The Highway Hurricanes
— vs The Assembly

Normal service was resumed at Caedelyn after Tuesday’s farcial events at Heath Park as the Canes took on our old rivals from the Assembly.

The Assembly’s opening pair, who apparently has put on a stand of over a hundred in their last match, certainly looked pretty tasty and the score was soon mounting rapidly. However, it was then that Griff showed his tactical genius by bringing on Danny in a bold move, that soon paid dividends when one of the openers was deceived by a beautifully flighted delivery and bowled. The same bowler soon struck again with a ruse that showed all his experience and cunning. The batman’s eyes lit up when he spied what ‘seemed’ at first sight to be a gentle, short delivery drifting down the leg side, that was just begging to be smacked to the boundary. The trap was set and he fell right into it, with Dave also playing his part with an absolutely stunning catch – throwing himself to his right to pluck the ball out of the air one-handed. The scoring rate slowed down after that, with solid contributions from everyone, though I’m afraid I can’t recall the details of who did what (apologies) except for Stagg Major who I think bowled the other opener.

Greg’s absence was barely noticed as Griff, like the seasoned pro that he is, slotted seamlessly back in behind the sticks – with the exception of a couple of missed stumpings, a botched run-out, and numerous byes. However, he deserves much credit for recalling the batsman after the run-out incident – admitting that he didn’t actually have the ball in his gloves when the bails were removed. Well done Skipper. Also on a positive note was the home debut of Mr Rudi who endeared himself to the home crowd with a delightful exhibition of the fine arts of spin bowling that had the bemused Assembly batsmen groping blindly in their efforts to put bat on ball. There were number of DCs to record – including the very rare occurence of one from Jimmy. However, on a more disturbing note there was further evidence of Griff’s growing tyrannical tendencies with his shameful treatment of one of the team’s older, and more physically frail, members – with the Captain constantly adjusting his position in the field to ensure that the sun was directly in his eyes. Quite shocking.

With a total in the mid seventies to chase the Canes were confident of victory. But Dave and Lewis soon fell, caught going for big hits, as was Danny – looking in prime form but bowled by an unplayable brute of a delivery that kept low. No doubt Griff, being the wise and fair man that he is, will have made note of this and won’t count the resulting duck when calculating the batting averages at the end of the season. With the score standing at 0 runs for 3 wickets defeat and utter humiliation beckoned. However, sanity and calm was restored as Captain Fantastic joining Jim in the middle and started stroking the bowl around with growing authority. As usual, the beer tents had soon emptied as word spread that Griff was at the crease – and he certainly cut an imposing figure as he surveyed the distant boundary, pondering to which section of it he should smite the next delivery. Indeed, an Assembly fielder was heard to comment on how his likeness to a greek god was ‘ quite remarkable’.

Sadly, that he remains among the ranks of the mere mortal soon became evident as a calamitous ‘yes – no – oh s**t – sorry’ moment saw him comically run out, and trudge back to the pavillion with head bowed. However, this brought Nathan out to join Jim and, with the two opening bowlers finished, carnage ensued as some big big hitting saw the Hurricanes coast to victory – with one six near the end from Nathan being the biggest that anyone present could remember. Of course, the main topic of debate among Hurricanes fans recently (apart from how Danny manages to keep taking wickets with rubbish bowling) is – which of the two Nathans is the more talented? Well, with the Jafferman absent with a footballing injury, it looks like the issue has been settled – for now at least?

As for the man of the match – my heart says Dave for that astounding catch, but it really has to be either Jim or Nathan for some class batting that rescued us from disaster. Until just before the end I’d have gone for Jim – if only to punish Nathan for ignoring my wise advice to spend at least 1 ball getting his eye in before lashing out. However, that massive six will live long on the memory and clinches it – it just has to be Nathan.

— Danny