Eltham CC

Match Report

Match report Eltham CC Vs Dulwich Wanderers CC

"Has anyone seen my pickle?"

For a few moments let us return to the events of August Bank Holiday last season, the mighty Eltham CC were on a 17 match unbeaten run spanning back across the whole summer. Silverware adorned the trophy cabinet (have we got one?) after the 'TANtastic' capitulation of the Dulwich Wanderers batting line up in the final of the ELTHAM T20 COMPETITION 2009. Everything was fine and dandy.

A year on and Dulwich returned to the lush Footscray turf with revenge on their minds. Eltham had managed to secure the T20 trophy for another year, albeit a little by default as the tournament wasn't being held. Consequently the grudge match was to be a more usual 40 over game.

Behind the scenes at Eltham things were not all rosy as they had been the previous year. Still reeling from the 'Pickle for favours' scandal and the infamous 'Benchman' saga, the players arrived not knowing if any unscrupulous journalists were lurking to capture further gossip.

Immediately Eltham's confidence was thrown by several players returning to the scene of the 'Benchman' saga only to be told that actually it was all Will's fault for throwing mud around the floor in the first place. Will also rallied the troops by giving a vivid account of how well the opposition had been playing all summer (Hundreds here, wickets there etc.) Skippy Swain then lost the toss which probably didn't help either!

Off to bat went Will and Asjad, the former desperately hoping to improve on last year's diamond duck. (Has anyone got a diamond pair? Or would that just be gossip for those journalists?) Fortunately, Will avoided the situation by insisting on Asjad taking strike - he's such a polite chap! A quiet opening couple of overs ensued - except for the huge cheer when Will got off the mark - with the Dulwich bowlers being very uncharitable in the runs department.

Soon Will went 1-0 up in the 'Bisley Bragging Stakes' as his brother Ed dropped a chance to get rid of him. However he wasn't made to pay as a short while later Will was dismissed for 10. Asjad had started to play more aggressively when the Footscray pitch made one jump a bit more than usual and he was caught at gully. Then Fisher followed missing a straight delivery from the impressive Macauley.

Matt Bulpitt and Richard then managed to make the score a little more creditable with sound contributions during the middle part of the innings. However it was clear that Dulwich had no intention of letting Eltham post a big total as all of their bowlers maintained a sensible line and length that was difficult to score off.

A meagre total of around 140 or 150 looked on the cards until Colin and Pete Swain launched a counter attack. Running hard and spanking the odd four, the total crept ever closer to 190. The fielders were getting a little worried, they were even heard to be offering bribes for batsmen to play particular shots; the going rate was 20 pounds to play the ball through the slips! (You could have made a fortune Will!!) Even Derek got in on the act by scoring two from the only ball he faced! (By the way, it is still unclear how Derek had returned from the Reading festival completely mudless and without a Guns 'n Roses or Dizzy Rascal T-shirt in sight, or was that just misheard idle gossip for the journalists?)

With the hard work of the middle order, a total of 187 was set and although in the end, Eltham seemed quite pleased after the way the innings had gone, Dulwich did not look too worried.

Tea was taken (as was the pickle) and the Eltham team took to the field in positive way hoping that another 'Tantastic' performance was just round the corner. Unfortunately it was Derek who was just round the corner, in fact he was nowhere to be found which meant Tan lost his regular first slip and seemed to want to prove the point by aiming at the space Derek had left vacant. Several wides later, and it was all going horribly wrong. Once Derek reappeared in his usual fielding position, Tan, gentleman that he is, wouldn't have dared to aim at him and so the problem was solved. So much so that he proceeded to take two wickets in his spell. Ricky, at the other end, kept things relatively tight and it seemed that Dulwich would have to work hard for the runs.

After eight overs each, a change had to be made and the skipper turned to Will to put some pressure on his brother who was batting and his dad who was umpiring. Alas it wasn't to be a fairy tale ending and the Dulwich Bisleys raced ahead in the 'Bisley Bragging Stakes' as Will bowled a succession of wides. Derek was tried for a couple of overs but it seemed that containment was required and so Colin and Pete were called into action perhaps a little earlier than planned. It turned out to be a sound decision as the runs dried up somewhat and the game became more and more tense as the final overs approached. A couple of wickets fell, but Dulwich continued to chip away at the total.

Eventually Pete knew he would have to turn to another bowler or two to complete the 40 overs and so Richard was tried. Despite getting the valued wicket of De Koch (an excellent stumping by Andy) he proved to be expensive and so Pete finished his overs , leaving Matt and Will to try to defend the last runs in the final three overs. A valiant bowling effort from them both including a pleading, desperate, but unsuccessful LBW appeal from Will (to his Dad, more bragging points lost) saw the game go down to the penultimate ball, when a no ball was called and the batsman scampered a quick single to win the game for Dulwich.

A super game, played in a competitive but friendly spirit (though Colin did chunter too much about a wide given by Ed Bisley for which he quite rightly had to apologise - sorry again Ed! - Colin), although it probably hurts more to lose a game when the finish is quite that close.

Happily the journalists left without any further scandal or gossip being heaped upon Eltham CC..... unless anyone knows any different.