Bedouins v Oldswinford at Oldswinford, July 12th
Match tied
So, now the secret is out. Bedouins’ results this season had increasingly been pointing in that direction. But now we know. It’s all been part of an orchestrated plot to get rid of the chairman. There can be no other construction put on results that have become increasingly tight and tense, and designed to cause maximum distress to the elderly gent’s dicky ticker, as he has struggled to keep up with events in the scorebox A variety of last-gasp finishes all were topped off with a tie at Oldswinford. You don’t get many of them to the pound, thank heavens!
After the previous day of almost continual rain, the match day turned out fine and sunny. The Beds turned up again with potentially 13 men. Typically, Ray Bate did the decent thing and stood down, so that Adrian Susman could play. Also on hand was skipper of vice, Lee Bywater. He took on the onerous task of umpiring, and he was destined to be severely tested in the final moments of the game; more of that later..
With regular chief JB absent, with leave, Jon Howells took on the onerous duties of skipper and sent Ian Woodhouse and Jon Stanier in to open the innings, the latter chomping at the bit to lay into his erstwhile colleagues at Oldswinford. They rattled up 57 in the first ten overs, before Woodhouse succumbed to a caught-and-bowled for 21. Stanier went on to retire with 31 to his name.
Another 50-run stand between Jono Hill (26 not out) and Paul Lippitt (27) took the Beds’ final score to 132 for 4. The renowned Lippitt dab was much in evidence, but star shot of the evening was his reverse sweep, which came more truly off the middle of the bat than any other as it raced to the boundary.
Earlier in the evening, an unfortunate injury befell the luckless Spratters. Performing the difficult task of carrying a glass of water to the middle, then returning with it, he managed to pull a muscle that he didn’t even know he had. The man’s over-trained, that’s clear. The result was his withdrawal to the sidelines, and an unexpected appearance for Ray Bate.
Having been hit for two boundaries in his first three balls, Josh Lemm recovered well to take 1 for 25 in his four overs. There were also two wickets for Adrian Susman and for Mike George – yes, that Mike George. The latter made one of his infrequent but welcome appearances, and immediately was back in his familiar groove, keeping tha ball straight and true as Oldswinford tried to up the pace.
The last four overs arrived with the hosts needing 40 runs to win. The more astute mathematicians in the crowd were quick to point out that that represented a rate of somewhere between 9 and 11 per over. It was at this point that a member of the Stanier tribe arrived at the wicket, to display batting talents that belied his arrival at number ten in the order. Hitting the ball to all corners, he took the score to 121 for 7 as the final over arrived.
Georgey had the last over – welcome back, Mike! It was going well until the fourth ball was adjudged a wide by an umpire who used to be Mike’s mate. The last ball arrived with Oldswinford needing four to win. Confusion reigned, as they somehow managed to scramble three – resulting in a tie, and near-collpase of elderly party in the scorebox!
Bedouins 132 for 4 (Stanier 31, Woodhouse 21, Lippitt 27, Hill 26 not out)
Oldswinford 132 for 7 (Susman 2 for 21, George 2 for 29, Gregory 1 for 14, Stanier 1 for 12, Lemm 1 for 25)