MATCH 10 Virgin XI/Nomads CC v Holmesdale CC Sunday May16th 2.00pm Montreal Park, Worships Hill, Riverhead, Sevenoaks, Kent
Result: Match Abandoned as a Draw
Toss: Nomads
Umpires:
Scorer(s):Various
Debut: Andy Thompson
NOMADS CC Innings
J Lascelles bowled Epps 4
P Bell c Walmsley b McKendry 56
A Hill c Beal b Walmesley 11
J G-While bowled King 73
A Smith st Retrendry b Salter 69
A Thompson not out 30
P Brown not out 6
Extras (b22,lb7,w5,nb3) 37
TOTAL (5 wickets dec,40 overs) 266
Dnb:D de Caires,O Smith,B Bodie,O Croom-Johnson.
Fow:1-17,2-42,3-90,4-167,5-247.
Bowling-Epps 7 4 22 1,McKendry 3 0 32 1,Owen 9 3 30 0,Fossett 5 2 14 0,Walmsley 3 0 27 1,Dixon 2 0 9 0, Apps 3 0 39 0,King 3 0 18 1,Salter 2 0 9 1,Cook 3 0 37 0.
HOLMESDALE CC Innings
R Retrendry not out 100
H Salter bowled G-While 6
M Epps c Bell b O Smith 118
C Beale not out 10
Extras (b13,lb2,w2,nb0) 21
TOTAL (2 wickets,37 overs) 247
Dnb:H Dixon,A Cook,A Owen,H Apps,H Walmsley,T Fossett,N King.
Fow:1-16,2-220.
Bowling-Croom-Johnson 3 0 9 0,G-While 10 1 41 1,Bodie 7 0 59 0,O Smith 7 0 43 1,A Smith 8 0 57 0,Thompson 1 0 8 0,de Caires 1 0 8 0.
Rain saves the day
Well, we are used to the Holmesdale fixture being men against boys (literally), but this year it was old men (two over 60, and at least three over 50) against the home team, several members of which made one think that the concept of whether balls had been dropped did not refer to spilled catches.
The Virgin skipper foolishly allowed his natural instinct to field first on winning the toss to be overturned by a combination of his whingeing team-mates and the opposing skipper saying his team were “very weak”. That certainly did not apply to two members of that team, as events would reveal.
A typically breezy display of big hitting by Doug Bell (looking uncannily like his twin brother Doc) got the Virgins off to a bright start, before he was dismissed for 37. A good 4th wicket stand of 77 between James the While, and Andy Smith ensued, with While surprisingly going for 73 when he looked odds on a ton. The momentum was not lost when debutant Andy Thompson joined our esteemed veteran, with the next wicket realising 80 rapid runs, before Smithy deliberately got himself out for 69 just so he could make some lame joke about oral sex. The innings was called to a halt early, at around 4.30 (with Thompson on an unbeaten 30), with the belief that 266 against a team that owned two razor blades between them should suffice.
And suffice it probably would have done, if Aussie opener McKendry hadn’t been dropped behind the stumps in the second over by the Virgin makeshit (or should that word have an ‘f’ in it?) keeper. Now I know one shouldn’t be too disparaging about someone who volunteers to do the taxing task of wearing the big gloves, but frankly Dennis – you were shit. It was a performance by the big man that bore more than a passing resemblance to a performing seal, and Dennis was duly rewarded with a bucket of sprats at the end of the game. Back to the cricket.
When skipper Mark Epps came to the crease at no.3, it soon became clear that they did indeed possess a couple of pretty decent players, as a 2nd wicket stand of 204 would suggest. Epps finally went for 118 (a deserved wicket for the persevering Olly Smith), and victory for Holmesdale seemed inevitable.
However, with 4 overs to go and 20 needed, McKendry got to three figures, whereupon the heavens opened, and the batsman’s offer to abandon the game (something along the lines of “I’ve got my ton, can we all piss off now?”) was gratefully accepted by a chastened and soaking wet Virgin skipper. Whether Holmesdale had any batting to speak of apart from the two centurions is something we will never find out.
Previous Matches
2009 Cancelled Rain
2008 Nomads won by 7 wickets
2007 Cancleed Rain
2006 Holmesdale won by 5 wickets
2005 Holmesdale won by 9 wickets
2004 Rain saves Holmesdale Drawn
2003 Nomads/Virgin won by 4 wickets
Posted on 27/05/2010
by Michael Blumberg