After having been held captive by his missus for 2 weeks while they were moving house, Alex returned to the helm for our 2nd consecutive game at Mayfield, as we sought revenge for the jolly good hiding they gave us last week. On the hottest day of the year so far, Alex was relieved to lose the toss and be asked to field (or perhaps he colluded with the opposition skipper!), sparing him the opprobrium he would have received had he elected to field first.

James and Suleiman took the new ball, and James got an early wicket as an opener kindly walked after gloving a ball to keeper rich hillman to make it 14-1. Mayfield’s other opener looked a fine player, creaming the ball through the covers on 3 or 4 occasions. In between these fine shots, he did have some luck top edging over the slips on 1 occasion. We needed to get rid of him quickly, and after he’d rattled on to 27, we were relieved when Suhail took a fine catch at mid off of James’ bowling. Sometimes I think there’s no pleasing James, he’s generally displeased when he’s taken out of the attack, and yet on this occasion, he took a lot of persuading to keep bowling despite having pocketed the first 2 wickets. In his next over, he claimed another wicket, as the new batsman miscued a ball between mid off and cover, and Suhail took a good diving catch despite being out of position and not calling for it (it’s far too easy otherwise!). James then claimed his 4th wicket, winning an LBW decision against the opposition’s number 3 (a vicar in a nearby parish!), after which he was heard to claim that if he was LBW last week (as given by rich hillman J), then his victim this week was definitely LBW! At about this point, Junky finally made an appearance, giving us 11 fielders, and unlike on previous occasions, where his lateness was probably due to eating too much at the golf clubhouse, he had a good excuse with the A12 traffic so bad that even Tony was an hour late. We’d reduced Mayfield to 48-4, but their middle order batsman batted well to recover. Alex replaced Suleiman and bowled very tightly, but the wicket eluded him despite beating the bat several times. After an immaculate 10 over spell, in which he took 4-17, James was replaced by Mike Knight. Mike claimed the 5th wicket with the score on 75, as Mayfield’s skipper was caught behind for 13. Junky replaced Mike Knight, and he claimed the 6th wicket courtesy of a good leg side catch by rich hillman to dismiss a hard hitting number 6 for 33. Soon after, he claimed his 2nd wicket as James took a catch at mid wicket to make it 106-7. Mayfield’s number 7 played some good shots, and the score ticked on to 129 before Junky dismissed his partner, as Fahad made good ground to take a fine diving catch at deep midwicket. Suhail then bowled a batsman with a perfectly pitched leg break, and Mike wrapped the innings up for 133 as Richard Hillman effected a smart stumping. We had done very well to restrict a good batting line up to 133 (42 overs), with James and Junky (flattering figures of 4-20 off 7 overs) and Rich Hillman (3 catches, 1 stumping) being well supported by good catches from Suhail and Fahad.

After a good tea, Mike Knight and I opened the batting, and got off to a steady start , knowing that we had plenty of time to chase the runs. After 5 overs, the score was 14-0, and having played ourselves in, we upped the scoring rate. I found my timing with a couple of cover driven boundaries, while Mike played some square cuts, and we also ran well to put the fielders under pressure, and profited from some misfields. The score moved nicely on to 41-0 after 10 overs, as we saw off the opening bowlers. Mayfield’s first change bowler was a Mr Angry, and looking for the slightest reason to have a strop. After he was called for a slightly harsh wide, he filled the air with expletives, and was then furious when Mike was correctly given not out for a caught behind appeal. Mike capitalised as his line wavered, cutting a full toss to the point boundary, and the score advanced to 59-1 off 15 overs. Mayfield’s off spinner bowled tidily at the other end, but we milked him for 1s and 2s and Mike flashed a wider delivery down to third man for 4. The score moved to 81 in the 19th over, before Mike walked for a caught behind, having made 28. Fahad joined me, and got going with a lofted cover driven boundary off, wisely ignoring my advice to play himself in. I swept a low full toss for 4 to move to 48, but was LBW the next ball to make it 95-2 off 25 overs. We needed only 2 an over off the last 20, but Steve Ringer and Fahad are not ones to potter about, and with several boundaries, the score rattled on to 127 before Fahad offered a steepling top edge and was well caught for 25. Richard Saldanha also fell to a good catch, but Steve heaved away the winning boundary, finishing unbeaten on 20 as we reached our target with 15 overs to spare. It could have been a tricky run chase, but after a good opening partnership, we made light work of it.

After the game, some of us repaired to Mayfield’s club house to find a barbeque in full swing. As we munched on succulent pork chops, sausages and finest breast of chicken, our hearts bled for Junky, who had left 5 minutes earlier! Mayfield then suggested we join a tug of war, at which point we promptly made our excuses and left!

OCCC @ Mayfield, 26/07/08

Mayfield 133 all out (Gleadow 4-17 (10 overs), Shannon 4-20 (7 overs), Knight 1-23 (6 overs), Shaikh 1-21 (5 overs), Bennett 0-16 (10 overs))

OCCC 137-4, 30.1 overs (A Saldanha 48, Knight 28, Syed 25, Ringer 20*)

Result: OCCC won by 6 wickets

Man of the Match: James Gleadow

Allan Saldanha