Eltham CC

Match Report

Match report Eltham CC Vs Cudham Wyse CC

WET WET WET

No, don't worry; this isn't a report on a pop concert it just describes what the weather was like on Sunday.

The day had dawned overcast but dry at least until I left home for the match. The drizzle got steadier as we travelled to the ground but John lightened the mood for Pete and me by recalling the many excursions he made to this part of the world in his youth. Hopes of getting a game in rose slightly as the rain momentarily eased as we arrived at the ground. It was a pleasant surprise to see how level the playing area was after John had warned us of how hilly this area is. With nine of the eleven members of the team having been on tour last week, even though one, yours truly, didn't play on tour, hopes were high that the weather would stay hot and sunny like Saturday to ease their various aches and pains. But alas conditions were wet and the feeling around the dressing room was that the two non touristss, Will and debutant Alex, would be in for a busy afternoon.

Things momentarily brightened up in the dressing room when Will dropped his trousers (Steady, H! - Ed) to reveal he was wearing luminous pink pants which lit up the dressing room. They would have been ideal in overcoming bad light but not a lot of use in the rain.

You will by now have realised that this report already contains more padding, with more to come, than Andy's Old Pilotonians report.

Pete Swain went out to the wicket and whilst making the toss received a phone call from Derek to advise him that he, Al and Ricky couldn't find the ground and that he had, in fact, lost Ricky. "That's funny" says Pete, "I can see Ricky in the car park." With a steady drizzle falling the nine men of Eltham took the field whilst Derek and Al took a leisurely stroll from the car park. I wonder whether they (D&A) had misread their sat navs (should have gone to specsavers).

The skipper opened the bowling with himself and Ricky, as he had on tour, and despite their obvious aches and pains they didn't give a lot away in the opening overs, apart from the occasional leg side delivery that allowed Andy to perfect his diving technique. As Al was waiting on the boundary for the end of the over before he could join the fray, Colin asked him to get some towels (beer mats) from his bag to dry the ball on. I don't know about the ball but I could have done with a towel or preferably an umbrella to keep me dry. With almost eleven men on the field, Derek having veered off at the last moment to head off round the back of the pavilion (more sat nav trouble!) rather than to field at slip, thereby missing the chance to take a catch at slip off Ricky's bowling.

The game continued in the unrelenting drizzle with the batsmen Archer and Stanger finding runs hard to come by, particularly the former. In the eleventh over Archer was deceived by a full delivery from Ricky which rapped him on the pads. A hearty appeal followed and with all eyes on the umpire he slowly, after much deliberation, raised the finger of doom for the batsman. Archer was out lbw for seven. Stanger was now joined by Sergeant, but with the drizzle turning to rain everyone was soon back in the pavilion. With the rain continuing to pour down it was agreed that an early tea be taken, and this appeared to be a wise decision as it had stopped raining by the time tea was over. But by the time play resumed it had started to rain again which had Ricky sweating on whether 15 overs would be bowled so that the wicket he'd taken would count in the averages. With the ball getting more difficult to control when bowling, runs now came at a faster rate with Stanger scoring more freely, although both bowlers were unlucky not to take further wickets. With the 15 over mark reached Ricky seemed to relax and in the 17th over he unintentionally bowled a beamer to Stanger and was quick to apologise to the batsman. In fact he was so apologetic that he then bowled three half volleys which Stanger promptly dispatched to the boundary. This rather spoilt Ricky's figures finishing with 1 for 42, whilst Stanger was undefeated on 49 (credit to him for still buying a jug). With the rain getting heavier play was abandoned and a hasty retreat was made to the Blacksmiths Arms to dry out!

That's the report as I saw things. I'm not sure why the skipper asked me to do the report as being the only player who wears glasses (even though I got them from Specsavers) I probably missed more than I saw.

Let's hope for better weather next week and remember that after all that rain things did look greener on the way home.

Reporting: H (aka Daddy Bear and now possibly Padding or Waffler)