Four-in-a-row

Dodgers completed a four-timer last night against Science Museum under leaden skies at South Park.

JC won the toss for once and we sensibly took the field. The South Park track was a classic: no metal stakes on a length this time, but plenty of humps and bumps to keep everyone interested. Dodgers began with a new opening pair: Messrs Adey and Cooper. Predictably one was accurate and grabbed a brace of wickets thanks in part to an athletic caught-and-bowled, the other bowled far too short but still managed a wicket from a catch by JC. Ah! But they were the other way round: Adey with an exceptional 4-2-6-2 and Cooper struggled with 3-0-24-1.

The opening spells actually set the tone for the match. Science swung from the hip at almost every opportunity: if it was full they looked all at sea; if it was short it sat up and begged to be hit. Benn (4-1-10-1) was accurate, but Science’s number six Pickworth took a heavy toll of Pope (2 overs for 30), Rhys Thomas (3 overs for 20) and David Patterson (2 overs for 18) on his way to 48*. Nick Harrison was called into the attack by JC – reluctantly in the conditions – and recorded 2-0-6-1 as Science ended on 112.

We’ve struggled here in the past, but it never looked like being close. Priest was getting desperately frustrated as he tried to hit the ball harder and harder and was hitting it less and less well (but still scored at a decent pace) while at the other end Harrison was in imperious form, spanking a six and a succession of sweetly-timed fours against some ragged bowling.

Nick was actually dropped from a very difficult chance in mid-innings but the boys added over 100 to their 183* stand against the Rats last week before Nick retired having reached 50. The Cat was able to please the crowd with a couple of trademark nurdles before Priest hit the winning runs in the fourteenth over.

In truth, this was a very poor game in very poor conditions, though the pitch did not misbehave anywhere near as badly as expected. Our line-up wasn’t great (missing McBarron, Hilary and Cousins among others) and our bowling was wayward at times, with Cooper and Pope well below their best, but we still won in a canter against a lacklustre Science Museum side.

Comments

cerysmatic said…
OK, well I think we've established that I was crap last night! Here are some people who weren't - the Man of the Match votes (with 1 to come): Adey (5), Harrison (4)
Neil said…
No offence intended, mate! It was the contrast with your usual metronomic performance that caused my raised eyebrows.
cerysmatic said…
Jean van den Kuyper who played in Thursdays game brings you the final vote. And the Man of the Match is... Adey and Harrison (5 votes each). John Cooper will return against English Heritage.