Nathan Rees had packed his kit bag ready for the game against the Echo – but before leaving the house he paused in front of the hallway mirror and, pleased with what he saw reflected there, he commenced his usual pre-match ritual:
‘Mirror mirror on the wall, who’s the most talented Hurricane of all?’ Back came the reply …. ‘Why you are of course Nath, that goes without saying – but it’s that bloody Jaffa who’s been scoring all the runs this year’. His face contorted in fury and anguish at this unwanted reminded of how his arch-rival has been stealing all the headlines this summer, what with hat tricks and record high scores, and he vowed to himself that this would be the day when he’d make a start on putting the record straight – and show that young upstart Jaffa what a truly talented Nathan can do. Sadly though he wasn’t to get the opportunity on this occasion as Griff decided that he should be demoted down the batting order as punishment for his unauthorised absence from duty these past few weeks – but there could be fireworks ahead between now and the of the season, you mark my words.
The Echo batted first and recorded a score of 81 for 10 off 18 overs (this wasn’t 81 all out as we were playing 12 a side). There was an eventful start as Jeremy opened the bowling. He seemed set on trying to beat Sully’s newly-set record as the first two deliveries were each spanked for 4 (though there was an assist from Stagg Senior for one of them) – but then the third brough an edge and a sharp catch from COB, followed by another boundary off the fourth. Phew – a brave effort from Jes but he’ll have to try a lot harder to match to take that record off Sully.
I can’t recall too much else about who did what – except for a catch from Lewis of my own bowling (strange how that should stick in the mind). Hang on though, it’s starting to come back to me now. There was a good catch in the deep by Clive, and a cracking run-out by the Chris and Chris combo. COB also took another very sharp catch behind the stumps – and he could have even had a third if his reactions had been a bit quicker when the batsmen fended off a short one in front of him. This led to some cruel remarks about consumption of pies – which I’m sure we’d all agree is a shocking and totally unfair slur against the reputation of an outstanding sportman and athlete, and who never fails to treat his body as anything other than a temple?
Myself and Jaffa opened the Canes reply. I though it best not to linger too long as I knew that Mr Campbell, the man the crowd had come to see, was padded up at number 4. Jeremy seemed to take a similar view as he was bowled for a duck. This brought the dream team Jeffries/Campbell combo together and the anticipated feast of attacking strokeplay soon followed. Clive sadly perished with victory in sight which brought Dave to the middle. A shout from the boundary then revealed that we needed 11 more runs to win – and that Jaff also needed 11 more for his 50. A tricky dilemma for Dave then. To play his own game, or defend and leave Jaffa to accumulate the runs he needed for yet another mention on ‘the bat’? His decision was soon apparent – a nudge into space off his first ball accompanied by an instantaneous cry of ‘yes’ saw him haring down to the other end to pinch the strike. Yes sir – Mr Stagg wanted a piece of the action. To be fair Jaff didn’t seem the slightest bit bothered – which may be a sign of his progress this year? Yet another 50 … oh hum … yawn? It’s going to take something really spectacular from Mr Rees to challenge for the Top Nathan title now?
Man of the Match – I suppose it ought to be Jaffa for his 47 not out, but he’s got a big enough collection of them already – so, for his excellent catch along with some entertaining batting I’ll go for Clive.