Another Tuesday evening, another Cov indoor game. The all-fresh (and postgrad) team of Ash, Samay, Seb, Tim and new recruit Josh joined up with skipper Murphy and made a keen getaway to beat the traffic on campus. With Seb’s choice of Absolute radio blaring out and more flawless driving from Murphy, nothing, it would seem, could stop the boys.
Some great work yet again from those in charge at the Connexion Arena meant a very late and hurried start against a Leek Wotton side yet to register a point this year. Seb and Samay opened up and looked once again to employ the fast running tactic between the wickets until Samay was bowled round his legs (two batsmen in two weeks, sake!) Tim played well before another dodgy run call left him stranded, whilst Seb, despite a delightful drive for 4, also ran himself out on 12. That bought the pair of Josh and Ash to the crease who, despite the lack of experience, showed maturity and grace to guide us from a very dangerous position. Josh finished on 34*, including two delicious 4s and well placed 3s to the corners, Captain Murphy saying it was the best Cov Indoor debut he’d seen despite argument from Seb and Tim (and presumably Roche if he’s reading this too). Some late hitting from Murphy, described as ‘just out outdoors’ saw us reach a respectable 98, with Ash also making 16, the ‘tail’ yet again saving our bacon.
Noticing the wayward bowling of Leek Wotton, captain Murphy demanded excellent line and length from his bowlers and wanted to eradicate fielding errors where possible. He preceded to bowl 6 wides off his first two overs and then drop two catches in yet another unbearable shit show. He was later quoted as putting his gash bowling down to ‘the stresses of driving’. The fresh came to his rescue with Ash and Tim going for a very limited number of runs, and keeper Seb taking sharp chances off the back wall and turning an average shy into a run out, giving both of the poor villagers a send off in the process. It ultimately came down to the last over where 15 was needed off the last, with only 1 wicket for us to take. We couldn’t quite get the pick ups we wanted, and Seb not quite clinging on to a tough chance as this target went to 6 off two balls. Fortunately for us, the bloke at the other end had miss counted and thought he needed to bash a six off the last, which meant Ash had to simply remove the bails at the non strikers end who went for a run and the game was ours. Not quite the way we wanted to win but a win nonetheless.
The trip home was yet again a stall-less performance from Murphy, including some world class bay parking, proving yet again that he is only in the team as a chauffeur. Samay is also making a stake to be the next Dinnerston, sending his sandwich with aplomb, despite him dropping it during some heavy breaking. The last regular game of the season is to follow next week. Hopefully the fresh can put into practice everything they’ve learnt so far, and Ash maybe investing in a map to find his way to Westwood from university house, pushing us into a playoff spot