Preamble
The English poet William Cowper produced the saying "Variety is the spice of life" and for the Author this was certainly true of the weekend just passed. It saw me travel the width of London, from the newly discovered Bethnal Green in East London for a Uni mate’s wedding on the Saturday evening, to the more familiar White City in West London. This saw me reacquaint myself with my 1st flat in London which was only one street away from this oasis of a ground, nestled amongst the Urban sprawl.
Spinach with old flatmates Butternut and Wilf on the way to the East London wedding
My tenure in West London was cut short due to an overly sensitive neighbour in the ground floor flat who went to great lengths to soundproof their flat against our house parties and a slight disagreement with the landlord when they discovered we were sub-letting a study as a room.
Spinach’s first flat in London (thankfully the Landlord and/or Ground Floor neighbour weren’t about)
The Match
The Peckers gathered on a moody and overcast day which was complimented by a refreshing breeze allowing bursts of sunshine throughout the afternoon.
Being Bomber’s fixture, he was elected as match manager and, more importantly, he was (thankfully) playing for us.
As is usually the case, a range of hangovers were present on the day. Yours truly from the East London wedding, Traas who was at the Saracens v Bath 2nd XV and Millhouse who was still recovering from beverages on Friday evening.
The pitch itself was similar to the batting friendly HAC in the Square Mile, however, the groundsmen had (most kindly) left a little green on top to entice the bowlers.
The ground was in excellent condition and it was no surprise to us why it regularly hosts Middlesex academy matches throughout the year. Sadly it will be the last time the Peckers play at the ground as it recently been sold off for development to add to the ever increasing skyline of West London.
West London in all its glory
BATTING
Bomber won the toss, elected to bat first with Greasy in his newly styled role as opener alongside the dependable Moleman.
After taking some time out of London, it was a delight to have Moleman back in the middle. As ever, he started well and took a fancy to the short deliveries being served up by the spikeless 2nd opening bowler.
Greasy a bit scratchier up the other end, stuck with Moleman well and pounced on some wayward deliveries outside the off side. Despite a few missed catches by the opposition, the openers climbed steadily to 72-0 off 16 overs.
POBsy kindly scoring with The Whizz watching eagerly, itching to join the action.
The opposition started with 9 in the field due to AWOL players, so a very hungover Millhouse was offered up to supplement their numbers.
A bowling change saw the demise of Greasy (14), bowled by a Yorker to leave us 74-1
Greasy departs for 14, after ably supporting Moleman and more importantly setting a solid platform to build from.
Moleman brought up a well deserved half century in the 15th over. Expertly exploiting the gaps, with the 3rd man region particularly fruitful.
Princess entered the fray and was hit early on in the nether regions early on. After a lot of wafts outside of stump, he hit one of the shots of the day, a gorgeous cover drive for 4.
With the opposition numbers swelling to 10 players, Bomber replaced Millhouse in the field. Aside from a misfield by Bomber in front of the Pavilion to give us a 4 (much to the dressing rooms delight), this led to their fielding becoming a lot tighter.
Pirate y Pablo greeting The Whizz’s cheerleaders which included his lovely girlfriend far left (nickname TBC).
After a fluent innings, Moleman was eventually bowled for a valiant 57 runs.
Reassuringly, The Whizz and Princess were able to steady the ship, to take us to 132-2 off 26 overs
Once the spinners came on, both batsmen tucked in and boundaries were plentiful much to the delight of spectators POBsy and Pirate.
After wearing one on the chest, only a smart catch on the boundary at cow corner prevented more lusty blows from Princess’s bat, who fell for a very useful 34.
The start of the collapse, Princess making way for his old pal Plant
The famous Peckers collapse begun around the 20th over with Plant immediately rejoining Princess back in the Pavilion after holing out for a duck due to a wild swipe. This left us on 160-4.
Carpet, who played some promising shots early, also failed to contribute when he was bowled by a spinner for 3 runs. Perhaps it just wasn’t meant to be his day…
This was further compounded by the introduction of some very slow bowling which slowed the run rate significantly. Next to fall was Trash (10 runs), who was then caught at long hop by some very slow bowling which targeted the leg side.
Trash makes his way back to the hutch, with Bomber greeting The Whizz in the middle.
In a spot of bother at c.170-6, Henner’s joined his old pal The Whizz at the crease and instantly got to work. The ball flew to all sides of the ground at a tremendous rate of knots.
One of the highlights was Henner’s pulling a glorious 6 over square leg which was in line to hit chefs car and was only saved by a conveniently placed bench. In fact, the hitting was so ferocious, I thought my old flat may also be in danger! This lusty shot was only surpassed by a cover drive in the next over which not only went for 6 but landed into the Pavillion.
All too much for some - Millhouse having a nap in Trash’s car after fielding for the opposition for 10 overs.
On debut was The Whizz’s girlfriend, who has recently moved in with the eligible Batchelor and this helped motivate him to show his sporting prowess. The Whizz put on a sensational display, reminiscent of a peacock trying to attract a female, albeit with the aid of a piece of wood and 60 metres away from his target.
It felt like we were at the IPL, ramps, scoops and sweeps to all corners of the ground made a mockery of any attempt by the opposition to implement death bowling. The Whizz entered the last over on 86*, meaning he was mathematically 3 shots away from a remarkable century.
Could he make his 100? Pirate y Pablo watch on intently as Moleman trys to keep up with the batting onslaught
A good start, a boundary off the first delivery. 10 off 5 needed.
Next up…
...a dot ball.
Another dot ball…!
The equation was now 10 off 3.
4th ball of the over, crashed away for four runs through the off side.
Now on 94*, a maximum would do it.
From the second last ball of the innings, The Whizz wiped his brow and adjusted his gloves one more time to subsequently unleash a sensational shot which sailed over the boundary for six.
He had done it!
A single off the last ball saw The Whizz carry his bat for an incredible 101*.
The Peckers finished on a very healthy 267 off the 40 overs 6.7 an over.
A sensational knock by The Whizz AKA Lavers, who carried his bat for a 101*.
BOWLING
With Bowler of the Year Snax away, he was unable to attempt to reproduce last years magic where he successfully reduced the Latymer Old Boys batting order on a batting friendly pitch. Due to Millhouse being unwell, we fielded with 10 for the entire innings.
It was abundantly clear that the opposition were not in the mood to bat the full overs. Baz ball was the tempo and this worked to our favour with wild swings across the line and catching opportunities aplenty. Whilst I was able to make inroads into the opposition, who were falling in relatively quick succession, the pressure was created at the other end.
Magic Carpet / Sleaves, who claims to just be a net bowler, bowled his signature left arm over, leaving the batsmen in a state of fear. The ball was manipulated to move both ways off the seam. The slip cordon and close fielders could not understand how his spell remained wicketless. Cricket has several individual elements, but by Carpet exerting immense pressure on the batsmen at one end, it allowed me to benefit from several frustrated batsmen who gave their wickets away cheaply.
With the opposition, 30-5 off 10 overs, Bomber brought on Chef and Trash to mop up the rest.
Trash also bowled well (3-14 off 2 overs) to remove the 6th, 7th and 8th wickets and Chef also picked up a scalp.
Due to a player going AWOL after tea, the opposition only had 9 batsmen, so when this transpired, we let their last batsmen have a runner which was reminiscent to the Last Man Stands format. Plant, who didn’t have his best day on the field, dropping the last batsmen in the deep, was summoned to make amends and have a trundle. He lived up to his nickname, with a barren, asexual bowling spell which their last batsmen took advantage of. In fact, their last batsmen added about 30 runs before eventually falling to a absolute skyer of a hit off Trash’s bowling, which was taken expertly at mid-on by the skipper Bomber.
Latymer Old Boys all out for c.115, meaning the Peckers won by c.150 runs. A solid showing by the Peckers, who were well led by Bomber to bring about a very convincing victory.
Top Row: (L-R) Millhouse, Moleman †, Trash, Spinach, Plant, Greasy, Chef
Bottom Row: Magic Carpet/Sleave, Princess, Bomber © and The Whizz
All that remained was to celebrate the win in the local pub (The Pavilion) which was less dodgy than I remember! Jugs were courtesy of yours truly (5 for c.20) and The Whizz for his exquisite 101* earning him the well deserved title of Man of the Match.
Millhouse AKA Lazarus, sensing alcohol and no further danger of having to field, miraculously leapt back into life to join us in the pub. Possibly a Pecker record, but also very Pecker to have been picked for the team and not actually contribute anything on the field. We are a social side after all…
He has risen indeed! Not well enough to field after Tea, Millhouse only played for the Opposition!
A 5th win in a row for Peckers and next up is Chiddingfold which will be streamed live on Youtube!
Link below, kindly!