We set sail on a voyage of discovery, bound for a new fixture kindly bought to us by Wanderer Freeland as a result of his Greek shipping escapades. And what a fixture - as each Mog pulled into the playground of our convivial host, Angelo Economou, we each glimpsed the reality of cricketing nirvana - your very own ground in your back garden.....and when I say garden, I mean estate and when I say estate I'm not talking your hoodie wearing, ASBO rife type estate!
As we helped pull off the covers (that's right) and looked around the picture postcard setting, we knew we were going to enjoy our day.
Follies Old Spots won the toss and elected to bat in this 40 over match, although they very quickly made to doubt the wisdom of that decision as Abbott tore in and bowled the opener first ball! It wasn't long before J.Lewis got in on the act as he dismissed the other opener L.B.W for a neat round score that left them 10 - 2. This soon became 17 - 3 as yes, you guessed it, No.4 went without troubling Humph in the scorebox following another Abbott Leg before.
Abbott was swiftly taken off, so that we could enjoy more than an hour in this cricketing oasis. The objective was met as a partnership ensued between the technically correct No.3 and the somewhat bottom handed No.5. Although during this period the Mogs were treated to some top quality left arm spin from one of our 3 guests, Simon Whitton who continuously bamboozled both batsmen.
Earlier in the day another guest, in the form of blossoming Gail's brother, Gavin had fallen down a rabbit hole and done himself a mischief whilst chasing a ball. He retrenched to slip where he then took a good catch off the spin king Whitton.
Honeyfield had come on at the other end and whilst initially going for a few in his early overs, then helped stem the tide with a wicket thanks to a well judged catch by Freeland. Whitton then picked up his second well deserved wicket as he finally dislodged the mid wicket focused No.5 who apparently recorded his highest score ever, of 79.
The runs then dried up as Follies looked to be sure to bat out their full allocation of overs. However Honeyfield then chipped in with 2 more, and a missile of a run out from Jackson reduced the hosts to 166 - 9, but they still had 10 overs to bat. The final partnership was dogged but eventually broken by Briggs to leave Follies Old Spots 185 all out.
On initially entering the beautifully crafted pavilion, your author had duly noted a strong looking cake he believed to be of the coffee variety and had spent much of the afternoon in great anticipation. I am delighted to report that not only did it live up to expectations but that it should be recorded as one of the finest teas ever. It is fair to say I have sampled teas of greater variety however rarely have I enjoyed the freshness and quality of produce.
The depth and colour of the egg in the simple egg mayo classic; the thick cut ham that screamed of pigs who had lived a happy and liberated life (well prior to the trip to the abattoir at least) and the crunchy yet light chocolate chip cookies that left gasps of approval around the pavilion. Yet it was the coffee cake that truly took the breath away and left many a Mog fighting for a second or third piece. I just felt sorry for the top order batsmen who, as you'd expect of true professionals and athletes at the peak of their fitness, were unable to fully climb into this gustatory extravaganza.
The proud and overdue father-to-be Jackson opened up the innings with a couple of boundaries but was soon back in the hutch. He was sadly quickly followed by the 3rd of our guests, Matt Ashmead who had been a dervish in the field but was unable to get off the mark with the bat and this left us 13 - 2.
This brought together two of our most stylish and accomplish batsmen, the new but formidable batting member Alex Halliday and our skipper for the day Freeland. The pitch was well suited to a nagging pace and the hosts' local knowledge exploited this well with a clever rotation of medium and slow bowlers. A good partnership was formed but the overs ticked by and after some stylish strokes, Halliday was finally out for 38 leaving the Mogs needing 95 off 11.
At this point Freeland was looking to pick up the pace and get creative; he failed with an attempted reverse sweep that limped off an edge 2 feet away. On seeing this Sir Norman Tebbitt's son fielding on the deep mid wicket boundary couldn't resist a dig "he can't even play it the right way round...." to which Jaime quickly countered that he "wasn't used to being sledged from the far right!"
Freeland deservedly reached his 50 but was out immediately after, stumped going down the wicket looking to push the accelerator. This left Honeyfield and Tharp at the crease needing 10 an over. Tharp quickly hit a six and Honeyfield some fours before Tharp was undeservedly given out L.B.W for 16. Follies were sensing victory but were unaware of the depth of Mogs talent.
Newcomer Whitton (27 n.o) and Honeyfield (31 n.o) continued to chase the total down with some lusty blows and left themselves 16 off 2 - a repeat of last week's game that we were just unable to make. This time however Whitton soon calmed the nerves with 12 off the penultimate over and finally finished the job in empathic style with a beautiful drive through the covers for 4 with two balls remaining.
As with the general theme for the day, the bar was well stocked and we enjoyed the fruits of our labours with 1 or 2 hop based products. I also managed to procure a ½ dozen fresh eggs that were from the very same hen that had helped provide such a sumptuous feast at tea. For the record, I am planning the English classic - smoked salmon and scrambled eggs for breakfast - I believe I can talk for all Mogs when I say we very much look forward to this game becoming a regular on our fixture list......
J Honeyfield
MWCC Stats