Match Report
Police are investigating irregular betting patterns after a series of wagers were placed in a Norwood Betting Shop, during the Norwood –v- Crusaders fixture at Norwood Lakes. It is believed the irregularity relates to the large number of extras conceded by the home team. A police spokesman said ‘We wish to speak to a small Asian man, believed to have some insider knowledge. He was described by the bookmaker as being very irritating and difficult to understand’. Police are convinced he has connections with one of the teams.
Crusaders gained their first victory of the season by a comfortable 85 run margin. Wajih won the toss and to the surprise of most elected to bat. Norwood’s bowlers could at best be described as erratic, producing a stream of wides mixed in with the odd Jaffa and at worst, in the pocket of a Lahore gambling syndicate. Runs from the bat were difficult to come by, with only Nita penetrating the infield with any regularity. Damon and Pommie occupied the crease, but with neither finding any fluency. Den took the dog for a long walk; all sharp objects were hastily hidden and nearby boughs of trees were rope-tested. It was dull.
Jabs tried to inject some urgency to the scoring with a couple of boundaries, before holing out to mid-wicket and it was left to ‘The Little Master’ to bolster our score towards respectability. Following his rear-guard match-saving performance at Old Ruts, Johnny G was allowed to show the full range of his game and didn’t disappoint. Elegant cover-drives were punctuated with some exquisite late cuts through the vacant third man area, as he compiled a fine 27. Upkar and Dhiresh swatted some runs from the final few balls and with the help of 52 extras we totalled 179-8 at the close.
After tea Darren and Pommie were entrusted with making the necessary early breakthrough. For the second season running Danglers had opted to skip nets in favour of Sunday morning hanky panky, but it had little adverse effect. Resplendent in new bowling boots, he was soon making Damon wallow around behind the stumps. Norwood seemed keen to get on with it and both openers were not afraid to play shots. Darren made the initial breakthrough, removing the portly Kiwi to a good catch at the wicket from Day and that prompted a steady flow of wickets. Pick of the bowlers for Crusaders was Dhiresh, who found some extravagant swing from the Road End, accounting for two of Norwood’s best batsmen with virtually unplayable deliveries. He finished with figures of 3-20, whilst Spud was the other major wicket taker returning 4-13. In the field, Jabs took two catches, whilst Day performed one of the quickest stumpings ever seen on the Norwood Lakes ground.
