Friendly Match vs Kings, 16th July 2006, London Fields
Kings Crowned On London Fields
Kings 280ish from 25 overs (declared!) beat
London Fields 180ish all out in about 26 overs
A mis-match of a fixture - had it been a boxing match, the fight would have been stopped in the second round, with London Fields (in the red corner, naturally) beaten , bloody and bruised, and with Kings in the blue corner nonchalantly checking their nails for damage.
On a hard, fast pitch, with a hard, fast outfield, Kings won the toss and elected to bat. As stand-in captain, I nervously eyed the opening batsmen, who looked rather good even just walking out to the middle. Not a problem, I thought, with Will and Rick as my opening bowlers, and good bowling throughout an unusually strong Sunday side, we should be able to cope.
Four overs later, any plans lay in disarray as the opening bowlers were carted all over London Fields, including a huge six that went over the swimming pool storage area and into the new London Fields Lido (luckily not yet open). Other bowlers fared no better, and with temperatures in the 30s, London Fields started to wilt.
After 24 overs, their captain came out to umpire and offered a declaration. Grant bowled one last over (as a good declaration bowler he duly obliged by being struck to all points of the compass) and we accepted their declaration.
I can only remember one bowling success for London Fields; Paul Dodd bowled an excellent "wrong 'un" to their opening batsman, which he played all round and which went straight through him and took leg stump. This ball will henceforth be known as the "Doddsra".
Chasing a rather large total to win, London Fields started in customary fashion with a collapse, at one stage being 25 for 4 or thereabouts. However, Shaun DuPlessis, guesting from the mid-week side, hit out strongly to make over 50, supported by Rob Harries who made 26, but the brief flicker of batting did not last and London Fields trooped off to a rather heavy defeat and a long session of drinking in the Pub On The Park.
Scorecard censored to protect the innocent...