Format: 40 overs
The Mogs arrived at our friendly hosts Newdigate for a 40 over match. Cooper lost the toss, and we were asked to bowl first. Everyone agreed it was quite ‘muggy’ and there was a ‘shower or two’ around. Ollie Burton and Neil Coles opened the bowling, both bowled accurate, miserly 5 over spells, only conceding 14 runs between them.
They both took a deserved wicket, Neil’s – a great catch at point by JD, and Ollie’s a ‘worldie’ catch from Ash Bhat in the covers.
Our newly signed up member Brennan Calafato (welcome to the Mogs family!), was next up and bowled an excellent 8 over spell asking lots of questions of the Newdigate batsman, but sadly didn’t get the wickets he deserved.
Lewis bowled a tidy 7 over spell, his wicket removing the opener’s middle stump, Keith Briggs offered his mobile phone in case Joseph wanted to record the damage for posterity!
The Mogs bowling unit never really let Newdigate get away on a ground that traditionally is high scoring, Ahson Bukhari and Will Cooper with some excellent ‘death-bowling’ completed the innings, both finishing with similar figures of 2-28 and 2-32 respectively. Also of note was an excellent run out by Ollie Burton and Will Parker.
Newdigate finished 216-8 off 40.
Tea – it was very much appreciated by all the players that tea was provided, as in this post-covid time, many clubs have chosen not to revive their tea provision for games. A choice of coronation chicken and egg mayo sandwiches, walnut cake and some warm chicken nuggets complemented with a selection of fruit.
Cooper and Furner opened the batting and got the Mogs off to a good start in the run chase, Cooper taking the opportunity to practise his reverse sweep on a few occasions, and so JD Burton strolled out at number 3 and proceeded to smite the ball to all parts of the ground, soon after joined by Lewis at the crease, they put on a 35 run partnership in reasonable time. Lewis was bowled in a dismissal that Cooper opined was like ‘Dale Steyn to Michael Vaughan’ but in ultra-slow play-back mode.
JD was joined by Murali Bhat and the runs continued with some superb boundary hitting. JD finally fell in the 26th over for a match winning innings of 78 off 53 balls. It has to be said that most teams would be pleased having Ash Bhat and Ahson Bukhari at 6 and 7 respectively in the batting order and the two of them saw the Mogs home to a comfortable win with some fine batting just inside 30 overs. Ash Bhat playing beautifully for his 37 off 17 balls, without offering a sniff of his wicket to the Newdigate bowlers.
I have been asked to note that Ahson Bukhari changed his bat and then only played 3 forward defensive shots with it 😉
There were some great innuendo bingo opportunities throughout the game, my two favourites being:
1. Whilst fielding, Neil Coles informed everybody that Joseph was rubbing off on the other bowlers
2. In the clubhouse after the game whilst enjoying a beer and watching the lionesses football (England vs Germany) a Newdigate member’s wife (of German descent) was overheard to say ‘if you don’t shut up I’ll sit on your face’ (lost in translation!)
To sum up - a great win, a very enjoyable game of cricket was had by all, and everyone afforded an opportunity in the game with bat or ball. Thanks to Keith Briggs for umpiring and our hosts Newdigate for their hospitality.
MWCC Stats