Third Summer of Love – TMG v. Staplefield 28^th August 2011

As Autumn seeped stealthily in around the edges of a hazy Greys Summer a thoroughly enjoyable days entertainment was in store. The match was won by the Greys in good time, proceedings wrapped up by a well taken skier by Ian Sewell lolloping round from mid off for which he won the Party Seven award. How this could be, when Richard Partridge actually took to the field with his actual trousers actually on back to front is beyond me!

Essentially, an indisciplined batting display from the Staplefield top order chasing a respectable but gettable 167 meant that the Greys victory with six overs to spare was more comfortable than it might have been.

The Greys were inserted and were far from comfortable against bowling that was nippy and moved well off the pitch. Line and Brasher were caught behind without getting into their strides. Fenton wafted and paid the price. Fear not! Burgess and Gallagher steadied the ship, punishing the loose ball and letting extras continue to top up the score, 47 in total. However disaster struck when Burgess called for a risky single. A very sharp pick up and direct hit left Alan well out of his ground. Poor Alan did not take this well and was last seen walking the boundary with a highly coloured complexion. So upset was he that he couldn’t compose himself enough to relieve Biff at umpire meaning that our fearless leader couldn’t talk to his friend Naughty Nick. Captain’s fine! (still unpaid at time of writing) What a to-do!

Mild-mannered David Hadrill forgot all the hours of defensive coaching he was kindly given and tried to be a hero. Caught and bowled. Once again it was up to Davey Day, birthday boy, and close friend of mine to rescue a foundering innings. Coming in at 112-5, he was watchful, intelligent and virile displaying an impressive range of shots including a manly straight drive over the road. He needed decent support at the other end so skilfully ran out Burgess to bring Sewell to the crease. Runs flowed until Day was bowled in the last over top scoring on ??

After a tea of indefinable charm, Rob Hoare and Dave Day set about business as usual, keeping things tight. Staplefield didn’t help themselves by having an opener run out in the second over. Ibrahim at fly slip throwing in to Jerry despite a bad shoulder. The other opener trying to be aggressive was caught by Alan at mid-off, Rob bowling then Dave got an edge with a slower ball that popped a bit. Then came the only point when a Staplefield victory looked possible. A beefy young fellow named Scott came in and began absolutely smashing the ball about the field – the hardest hitting seen for many a year! After suffering an expensive few overs, Ibu conjectured that Scott might have no defence against the straight ball and was a more than a little relieved when this turned out to be the case. A crucial wicket!

Although Staplefield were up with the run rate for a while it was now a matter of removing

the tail. Two wickets for Sewell, two for the Six O’clock Hero, Partridge, and Biff with his customary, cheap, smash and grab at the end did the job.

A few pints at the Jolly Tanners beer festival set us up for the evenings merriments which consisted of inane grinning, hugging and Dad-dancing. Legendary!!

Ebenezer Goode