Mogador Wanderers travelled to Newdigate on a hot sweaty mess of a day in the heat of August. With a gun batting line up and a battery of sun warmed plastic bottles of drink the mighty Mogador Wanderers won the toss and chose to... bowl. He was back! It was "Prince" Andrew Tharp the evil cousin of regular captain Tharp not seen since Tadworth 2017 when he demanded to bat twice in a team of cowering children. The notorious Mogador captain aka "The Judge", aka "Big Billy Biffer" aka "Punch" was allegedly overheard shouting "we will win either way!" as the only response to any question asked of him by his opposition number. When the coin was in the air he called "winner" instead of heads or tails, met the Newdigate 12th man who would be guesting for us (who was a lovely chap by the way) by punching him clean in the nose and then walked in the opposite direction to the pavilion laughing his head off following sending us all in to field in a billion degrees.
Thinking of the days gone by when tea ladies would correct us on categories of melon and we would post 300 for an Australian overseas player to then chase it on his own, the mogs fielded with great aplomb given slave like conditions we were working under. Mogs peacekeeper Jamie Freeland performing an act of courage-in-protest akin to standing in front of a tank by bowling two beamers in the first two balls of the innings. The hope that he would then be taken off the field and could then reveal his protest manifesto, t-shirt and flag were scuppered by the umpire politely reminding him to make it bounce. No further action taken. Freeland continuing to bowl with a single tear in his eye, blinking morse code "GET HELP" but alas it was fruitless as eye contact had been forbidden. A flat wicket and a fast outfield made for some good cricket. Bowlers applied themselves well with Newdigate responding in kind with patience and the occasional bludgeon to the boundary. Over the innings runs and wickets were exchanged and the "double leg spin" combination of Rhod and Will Riddy was introduced producing runs, chances and jealousy from other spinners in equal measure. The end of the innings also saw Rhod take one of the catches of the century actually getting his hand below sea-level to ensure the ball stayed off the ground whilst fully horizontal. Captain Tharp finished with the lion's share of the wickets and at the taking of his fourth went full "tops off" shouting "test me!" to all of his dismissed batsmen. Newdigate finished on 246-9 and everyone ran for shade.
Young Ashwin Bhat, fresh from Saturday heroics (c'mon mate number 11 got more than you) upon being bestowed the honour of opening the batting for his team, captain Tharp insisted to all batsmen due to enter the field, they kissed a photo of his hand pledging allegiance. It would have been the real hand but social distancing in place meant a compromise had to be made. Ash clearly seeing sense realised it was safer out there and proceeded to play the lead in not one but 2 100 partnerships and finishing with a magnificent, chanceless 127 not out. Furns knocked it around defying all the critics by moving along at a steady pace also. Newdigate bowled with great effort and tried everything to get the breakthrough. After furns departed by Reigate and Banstead's favourite PE teacher Rhod James. Root-esque back foot punches reflected of a standard beyond what many of us were capable of. An extraordinary run chase which was made to look far too easy frankly by two (sorry furns) and a half class batsmen. Mogs finish 247-1 with only some of this match report made up.
Honourable mentions:
Newdigate Guest Mike Duthie, having not bowled for 35 years produced a terrific mid innings spell that deserved more
Pete Riddy for perhaps the quietest game on record
Newdigate CC as a whole who deserve a thanks for their response to our lockdown correspondence with an offer for us to use their net facilities and bar within days of the lockdown being lifted. Having visited the ground twice this season have struck an excellent balance of responsible activity in this environment with a warm welcome and a reminder of why we all play the game. Look forward to seeing you next year lads.
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