Bidwells 137-2 (Moore 27*, A. Scott 25*, P Morgan 13-1) beat Jagex 136-8 (Van Daal 19, P Morgan 17*, Edwards 17, W. Scott 17-2) by 8 wickets.
Jagex succumbed to their annual defeat to the property gents at Bidwells in the pleasant environs of Trinity Old Field after posting our best total of the season so far.
Jagex won the toss (Hoorah!) and decided to open the batting. Fardell and Jones got the innings off to a blistering start, partially courtesy of their secret weapon, Mr Extras. Fardell snuck a cheeky single in and then a four to deep third man to get us started. Jones, not to be outdone, took the second ball he faced on and skipped down the tracking, presented the full face of the bat and drove sweetly through extra cover for four. 29 without loss after four overs, and a solid start, so good in fact it force the Bidwells captain to bring himself on to try and tighten things up.
This was a good move as he managed to get one to pitch short, skid on a not bounce at all, taking out Jones at the bottom of middle stump. Fardell kept things going with Jeroen for company, sneaking a nice four to fine leg. He did try to run himself out in the process, and was given sort of not out, by stand-in umpire Love - who chose to give him not out by giving the out signal and shaking his head at the same time. I also survived a pretty plum pudding LBW decision which I thought for all money had me. Fardell fell to a slightly poor shot, trying to sweep a wide one to square he toe ended it straight up in the air to the short fielder.
Out strolled Brett. His first shot was a perfect, textbook forward defensive. His next was gently guided to gully, as nicely as you like. Jeroen kept things going with a couple of nice fours and some keen running. He was joined by Juzzy for decent partnership, before eventually falling with the highest Jagex score on the evening, bowled for 19. Juzzy and Piers kept things rolling, although Juzzy survived longer than might be expected courtesy of some truly atrocious fielding. He chipped one high to short backward point, the fielder shooed the wicket keeper away and then dropped a dolly.
Piers took a while to rack up a score, but the running and extras meant we were never really losing momentum. Edwards eventually fell for 17, keeping up his fine form this season with bat and ball. Cooper then strolled out with a piece of timber so ancient and fossilized, that it may be used as the source of dinosaur DNA for the next Jurassic Park movie. As ever he made sure that runs were ticking over nicely, pushing hard for Piers and letting few dot balls cloud the score-book. Cooper eventually fell, bowled by some decent bowling from a Mr Sweeney, who went down in the score-book as Sweeney Todd, for reasons unknown.
Amoraal joined Piers for a little bit, but sadly fell to a duck, bowled by the fine lines of the returning Bidwells Captain. Then out strolled Simon "Milky Au" Lait. He pinched strike, leaving Jagex with 118 on the board and 6 balls to go. Bosh, 4, bash, 6 and biff, 4, were his response to this meagre total, all scored in an arc between square leg and backward square. When he well bowled, Love strolled out, patted one down and then hit a nice high four to square, leaving us with a much more defendable 136. It had been a quick outfield and some short boundaries, 136 felt a little short, if not a catastrophe. It was a good performance though, not least as everyone struggled to score against the Bidwells' Captain, with his pacy accurate bowling and tricky lines earning him two wickets, and 17 runs conceded from his four over spell.
The umpiring had been a little bit IPL for my liking, with anything down leg being called wide. Jones strapped on the pads and prepared to deal with the wides and leg-side stuff with the grim look of expectation that a keeper occasionally has before strolling out.
The two Bidwells opening batsmen looked really solid, both lefties with great technique. Love opened the bowling and got some skiddy trajectory and low movement. We saw the odd ball tickled to fine leg or third man for four, but did well to keep the numbers down. Fardell stopped a smashed early on with the famed sliding foot technique. Piers was very tight in his early spell, and his figures were aided by some ace fielding from Brett, stopping some smashed balls in close with great technique. He was slightly less effective when dropped to deep mid off, dropping a very difficult chance that was hit flat towards him. Piers was eventually was rewarded with a wicket, bowling one of the openers with a nice straight full ball.
Brett came on for Love in the first change, having seen a lot of action. He bowled some nice lines and was unfortunate not to be rewarded in his first over, when a batsman took him on, just before retiring, and clumped the ball just over Fardell's head at shortish mid-off. Lait came on for Piers and bowled fantastically, conceding 16 or 17 runs (depending which part of the score-book you read) for one wicket from 3 overs. The wicket was a genuine LBW, having outdone the batsman with a few balls, he got one to swing in and thud into his back leg, as plum as you like. He then did a wonderful thing, just before delivering his slower ball he decided to cough and snort loudly, a bit like a footballer clearing his nose, whilst running in to deliver. I hope he is available for poker games with the fellas and he likes a gamble, because it is a real William Tell of a bluff indicator.
Cooper came in a didn't have his best spell, seeing two overs go for 26 runs. Another batsman retired and Brett dropped a scorcher between point and cover - it would have been catch of the season if he'd made it. Fardell didn't get to a skier that he should have made and some of the fielding, while enthusiastic, lacked the cutting edge, and crucially catches, that would have put the opposition under pressure and taken a few wickets.
Juzzy came in for Lait, and also didn't have his tightest lines, but at this point the game was all but lost and the batsmen were just having some fun, swinging at everything. The only bright moment came when Gibbins strolled in to bowl, and almost got a maiden, only conceding one in his first over. If only I'd brought him in earlier! The game finished with three overs to spare, and eight wickets in hand, so something of a smashing, despite this being our best total of the season.
Afterwards there was another calamity, no beer. A nice tea and some cakes, followed by some post match banter did help round things off somewhat. Willem made sure that I knew he hadn't bowled, and if he had, we would have won by miles, as he would have given me one, two and three wicket maidens for sure from his three overs (but most certainly not his fourth). One to note for next week. Jones had done very well behind the stumps to concede only 2 byes, although in common with the opposition, we had conceded two many extras.
Catches win matches, and we didn't make any in this game, so that, and a slightly below par total are probably where this was lost. Also, all 6 of the opposition batsmen we got to see could bat brilliantly, and I know two of their players he didn't make it out to the centre who are equally tip top. If we keep this up and we may need to stop calling ourselves the Jaguars, and instead choose a more timid animal.
If this is the bad part of our season, then I'm hoping to see the sunshine after the rain...
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