Fun in the Fen

If this was football they would be talking about a 6 pointer. A run of just one win in the last 10 games had seen us slip into the relegation zone and a game against the Fen Ditton team that had climbed above us had really become a must win (sorry to use that hoary old cliche).

Well, we did win and with other results going our way the table looks a lot rosier now:

• 5th NCI - 158 pts
• 6th Coton - 153
• 7th March - 150
• 8th Fen Ditton - 149
• 9th Girton - 103

Next week we play Comberton who are comfortably 4th and can neither go up nor down. March play Cherry Hinton who need a win to make certain of promotion and NCI play Fen Ditton. So we aren't safe yet but "it's in our own hands" as the pundits say.

Back to the actual game. An inspection of the pitch lead us to the conclusion that it would be an early finish. However while there were a few balls that jumped or shot Fen Ditton batted out their full 40 overs and we used 38 in reply. I actually managed to win the toss and invited our hosts to bat. Neil Sparnon and Billy Haynes opened the bowling. Having hit the opener 3 times on the chest Neil defeated him with a full pitched ball that rearranged the furniture (feng shui'ed the readers according to Rads). Billy had three good shouts for LBW against the other opener, the last of which was given by the umpire.

Neil was storming in encouraged by the lively pitch and Billy bowled 6 tight overs, Rads having forensically examined the rule book and determined this new higher restriction.

Fen Ditton now fought back against the change bowlers, Rob Kaye and debutant Alfie Newman. It was during this phase that Dave Simmons did a nose dive over the fence on the leg side boundary. Nice try Dave, but nowhere near the comedy value of Neil's steeplechasing at Stow the other week. Alfie reeled off a very encouraging 8 over spell, picking up one wicket. Almost as encouraging was Billy's catch at slip; note to self, maybe putting someone with reflexes at slip instead of one of the old duffers might not be a bad idea!

Rob got one to slant across the leftie and jag back sharply to hit his leg stump before we switched again. Adam Wright started with two maidens but got a bit of stick later in his spell while Neil was now in full flow, pounding in and grabbing two more wickets. Billy finished off with another wicket and held his nerve well in the last overs. He combined with Alastair to get two runouts: one thrown from keeper to bowler, the other from bowler to keeper.

Fen Ditton finished on 145-9 or 145 all out if you prefer as they were one man short.

After tea we opened up with Chris Cooke and Dave Simmons. Chris was back from injury and holiday and although unable to bowl was soon into his stride batting. Dave departed for 1 but Chris was peppering the boundary with crisp drives, viscious pulls and elegant glances. Alastair smacked a couple of find boundaries before picking out mid-off with a strong drive that was taken low down and he was gone for 9: 48-2 after 16 overs.

Chris was looking untroubled and reached 50 out of 71 in the 19th over with 11 fours: one over from Andy Rabjohns yielded 4 of them. So it was something of a surprise when he was picked up by the 3rd change bowler during an over that consisted of a boundary, three wides and two wickets, the second being Paul Bradbury who had contributed a solid 0 during a stand of 23 with Chris. So 71-2 very quickly became 72-4.

The two new batsmen were Gabriel Fox and Adam Wright and together they put on 38 with some good running, and a series of fine blows by Adam. We were keeping up with the rate and when Gabriel missed a straight one (having not been given out LBW for once) we needed 36 off 10 overs.

Alfie joined Adam and the rate continued to tick over until Adam finally went for a very impressive 39 with 22 now needed off 7 overs.

This brought Neil out to join Alfie. He survived a very confident appeal for a caught behind which upset Fen Ditton somewhat. This in turn got Neal's dander up. He nearly decapitated the square leg umpire when he let go of his bat trying to pull: I ask you, is that any way to show gratitude for the not out?

[This illustrates another difference between Cricket and Baseball. A bat throwing incident often leads to both teams squaring off for some pushing and pleasentries. Even the guys on the bench stop taking steroids long enough to grab their handbags and join the fin.]

Neil then got down to the other end and smashed a couple of fours that got us in range of the target: 4 needed off 3. In the next over some quick running got us to the target with 12 balls remaining: Alfie a very commendable debut 6 not out, Neil 12.

So an excellent win in a keenly fought match between two well ballanced sides. Good fielding, tight bowling lead by Neil's 3-18 (with some superb appealing) and then a well paced run chase led by Chris and Adam with good support from the rest of the team.

See y'all at Comberton. Or we could all start practicing our rain dances as if the matches are cancelled, positions stay unchanged we are safe.

We Came, We Saw and We Got Beaten...

...quite badly, as it happens. On a hot afternoon in Stow-cum-Quy we took on Cherry Hinton II. Earlier in the season we had beaten them by 10 wickets at The Rec: could we repeat the feat? Cherry Hinton were confident before the match, cheerfully telling us about all their recent big scores so obviously they didn't think so. The wicket was set at the extreme edge of the square meaning that the boundary at one side was about 200 yards away while at the other the umpire had to peer around the trees at square leg to see the crease. There was a mad scramble by the bowlers to bowl at the end where the leg side boundary was the longest: George won.

The pace twins of Neil Sparnon and George Speller opened the bowling. So alike in looks and action the scorers didn't notice that George had changed ends after each of them had bowled three overs. The result was that Neil ended up bowling 8 overs and George 12 although both were credited with 10 in the book. Neil was slightly miffed by being short changed on the actual bowling and the fact George conceded around 30 runs on the two overs that ended up on Neil's analysis. George was less worried but somewhat more knackered.

Neil made the initial break through with a bouncer that was edged behind and Paul "tell Alastair we have a keeper" Bradbury dived forward to take a smart chance. That was the only breakthrough for a long while and the short boundary came into play. We spent several hour trampling the turnips searching for balls. Players returned to the field inches taller after the seaches due to the mud on their boots. It must cost Cherry Hinton a fortune in lost balls.

Dave Scotcher was most put out when standing at slip. The batsman turned to him and asked whether there was anyone standing behind him: definitely a sizest comment.

Rob Kaye replaced George who replaced Neil and then was himself replaced by Dave Scotcher. Dave was confused by the changes and tried to bowl when it was George who was being brought in: if we couldn't figure out who was who what chance did the scorers have? Cherry Hinton were moving along at 7 runs per over until their serene progress was interrupted by the combination of Rob and Andy East. The remaining opener prodded forward and after a brief search in Andy's midriff the ball was recovered and the catch given. I know: pot, kettle, black. A couple of overs later Rob struck again and at the stage the game was quite finely balanced.

It was then that Mr Ankur took over. By the time we got rid of him about 16 overs later he had hit 120 causing several more long searches and some fine steeplechasing by Neil. Eyes firmly fixed on a him straight shot he went back towards the hedge only noticing it presence as the ball disappeared for another 6. Into and over the hedge he went in slow motion. If anyone had had the foresight to bring a video camera we would have been quids in for "You've Been Framed".

Neil has since entered for the Cheltenham Gold Cup where he will be ridden by Gemelle Gracey-Davison (ooo err).

George changed ends again and amidst the carnage picked up two wickets. The first of these was a spectacular caught and bowled: the second time he has performed that particular feat this season. By this time the ball was flying everywhere. Billy Haynes had a brief spell and perfectly good balls dissapeared for 4 and 6. Captain Allison was watching the bowling in disbelief and decided to show us how it was done. His two overs went for 30. Rob came back for a 2nd try and took two wickets in two balls both caught at cover by Dave Hale who has stopped chuntering about the quality of the bowling long enough to pouch the catches.

But the last word went to Paul Norton. In his last game before heading back to New Zealand he was tossed the ball to end the innings. In his second over the Cherries skipper played all around a straight one and much to everyone's joy Paul got an LBW verdict. A wicket on his farewell performance. Another memory to take back to the Southern Hemisphere.

Cherry Hinton had amassed 321-8 in their 40 overs. Rob had 4 expensive wickets, George 2, Paul and Neil 1 apiece. Did I mention the whistling after every 4 or 6? No? Bloody annoying it was.

After tea, featuring cheese sandwiches with spicy potato, we started the reply in a very positive fashion. George and Dave rattled up 70 runs at about 9 an over. George in particular was sending the ball to all corners. We tried whistling but failed to make an impression so we resorted to animal noises much to the confusion of the Cherry Hinton team. At first it was coyotes but then a succession of barnyard animals came into play: boundaries were greated with sheep baa'ing, horses neighing and ducks quacking.

It all came to an end with the bowling changes. George was dismissed for a rapid - and elegant - 43 and out strode Mr Norton for his final bat.

Earlier on, with the Cherries one player short we had agreed to loan them our 12th man, Pete Brooks. Earlier on he had done a fine job in the turnip field he has done a fine job spotting balls flying and whilst at the same time scaring the crows. It was now that he had the presence of mid to not catch Norts before he had scored. They scampered a single and Paul now scored a run in his final game. In the next over he was unlucky to pick out a fielder on the short side for a catch: a yard either side would have been four.

The Cherries change bowlers worked through the batting and from 70-0 wicket we subsided to 111 all out. The farmyard chorus was silenced. Dave edged one behind and Neil dragged a wide onto his stumps (he did well to reach it). Richard launched one six across the Newmarket road before departing. Bradders hung around 14 overs for 2 runs (he did get the ball of the square once which brought a loud cheer from the square leg umpire).

Ankur, not content with his 120, then took a hat-trick. Gabriel Fox was first, LBW ("can you cheat next time and not give me out") then Andy East was Feng Shui'ed first ball. That was the end of the over but on the first ball of his next over Dave chased a wide ball and provided another catch behind. Billy avoided the 4 in 4 and batted calmly until the end of the innings. Paul was eventually removed and Rob had a quick swing to end the match before being bowled of his pads from one going well down leg side.

So that was that: well and truly beaten by 210 runs. But still, itwas a nice day, friendly opposition and we had some good laughs. In other results Fen Ditton beat March and Granta beat Waterbeach leaving us 6th. Next week it's March at home. A must win game? Maybe not but certainly a winnable one.

And finally, goodbye, Mr Norton, it's been a pleasure playing with you. Your contributions on and off the field will be missed. I hope you have some good memories of Coton to take back to New Zealand.

Norts retires. 0*