This was the first time that the Mogs had had the pleasure of playing East Molesey (great fixture Frank!) and what a game it was. Captain Hewitt was late for the toss, so Lewis stepped in, promptly lost it and found himself in the field on a hot, humid afternoon. The track was a batsman's paradise - flat as a pancake - and East Molesey's openers took an instant liking to Jamie "Roy Keane" Freeland (4-0-30-0) in an unusually good-natured though wicket-less spell. Peter "Pilau" Rice (6-0-23-1) had more success down the other end and soon bowled their free-scoring antipodean opener with one that moved slightly off the pitch. Peter also beat the bat on a few occasions, the only Mog to do so, and he had a good game all round. Matthew "Toys R Us" Lewis replaced Freeland in a bid to stop the flow of runs, but promptly served up a veritable smorgasbord of full tosses and long hops, which the batsmen consumed greedily. Briggsy (4-0-30-0) replaced Pilau at the Thames End and soon he found himself looking towards the river as East Molesey's second Kiwi pro drove anything full of length. After 4 overs he conceded defeat and with Lewis (6-0-36-0) taken pity on at the other end, Hewitt and Abbott were charged with the task of putting the breaks on. Both bowlers bowled well with Milner & Freeland taking catches off Hewitt's (13-2-42-2) leg-side spinners and Abbott (10-1-43-1) bowling East Molesey's no 5 with one that kicked like a Spanish donkey. Peter Martin had a brief 2 over spell but there was a genuine fear that we did not have enough cricket balls for The Major to bowl more than 2 overs. Genuine highlights of our fielding were few and far between but Peter "Yoda" Furner & Peter "Egg-Fried" Rice must have had Duracell batteries in. Hewitt ran out their no 6 for 0 with a piece of cricketing deception that Dick Millar would have been proud of and Darrell "Monica" Abbott had a charming conversation with East Molesey's captain, which included the delightful diatribe of "Come on then! Do you want some? Shall we do it now?" East Molesey declared at 241-6 and the Mogs rested their weary feet.....
Richard Milner & Yoda Furner opened up for the Mogs and a swashbuckling stand of 70 was raised for the opening wicket, before Milner (43) perished. Freeland came in at 3 and soon carted the ball all over the ground in a wonderful innings of 52 at a run-a-ball. Furns even joined the action and at one stage hit an off drive off the back foot, which fairly whistled to the boundary. Freeland was soon caught at point and with 20 overs to go, the Mogs required 135 with 8 wickets in hand. In the space of the next 7 overs however, Furner (43), Tharp (7) and Hewitt (10) all fell and with 100 needed off the last 13 overs, the odds were stacked against us. Abbott & Lewis had other ideas however and in a marvellous display of dynamic batting, soon had East Molesey in a real panic with a truly Corinthian display of power batting. Incredibly the equation came down to 12 off the last 2 overs with both all-rounders still at the crease, but although Matt (34) was bowled, Abbo (39*) and Captain William Parker (0*) saw the Mogs home.
All in all it was a tremendous win, with batsmen and bowlers playing their part in a victory that will be talked about for years to come. Come on!!!
MWCC Stats