As the clock ticked onwards to ten past five, an unchanged Cov indoor team from last week’s inter-uni success congregated outside the sports centre, eager to beat Murphy’s record of one win as soon as possible. Skipper, president and all round great bloke Dan Lewis had been rallying the boys the whole afternoon on the group chat, informing us that failure was most certainly not an option.
Hire-car keys in the bag and the boys were off to the famed Connexion arena, Smooth FM providing old school bangers which seemed to get Owen up for the occasion substantially more than anyone else. With the task at hand being so momentous you can forgive the team for forgetting it was Hallowe’en, something they were timely reminded of by the horrors of rush hour traffic as they tried to make the holy grail of indoor cricket for a 6 o’clock start.
Eventually arriving at 6 on the dot, the boys walked into the arena to be welcomed by the oppo, Fillongley CC, who had already completed their pre-match routines. Dan, upon entry to the ground, immediately tossed up and lost (an ominous sign of things to come), with Filongley inserting us to set a score.
Buoyed by last week’s strong batting performance, Dan kept the opening partnership of CSK and Ede together. The partnership steadily built in the first few overs before exploding in the 3rd and 4th overs, taking some questionable bowling actions to task. CSK was eventually caught for 20 with Ede being forced into retirement shortly after. This brought skipper Dan to the crease before Owen joined him soon after. What followed was some chaotic running, classy sweeps and nudges before Dan was caught off the side wall for 10. This brought Ivan in who perhaps is yet to learn that there is no room for big shots in Cov Indoor, as he was also caught off the wall after playing a series of shots almost as risky as the ones he downed at club meal. This was not before Owen. being as greedy as his darb would suggest he is, effectively ran himself out trying to steal a multitude of yards as the bowler walked in, only forgetting to return to his crease as a dot was played out.
With a middle order collapse leaving a heavy dent on the team’s scorecard, some sensible batting from Rory accompanied by the returning Ede ensured Warwick reached a respectable total of 97 all out.
Taking note of Fillongley’s dedication in the field, the boys set an aim to be as determined but more clinical in the field than the opposition. This got off to a good start with Ivan ‘whispering death’ Campbell-Ferguson striking with just his second ball, while everyone else worked hard in the field: CSK stopping everything in his path and Owen putting his ankles on the line. Owen partnered Ivan opening the bowling and offered good control whilst his partner kept the ball talking throughout, posing some very tough questions to the opposition batsmen. The fielding display continued to be strong as we enacted 3 runouts, one of which a beauty from Rory. However, an inability to keep the swinging ball within the wide guidelines hurt the boys as they fell ever so slightly short with the oppo reaching 98-5 in 9.5 of their allotted 10 overs.
Despite the loss the boys remain in confident mood for the rest of the season and hope to reach Edgbaston at easter.