Dodgers won the toss and opted to bat (!)
Dodgers 132/9 off 40 overs (McBarron 69 not out)
Superstars 133/2 off 27.4 overs (Benn 2-14)
Superstars won by 7 wickets
Dodgers Man of the Match: Phil McBarron
Spirits were high following our draw against Buckhurst Hill and there was a modicum of optimism in the Dodgers camp that a 2003 season whitewash by the "rats" would be avoided - especially as Master Gundry had made himself unavailable by going on holiday (presumably the only week John Carr would let him take).
Confident that whoever won the toss Dodger's would field first, yours truly wrote Superstars in the scorebook. However Cap'n Carr, obviously unhinged by the sight of some of the Rats sporting either appalling head wounds or awful new red caps, ignored the advice of Benn and Mcbarron and opted to bat first.
Taking advantage McBarron and Westhead opened the batting with their usual panache and against the tight bowling of Taylor and Block smote their way to 15 from the first 7 overs. Then, having played himself in, Westhead opted to unleash the full range of his strokeplay and was promptly bowled by Block for 2 with the score on 16. Priest then joined McBarron and against change bowlers Perrera and Conway, these two pushed the score to 32 before umpire Cooper, obviously conned by the Oscar winning appeal by bowler Conway, controversially gave Priest out lbw. Cue apoplexy from Priest and mirth from assorted "rats". 4th man in Jacobs, not bothering to trouble the scorer, gave Conway an easy c&b for his 2nd. wicket of the over. The prospect of a record mid-order stand between tykes McBarron and Benn raised Dodgers spirits. But sadly this was not to be as Benn, playing all round a ball from the deceptive Marchant, departed the wicket bowled for a meagre 2. With the score on 42 for 4 from 19 overs the prospect of humiliation was in now in sight. Cap'n Carr however had other ideas and together with the pedestrian McBarron took the score to 109 before falling to the wily Block for 27 in the 36th over. Batting up the order Matthews looked set for a big score until, with one over to go, he unwillingly sacrificed his wicket to satisfy McBarron's desire to run him out as many times as possible in the season. Having unwisely taking a single from the first ball of the last over McBarron then had to watch, mesmerised, as Qureshi, Streatfeild and Cooper showed him how to get out without scoring. The innings closed on 132 for 9 with Block taking 5 wickets; all bowled.
Against accurate bowling form Benn and Henry Hilary Superstars openers Meyler and Whitrod got off to a slow start. Indeed Whitrod was so slow that he could nearly have been mistaken for McBarron. Dropped without scoring after some 20 odd balls, he scored 4 from the next and was promptly caught by Qureshi off Benn the ball after (if only we could have kept him in). Lomas didn't stay long before, mistiming an elegant off side prod, he became Benn's 2nd victim - bowled for 4. The ever popular Conway then joined Meyler at the wicket and was promptly dropped twice in the first over he faced. Being dropped twice more and refusing to reply when McBarron asked if he'd been sensible enough to buy a lottery ticket, he went on to make 52 before retiring with the game virtually won. Meyler and Davey remained unbeaten and Superstars strolled to victory; their innings ending on 133 for 2 in the 27th over.
Dodgers were left to consider what could have been (if we'd got Conway out at least we'd have lost smiling) and to look forward to a long winter of catching practice, deep study of the laws relating to lbw and lessons on how to accept dodgy decisions gracefully.
Cat
Scorecard
Dodgers 132/9 off 40 overs (McBarron 69 not out)
Superstars 133/2 off 27.4 overs (Benn 2-14)
Superstars won by 7 wickets
Dodgers Man of the Match: Phil McBarron
Spirits were high following our draw against Buckhurst Hill and there was a modicum of optimism in the Dodgers camp that a 2003 season whitewash by the "rats" would be avoided - especially as Master Gundry had made himself unavailable by going on holiday (presumably the only week John Carr would let him take).
Confident that whoever won the toss Dodger's would field first, yours truly wrote Superstars in the scorebook. However Cap'n Carr, obviously unhinged by the sight of some of the Rats sporting either appalling head wounds or awful new red caps, ignored the advice of Benn and Mcbarron and opted to bat first.
Taking advantage McBarron and Westhead opened the batting with their usual panache and against the tight bowling of Taylor and Block smote their way to 15 from the first 7 overs. Then, having played himself in, Westhead opted to unleash the full range of his strokeplay and was promptly bowled by Block for 2 with the score on 16. Priest then joined McBarron and against change bowlers Perrera and Conway, these two pushed the score to 32 before umpire Cooper, obviously conned by the Oscar winning appeal by bowler Conway, controversially gave Priest out lbw. Cue apoplexy from Priest and mirth from assorted "rats". 4th man in Jacobs, not bothering to trouble the scorer, gave Conway an easy c&b for his 2nd. wicket of the over. The prospect of a record mid-order stand between tykes McBarron and Benn raised Dodgers spirits. But sadly this was not to be as Benn, playing all round a ball from the deceptive Marchant, departed the wicket bowled for a meagre 2. With the score on 42 for 4 from 19 overs the prospect of humiliation was in now in sight. Cap'n Carr however had other ideas and together with the pedestrian McBarron took the score to 109 before falling to the wily Block for 27 in the 36th over. Batting up the order Matthews looked set for a big score until, with one over to go, he unwillingly sacrificed his wicket to satisfy McBarron's desire to run him out as many times as possible in the season. Having unwisely taking a single from the first ball of the last over McBarron then had to watch, mesmerised, as Qureshi, Streatfeild and Cooper showed him how to get out without scoring. The innings closed on 132 for 9 with Block taking 5 wickets; all bowled.
Against accurate bowling form Benn and Henry Hilary Superstars openers Meyler and Whitrod got off to a slow start. Indeed Whitrod was so slow that he could nearly have been mistaken for McBarron. Dropped without scoring after some 20 odd balls, he scored 4 from the next and was promptly caught by Qureshi off Benn the ball after (if only we could have kept him in). Lomas didn't stay long before, mistiming an elegant off side prod, he became Benn's 2nd victim - bowled for 4. The ever popular Conway then joined Meyler at the wicket and was promptly dropped twice in the first over he faced. Being dropped twice more and refusing to reply when McBarron asked if he'd been sensible enough to buy a lottery ticket, he went on to make 52 before retiring with the game virtually won. Meyler and Davey remained unbeaten and Superstars strolled to victory; their innings ending on 133 for 2 in the 27th over.
Dodgers were left to consider what could have been (if we'd got Conway out at least we'd have lost smiling) and to look forward to a long winter of catching practice, deep study of the laws relating to lbw and lessons on how to accept dodgy decisions gracefully.
Cat
Scorecard
Dodgers
McBarron not out 69
Westhead b Block 2
Priest lbw b Conway 9
Jacobs c&b Conway 0
Benn b Marchant 2
Carr* b Block 27
Matthews+ run out 6
Qureshi b. Block 0
Streatfeild b. Block 0
Cooper b. Block 0
Hilary H. not out 0
Extras 18
TOTAL (40.0 overs) 132 for 9
Bowling
O M R W
Taylor 8 1 28 0
Block 8 0 19 5
Perrera 4 1 13 0
Conway 7 1 11 2
Marchant 8 1 28 1
Billy 5 0 12 0
Meyler 2 0 12 0
Superstars
Meyler not out 49
Whitrod+ c Qureshi b Benn 4
Lomas b Benn 4
Conway (retired) not out 52
Davey+ not out 10
Extras 13
TOTAL (27.4 overs) 133 for 2
DNB: Gigg*, Perrera, Tailor, Marchant, Block, Billy
Bowling
O M R W
Benn 8 5 14 2
Hilary H 5 0 14 0
Streatfeild 3 0 26 0
Cooper 5 0 23 0
Priest 3 0 20 0
Carr 1 0 11 0
Qureshi 2.4 0 17 0
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