London Erratics Cricket Club

Founded 1974 for recreation and refreshment

Sunday 18 September 2005
London Erratics v Hemingford Hermits
at West Ilsley

Gloomy and dull
HEMINGFORD HERMITS — batting
1   c sub b Head M 41
2   b Stephenson 4
3   c Travers b Grant 10
4   not out 102
5   c Travers b Berrigan 5
6   b Berrigan 19
7   lbw b Berrigan 7
8   b Grant 3
9   not out 2
10  
11  
216 for 7 dec
Fall of wickets: 1–36, 2–53, 3–95, 4–111, 5–148, 6–162, 7–208

LONDON ERRATICS — bowling
Stephenson 8 2 22 1
Grant 11 0 58 2
Berrigan 11 3 50 3
Head M 6 0 36 1
Head J 3 0 28 0
Travers 1.2 0 13 0
Some late adjustments to the squad on Saturday evening yielded a team of ten, including three debutants — Jim Head’s son Matthew and friend Neil Grant, and Dan Travers was one of three Australians to be ferried to the pleasant ground in West Ilsley by Bill Bush (once Premier League crises had been dealt with). Warm and sunny at the official start time of 1 pm, overcast by the time players had strolled over from the Harrow Arms. Hemingford Hermits won the toss and elected to bat; they kindly provided a sub fielder.
Assisted by the slope, Michael Stephenson achieved prodigious movement — almost too much to begin with. At the other end, Neil struggled to find his length and after a couple of overs reverted to his preferred spin option. The movement the bowlers found in the pitch made wicket-keeping difficult throughout the game, and Bill stuck to his task well. In the 11th over, Michael S’s persistence was justly rewarded. The No. 3 looked useful, and it was a relief when he was soon well caught by Dan in the covers.
Skipper James Rivington made a double change, bringing on Brian Berrigan and the off-spin of Matthew. Brian tied up one end. Matthew produced opportunities for both wickets and runs; eventually the Hermits skipper sliced a simple catch to the substitute at backward point. A rare full toss from Brian resulted in damage to the pavilion roof and brought up the hundred.
The No. 4 was now getting into gear. Another catch by Dan (ball fended off to square leg) failed to slow the runs. Son gave way to father — score accelerated. Attempts to keep the No. 4 off strike proved futile when his partner proved equally pugnacious, and the field was spread as the captain ran out of ideas. Time to give Brian a rest? — no, he earns another wicket, and then another.
Neil returned: one over went for 18, but he had the consolation of a second scalp. Dan bravely accepted the offer of a bowl (what? no Dunabin, Evans, Rivington?), and served up the boundary that gave the No. 4 his hundred and triggered the declaration. A decent score, but over a good tea the Erratics knew that their own battery of big hitters would have plenty of time.
LONDON ERRATICS — batting 4s  6s 
Head J stumped 59 7  1 
Dunabin bowled 8 1   
Berrigan caught 5 1   
Grant bowled 29 3  1 
Head M lbw 0    
Evans bowled 9 1   
Stephenson bowled 9 1   
Travers NOT OUT  16 3   
† Bush caught 1    
* Rivington NOT OUT  0    
160 for 8
Fall of wickets:  1–44, 2–59, 3–116, 4–116, 5–130, 6–130, 7–141, 8–142
The Erratics couldn’t have asked for a better start than Jim swatting the fourth ball for six. But the Hermits bowlers found good movement and needed watching. After watching all this for 10 overs or so as umpire, James started to get twitchy and had a quiet word with Chris — no better way of taking a wicket. In contrast, Brian had been told to play a long innings, but he edged the leg-spinner’s third ball to gully.
Enter Neil, about whose batting Jim had predicted ‘fireworks’. Boring, he gave himself a sighter — before flat-batting the next two to the boundary. This roused Jim, and things started to look interesting. The Hermits were now mumbling about 216 not looking such a big score, and the field scattered: several vicious strikes by Neil yielded only a single to the distant ring of quavering fielders. There had been much discussion between the captains beforehand as to whether there would be enough light to allow 20 overs from 6 pm; James’s earlier doubts had wholly evaporated when he hurried from square leg to squeeze in one more over — an over that brought up the hundred. And a six from Neil kept the Erratics nicely on course.
Then ... Neil misjudged a slow long-hop and was bowled. Next ball, Chris defied the precedent set by the Hermit umpires and adjudged Matthew lbw. Lots of hitting to come (Michael Evans got off the mark with a four), but one sensed the balance had changed. Nasir Khawaja (remember him?) had hopped along to spectate, and was nervously watching Jim edge closer to his record for the number of runs scored in a season; but it was not to be as Jim’s long vigil came to an end.
Michael S tried to pick up from where he left off against the Beamers. Even at number 9, Bill was sent out to chase the impossible dream. The skipper had saved himself up as the draw specialist, but having to bat out 8.5 overs hadn’t been part of the plan. The local owls were now screeching their complaints to the umpires about the light (I kid not). Dan’s technique kept the bowlers interested, but with a good eye he protected his wicket and hit a few shots. James was immensely boring, and the draw was secured — but the oppo seemed forgiving. Same time next year, we hope.
An end-of-season thank you to Robert Waller, who scored this and most of our other games with loyal patience — making these reports possible.
Match drawn
2005 Season
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