The Mogador Wanderers turned up at Horsley & Send's attractive ground determined to end a 2 match losing sequence. Hewitt called correctly and with the sun out, the Mogs selected to bat first. Horsley & Send fielded their Pakistani overseas pro Younus Ullah and he accounted for Fairclough (6) with an effort ball that took the shoulder of his bat. Hewitt joined Furner at the crease and these 2 added 103 good runs for the 2nd wicket before Furns (31) was run out backing up as the run rate was increased. Stevens (11) and Hewitt added 41 and the skipper reached a good 100 before being bowled the very next ball. A Leigh -like collapse followed with the Mogs succumbing from 163-3 to 189 - 9 and it was down to Richard "Super Mario" Moss (whose plumbing skills would be called on later in the away showers) and Col William Parker who added 23 unbeaten runs for the 10th wicket to see the Mogs reach 212 for 9 at the end of our allotted 40 overs.
Our hosts served a splendid tea with an excellent and copious array of sandwiches, fresh pineapple, buttered fruit loaf and a rarely seen tea appearance from the Cornish pasties, last seen at Redruth in 1994. Full marks would have been achieved if the pasties and sausages had been served warm but we were not complaining, far from it.
Replete, we took the field and opened up with the Hornet, Tom Hornsey and Mike "TenPin" Coxon. The openers Woodgate and old friend of the Mogs, Mike Catt, put on 50 for the opening wicket and it was Joseph who took the first three wickets in a good, first change spell, which also included the important wicket of their pro Ullah, who had never before seen one of Joseph's slow, leg-side off breaks and feathered it to the Colonel, who snaffled the catch as easily as a Premiership footballer might pull a WAG in an Essex nightclub; it was the first of 3 catches for our bald, unhinged keeper. At 130 for 3 our hosts were very much in the game with 14 overs still to go but 2 quick wickets for Hewitt and then a debut 5-for by Charlie "Dairy" Lee saw us win by 44 runs with an over spare. After our disastrous display at Leigh it was a commendable performance in the field with our fielding (and behaviour) of the very highest standard - 8 catches taken and none dropped....Bring on the road trip to Rottingdean.
Hewitt
MWCC Stats