Ernie Lays Into Long Whatton

A decidedly makeshift 2nd XI welcomed Long Whatton to the Field of Dreams on what may turn out to be the hottest day of the year. As is the lot of all second teams Long Whatton had also lost key members to their First's so bringing half a dozen juniors. Strange to think that one of our players had more mileage on the clock than 5 of theirs put together!

The shock of winning the coin toss clearly went to AC's head as he elected to field in soaring temperatures. Opening duo of Cowlard and Boss Hogg toiled away but to no avail. The biggest cheer of the day was the arrival of Bally resplendent in whites that still had mud from Lambley two seasons ago.

The openers looked set until the introduction of a noticeably quicker version of Elliott junior. Liam was probably the only bowler all day to get meaningful movement and he soon found the edge for Ernie to take. Soon after the other opener followed by playing on. Ably assisted by a fine spell from Murali (12-2-19-1) and some great fielding the brakes were applied.

Disaster struck when Liam had to leave the field for some ice pack treatment but every cloud has a silver lining. Enter Adonis. JB took a few overs to get his range but he removed the stubborn No 3 which led to a steady procession as no one else really got going. Wickets were spread round all the bowlers and a direct hit run out by Duncan meant 124 for 9 was good effort from everybody.

Tea was the usual high standard from Jude. But I'm sure I felt the presence of four spectres drooling over our spread particularly the melon, strawberries and chocolate cake.

The reply was started with Ernie, convincing himself that he had to do a Drurs, and star all rounder Ball opening as he had a taxi leaving at six. Just in case he'd forgotten a well timed shout from her indoors on the boundary was swiftly followed by a slog too far. With a wafer thin batting line up his 8 runs were very welcome.

Matt got off to his usual all guns blazing start before realising that someone had to keep Ernie company if we were to have a chance. After a cautious look at the bowling on offer Ernie began to take control with some aggressive shots some of which were in front of square!

Matt meanwhile was getting bogged down not being able to lay bat on deliveries three foot outside leg stump. When the inevitable straight one arrived it completely bamboozeled him. But not as much as AC was when a dolly came with snow on it. The disappointment as he trundled off was magnified at the sight of Boss Hogg strolling out to the middle a good six places higher up the order than normal. But the Boss kept Ernie company for awhile until like everyone else got out just as they looked to be getting comfortable.

At this point some 50 runs still short the visitors could sense an upset. Unfortunately for them, so could Ernie, who preceded to tonk Bob Marley for 22 runs in his next over. This galvanised all but the bat throwing Elliott junior (name on the shower curtain). With commendable help from Mike Smith and the unbeaten Johnny Rogers, Ernie crossed the finish line 77 n.o. to cap a brilliant display and victory by 4 wickets with more than 10 overs to spare.

A big thank you to Bally, Johnny Rogers and Chris Soar for turning out at the eleventh hour as today was very much an eleven man team effort.