Leigh v Onnerley and Maer match report Atypically seasonal weather saw a mixed performance from Leigh. Due to Cotto somewhat bafflingly having longer paternity leave than a transgender adoptee in a hard-left inner city borough, D Nash stepped up again as Captain and promptly lost the toss which saw Leigh fielding on a hot sticky and airless day. Ben Gallimore was up to his usual tricks of mowing late and then missing the start, but there was no need to rush as the opposition trundled onwards in the sun towards an achievable if a little distant 188. It was hard work for our pace men. The pitch wasn’t moving much and while there was bounce there was also a speedy outfield that would propel edges at pace to the boundary. The soporific conditions matched our performance: long slow toil, the opposition never really getting up a head of steam and us never taking enough wickets to close their inning out cheaply – we finally got there with a couple of the 50 overs to spare and retired for a very welcome tea. The fielding wasn’t great either. Joe, MTR, Wilko all dropping and Durose putting down I think it was four chances behind the stumps. We gradually picked things up and Wilko somewhat surprisingly picked up a 5-fer – all catches. The first three wickets came off “mediocre” bowling and as his bowling improved the wickets stopped, but he was kept on and as the quality diminished a further two came to reach the landmark. It was reminiscent of Captain Cotto mopping up the tail as usual. Stu took two catches, though the second looked to have come at the cost of his kneecap as he ended up prostate, but still holding the ball. MTR took one at square leg – a very productive fielding position for us this season and even Bobby surprised himself by taking one at slip. None of the bowlers were poor, but none really shone. Excepting Wilko’s wicket taking filth I would have given Ben Gallimore as the pick. On the day I think we actually missed the military medium of Cotto. Joe Gallimore, Bobby, Nashy and Ben were possibly a little quick and in my view too short. Taking the pace off and denying the batsmen the opportunity to pull and cut would have saved a lot of runs. So we were faced with the usual equation. On that pitch we would back any other batting side to reach the total. Except for us. Unusually for us there were few ducks, however we again displayed the sort of spine one would expect from a Liberal Democrat at election time. Several got into double figures. Wilko looked to be nicely set, as did Stu. Nashy and Bobby got out cheaply and we were once again staring down the barrel at 69 for 7. However we veered from our usual course in these situations. What was remarkable was not just that the tail wagged and we showed some character but that Max “runless” T-R contributed despite being beardless, recovering from food poisoning and not having eaten solid food since Thursday. He and Durose put on a sprightly 52 between them and the distant score was scarcely believably coming into view. Unfortunately the wilting heat took its toll – MTR was out for 22 and despite a brave resistance from Xander (13), JD was unable to see us over the line as he seemed to lose his timing a little as he tired. He was eventually out for a highly creditable 56. We got to within 25 of them, which was not bad. Not close enough to be getting nervy but a good response nonetheless. Man of the match was given to JD for his runs. Nashy offered to give the Champagne moment to MTR for “looking a right mess”. MTR
Posted on: Sat, 06 Jul 2013 21:00:07 +0000
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