Friendly Match vs Shakespeare, 25th June 2006, London Fields
Death Strikes Again!
by our esteemed captain, Jason Lord
London Fields beat Shakespeare in an extremely tense encounter on the Fields on Sunday. We started at 11am and played 25 overs to get finished before the football.
Winning the toss, Jason elected to bowl and threw the new ball to the fatal combination of Colin and Carl - Black Death. The first over of the match was - wait for it - a double wicket maiden bowled by Carl. Supported by Colin, Carl continued to frustrate the Shakespeare batting line-up with accurate bowling and took a further two wickets in his spell, finishing with 4-25 off his five overs - a truly remarkable performance.
One of these wickets sparked some debate. The London Fields players were delighted as a Shakespeare batsman got a small nick, 'keeper Robin popped the ball up and Jason took the catch at first slip. Then it was noticed that a bail had dropped, so in fact he had also played on. The Shakespeare batsman looked a bit bemused and disappointed and left the field. When he got to the boundary, his disappointment was apparently compounded by discovering that his colleagues umpiring and scoring had managed to let him face a seventh ball in the over. He was upset and felt robbed, and it later transpired that there was some talk in the opposition camp of whether he should have been called back. All very unfortunate for him of course, but one wonders whether, if in the same circumstances Shakespeare had smashed the ball for four, they would have asked for the ball to be scrubbed from the score.
This incident appeared to be the catalyst for some poor behaviour by some of the Shakespeare players. Colin missed a fairly difficult catching chance off a solid shot 'round the corner' at fine leg. This was met with cheers and jeers from some Shakespeare players on the boundary, coupled with a shouted comment about the spirit of the game - ironic given that they were cheering a dropped catch! This seemed to spur Colin on though, and he promptly bowled the batsman he'd just dropped in his very next over.
Thereafter, the game seemed to be continually bad tempered for some of the Shakespeare players, which was a great shame, because in cricketing terms it developed into a real thriller. Five down after the first ten overs, it seemed that we had them completely on the ropes, but the next fifteen overs were a different matter. Shakespeare started getting some partnerships together, batted better, and rode their luck at times hitting in the air but finding the gaps. London Fields though, crucially, also seemed to forget how to catch. As maybe half a dozen chances in the air went begging, run out opportunities were also missed and Shakespeare motored their way to an imposing 192 off 25 overs.
Ru Leggett bowled well, in particular taking a wicket with the ball of the match - a booming inswinger hitting off stump. Other support was provided by Will, RJ, and Robin. A total of 44 extras in the innings was a big disappointment. Our fielding performance was mixed overall, but we did take some good catches (Doug and Will among others) and Doug's stint at short extra cover was very impressive, bravely stopping some strong shots with sharp reactions.
So to the chase. Doug and Chris S opened, with Neil at 3. Chris and Neil were both dismissed cheaply, but not before Chris played the sweetest-timed midwicket push for four you could ever hope to see. Jason joined Doug at the crease with Shakespeare having their tails up, scenting blood. Scoring at around seven an over, we steadied the ship and pushed the score along, and when Jason was out for 25, the platform was set for the middle order assault which was always going to be required.
Matt Cowie and Richard Johnson both hit strongly, as did Doug who finished on an excellent 43. The required rate had crept up to 10 an over, but Will Isaac, with various partners including Robin and Colin, was making light work of it.
With 20 required off the last two overs, the scene was set for a grandstand finish. But there was one final twist in the tail as Will simply stepped up and made the runs required off the penultimate over, hitting a six and two fours. The game ended in a slightly surreal fashion as Shakespeare, who had suffered from bowling too many extras like we had, delivered two consecutive wides to hand London Fields a fine victory with an over to spare.
Congratulations to all eleven in the London Fields side. While not a flawless performance by any means, everyone contributed to the win. Everyone in the team behaved remarkably well given the tension in the air generated by some opposition players. The most telling moment was when Doug hit a high top edge in the air which dropped straight towards an opposition fielder. Doug was almost walking off in resignation, but then there was that terribly familiar, sickening moment as the fielder sadly dropped the ball. In stark contrast to the Shakespeare jeering of earlier, the silence which surrounded this unfortunate moment was a show of great respect, dignity and class. Well done lads.
Scorecard "coming soon".