The Captain and Vice-Captain being absent on a goodwill tour of Brittany where they were introducing the strong English traditions of drinking and cricket to the local populace meant that skippering the MWCC fell to Andy Tharp on this occasion. The new look Tharp, lean and fit following his funding from Sport UK and new training program, appropriately reflected Britain's Gold Rush weekend of sporting excellence in Beijing with his cool professionalism.
Batting first with Fairclough and Lee the Mogs found the sluggish pitch and tight line and length of Ditchling's opening bowlers quite hard to put away. Fairclough started to cut loose with a powerful six over the bowler's head but he perished five balls later for 14. Honeyfield came in at 3 and batted circumspectly for his 15 before also being caught off Cooke. Meanwhile Charlie "Bruce" Lee held up the other end very effectively amidst Ditchling's tight opening spell where little more than 70 runs were scored off 20 overs. Guesting Llamas star Toby Briggs was out cheaply for 2 as was Dave Stevens, the Hero of Newdigate, both falling to lbw in the swinging, spongy conditions. With the score at 71-5 and Lee out for 29 the Mogs were looking somewhat under the cosh and even the elder statesmen of the MWCC rearguard, Briggs and Parker began to consider groping for their bats and pads in the seldom probed depths of their cricket bags. However, on the pitch Moss and Captain Tharp were not going to surrender easily. Moss, batting with magisterial precision waited for 15 balls before getting off the mark with a 2. Tharp equally batted with caution but once the pair had enforced a bowling change from Ditchling the runs began to flow more easily. Moss kept the score ticking over with a succession of singles and 5 fours whilst Tharp did the same, lashing out with 6 fours and a six at Ditchling's looser balls. After an hour of this your correspondent waiting in the pavillion, feeling slightly foolish and ashamed at having doubted his colleagues, removed his pads and reckoned his limited batting skills would not need to be put to the test on this occasion. When Tharp was out bowled on 71 with Moss on 42 not out the pair had put on an excellent 119 for the sixth wicket and tea was taken with the Mogs declaring on 190-6.
After what was universally recognised as one of the best teas of the season, notable for genuine smoked salmon sandwiches, home made quiche and seriously en-choclocated Muffins, the Mogs took to the field. Lewis J, the roaring tiger of Headley opened from the Playground End and Abbott from the Pavillion End. The Ditchling openers recognised the demons in their own wicket and batted carefully until they had got their eyes in and then progressed smoothly to 43 before a drive into the basket-like hands of the skipper broke their stand. The captain brought himself on and Briggs to bowl off spin from the other end as the Mogs' pace attack was not making the necessary inroads into Ditchling's batsmen. Briggs secured the vital wicket of Jones, bowled for 46 and later caught their Captain, Pepler off Fairclough after he had made a solid 38. Honeyfield accounted for Roberts who hit a quickfire 25 off 28 balls, brilliantly caught in the deep by Lee covering considerable ground to take a mortar shell of a shot. However, with 5 of their opening six batsmen averaging just over 30 the home side were on 157-4 with plenty of overs in hand and the spectre of defeat began to hang over the Mogs. At this stage, though, Tharp reintroduced the brooding presence of Abbott, always chirpy in the ring, to see if he could break the stalemate. Two excellent deliveries despatched Ditchling's numbers 7 and 8 in consecutive balls and suddenly Mogs' heads began to rise again and energy coursed once more through tired thews. A superb run out by Briggs junior from third man which hit the stumps directly to leave Ditchling's number 10 stranded a full yard short of his crease meant that the Mogs had one wicket to get but the home side only 11 runs to win with a run rate of a mere 3 an over required. This was Sunday cricket at its best, competitive but good humoured with unpredictable twists of fate stabbing into each side and the result entirely in the balance until the very end of the game. Abbott powered in for one more over with the speed of a 8 axle articulated lorry leaving the traffic lights and his first ball cut in and hit Farwicker's middle and leg stump giving the Mogs what had seemed only a few minutes before a very unlikely but most welcome victory. Abbott rightly led the Mogs off the field whereupon we enjoyed plenty of hop based products with our hosts.
MWCC Stats