By Tim Pollard
Saturday 20 August 2016
They sounded like a good sort, the Mavericks, and they were. The Strokers hosted the doughty Derbyshire tourists at Fortress Southwick, looking resplendent on a blustery August Saturday.
The Oval might be showing cracks that would comfortably swallow Tony Greig’s fountain pen whole, but we were reminded how lucky we are: is there a more perfect, bucolic English setting than a village cricket square crowned by scudding clouds, soaring kites and cockle-warming August sunshine? As the early birds quaffed a quick sharpener in the thatched Shuck next door, we thought not.
Gentlemen’s rules provided for a quick 20-20/10-10 format to keep us all watered and fed with ample breaks for ageing limbs and bladders. And so after the most agile fielding practice any of us could remember, the Strokers put the Mavericks in to bat, wondering how the fracturing wicket would fare.
The Raven flew into the opening slot, with a promisingly virginal maiden, partnered at the other end by a pacey-looking Hill and his incredibly long run-up in honour of Mo Farah’s antics in Rio. This was a devastatingly effective opening combo, snaffling a wicket each within three overs. The Mavericks were looking shaky, their top order unable to pass 15.
Time then to call upon our quartet of super-spinners. Flexi of wrist, unpredictable of flight and comedic of run-ups, Strokers Drewett, White, Pollard and Kisiel stuttered, hopped and wobbled their way to the stumps, arms a-flailing and cherries a-turning (sometimes).
White and Kisiel grabbed a pair of wickets, but the opposition score crept northwards, supercharged by the classiest cricketer any of us could remember seeing in PE8. Their number four batsman scored so many runs, the second line of the the scorebook was called into action for the first time in living memory, on his way to a plucky 62 not out – near as dammit half of their eventual total of 132.
Under Kisiel’s captaincy, the Strokers were kept on their toes in the field, with direction and encouragement aplenty. It’s worth highlighting one marvellous moment of ineptitude, when our skipper keenly instructed us the incoming bat was a leftie – and not one of 10 fielding bodies moved an inch. Call it early signs of senility, abject laziness or just a laissez-faire attitude to run prevention… Which might explain our 16 excursions to the nettlebeds to fetch hoiked boundaries.
Soon we were raiding Drewett’s super-sized schoolboy tuckbox and padding up for our own 20-over innings. Openers Pollard and Drewett were unable to repeat previously successful partnerships, the former disappearing for a single and the latter for a dirty dozen. Special mention to Chapman, dismissed cruelly for one, after Drewett called a single that Usain Bolt would surely have refused.
Cometh the hour, cometh the man. The Worthington colossus strode to the crease looking like our own Olympic hero, hellbent on taking the game by the scruff of the neck. With a flashing blade of willow, he smote the first delivery for four, signalling his intent to go hell for leather. Eight of his 15 scores were boundaries, including one smashing six dispatched up the hill towards the water tower on his way to a face-saving 37.
After De Capell Brooke chose to depart without bothering the scorebook with any ink, skipper Kisiel arrived and matched Worthington’s might with a daintier, more technical 30. That Maverick total was looking closer. White and Harper were the last men in, prodding the Reader around for a respectable 15 and 4 as we closed our 20 overs with a tantalisingly close 125.
Tea was excellent, the scones slid down with lashings of Hophead and new conker-based beverages and much banter was had with the Mavericks, whom it turned out were not named after ’80s smash-hit movie Top Gun.
Giddy on sugar and ale, we galloped back to the pitch for Round 2, White opening proceedings with a run-out on the second ball while Raven unleashed more maidens from the other end. Where does he keep them all at home? More wristy twist was produced by Kisiel and Pollard produced a devastating spell of unconventional off-breaks, taking a pair of wickets in just two overs, including a rare stumping by the acrobatic Harper bossing the stumps.
Hill bowled just one over before being deemed too lively on a crumbling wicket, leaving two pricey overs from Worthington to wrap up our 60 balls, with a modest 66 runs on the Mavericks’ scoreboard.
Orlebar opened our second innings eagerly, striking a solitary run before being clean-bowled by a straight one while partner Raven was given LBW by assistant umpire Kisiel, leaving our legal counsel with a face like thunder as he trudged to the pavilion for 3. Hill managed a punchy 9 before being caught and Harper proved once again that a recent conversion to cricket is no hindrance to ability, with a superb 12 before succumbing while trying to smash one over the top into Woodnewton.
Chapman added a couple to the board, White popped out briefly before returning immediately and the season’s hero – Extras – contributed a punchy 32, bringing the prospect of a nail-biting finish. Time for some Olympic inspiration from the gold-winning ladies hockey team on Friday night. Time for a display of true Strokesmanship. Time for Kisiel to pad up and score a masterful 12, aided by a Worthington single as we topped 72.
We’d won the 10/10 and lost the 20/20. Cue some advanced mathematics and a call to one of the Mavericks’ schoolchildren to help with the arithmetic. Handily, next year’s headboy at Oakham was among their number (Worthington may have abused him for trying a reverse sweep). We soon had it on authority that we had indeed lost the aggregate score by a solitary run.
What a game of cricket. What a season. What a great and varied XI the Strokers produce week in, week out. A heart-felt thank you to all the skippers, hard-working committee, the Shuck’s kitchen and cellars, and especially our chief groundsman for making Southwick’s pasture passably pitch-alike. Top stroking all-round!
First innings
Mavericks: 132 for 5 off 20 overs
Raven 1-12, White 1-16, Kisiel 1-16, Worthington 1-19, Hill 1-29
Strokers: 125 for 6 off 20 overs
Worthington 37, Kisiel 30, Extras 25, Drewett 12
Second innings
Mavericks: 66 for 4 off 10 overs
Pollard 2-9, White 1-17
Strokers: 72 for 8 off 10 overs
Extras 32, Harper 12, Kisiel 12, Hill 9