London Erratics Cricket Club

Founded 1974 for recreation and refreshment

Saturday 24 June 2006
London Erratics v V & A
at Stonor

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V & A — batting
1   c Eltringham b Ali 6
2   b Glenister 48
3   c Bush b Ali 12
4   not out 84
5   run out 20
6   c Andrews b Fitzmaurice BJ 21
7   not out 59
8  
9  
10  
11  
290 for 5 dec
Fall of wickets: 1–7, 2–55, 3–83, 4–135, 5–203

LONDON ERRATICS — bowling
Eltringham 12 2 59 0
Ali 9 1 54 2
Glenister 5 0 38 1
Neal 3 0 23 0
Rivington 7 0 36 0
Fitzmaurice BJ 5 0 42 1
Evans 1 0 18 0
Andrews 1 0 13 0
Whatever else, it was a gorgeous, hot, sunny, late June day. The Erratics won the toss and elected to field.
The V&A batsmen always score briskly, but Matthew Eltringham and Mu Ali produced very creditable opening spells — and combined to secure an early breakthrough. Mu got a second wicket thanks to a smart reaction catch by Bill Bush, who really is beginning to enjoy his wicket-keeping. Debutant Peter Glenister (a colleague of Michael Evans) had plenty of pace and zipped through the defences of the other opener, but otherwise struggled with his line. Matthew Neal, who now sees himself as a spinner, was also a little wayward, and the batsmen hit anything loose. When lunch was taken, the total (131 for 3) had perhaps crept a little higher than it should have done.
After lunch, skipper James Rivington brought on himself and Brad J Fitzmaurice. A brilliant direct hit at the bowler’s end by Bill punished a cheeky attempt at a leg-bye. With the field now well spread, the score was mounting seriously (the 200 came up in the 36th over), but Brad finished with a wicket. James bowled quite well, and deserved the scalp of the No. 4 — but Michael fluffed it.
As an indication to the opposition that he was taking the game seriously, James gave both Michael and Peter Andrews an over. This brought the No. 7 out of his shell: normally played as a bowler, he launched himself at anything within reach. And he kept going when Matthew E and Mu came back: their final three overs cost a blistering 49 runs. The match ball had some divine protection on it, because it kept being retrieved, no matter how deep into the neighbouring fields it was struck.
For 43 long overs we had toiled (made longer by 26 wides and 7 no-balls), and our reward was to concede the highest total in the extant Erratics record.
LONDON ERRATICS — batting 4s  6s 
Neal caught 1    
Andrews caught 28 3   
Green J bowled 10 1   
Eltringham run out 7 1   
Glenister bowled 2    
Evans bowled 28 3  1 
Ali bowled 14 3   
† Bush caught 22 3   
Fitzmaurice BJ caught 0    
Fitzmaurice BS bowled 1    
* Rivington NOT OUT  0    
119 all out
Fall of wickets:  1(Neal)–5, 2(Green)–30, 3(Eltringham)–41, 4(Glenister)–49, 5(Andrews)–56, 6(Ali)–79, 7(Evans)–109, 8(FitzmauriceBJ)–111, 9(FitzmauriceBS)–113, 10(Bush)–119
The task was how to hang on for the draw, without being too boring. This objective got no easier when Matthew N walked for the faintest of snicks behind, just before tea.
The delicious trifle served at the break had a severe impact on Peter A’s tummy (Þ) (what with Richard Heller retching at Fernhurst, are team members holding some bodily noise competition this season without telling me?). Jonathan Green (Þ) kept Peter company for a while, and smacked one lovely on-drive. Matthew E looked comfortable (Þ) , but one of the key partnerships in the innings was chucked away in a ‘Yes!’ ‘No!’ nightmare.
It was always going to be unlikely that the middle order would be able to bat with the necessary restraint. Peter G swished and departed. Then Peter A, who seemed to have judged the situation perfectly, flashed and was caught behind. Mu brought some handsome ability to the crease (Þ) , and showed no sign of being cowed by the circumstances — but alas fell just before the final twenty.
Enter Bill, to join Michael. The pair of them showed scant respect either to the bowlers or to the predicament the team was in, and indulged themselves in some carefree hitting — including a big six from Michael, which earned admiration from the oppo.
This partnership restored a modicum of pride, but couldn’t last. Could the tail dig in? Brad cursed himself for too easily fending one to short leg. Young Billy was bold and sneaked a single through mid-wicket (big cheer), and was paid the compliment of being shown no mercy by the bowler. Skipper James’s fantasy of blocking out the last 11 overs was dashed when the ever-belligerent Bill sliced one high to point before James had faced a ball.
After this crushing defeat, the Erratics wistfully enumerated all the able players who had been unavailable...
 
Temporary match report lifted from the V&A web site
Erratics lost by 171 runs
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