Mannofield win match of four halves

Lost the toss, put into bat. Story of our season.

The Manno-innings got off to a solid start with Shayanthan Nanthakumaran and Andy Innes being watchful in the first few overs on a wicket that was either an ‘absolute road’ (P. Wood) or ‘a complete minefield’ (S. Nanthakamuran), depending on whom you believed. Despite looking in decent form Innes fell early on as a thick edge was very sharply snatched up at gully. Grant Jamieson came in and kept the scoreboard ticking along with our resident club surgeon before being trapped in front.

The large boundaries, combined with a greasy outfield and tight bowling lines meant runs were hard to come by but Shay and John Dickinson were able to rotate the strike at a decent pace, with Dicko occasionally resorting to his signature lofted off-drives and slog-sweeps to keep the boundary count at a respectable level. Shay eventually fell for a very well-made 49, much to the regret and sorrow of his sympathising team-mates. Dicko went on to make an immaculate 53.

Andy Lewis replaced Shay at the crease and was looking to start pushing for runs in an attempt to reach the immense psychological target of 200 runs. Lewi, not deterred by the pre-game loss of his tooth (beef jerky can be surprisingly solid….), made a very fluent 23 before departing to make way for the fabled Phil Wood. Once the cheering had finally subsided we were able to continue the game as an eerie silence descended on the area. The amassed crowds drew their breath in anticipation of the spectacle their hero would undoubtedly grant them. They were not disappointed as P. Wood possibly scored the most fabulous 17 of his career, being dropped a mere 24 times during his innings. Minor cameos by A Russel and R vO took the score to 201.

Teas were excellent as usual

Rahul Chandu and vO opened the bowling in what can only be described as ‘damp’ conditions. The latter suffering terribly from the greasiness of the run-up and wicket (although it should be mentioned that he has been known to blame conditions for a woeful spell of bowling). Another spell of rain followed and the teams quickly took to dressing rooms (well the Strathmore team took to the dressing room, the manno-boys were a little pre-occupied putting the covers on the Strathmore wicket). Once the rain subsided, the players returned and vO was thankfully replaced by Grant Jamieson, who managed to immediately do a Gavin Jamieson. Grant slipped on his follow through and severely tweaked a back muscle, putting him out for the match.

The captains subsequently came to a mutual decision that the pitch was too dangerous to play on and again took to the club-house, much to the dismay of the local populace, club director and club sponsors who were clearly a lot more informed than all the players, captains and umpires about the state of the pitch. With hindsight I think we can all agree that the importance of a game of SPCU cricket far outweighs trivial matters such as, say, player safety.

After a further 30 minutes of loitering the pitch was deemed safe for play (which it was) and cricket was resumed. Pete West, who very kindly agreed to come out of retirement for this game, replaced the injured Grant and bowled a magical spell that completely changed the momentum of the game, taking three crucial wicket including a very sharp C & B’d. Chandu also bowled his allotted overs in a remarkably tight spell that deserved far more than the single wicket. Phil Wood and David Gamblen replaced West and Chandu and continued where the previous two had left off. David bowled a sublime spell including three wickets all followed by the cacophonic Gamblen roar and fist pump.

Phil bowled ok, took a wicket.

We eventually dismissed Strathmore for 133, winning the game by 60-odd runs. A very comfortable win despite being down to ten men and suffering much boundary abuse from the natives.

Good performance all round

Rene