid first ten overs without breaking sweat. The usually calm Dorchester captain grew irritable and a little impatient, and in a fit of peak in the 14^th over following string of little black dots in Terry’s book he snapped, he loosened his throat and bellowed out his instructions to the crease. Birds suddenly stopped, the wind paused for a split second and a nearby startled sheep nearly trampled to death its owner.

"Gaunty, ……It’s a bloody thirty two over game you know!"

Churchillian it may not have been but he knew he had touched a nerve. In Steve Gaunt he had a tiger, a firebrand cricketer who had displayed only the previous week what he could when you lit his fuse. Almost at once both batsmen adopted an aggressive approach The willowy figure of Smudger smighted away with little success whilst Gaunty grunted out some powerful hits The end soon came for Smudger caught out on 4. Only as soon as word came back from Smudger that the wicket wasn’t all it was cut out to be Kiwi was at the crease and in one swift initiation into the primary club he received the ball from hell, a long hop daisy-cutter on middle peg. With his stumps in a bit of a mess behind him Jamie trudged back to the pavilion to be greeted by smuger and his primary club membership card. This heralded the return on a hat-trick ball, the former Belper Bad boy, Iain Bamber the Belper Brawler. With the memories of the 8 man punch up and the ensuing 4 match ban still strong in the memory, (if I can add at the this juncture I still protest my Innocence and maintain my story that the wicket keeper should not have put his throat between my hands!) Bambers start was understandably cautious Steve Gaunt however was pouncing on everything smashing 2 sixes and 10 fours in his unbeaten total of 96. His complaints about the track proved to be valid and his counting of balls in an over proved to be very accurate. Variable bounce seemed to be the order of the day, combined with some accurate Belper Bowling. The constant chirping from the hapless James Anderson wannabe at cover served only to inspire Bamber and Gaunt into some form as both attempted to out hit one another. Bamber flailed and missed a straight one to leave terry counting his boundaries at 1x 6 and 4x 4’s in a productive if rambunctious 38. By now Crossy was sitting more comfortably in the pavilion with a respectable score in sight. Quick wickets of Crossy (4) and his mate Bob (0) soon followed but Steve Gaunt and Dean Blake Finessed their way to the close. A delightful cameo from Dean (18no) helped the score along but failure to hit boundaries in the final over left Steve gaunt unbeaten on 96 and posted a respectable score of 182 for 5 for the Dorchester at the tealess interval.

To the rumblings of empty bellies Dean Blake opened the Dorchester bowling. A fine opening spell of 8 overs 11runs for none backed up by the usual drudgerous monotony of line and length from Mick Stewardson (8 overs 1 for 22) Tied the Belper openers down to just 30 runs of the first 15 overs. Deans pace troubled the openers who were understandably wary of the pitch, but it wasn’t until Mick Stewardson broke through clean bowling the opener. The elbow troubled Andy Gaunt was then brought into action with a tidy and wideless spell. The Belper batsmen realising the woeful over rate sought to chase the bowling. Mick Stewardson’s elder Brother Frank belied his years and fielding like a scrap yard dog prowled the outfield quite literally throwing himself into every damp piece of grass he could find. Belper never looked like threatening the total, until Steve Gaunt was brought into attack at the Thorntons end. A couple of quick wickets aided by the reoccurrence of the now infamous daisy cutter ball placed Guanty in line for his second hat-trick in two weeks. This brought to the crease a big hitting left hander who proceeded to blast the gaunt bowling to all parts bringing to a close a short but eventful Steve Gaunt spell (3overs 2 for 27)

The pace had now been picked up and the young opener Donegal (102 no) was finding some tremendous form. Requiring 10+ an over for the last 10 seemed impossible. However the kiwi was bowling his usual long hops and 60 runs came easily of the next 8 overs .With the ball seeming to find the middle of the bat every time, 42 off the last 2 could be done. Crossy stayed calm in this instance and in line with the friendly and sporting tradition of the club, he deployed 8 men to the boundary! Requiring 27 of the last over Mick Stewardson was brought back into the attack; he subsequently bored them into submission with the Belper innings ending tamely on 161.

With the match won and the cudgels of captaincy handed over to Dean Blake for next weeks game and only with the delights of his stag weekend in Prague ahead of him The Dorchester Captain could reflect on a job well done. Sandwiches and cakes were consumed in the bar and very nice they were indeed, if a little dry at the edges.

Quote of the day - Mick Stewardson " It was the right decision to bring me back on, I never feel the pressure!"

Batmen’s age -16 & 17

Runs required –27

Ground – the second largest meadow in the county

Fixture – Friendly

Pressure – What pressure?