Format: 40 overs
Oxted & Limpsfield were bowled out in 35 overs (having been 135 - 1 after 18 overs & 149 - 2 at 19.5)
Oxted's Limpsfield cricket ground at Grub Street is a timeless jewel on the eastern reaches of the Mog's Surrey hinterland. The quick scoring pitch plays into our traditional skill of finding balls in deep bracken, honed most keenly over the years at Headley and especially the sorely missed postage stamp that is Coldharbour - scene of Peter Furner's last recorded maximum in 1993. This weekend's fixture presented ample opportunity for rootling around in the undergrowth, not only during a Mog innings that accelerated like a vintage Aston Martin, but also when Oxted's top order were careering along like an out of control Tesla with a battery fire.
Captain Cooper won the toss and displayed a calm authority sadly lacking in our country's general election candidates by choosing to bat first. Furner Turner / Turner Furner lit the burner with some well struck early fours, but it was the arrival of classy number three Bunyan that really set the tone in an innings-defining partnership that saw 100 reached in the 18th over for two wickets lost. From this solid base, and an elegant 69 for Jordan, a degree of carnage ensued as Phil "The Power" Davies arrived with some long-handled brutality and Will "Wickes" Dowling injected further dynamism - pinging the ball to all parts of a quickening outfield. His final 10 over partnership with Will "Ezra" Freeland (34 from 19 balls) yielded 92 runs and propelled the Mogs to the lofty heights of 265-6 from 40 overs.
Thereafter a surprisingly diverse tea of pizza, cake, onion pasta and crisps, but no actual tea, was demolished with relish beside the increasingly engaged British Legion who had been royally entertained by the Mogs' stroke-play. They also stifled giggles as Mog legend and bat whisperer Furner supervised the repair of his opening partner's sadly diminished blade by a collection of unqualified late order craftsmen. Having diagnosed the problem ("the end has fallen off"), Peter became animated in his advice to the bat fiddlers - repeatedly telling them to "stop shoving it in and out", "use an appropriate lube" and that "clamps will be needed to do it properly". The bat remains out of service.
Suddenly after 45 minutes it was time to take the field again, and after a bout of catching practice failed to gain any traction (more on that later) the Mogs hurled themselves at the Oxted openers. In fact the Mogs' muscular spearhead Brennan "Buffalo" Calafato did actually throw himself at their opener, along with his first ball thunderbolt, supermanning onto the middle of the pitch from where he received a warning from the umpire delivered to the back of his head. This harsh judgement seemed to fire up the young tearaway who proceeded to pin the opposition captain with a quick swinging delivery.
One down and optimism peaked then dramatically dipped during a destructive 2nd wicket Oxted partnership that saw a degree of carnage broken only by periods of absolute carnage. This is when the Mogs' undergrowth combing talents really kicked into gear with a 93% retrieval ratio maintained right through to the point where a superb spell of spin from Cooper and the waspish pace of Dowling combined to remove the two batsmen who had propelled Oxted to 149 from 19.5 overs. The Skipper then bit deep into their exposed middle order aided and abetted by the silky glovework of man of the match Jordan Bunyan, who after one of the great Mog leg-side stumpings that never was (although it definitely was), continued to snaffle every nick offered, amply compensating for a bout of butterfingers from various of the Mogs' more experienced fielders.
At this point, the surrounding flora and fauna visibly relaxed, and when new ball specialist Hoad returned to clinically dispatch the lowest order, Oxted had subsided for 173 - losing their last 8 wickets for 24 runs in just 15.1 overs. An enjoyable, competitive match was toasted with ice cold jugs of beer in the company of our consummate hosts in front of the D-Day anniversary decorations of the British Legion as the Mogs ignored all media commitments to honour the memories of the fallen. Not the longest day, but a most satisfying victory nonetheless.
MWCC Stats