Match report vs Miskin 10 September 06 @ Miskin (skipper Richie, report Shakey)

Another Sunday. Another team with some precocious talent but one quality batsman. More toil for the cazh in the field?
Well it was a gorgeous day in the familiar, verdant and relaxing grounds of Miskin. The tranquillity was upset by the clip clop of a bridal horse and carriage and the presence of a bevvy of young ladies - but more on these later.
Richie did the decent thing and lost the toss on a strip that was much further away from the pavilion than normal - which brought the Miskin tree into play. Miskin decided to bat but the new ball pairing of Hood and Lewis continued their excellent run of recent form and they were backed up by the change pair of Jeff and Doughboy. After 16 overs Miskin were teetering on 34-3 as the Cazh had another bright start to a match but then it all went horribly wrong.
Young Mr Whitely had demolished us last year and he was still at the crease. All we needed was one wicket and we knew that he liked hitting in the V - I still have nightmares of being in the coconut shy at long-off last year alas this is where the cazh fielders pressed the self-destruct button. Whitely went on to make a fine 102 before he retired near the end of the innings. There were some fierce quality drives throughout his innings but there were plenty of chances too. Stevo was very unlucky to have several miscues off his bowling and Foxy also did well but the dropped chances cost us dear.
Whitely was dropped 4 times, twice by a very frustrated Steve. The spilling of a gentle but tricky catch over his head at short midwicket prompted the loud and emphatic response of 'COCK' which grated with the pleasant surroundings and the presence of Brychan and the many young Miskin supporters who were gathering for their end of season party (or massacre of the cazh). Goughy also had a patchy game behind the stumps by his own admission. He made two excellent stumpings (one was given) but dropped two catches.
The low point was undoubtedly when the ball was hit to mid-on. It just missed the tree (which lays inside the field a la Canterbury) and rolled to the boundary where Richie ran to stop it just short of the rope. He threw it in quickly to stop the third but forgot to see the tree was in his way it sailed into the branches of the tree for a four
A contributory factor in our fielding performance may have been the presence of a number of young Miskin ladies cavorting near the boundary rope by the tree or by the river. Quite a few of the cazh fielders slowly drifted from their allotted fielding positions. Andy F would have had a field day with his video but we might have had to call the plod if he had been there.
Back at the cricket Jeff took a fine diving catch on the run at wide mid-off and Dan and winkie came back well to bowl them out for 206 off the final ball. But we trudged off to the excellent tea knowing that we may have let the game slip away.
Dan 8-2-27-3
Andy 8-1-28-2
Jeff 8-0-37-2
Dave 8-0-39-1
Stevo 4-0-34-0
Foxy 4-0-26-0

With the early demise of Stevo to a wickedly looping full-length slow off-break with no spin that crashed into middle stump first ball things just got worse. But Shakes and Pikey repaired the damage and began to build a dangerous partnership. Jamie played some great shots to the boundary and Shakes specialised in the dab as we reached 45-1 off 12. But after losing Shakes we crucially lost momentum as the bowling became much straighter and tighter. Pike and Roach took the score to 66-2 off 20 and after drinks we had to get a move on. But James and Jamie (for a determined 36) went very soon, leaving Goughy to repeat his big score of last year if we were to post an unexpected win. He found a willing partner in Richie who passed 100 for the season in a useful 11 which included an exquisite cover drive for two.
Old timer Foxy also did his bit as Goughy opened his shoulders against the young Miskin bowlers, hitting eight boundaries in an entertaining 40 before a mix up with the clearly exhausted Fox left him run out. Dan came and went quickly and Jeff followed captain's orders to run out the Fox as we amassed 63 in the last 10 overs. Winkie contributed 15* but it was all too late as we finished on 163-8.
This was a much more pleasant encounter than many of our other beatings over the last few weeks and we didn't embarrass ourselves. But at the moment we just can't get a win anywhere. Did we really win 14 games in a row?
Arguably the best part of the day was a hen party of young and attractive ladies in the spoons and their unbelievably small and tight skirts - or belts. A real conversation killer for the sad old gits who drink in the spoons.

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