Bedouins v SSP at Enville – Sunday, 14 August 2011
Beds win by 1 wicket
The Bedouins annual game against Jim Robinson and his SSP side is always a highlight in the fixtures and has produced some exciting games in the past. Lately, the majority have swung the way of the side from Halifax. Last year, Bedouins had put themselves in a good position to win the game, and then blew it. Hence, there was a determination this year to do better.
The Bedouins side consisted of the usual suspects, with Hill A sporting some very dandy new boots and Steve McNally (OpenGI) recruited to add some strength in the batting department. Branch was off on a jolly somewhere.
George was skipper again and led the boys onto the field with SSP batting first. Spratley was first up with the new ball and as is usual with him, was most economical. At the other end, Pearson very nearly took the prized wicket of Dobson J. with his first ball, with the batsman edging through the slips. Three balls later though and Pearson (pictured) had his man clean bowled. A great start for the Beds.
The Beds managed to restrict a quality SSP top order well. Dobson T. has usually manages an untroubled retirement against the Bedouins and looked like he might do so again until he was undone by a combination of Susman and Hill J., being stumped on 27. The Beds could have been slightly daunted by the fact that the fall of a wicket only brought another quality batsman to the crease. However the fielding side stuck to the task well and managed to take wickets at regular intervals and allowed none of the SSP batsmen to get to the retirement figure of 50.
Bywater had a torrid start to his spell with his second over going for 12 but he came back strongly, taking the wicket of Oldnall for 32 but this left the dangerous pairing of Molyneux and Al-Chalaby at the wicket. Both batsmen looked set for 50 but Spratley came back for a second spell and it was he who removed Molyneux for 39 with the aid of an excellent catch from Lock, who took the ball low to the ground whilst what could only be described as collapsing in a heap. Elegant.
Al-Chalaby fell to a catch behind by Hill J. off the bowling of George for 44, most of which had come in boundaries. The steady fall of wickets meant that SSP went from 160 for 4 in the 30th over to end with 192 for 9. There was even a last ball run out by Hill J. as pictured. Catches were held by Pearson and George as well as the odd dropped chance by players un-named, but you’d expect that with the Beds wouldn’t you?
The pick of the bowlers were Gregory (2 for 11 from 5), Spratley (1 for 17 from 7), Pearson (2 for 35 from 7) and Bywater, who despite that one dodgy over finished with 1 for 24 from his 7 overs. As last year, a good fielding performance and the Bedouins had given themselves a fighting chance.
After a wonderful tea and cake interval (thanks to the Bedouettes!) it was Hill A and McNally who strode to the wicket to launch an assault on the SSP total. And a brutal assault it was too. Hill A. was faced with the undoubted pace of Al-Chalaby and it took a few of balls to weigh things up but then he started to connect, no doubt spurred on by the chirping of the wicket keeper. Hill A. (pictured) played some brutal shots and found the boundary regularly. He was eventually caught on 29.
Gregory and Bywater followed and made 12 and 10 respectively both falling to a catch. Meanwhile McNally was looking very solid and indeed he progressed to 50 with very little trouble. His retirement saw Hancock enter the fray. Unfortunately he had to face SSP’s devilish young spinner who bamboozled him before he could get off the mark.
Spratley (23) (below, right) was promoted in the order having shown some prowess in recent innings and he didn’t disappoint. A partnership of 52 with Susman (33) (below, left) put the Beds in a position to go on and win the game. and when the later was bowled, the batting side where 172 for 5 needing just 21 more runs from the last 7 overs.
Nothing is ever straight forward with the Beds and at this point the runs dried up. It’s never easy for the new batsman to go in at the end of an innings, chasing runs, and when Spratley was bowled, Hill J and Pearson had to try and keep the score moving. Hence Hill J (8) and Pearson (4) were both run out trying to steal singles although they both added some valuable runs. Skipper George helped the cause with a well-timed 4 before being caught.
All this left the Beds needing one run to win with one wicket in hand 8 balls to go. McNally had to come back in which was unfortunate as he’d already got changed. The nerves jangled of those watching as Lock faced but the Flashing Blade showed no fear and stroked the winning run (pictured above) to send the rest of the team into raptures.
A super tea followed, again thanks to the hard work of the Nicki, Lauren, Jo and Sylvia and it was soon time for Jim and friends to make the long trip back up north. They are a great team to play. Always good competition, always playing to win, but always sporting and friendly to boot. We will look forward to making the trip north next year when no doubt SSP will look for revenge and will want to win back the Rasche shield. Until then though, it’s ours!
Photos available here.