Sunday 18 September 2011

Youlgreave CC v Edale CC : Sunday 4th September

Youlgreave CC: 185 all out; Edale CC: 182-9. Defeat by three runs.

“Cookie?....Andy here..could you pick up the kit from Kevin and take it to Trent Bridge?..Yes, I know it's his turn, but he says he's taking the Ferrari and can't fit it in....Oh yeah, does your mate Goochie want a game? Great...see you about 1.30..No, the Indians are doing the tea....”

The Schofield Report was a watershed moment in English cricket, designed to answer the issues raised by England's dismal performance on the Ashes tour of 2006; amongst the proposals of the report was that the England skipper should no longer need to scrabble around to get a team together as reported above. Sadly, this radical notion has yet to filter down to the lower reaches of the game....I have no idea if Andrew Strauss has actually tried to raise a team by texting from under a desk in a Stockport classroom – no, please don't ask – but I can assure him that it makes facing the Indian attack of this summer a piece of cake. (Apologies to anyone in the village who may have received a mysterious text along the lines of:

“m8: cn u play Yulgr Sun? 1.30 *t ”

Thanks for replying anyway, Belinda.) Thus it was, that a rather cosmopolitan side of Edalians, Castletonians, Tideswell dwellers and Zingari folk set out for the deep south. The pitch was firm if rough, the weather overcast and we were greeted by the news that the ever charming Josh had decided he could fit in one more game for Youlgreave before heading to university. At this point, the Edale bowlers could have declared a collective thigh strain and we could have abandoned the game; manfully, after winning the toss and electing to field, Paul Saville and Stuart Scoffins opened the bowling. A strong opening partnership looked set to put Youlgreave on course for a big total, but the Edale opening seamers stuck to their task. A change of bowling bought a change of luck, and our guest spin-twins of Taylor and Somerton started to make inroads on the Youlgreave batting order. Rob Willing rolled back the years with a text-book display of reverse swing – even if the text book was A.F. Abbott's “Ordinary Level Physics”, a volume I'm sure we all remember with affection. On the subject of turning moments, (now...that was a link!!), the Edale fielding was pivotal in the run of the game; our new random recruitment policy resulted in Paul Saville meeting his old mate Stewart Salmon in a bar and asking him if he fancied a game. On being assured by Stewart that he'd never picked up a bat in his life, Paul imagined he'd feel perfectly at home in the Edale side. What a result! An absolutely stunning catch on the mid-wicket boundary rounded off a great fielding display; indeed, the Edale fielding was exemplary all afternoon, with Moran taking three catches behind the stumps and Dan Metcalfe putting in sterling work close to the wicket – sorry about that Dan; I'm sure most of the bruises have gone by now. The last four Youlgreave wickets went cheaply, and the bowling looked like this:




Unusually, there seemed to be a bit of a queue amongst the Edale batsmen to face the rather brisk Josh McMahon; either there was a desire to show the young upstart who was boss, or people just wanted to get it over quickly and get back to the Rambler's to start the traditional Sunday night kit-burning party. After six overs Edale were 10-3, but Moran joined Taylor and helped stabilise the middle-order. After Moran's departure, Martin Somerton of Castleton came to the crease. Inspired by the newly arrived sunshine and his rather charming companion, Somerton proceeded to put on 106 for the fifth wicket. Salmon and Taylor added a few for the next, and tension grew amongst the spectators and Suzie the bull-terrier sat next to me. (Could I apologise now for twisting her ear rather sharply ? It was a moment of high drama and a sad attempt to get her to bite me and not have to face Josh.....).

Sadly, the late order stuttered a little leaving Coker and Willing to get ten off the last over; we got six of them, but sadly a big hit eluded the pair of us once more. Defeat by three runs!!

The batting looked a bit like this:



It was an excellent game of cricket, one that exemplifies Edale's season. We lost every game but one, but in each 40 over game we made over 100 and twice were defeated in the final over by less than five runs. The spirit and enthusiasm of the team was superb, the fielding being of a very high standard. Despite the results, I think the team has come a long way in four seasons – many thanks to Rob, Andy Mark and to all those that supported us. Many thanks to Bob for scoring whenever he could.

Next season we hope to increase the number of fixtures and perhaps find a way of fitting a practice net onto the playing field. As ever, we welcome players of any ability; Mark Reeves will be heading the winter recruitment drive with a lecture tour entitled “Fielding at Fieldhead: Slip Catching the Mark Reeves' Way”. I encourage you to book now – just think how much you'll save on prescription charges!

Many thanks, once more, to all involved – Ken Coker.