It's an old adage, but it certainly rung true tonight as Dodgers were beaten for only the second time this season by "Dealers" at a new venue, the Barn Elms Centre in Barnes.
It had all looked so different as Cap'n Carr began an assault on the Dealers' erratic early bowling. After 6 overs JC had bludgeoned 31 out of our 44-0. Then it all went horribly wrong. JC went first, followed rapidly by McB for a third ball duck, both to good catches. Westhead soon followed to another good catch, this time at long on, before Hilary and Matthews staged a recovery. John made his usual rapid 20 then got out - guess how! - and Crawford added 11 before being err... well you can guess that one too. The Cat had smeared his way into double figures before being run out in a hopeless last over as we struggled to 110-8, which didn't look enough on a spongy but perfectly playable track.
In reply, the Dodgers bowlers struggled throughout. The "Chiswick length" simply wasn't full enough and the ball often sat up and got the treatment. The Johns Hilary and Cooper - so reliable on a normal day - were particularly severely dealt with. To be fair, the Dealers were no mugs with the bat and despite the loss of an opener early on, never looked in much trouble. Dropped catches didn't help, with about half a dozen chances hitting the deck as the innings wore on. A couple of wickets for Matt Southwell were merely a consolation as we lost in the 19th over.
It had all looked so different as Cap'n Carr began an assault on the Dealers' erratic early bowling. After 6 overs JC had bludgeoned 31 out of our 44-0. Then it all went horribly wrong. JC went first, followed rapidly by McB for a third ball duck, both to good catches. Westhead soon followed to another good catch, this time at long on, before Hilary and Matthews staged a recovery. John made his usual rapid 20 then got out - guess how! - and Crawford added 11 before being err... well you can guess that one too. The Cat had smeared his way into double figures before being run out in a hopeless last over as we struggled to 110-8, which didn't look enough on a spongy but perfectly playable track.
In reply, the Dodgers bowlers struggled throughout. The "Chiswick length" simply wasn't full enough and the ball often sat up and got the treatment. The Johns Hilary and Cooper - so reliable on a normal day - were particularly severely dealt with. To be fair, the Dealers were no mugs with the bat and despite the loss of an opener early on, never looked in much trouble. Dropped catches didn't help, with about half a dozen chances hitting the deck as the innings wore on. A couple of wickets for Matt Southwell were merely a consolation as we lost in the 19th over.
Comments
Man of the Match:
Carr - 7
Southwell - 3
Crawford - 1
Scorecard to follow.