London Erratics Cricket Club

Founded 1974 for recreation and refreshment

Saturday 4 May 2002
London Erratics v The Times
at Gunnersbury Park, Ealing

A stroll in the Park
The teams assembled to find a completely unprepared square. Ignoring the siren voices of those who wanted to slink off and watch the Cup Final, the two captains waylayed a female park attendant and negotiated the preparation of the nearby pitch with an artificial strip. With the outfield mown, the game got under way at 3.12 pm. The Erratics won the toss and elected to bat.
The opening New Zealand partnership was broken quite quickly. James Rivington kept Felix Meller company in a stand of 52. It was something of a surprise when Felix, now hitting the ball sweetly, missed a well pitched-up delivery. James, who had ground to a halt, fell soon afterwards. Brian Berrigan was aggressive from the start, and it was a shock when he pulled one straight to backward square leg. With time beginning to slip by in this shortened match, there was a need for quick runs, and David Brook and Tristan Ward supplied them — until David asked a little too much of Tristan. With David now finding the boundary, Michael Evans joined him for a cameo appearance — including a big hit over mid-wicket, and a convincing appeal for a catch behind off the penultimate ball.
LONDON ERRATICS — batting 4s  6s 
Meller bowled 39 6   
Dimopoulos bowled 9 1   
Rivington caught 14 1   
Berrigan caught 13 3   
Brook NOT OUT  29 4   
† Ward run out 16 1   
Evans NOT OUT  11   1 
Bush    
Booth    
Green    
* Heller    
143 for 5 dec
Fall of wickets:  1–11, 2–63, 3–72, 4–80, 5–117
A bitter wind sprang up to greet the Erratics fielders, but their spirits were warmed by fine bowling performances from Felix (hostile pace) and John Booth (guile). The Times batsmen were soon struggling, and their morale was not helped when one of them crumpled up with a squeal after being struck on an exposed bit of leg by a Felix delivery.
Bill Bush came on and helped himself to the sixth wicket (one of three sharp slip catches by Felix, this one via Tristan’s gloves). But Times skipper, the other Michael Evans, immediately launched a counter-attack. Richard rotated the bowling, but the seventh wicket pair began to look as though they might make a serious assault on the target. Their progress was arrested by David, who removed both of them in successive overs. John then returned to pick off the last two (either side of an interesting over from Michael), with time to spare.
Highlight of the day? — having a drink after the game overlooking the Thames, and discovering that we were sharing the pub with Ant and Dec.
THE TIMES — batting
1   c Meller b Booth 2
2   lbw b Meller 4
3   c Berrigan b Booth 8
4   b Meller 0
5   b Booth 5
6   c Meller b Brook 38
7   c Meller b Bush 0
8   b Brook 21
9   b Booth 3
10   b Booth 0
11   not out 7
115 all out
Fall of wickets: 1–8, 2–8, 3–10, 4–23, 5–25, 6–34, 7–97, 8–107, 9–107

LONDON ERRATICS — bowling
Meller 7 1 15 2
Booth 8.1 3 11 5
Bush 3 0 29 1
Heller 3 1 12 0
Berrigan 5 1 18 0
Brook 6 1 15 2
Evans 1 0 7 0
Erratics won by 28 runs
2002 Season
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