On their arrival at Merstham's picturesque ground the assembling Mogs marvelled at shimmering Phoebus, still bathing the lush pitch in warmth far more akin to mid June rather than late September. However, to a man this joy at the unseasonably clement weather was tempered by the anxious and unspoken concern that fast on the heels of this game shadowy Hesperus lurked in waiting and wet, cricketless, winter afternoons stretched ahead of us.
However, putting these sorrows aside, acting Captain Eggson negotiated the toss and elected to bat as not all of the Mogs had yet arrived due to parental sporting engagements. Yoda and Mini Cooper opened for the Mogs, facing quite a tidy spell from Merstham which, combined with the usual slow coming on of the ball, made scoring quite slow. Cooper, concerned at keeping the score ticking over, forced the pace a bit and perished for 10, and a similar fate befell Graham who was also out caught off Sharp for 12. Brooker, somewhat afflicted by the consequences of youthful merriment the previous night was out cheaply for 4. Meanwhile Furner, The Accumulator, had gathered runs in his usual manner, cutting and driving on the off side and was now joined by powerful Burton who smote some lusty drives before both perished to Tarofoer with the score at 82-5. At the crease, then, were Hewitt and Brew. The Captain was struck on the thumb first ball but batted on manfully and it was only a trip to Charing Cross Hospital the next morning which revealed that this now purple and swollen digit had in fact been fractured. A masterly display of batting nonetheless ensued and Hewitt unrolled his full repertoire of shots, ably supported by Brew (21) and Lewis (20) which ensured that the run rate shot up and the Mogs cleared the 200 benchmark which is probably considered to be the level which begins to be competitive in the 40 overs format on Sundays at Quality Street. Tharp and Parker briefly assisted Hewitt and attempted to give him as much of the strike as possible but regrettably it was only the expiration of the overs which prevented him securing another century and he finished on 97 not out including 9 Fours and 5 Sixes and the Mogs with a highly respectable 230-8.
Tea was of the highest order and much appreciated by Cooper, the Club's de facto food correspondent, who levelled particular praise at what could best be described as a Tiramisu cake as well as some fine biscuits which were enjoyed by your correspondent.
In pursuit of the target Merstham immediately set out their stall as being one of attack as opposed to judicious accumulation of runs and were keen to get down the track to Heather Graham and The Off Break, opening the bowling for the Mogs. The Keeper stood up to try and discourage this assault by Saeed and Bowry (after the early departure of Turner, international age group cricketer and father of the eponymous Mog). There was some good
humoured banter between to the two batsmen as to who the crowd would rather be watching which continued with Yoda's cheery question as to who the crowd would rather see out as Saeed departed, having been bowled by Graham whose opening spell yielded a very fruitful return of 3-30 off 7 overs.
Although the run rate was proceeding satisfactorily from Merstham's perspective they were 3 wickets down at this stage and like all good games of cricket the match was finely poised. Before the game Cooper was in poll position to collect both the batting and the bowling prizes, such was his talent. With the batting prize secured, as no one could close down the 150 run lead he had established, only Tharp bowling from the Scoreboard end had
any chance of preventing a clean sweep. In a thoroughly entertaining spell of tempting but deadly away swingers Gatto (so called because of his increasing resemblance to the former England captain) bowled a mixture of lethal deliveries interspersed with some gateaux and threatened to take the game totally away from Merstham with a spell of 4-38 off 8 overs. At the other end Brooker was luckless with the ball but took fine 3 catches in the field which helped to pile the pressure on the batting side.
However, at the crease for the hosts, fully recovered after what could be be fairly described as an inglorious spell of fielding in front of the pavilion during the Mogs' innings, was Richard Sharp who suddenly appeared quite capable of scoring the 12+ runs an over that were required to wrest the game from the visitors. An uncomfortable tension descended on the fielders as they struggled to contain Sharp and keep the other batsmen on strike. It was, perhaps, fitting that Cooper finally dismissed him with a beautifully aimed dart which came in and bowled him through the gate for an excellent 69. The Mogs thus won by 35 runs and the sun set on another highly enjoyable season, notable, amongst many other merits on the field, for the fact that not a single game had been rained off - clear testament to an excellent summer. The Mogs then retired with their sociable hosts to consume hop based products and reflect upon the season's return of Played 19, Won 9,
Lost 6 and Drawn 4.
POSTSCRIPT
Members may have heard the sad news some weeks ago about the closing of The Golden Curry, culinary home of the Club - an event which had the whole team wearing black armbands at the next match. However, recent intelligence reported that it had, in fact, now reopened. As such as small party consisting of the Curry Secretary, Vice-Captain Tharp and Committee Member Freeland headed there after imbibing had ceased at Merstham to investigate the new look restaurant. In short they were perfectly happy with the venue, freshly painted but offering pretty much the same food as before and crisp service under the direction of Raj, the new owner, previously of the well respected Ruchita establishment in Earslwood. It had been previously agreed, though, that a small sub committee would be set up over the winter months with a view to reviewing other potential curry houses following the departure of Mr. Ahmed and would report to the Committee in January so that an announcement could be made at the AGM as to the Club's officially recommended Curry House for the 2015 season. Golden Curry will certainly be on the list for formal review over the winter. Members may contact the Curry Secretary for further details.
Report by WGC Parker
Addendum to the Postscript by Jamie Freeland
"Colonel,
Your Merstham match report is a thing of beauty, however may you allow me to take minor issue with the curry section report relating to our virgin trip to Golden Curry II?
Although my main dish was perfectly tasty, it was my first experience of an "on the bone" chicken dish which I found somewhat inconvenient even in our relatively sober state
I fear this difficulty may increase to unacceptable levels after hop based liquid intake has further eroded hand / eye / fork co-ordination, and raising the unwelcome prospect of chicken bone inhalation
I also found this quasi KFC serving style unusual for a Balti dish (Tandoori Baltic Methi Chicken) which by its nature is cooked more quickly and would therefore lends itself to lean cuts requiring surface to surface heat transfer in the alloted time as opposed to a stew type dish, perhaps prepared in the traditional clay pot Chatti or other submersibles
Thankfully no flash poo / muddy water type experience transpired next morning, but it certainly crossed my mind
Ambience wise, although I greatly enjoyed your company and that of Jafar Al Eggson, I have to say I found the new décor slightly drab, the music too mainstream and crucially the toilet flight path (of LEDs) missing various bulbs, meaning I became confused transiting the tricky kitchen / toilet chicane, leading to what in other circumstances could have been a disastrous 4-5 second delay in deballasting
Anyway, the above only supports your suggestion of further investigation of alternative venues and should not be taken as a blunt rejection of GCII's credentials - only my personal view to add to the (curry) mix
Looking forward to taking this further, and have copied my message to the captain and our Curry Sub Committee nominee JD " Bombay" Burton as discussed
With fondest regards, I remain your Dhalling,
Sister "Sag" Aloo x"
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