Walking the dog, going to the gym, playing golf or dragging your poor girlfriend to the conexxions arena to watch you aggressively cheat, lie and moan whilst achieving very little on the field are just some of the favourite hobbys for the men of Marton; the boys opponent in the final fixture of the first half of the season.
The day was a rollercoaster of emotions, starting with anger, bemusement and eventually laughter as we picked the minibus up from Warwick sport to find it had a parking notice attached due to it being left wonkily in a disabled spot #ReshapingParking. Once in the minibus the boys enjoyed a restful journey warmed by the now familiar partnership of Ede’s great driving and Owen’s questionable indie music. Talk of cheeky fresh was rife on the bus, with people anxiously pointing out why they could win it but also hastily saying why they likely won’t.
Arriving at the venue in ample time the boys enjoyed a brief kick-about in one of the adjacent courts to the famed end court demonstrating skills more akin to Vince and Anderson than Lineker and Shearer. This was followed by a quick bit of batting practice and then the game was upon us with UWMCC batting first. CSK got the side off to an excellent start spanking 6’s for fun and as such was unfortunately halted by a quick retirement. However during his innings the first flashpoint of the match occurred. Running down the track to a juicy pie CSK dispatched the bowling to the back wall via a deflection off of Ede’s bat. A four was signalled causing Marton’s own Ben Stokes to fly off the handle quicker than a Merriman effort ball as he shouted ‘That’s a fucking dead ball”, this was unfortunately a sign of things to come from the oppositions opening batsmen. The batting innings continued with Ede and Saurav demonstrating some classy strokeplay before clever running from Sood and Owen saw the boys through to a defendable total of 97. What also continued throughout the innings was vocal defiance and moaning from the opposition.
Pleased with the total the boys were clearly pumped in defending it as great catches from Ivan and Sood both of which were about as legitimate as a North Korean election set the boys off to a great start in defending their total, more wickets fell as one of their batsmen left a straight one from Owen which cannoned into middle stump and Ede affected a great runout from behind the stumps. This left the oppo faltering at 55-5 needing another 40 odd to win….Step forward Coventry’s very first hipster, clearly unaware that he lived on the dull grey streets of Coventry and not the vibrant and pretentious avenues of Camden who nudged and nurdled his way with little technique or skill to the winning post of 97. Despite numerous dropped chances the boys can feel somewhat aggrieved by a series of questionable decisions by their square leg umpire, one of which was so bad that even the impartial umpire at the over end had to turn over the shocking decision made at square leg.
As the final run was nudged, the boys were clearly heartbroken a complete contrast to the opposition who clearly have nothing else on this week seeing how excited they were.
And so concludes a bang average season for the boys that has seen numerous near misses and only a few precious victories but in the words of Gerrard ‘we will go again’
Skipper’s end of season player reviews:
Dan Lewis – Experienced pro and class batsman, being caught off the back wall playing a scoop shot not his finest moment. Bragging about never stalling an automatic car means very little.
Jonathan Ede – Started the season in good form but runs dried up with the burden of captaincy. Safe pair of hands behind the stumps and the steering wheel.
Sanjay Mathew – Aggressive opening batsman, one score below 20 in 5 matches. Possibly the highest boundary percentage in Cov Indoor history?
Owen McCausland – Always keen to scamper a quick single, backing up so far proved his downfall once too often. Crafty off spinner who was robbed of a deserved wicket, given a no ball despite the yorker hitting middle stump.
Ivan Campbell Ferguson – Tidy opening bowler, ultra-attacking batsman who has now learnt that there is no place for big shots at the Connexion Arena.
James Sood – Unrivalled control of the swinging indoor ball, often harshly treated due to very late out swing. Advancing down the track facing any bowler is an unusual but effective technique, some wonderful cover drives a good sign ahead of the outdoor season.
Saurav Parmar – Varied pace nicely to flummox many batsmen, batting will improve now he knows where the popping crease is.
Rory Kilpatrick – Defended nicely for 4 off 15 balls against the women’s team, but scored vital runs in the following games. Finally achieved a run out at the third attempt in one game, the first somehow missing from around 2 yards.
Charlie Turner – Called up at only a few hours notice, exuberant music choices and accurate bowling demonstrated his wealth of Cov Indoor experience.
Sean Merriman – Driving to Leamington and back just to grab his kit showed his commitment to the club. Season strike rate of 300 proves he’s got more to his game than just an inswinger.
Jack Ridge – Only bowler to dismiss someone leg before wicket, unable to lead a recovery from 34-5 after the rest of the team had run themselves out.
Thomas Townsend – The booming calls of “Wide, 3” may follow him forever, and calling out the club twitter account in an attempt to be picked again has not gone down well with the selectors.