Clinical Mannofield take three points from ‘sixpointer’

Winning the toss for the first time this season caught captain vO somewhat off-guard. His mental energies that morning had been pre-occupied with stressing about the impending European U21 fixture between NL and Italy (don’t ask) and thus only had seconds to fully judge playing conditions for the cricketing fixture he was meant to be managing whilst two umpires and the opposing captain politely awaited his decision with due anticipation.

Consulting his full range of cricketing expertise unsurprisingly drew up a blank, but eventually he , somewhat half-heartedly, chose to do what every self-respecting SPCU captain does having won the toss: Field first.

Peth-Doocot are a very strong batting side and it was thus key that the opening bowlers bowled consistent lines on what turned out to be a good batting deck. William Anderson and Rahul Chandu did not
disappoint as they kept the Perth top order quiet, very much bowling to their respective fields. Basher struck in his first over, getting the big scalp (literally and metaphorically) of Matt Surry as the former Essex batsmen and self-confessed fish-supper-aficionado got a leading edge to mid-on where the fielder took a contender for catch of the season.

The pro came in at three and approached his innings with a degree of caution, predominantly finding fielders on the rare occasions when his more flamboyant shots were unleashed. He eventually fell for a timid 16 as one of the more innocuous-looking change bowlers (blonde mane, mixed Geordie-Columbian heritage) accidentally got a ball to pop a bit and the pro inside edged it onto his stumps. David ‘partnership breaker’ Gamblen then delighted the home crowd, not only because he replaced club-villain van Oorschot from the ‘Reid-Family-Stand-End’ but also by subsequently removing the Aussie Tramontanus, who had been looking to up the run rate by playing some aggressive shots.

Mark Assiter came on for Phil Wood, whose chronic nihilism unfortunately restricts his motivational bursts to a maximum of 20 minutes (although admittedly, and it pains me to say this, he did bowl quite well), and bowled a very fine nine-over spell which, although wicketless, was crucial in restricting the travelling side to a below-par 177. William Anderson and Rahul Chandu both came back to finish their allotted overs, taking several wickets each in a clinical display of death bowling.

In reply Andy Innes and Shayanthan Nanthakamuran were charged with opening the batting and both did so with a degree of confidence and fluency, skilfully negotiating their way through the delicate task of facing a leg-spinner from one end and a sharpish left-arm-seamer from the other.

Both made good starts but will be disappointed to not have capitalised on these, falling for 20 odd each. Grant Jamieson approached the wicket at three and was able to confirm the signs of form that were briefly on display last week. Hints of the natural batting-confidence he usually enjoys seem to be returning to the former AUCC ‘glory years’ veteran. Grant made around 30. Dicko at four played a very similiar role with a measured (by his standards) 30-odd and put the team in a good position to cruise toward the target.

However, those devoted fans of Aberdeenshire’s second XI (i.e. my Mom, Leo Wood and G-man's dog), will know that we like to treat ourselves to portions of last-minute nerves and nail biting. A combination of good bowling and poor shot selection resulted in the home-side being
seven down before crossing the ultimate hurdle. Basher even gifting Perth with the mother of all dollies on the second last ball of the innings, a chance they forgot to take (much to the relief of everyone concerned as captain vO was due in next).

All in all Mannofield put in a very solid performance against a strong Perth side, and will now have two weeks break to prepare for the second half of the season. Hopefully they will continue where they left off.

Rene

NB
As an aside, the following will be fined 50% of their match fee

1. Shay for admitting to letting ‘personal feelings’ prevent him from taking a catch behind the stumps
2. Basher for using foul language on a cricket pitch despite a polite request from the batsman to refrain from doing so
3. Phil Wood