Match Report
On a beautiful Sunday morning, 11 heroes of Ploughmans cricket club arrived at the rather lovely Morden cricket ground. Despite this being the final match of the season, energy was still high and John Ryves was only 15 minutes late. Tails never fails seemed to hold true as Britto won the toss and elected to bat (batsmen make better captains apparently).
Ploughmans, opting with a new opening pair containing Lonnen and Spencer, slowly made their way to the crease. Credit to Lonnen and Spencer who have both put their hands up to take on more batting responsibility this year – this is exactly what we need as a club. Morden started well with the old timer Ballard demonstrating that you can never be too old to play by trapping Spence LBW.
Out came Ovens, most of you will recall the amount of banter he was receiving on the group chat as he was a worthy contender to Freddie’s throne as best batsmen. With ease, Ovens played shot after shot and took advantage of some lose deliveries. Despite the exit of Lonnen and Britto (who both battled valiantly) Ovens continued to bat without pressure – much to the delight of the Plough. Nick Ridgway entered the crease and provided some stability, as the Plough started to build, runs started to follow and a good score was on the table.
Noodle then decided to take a few strides forward and fell over (muppet) which resulted in a stumping that ended his brief but excellent innings. With Keogh and John playing a good hand in supporting the team to climb above 100, wickets started to tumble. Prasad came to the crease and had a quick start but was then run out (thanks John – I’ll run 3 next time shall I?) Despite some confusion with the umpiring signal, AJ decided to give himself out and walk back to the pavilion.
With Ovens eventually falling for an outstanding 62, which came as a relief to the opposition, however this total was enough to secure BEST BATSMEN. A truly outstanding effort that has the entire Ploughmans mandem extremely proud!
The best was yet to come as Uncle Nigel came to the crease, clearly excited by Brexit negotiations failing – he scored his first runs of the season, after raising his bat after his glorious arrival on 5 runs, Nigel was left stranded, leaving a total of 160 and the Plough eagerly waiting for tea.
Tea was exceptionally well prepared, Niraj enjoying his 4th plate and Spence enjoying the sight of chicken nuggets. Ridgway decided to sample some of the carrot cake and he seemed happy as he smiled at me for once.
Ploughmans took to the field for the last time this season and eagerly awaited the challenge ahead. Opening the bowling was AJ and Spence (making the most of his match fee), field set, game on. First delivery from AJ lit up the batsmen’s eyes which resulted in an awkward nick behind which was chest passed to the ground by Freeway (as he bought a jug – all is forgiven). Morden accumulated runs aggressively, with hard chances not going in Ploughmans way – Britto turned to Lonnen for inspiration, using a shorter run up (I think he’s getting old), Lonnen caused great problems for Morden and removed batsmen 1 and 3. With Forhad into the attack, Plough were aiming for some quick wickets, without luck the Plough toiled and toiled until Ridgway pulled off a caught and bowled – great awareness shown.
For the last time this season – Nigel graced us with his bowling (I hope he survives the winter). Consistent lines allowed Nige to be rewarded with 2 wickets (double wicket maiden). However, today was not to be for the Plough and lost by 5 wickets.
Spirits remained high as always and the drinking commenced. The Plough not too disheartened – plenty to learn from.
As this is the last match report of the season, I will take this opportunity to thank the committee for the outstanding work done behind the scenes. A truly outstanding season for all involved; outstanding atmosphere, outstanding cricket club, outstanding family! Big thanks to everyone involved this year!
Soon we will be having the AGM, League dinner and Club dinner – all opportunities to get drunk together and commit some questionable acts in the name of this year’s LEAGUE VICTORY – as Freddie said (slightly drunk) ‘we all did our bit to help the club win the League’.
I hope you all are sociable enough over the winter!
Love this club
AJ
