Strollers earn tie in the dark

The Strollers earned a tie after another nail biting finish in near darkness against Queen Adelaide at Alexandra Palace on Sunday. At the outset, the opposition had won what was always going to be a key toss and predictably chosen to bat first on a good pitch but more importantly to benefit from the best of the sunny autumnal light.

Taking the field, the Strollers anxiously eyed the ludicrously short nearside boundary – so short in fact, George remarked to his skipper that “the likes of you and I wouldn’t take a single to that distance!”. After a quick huddle where Gav stated the painfully obvious, that the bowling had to be on target and the fielding would need to be sharp, Dickie, Spencer and Jake volunteered to defend the seemingly indefensible ropeline.

Thankfully Simon responded well as he opened the bowling with immediate accuracy, keeping his line well pinned to the off peg. Jake at the other end again suffered brief jitters initially but this time it didn’t take him long to find his line and gather pace to good effect. Adelaide’s opener Neville had only made 13 before he top edged a short one dug in by Jake who, howling like a banshee tore over to cover to claim a breakthrough caught and bowled.

This brought the South African Adelaide skipper Fred Shiels to the wicket (he who famously had smashed 150 past the Strollers two seasons prior) but here he never looked comfortable and, having scratched around for a couple of overs, took a misjudged swipe off Simon’s bowling and Harsh collected the first of two well taken catches at extra cover. Celebrating loudly and galvanised into action, the Strollers made further inroads as first Jake clean bowled Winpenny and then, with Spencer having been brought into the attack, a sharp return from Mickey at third man caused the run out of opener Ewer.

The burly Adelaide middle order were now at the wicket in the shape of ‘the other’ Shiels and the ‘taller than Gav’ Reid who managed to restore some order to the innings and both enjoyed the opportunity to exploit the short midwicket boundary whenever they could. However Graeme, now bowling in place of Simon, managed to deceive Reid with variation as he snicked behind to Matt having made a useful 42.

Spencer completed a very tidy spell, unluckily wicket-less, and was replaced by George. Mickey replaced Graeme and, at the prospect of slow bowling from both ends, the batsmens’ eyes noticeably lit up. Despite his name Meek showed aggressive intent but shrugging off suggestions from some team mates that perhaps spin wasn’t the answer, Gav persisted and George effectively bought Shiels’ wicket with a slower looped delivery that was skied into the stratosphere and then landed down Harsh’s throat on the boundary – a fine catch by any standards.

Meek continued to score at pace and raced to a speedy 50 before Simon was brought back into the attack upon which he was immediately judged not out to a very willow-ish sounding take from Matt. Whilst the surrounding Strollers stood dumfounded at the seeming injustice, Simon purposefully strode back to his mark, charged back in and bowled a carbon copy ball with carbon copy snick to boot – this time Meek walked.

Sensing the Adelaide tail was now exposed, and with the batsmen flashing at everything as they struggled over the 200 mark, Simon picked up a third wicket as Spencer pouched a hard drive from Brunner on the mid on boundary. Spencer then took an excellent second catch but woefully realised he was standing behind the boundary at the time! Despite the worst efforts of the local Ally Pally hoodies to disrupt proceedings, pathetically pelting the pitch with crab apples, the Strollers field stuck to their task undaunted with Dickie, Mickey, Spencer and Jake in particular doing remarkably well in keeping the ball in play. Jake, back for the penultimate over, matched Simon’s wicket tally with a Yorker dislodging Davidson. Only six more runs were added as Queen Adelaide closed on 217-9 off their 35 overs – possibly up to some 50 runs short of the total the Strollers feared would be posted with the short boundary – a very good fielding effort indeed.

Feeling they were well in the hunt and with a deep batting line up at their disposal the Strollers took tea quickly, eager to get on with the chase. Harsh and Spencer strode out to bat and both immediately looked to score despite some accurate bowling from the Adelaide attack who in turn took first blood as, with 22 on the board, Spencer took a misjudged swipe and was caught at close range. Mickey marched out to bat at three and brought some order to proceedings, initially adopting a sheet anchor role whilst Harsh lashed out with trademark aggression, albeit riding his luck as he was dropped on more than one occasion!

Whilst fast running between the wickets was limited, the score advanced at pace thanks to some excellent strokeplay from both batsmen. After ten overs the Strollers score had reached 80-1 and neither Harsh nor Mickey looked troubled. Queen Adelaide rotated their bowling but if anything, the only resistance to scoring encountered was stamina as the run rate slowed marginally. Nevertheless, the hundred was knocked off without incident with Harsh reaching yet another 50 and soon after, the century partnership was reached.

Finally, with 137 on the board, Mickey flashed at one too many and was caught off a backward slog to Ottley in the deep. Gav, at number four, also looked to score with a couple of attractive shots but looked on sadly as Harsh was finally bowled, playing down the wrong line to a looped delivery from Ottley, out for a laudable 88, another magnificent knock.

Gav followed in similar fashion as he marched down the wicket to attack his opposite number’s bowling, but the ball kept low and he was beaten. The loss of wickets had significantly stemmed the Strollers’ flow and the required run rate crept up. Graeme and Matt did their very best to keep the scoreboard ticking over but, by now, time and the dwindling light were the real enemy.

Matt succumbed to Ottley’s flight in the gathering gloom and then Graeme, having blasted his way to 27 and surviving a dropped chance, did likewise. Dickie fell to Ottley who collected his fifth wicket of the evening and concern mounted as the wicket taking deliveries also counted as agonizing dot balls and the required rate rose above 8 an over. In the penultimate over George, who had been running well to keep the rate going, hit a valuable four but was then bowled by Brunner.

With ten needed off the last over Jake defiantly smashed a savage pull shot for four, and then ran a wide giving the onlooking Strollers hope the target would be within reach. Simon nudged his first ball for a single but Jake looked for a second and was tragically run out. Young Harry Brown, in only his second game for the Strollers, ran out to bat, admirably keen to make the best of what little light remained, but with the unenviable task of needing three runs from two balls to win. Simon pushed a single from the fifth ball leaving the Strollers’ fate in the hands of Brown Jnr. Harry, in the face of the gathering field and the nearly opaque darkness remained unfazed and, with the poise of an old timer nonchalantly nurdled the last ball out to cover and took the single that secured a very honourable tie, and avoiding a potentially embarrassing defeat.

It might not have been the result that anyone on either side wanted, but the Queen Adelaide players realised they had probably got out of jail and the Strollers were thankful their blushes had been saved. Again, the Strollers could claim to have been on top for the first two thirds of the game but, unlike their previous outing at Alexandra Palace, they had not blown it and were able to leave the ground with heads held high. Ultimately the light had been the deciding factor – no fewer than six Strollers had been clean bowled (an unusual occurrence in these times) – but Harsh, Mickey and Graeme had all managed to bat well despite the darkness and, combined with their fine endeavours in the field earlier (Simon and Jake both claiming three-fers) the Strollers had done themselves proud.

Gavin Richardson
24.09.07

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