Match Report
Sunday 14 June –v- Old Sedcopians at King George’s Fields
Reporter: Neil Chapman
The day started off well with the team in buoyant spirits at The Alma public house. Steve Lewis was describing every ball of his previous innings. Stewart Boss was moaning. Barry Warne was using long words. Steve Whale was posing. Everything was as normal. The team was visibly cheered by news of the absence of Glenn Timms and Andy Paul. Glen Timms was reputedly in hospital having a hair transplant while Andy Paul is as much use to Crusaders as a comb is to Barry Warne.
On arrival at the ground we found our numbers swelled to the full 11 by Steve "Pass the Grecian 2000" Martin. The skipper elected to bat and for some reason Barry "Skid Lid" Warne and Steve "Ton Machine" Lewis opened. As would be expected Barry was returned to the pavilion quickly to be followed only too soon by Stewart "Foghorn" Boss. Next in and out was Gordon Schulz for a disappointing 2. Steve Martin also failed to get going, so the whole of the top half of the team had been skittled out by the trigger happy umpire Mark Paine, currently recovering from a spell in hospital suffering from anorexia. Nick Manchip hit a lively 3 and then our illustrious skipper went in and played a captain's innings before waking us up by being dismissed for a score equal to his IQ.
At a score of 31 for 6 with only the opener Steve Lewis showing any signs of resistance, Kevin "Fake suntan" Gibson took to the crease. They pushed the score on to 51 before Steve Lewis was dismissed for a resilient 28. At this point Neil Chapman strode manfully to the wicket. From the start it was obvious he was in command of the bowling and the runs came thick and fast. With the score at about 70 and the quick singles being run almost every ball, the game had to be stopped for five minutes as Kevin Gibson had a cardiac arrest. Neil Chapman was eventually dismissed with the total pushing 100, for a glorious 23. Kevin Gibson was unbeaten on 31 at the close of the innings at 103-8.
The Old Sedcopians innings started off at a fair rate. The runs were being knocked off quickly and the wickets were falling. Steve Whale and Steve Lewis opened the bowling competently, being replaced by Barry Warne and Steve Martin then Gordon Schulz and Hugh Gallagher. The match was always finely poised. At one stage with the score 65-7 it appeared to be going the Crusaders way with the wickets evenly spread about to the bowlers.
However a few solid shots changed the face of the game. The vital break-through came with the score at around 95-8. The 9th wicket fell at 100. The score moved to 102 with the Sedcopians needing just two runs to win when a revitalised Steve Lewis roared back into the attack and shattered the Sedcopians stumps and dreams of victory -a nail biting finish to a closely fought and utterly forgettable match.
After this it was straight back to The Alma for opening time where we had the dubious pleasure of the presence of Andy Paul complete with stupid grin and 99p sunglasses. After a swift drink here we moved on to the Bull where the crowd dispersed eventually.
Pen Pictures
Steve Whale - Could do with extra fielding practice
Steve Lewis - Smartarse. Needs bringing down to earth
Barry Warne - A welcome return for this fine young cricketer
Stewart Boss - Tries very hard -needs to.
Gordon Schultz - Yet to fulfil his early potential
Steve Martin - Don't pension him off yet – a welcome return for this fine young; cricketer
Kevin Gibson - Exceptional talent. Shame about the haircut
Neil Chapman - Batsman, wicketkeeper, journalist. What does he not excel at?
Hugh Gallagher An excellent debut
Neil Morrison- Will surely take his place in the limelight soon
