The Coton Cyclone

12:30pm, Saturday the 9th May.  A lone figure paints the lines on pitch #2 as the rain clouds gather and the rain falls.  Not the best of portents for Coton 2nd XI's first home game.  The players gather and they are put to work by Ross putting out the boundary ropes and tidying the pavilion.  

As 1:30 approaches, the rain eases and remarkably we start on time.  There are three first timers this week: Bertie "brother of Bobby" Elmes, Peter "father of Tom" Jarvis, and Jim Johnson (no relatives in the senior teams, but two offspring in the juniors).  Another by-product of the junior coaching programme is the pool of fathers (and possibly mothers) that can be cajoled into playing.  We await the debuts of Helen, Ginny and Vivien Bradbury.

Barrington 2nds won the toss.  On the basis that we had scored 250 batting first last week, they put is in to bat.  Sound logic that.  Ross applied equally sound logic by asking perennial "next man in" Rob Kaye to open the batting with Gabriel Fox (no relation to Dominic).  This was actually a cunning ploy on Ross's part so he didn't have to listen to Rob whinging on about not getting a bat again.  It didn't last long.  Rob, under orders to have a go obligingly pulled the eighth ball of the innings towards mid-wicket who took a tumbling catch. Gabriel didn't last much longer, picking out mid-off the following over.  It was soon obvious that this was a very different challenge to the previous week: a slow wicket against an older and more experienced team  and we were struggling.  

The early dismissals set the tone.  Paolo looked totally bemused by one that moved back a long way from outside his off stump and clipped the bail.  Dominic and Patrick were similarly undone by straight seaming deliveries that hit the stumps.  We were only just into double figures with 5 wickets down.  Ross and Bertie staged a mini recovery, that is to say a partnership that reached double figures.  Ross hit a fine straight drive but then perished to a wild stroke.  Bertie was struggling to score but much to his credit was getting in line and playing very sensibly.  At the other end Peter ("father of Tom") was "Coton'ed": LBW on the back leg, almost on the 2nd bounce by a ball he was looking to pull.  Toby Johnson (also no relation) played a couple of shots that were either (a) edges or (b) Dilshan-scoops that evaded the fielders behind the wicket.  Bertie finally lost patience and slapped a ball to a waiting fielder which brought The Coton Cyclone(TM) - you heard it hear first - to the wicket.  After one single-handed, off the back of the bat, shot to fine leg, Tom produced the 2nd, and final, boundary of the innings.  After that, it was over in a rush, with the Johnsons (Toby and Jim) being bowled.   All out for 45 in 18 overs.  After the higher scores of the last few years, this was more like the cricket that my anonymous correspondent remembers from when he first joined Coton.  It comes to something when the joint top scorers - Tom and Ross - made just 7 (not out in Tom's case, the first time he had batted in the senior team).

Tea was taken, a terrific spread provided by Madame Chandler.  I knew there was a reason that we let Ross play.

Ross gathered his troops and gave a speech the like of which Henry 5th, or maybe Winston Churchill would have approved, stressing that Barrington had succumbed for less that 45 the previous week.  Knowing we needed wickets, Ross opened the bowling.  After yielding an early boundary, he found his spot and with the last ball of the opening over took the first wicket.

At the other end Tom, the Coton Cyclone, got the nod.  If you recall the reports from last season, you may recall on Tom's debut that our anonymous correspondent noted that "Tom bowled with good action, lively pace and shaped the ball in".   All of these still apply, with the added bonus that he had grown (as people his age tend to) and gotten quicker.  Too quick and too good for the Barrington team, as he struck in his first over with a perfect inswinger.

Ross and Tom now proceeded to dismantle the fragile Barrington batting.  The wickets fell too quickly to recall the exact order.  Tom hit the stumps twice more, Ross got two more wickets, one caught and bowled the other superbly grabbed by Jim Johnson.  We need to observe and pay homage to Tom's cunning plan for his third wicket.  He has learned well from the senior bowlers.  A high leg side beamer for a no ball was followed by an equally wild off side wide.  The next one left middle stump almost horizontal and off trudged a suitably bemused Barrington batsman. 

The fielding was tight, lead again by Patrick ably assisted by Paolo, Dominic, Toby and the rest of the team.  Bertie was sound behind the stumps, despite getting a series of leg side deliveries with very low bounce.  We arrived at the 10th over with Barrington less than half way to the target and six wickets down.  And it didn't get any better.  Another superb swinging delivery from Tom rearranged the stumps one more time.  The Barrington batman nodded in appreciation to our tyro opener.  It would still only take a few lusty blows over the infield for Barrington to win, and their next batsman seemed to recognise this.  A cross batted swipe at the first ball hurtled back at Tom at a rate of knots and thudded into his chest as he tried to take evasive action.  As the more compassionate members of the team headed towards Tom to check on his health, the rest realised that the ball was still in the air.  The ever-alert Patrick was amongst the latter group and he swooped in from cover to take the catch. 

Tom was thankfully OK, and ready to take the team's acclaim for his first (and the 2nd XI's first) 5-for.  The team started to look forward to a jug of orange and lemonade, and it became apparent that Peter Jarvis's role in the team was as financial backing for his son.  The very next ball was lobbed obligingly at Patrick who, despite slipping on the wet turf, took a more orthodox catch: a hat-trick!   Now there was the prospect of a jug of blackcurrant and lemonade as well.  

The rest of the over was played out, with difficulty.  League rules and ECB guidelines now came into play.  Tom had to take a break from bowling with the figures of 5-0-10-6.  "What, no maidens" you ask?  Bloody rubbish.  

One wicket to go, and still around 18 needed.  Ross continued, and Paolo joined the attack.  The ball was in the air, frustratingly just over Jim, just wide of Ross, and just short of Rob.  The score crept up, as Paolo struggled to find his length but Ross was on hand to complete the debacle.  The last two Barrington wickets were his as he finished with 7.3.-3-8-4 and the opposition subsided 12 runs short on 33 all out.  

A seemingly improbable win was contrived through the virtues of straight bowling and tight fielding.   

So on the report card this week: batting: F, bowling: A, fielding A.  Man of the match: Tom "The Cyclone": six wickets, hat trick and joint top score (OK, the last one only needed a couple of scoring shots).  We are still joint top of the league after two games.  Who's daft idea was it to start a 2nd XI?