For our second game of the season at our old rivals Warninglid TMG’s convened at the Half Moon pub from various parts of the country some hours before the game enabling them to partake in 1/2/3 pints of rather lovely Harveys.

Some members seemed to be suffering from a form of PMRRRS ( Post Match Report Reading Syndrome ) due to the War & Peaceian style -well length- of Rick’s epic about the Southwick game but this was alleviated by the arrival of the all new TMG’S baggy Aussie style caps and oh what a joy to see they were . After each Greysman was presented by skipper Ben with his new cap a stream of Greysmen nipped off to the loo truly believing they looked like Ciliana Murphy in Peaky Blinders only to return disgruntled as they realised they looked more like a pensioner from the Dales , the curmudgeonly one played by Brian Wilde and not even the nice gentle one played by Peter Sallis *.
After our suitable refreshments the toss was won by Ben and the  (almost ) unanimous  decision to put the ‘Lid in was achieved as batting here is always fraught with danger and this coupled with the overnight rain made it a no brainer. Due to the aforementioned wet conditions the game was to be a 30 over affair with a maximum of 6 overs per bowler and TMG’s bouyed by their fantastic form this season and the return of Dave “the Kid” Hadrill strode onto the damp outfield. Our opening pair of Ben ( 6-15-1 ) and Rob (3-4-0 oh I think I’ve tweaked my groin/achilles/calf ) kept things tight and with a slow outfield and some decent fielding from all concerned, highlighted by a great stop from Trevor and lowlighted by my new cap flip catching technique (note to self “it doesn’t work”), the ‘Lid found it hard going and on 33 – which turned out to be the ‘Lids best partnership of the day – the breakthrough was made by Ben (confusingly the scorebook says Bowled Hoare ). From then on TMG’S were well on top with Dan (6-25-1) replacing the – quelle surprise – injured Rob for 2 spells the latter of which allowed him to bowl at the death when the ‘Lid really needed to get a move on.

EO (5-22-2) removed the dangerous Reilly LBW or GBW if you believed the batsman and except for some lusty blows by a big man with a very small bat TMG’S stuck to their task with Rick (6-24-0 possibly his best spell for the club ) and Dom (4-19-2)  ensuring the ‘Lid never really got going . They finished on 115-6 thanks in part to only 2 byes being allowed by Alex behind the stumps and some better catching in the latter part of the innings from Rick (2) and Dom (1).

After a tea that featured a rather lovely banoffee pie TMG’S openers, Biff & Rick , strode to the middle to put the ‘Lid openers to the sword ; well not quite but after a slow start against some decent bowling the first run was scored in the 4th over and slowly but surely the runs came .9 off 5 became 34 off 10 with the 50 partnership coming in the  13th and Rick finally fell caught and bowled when he mistimed a full toss in the 17th with the score at 64.

Biff hung on in before getting a decent yorker to fall for 26 leaving us in a great position at 95-2. By this time Jerry had hit a few decent shots (including a PSM nominated cover drive up the hill for 4) and with Dom falling unluckily playing on for 7 (103-3) it was left to Jerry and Alex to see the team home . Jerry thought he’d hit a 6 by inside-edging past the keeper and onto the helmet behind for a 5 run penalty plus a run single – PSM! (which technically shouldn’t have been given as the run hadn’t been completed by the time the helmet blah blah blah).

Any nerves were quelled when with 2 and a bit overs remaining the bowler dropped short and Jerry creamed him over square leg for 4 and the match winning runs.

Another great win for TMG’S which couldn’t be celebrated at the Half Moon as it was shut, so back to the Constant where the beer ran out and I voted with my feet.

* TM the Daily Mash

Statistics
Averages 2019 – 190819 and Averages Lifetime – 190819