Clash of the CW Titans
Upottery IIs 105 (A. Button-Stephens 21*, F. Drew 14, Chubb 10, D. Prettejohn 10)
Thorverton IIs 78-7 (D. Prettejohn 3-10, F. Drew 2-20)
With the titanic clash between Cricket Web's two DCL heavyweights unfortunately stillborn by Neil breaking his finger and being in Guernsey, I faced his team. Well it wasn't really his team, because Thorverton were playing 6 first teamers, since their fixture had been abandoned the night before. Upottery, on the other hand, had several IIs regulars missing. We batted first. The ball was swinging a lot, and I came in at 7-1. I was playing alright, getting my foot outside the off stump to an inswing bowler, but stupidly I fell straight into a leg-side trap set by a medium-pace bowler called Moreton- he moved a man out to deep square, bowled one outside off which I defended, then dropped one short down leg- I went for the pull and top-edged it straight to the guy he'd had out there. Pretty soon after that we were 60-6, then 78-9, but Buttons (who is of the same ability level with the bat as me but was batting 11 because he was late) played well to get us up to 100+. When we were 70-9, I told a Thorverton first-teamer who was watching that we'd "score a hundred then bowl you out for 70". I believed 105 would be enough.
And it certainly looked it when the Thorverton top-order, packed with first teamers, collapsed to 19-5. We bowled superbly. One of the first-teamers drove a ball in the air to mid-off and was dropped, and as I walked past him I said "That wasn't very first team, was it?" He muttered something under his breath, which I doubt would be repeatable, and two balls later he lined up a massive drive and missed, his stumps getting castled. Two of Thorverton's younger players, including Neil's replacement as keeper (another first-teamer), put together a good partnership to get them up to 70-5, but we struck back, getting them both. I should add most of this was happening in driving rain, but because both sides believed we could win we stayed out there. However, when the Thorverton No. 9 tried to smash one to leg, the bat slipped out of his hand and went cartwheeling away to square leg. It was obvious we couldn't continue out there.
I can understand why Neil chose to play at Thorverton, they have an excellent ground next to the river, a good little pavilion and what seemed like a good atmosphere. It was a shame this game had to end the way it did, since it was a real thriller. But I think both sides will be relatively happy with the way the points split- Thorverton 11, Upottery 10, but Thorverton must ask serious questions about bringing in first-teamers rather than trusting their own second team boys, who seem to have done okay.
;
