Bedouins v Kinlet at Enville – Sunday, 13 July 2014

Beds lose by 67 runs

Adrian Susman returned hotfoot (in fact hot-everything) from holiday in Morocco for the Beds’ annual Sunday meeting with our friends from Kinlet – not quite true, as he was due to come home anyway, but it sounds good.  He was back in time to complete a rare Bedouins hat-trick in a four-wicket haul and to top-score, but not to be part of a winning side.  The Beds lost heavily.

After welcoming another new recruit, former Enville stalwart John Howells, the Beds took the field in front of a large crowd – mostly, it has to be said, attending a christening party in the pavilion but spilling out on to the ground in the warm July conditions.  A few well-dressed children were unwise enough to continue frolicking in front of the sightscreen, but soon disappeared when Mr Mackay Bywater put on his best Winson Green manner and asked them to move.

Kinlet took full advantage of an unusually fast Enville outfield to hit 195 for 7 in their 35 overs (the match reduced from 40 overs for the benefit of those wanting the game finished in time to watch the World Cup final).  There was a 50 (retired) and 23 not out from the Allsopps, senior and junior, and 42 from Andrew Mooney.  For the Bedouins, as well as 4 for 32 from Adrian Susman, there were two wickets for Mike George and one for David Pearson, who once again made the lengthy round trip to turn out for the Bedouins on a Sunday afternoon.

In the Bedouins innings, there were double-figure contributions from the first six batsmen (17 from John Howells that included one or two strokes to remind some of us of his silky skills as a batsman), but none of them was able to get on top of the bowling or to go on to a decent enough score.  The home side’s 128 for 7 left the Bedouins 67 runs short at the close.

Which just left enough time for everyone to enjoy food kindly provided by the two Claires plus Lee’s mum before retiring to a nearby TV screen.