After a fair few weeks of having been dropped, I was recalled to the side last weekend to take on Riverside CC, who were late substitutes are our scheduled league opposition dropped out.
We wondered before the match if this was a bad idea, as they were a bunch of grown adults with rather elaborate practice drills, and when they won the toss and batted, we were thinking we were looking down the barrel at 300.
As it turned out, they were a super bunch of lads, and although a superior standard to standard third team opposition, they were a good side for our young team to play.
Fairly quickly it became apparent they weren't going to smash us all round the park, and our young - in the main - bowlers did a good job of containing them with some early wickets taken, including a casual one handed catch by yours truly that I only took because I thought it was a no-ball. Probably.
With our side short of bowling, I got an early go second change with the expectation that I would bowl a full 7 over stint, which I haven't done in years. And you know, it went well for me - bowled one of their senior bats, had another caught at mid off - with a couple of wides thrown in when the ball slipped over my spinning finger.
The last over where bowling over the wicket to a left hander was a total disaster, where I lost my rhythym completely and got spanked rather hard.
We bowled them out for 167, with a surprise final wicket being taken by our quondam wicket keeper.
Break time, and time for me to do some nature photography, because hey it's what I do, and reflect upon the red kite that swept majestically over the ground, the first one I've seen at Kelham Road.
Now to batting, and as ever, I opened the...umpiring...while better bats went out there to take on the Riverside bowlers. After an early disaster when one of our openers nicked off.
There followed a fantastic 100 stand by the aforementioned sometime keeper, and a returning senior bat who sadly has had injury problems, on one occasion being cuased by our club captain's dog running him over during a Sunday game I captained. He made batting look so easy, but after he politely retired at 50, it became a lot harder for our young bats, and we finished about 30 runs short, despite me maintaining my infinite average with a score of 6 not out.
More importantly, this was the first game on our front ground for three years after major flooding problems, and that was the most important thing.
Si
All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 03.07.26
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