Match Report
I consider myself very fortunate to even be writing this match report. Described in the media as “the ankle sprain heard around the world”, I collapsed in agony on Friday wondering if this was the end of my burgeoning Ploughmans career. With the support of my teammates (“You’re joking right?”, “Why would you ever go running?”, “We’re going to need you to bowl mate”) I thankfully found the grit needed to take the field.
Our innings was kicked off by Ploughman’s favourite power couple and they helped lay a solid foundation. Tom Lane looked composed at the crease until a rare poor stroke saw his middle stump knocked over. The lack of pre-match chunder may have been his undoing in the end.
After a cameo from Rahul, Iskandar Eaton was joined at the crease by skipper Grant Wolledge. It’s not often you see a baby blue helmet and a weathered broad-brimmed hat used as head protection, but these two put on a pile of runs to build our innings. Iskandar brought up his third 50 for the season with a lovely boundary.
A top edge from Iskandar saw Andy Kale to the crease. Not content with the difficulties of a spicy Hollies wicket, Grant and Andy decided to play a high stakes game of “who can run each other out first”. The strategy worked, however, with Grant bringing up his 50. The student became the master with a captain’s knock in every sense of the word. At the death, Andy, Grant and Trent Catanzariti clubbed our way to a very respectable 218.
A few doughnuts and cookies over tea was just the tonic needed to start our second innings. Firebrands Oli Lonsdale and Nabanjan Maitra formed a brutal opening combination, with the former taking 3 wickets. It warmed my heart to see Oli’s net form carry over into an actual game. However, screaming “THAT COULD HAVE BEEN A WICKET MAIDEN!!!” after a rare misfield probably wasn’t his finest moment.
Tight fielding and probing deliveries from Niraj Tailor, Trent and Grant skittled their middle order. Not content with opening the batting, Iskandar forced his way into the bowling attack. After a very tough chance was dropped off his first ball, he bounced back to take the stumps of the oppo next over and take his first wicket for the club.
The day ended with a massive 150+ run win for the Plough, with man of the match split between Grant and Iskandar.
Plough on!
Matt H
