Match Report
Sunday 15th June
Breakfast was a repeat performance, with the beautifully arranged Egg, Bacon, Sausage, Black Pudding slice and Mushroom, supplemented by a Ramekin of Baked Beans. Lunch was taken at the Five Bells at Claypole, where Damon was particularly impressed by some flowery brew from the Milestone Brewery. The Tetley Bitter was in equally good order and we were nicely loosened for our second game against Caythorpe. Once again the heavens opened, but just as yesterday the rain quickly relented.
15th June -v- Caythorpe CC at Fulbeck.
Our second game pitted our years of experience against a side containing the raw talent of several Junior County players. Caythorpe won the toss, elected to field and Crusaders soon found they were facing a similar struggle to yesterday. With half the allotted overs completed we were teetering at 50-5, with no sign that Caythorpe were going to let us off the hook. Fortunately Pommie put the desperate performance against Fulbeck behind him and shared in strong partnerships with Chand and Damon. An air of respectability was restored, with 97 runs added in the final 20 overs to leave Caythorpe requiring 148 for victory. Phil conjured up a fine Chilli and we all ate too much to make Caythorpe's task all the easier. It was vital that we made a good start and Pommie and Matt provided it with penetrative spells that put us in a strong position, with our hosts 9-3. It didn't last. Adams and Endley gradually started putting bat to ball to initiate the Caythorpe recovery. Spud bowled particularly poorly - a sign of one game too far and we generally failed to back up the opening bowlers.
