With the weather forecast looking good and Titwood meant to be lying empty, a friendly was hastily arranged for Tuesday 6th May. The two teams were anyone that was fit and available but 1st XI players were not allowed. Team 2, Captained by Saturday 3rd XI skipper Ajaz Sher, won the toss and elected to bat against ‘Dale Select 1, captain by 2nd XI skipper, Tim Hart.
Jasim Beg and Calum Campbell opened the batting and had made steady progress against the bowling of Jay Duncan and Johnny MacKay before Jazza struck. 5 dot balls in a row induced a false shot from Calum and Jazza held on to the catch himself. Neil Fulton joined Jasim and the pair continued the steady progress until, with the score at a decent 48/1, Ajaz decided he wanted a bat and retired Jasim. While 7 runs off 11 overs looks like slow progress, Jasim had batted and run well and importantly built a good partnership with Neil, while also looking fairly confident against the bowling of Umair Chaudhry and Gaurav Ramayya. Ajaz’s masterstroke lasted about an over as Neil duly run him out for 4! Sohail Hayat came in and took a liking to most of the bowling – particularly Tim’s 2nd over: 6,4,6,4,dot,1!
On making his 50 Neil Fulton retired and with ‘Dale Select 2 threatening to end the game as a contest it was left to David Forsyth and Steve Taylor to restrict the runs in the last 3 overs. Steve’s over cost 3 and he picked up a wicket (caught and bowled – giving him 3 catches in the innings) and David Forsyth returned the figures of 2-0-3-3 as ‘Dale Select 2 posted 133/8 – despite the scorebook running total only being marked at 132 and nothing adding up!
The moment of the innings was a close contest – Steve Taylor’s 3 catches, the look on Jasim’s face when he was retired, Sohail dispatching the 2nd XI skipper all over the place - but winner was undoubtedly the last ball of the innings when David Hume was out: ct Lewis Hume bowled Forsyth. Rumour has it that David is considering stopping Lewis’ pocket money for life after Lewis forgot the Law about not getting your dad out. (Law 43 – if anyone is interested!)
Roddy Nicolson (making his debut) and David Hume opened the bowling with Dave Forsyth and Umair Chaudhry at the crease. 37/0 off 6. Ben Buchanan and Preet Singh then came on, with Ben picking up the first wicket – Forsyth ct Campbell for 26. Next wicket was Umair Chaudhry – run out for 22 with the score at 92 in the 16th over. Jay Duncan was out next over for a good 24 – leaving 35 needed off 3 overs. Bilawal Pirzada came on and was hit for 11 off his first 3 balls but responded well – with 2 dots and a wicket (Gaurav Ramayya stumped for 5). Neil Fulton’s next over yielded 12 runs to Tim Hart and 2 leg byes. 10 needed off the last over.
The tricky question – who would bowl it? One of the 3 players who hadn’t bowled or someone who had? (‘Dale Select 1 had given everyone bowl – given the nature of the friendly match!) David Hume was eventually entrusted with the ball after his tidy opening spell. 6 runs came from the first 3 balls. Then a dot. However, in running to stop the single, David pulled his hamstring and could not bowl on! Enter the skipper. Ajaz’s first ball was a dot – leaving 4 needed for the win. Tim could only manage a 2 down the ground as ‘Dale Select 2 held on to claim victory.
The result was not the key factor – more important was getting everyone another game (and at Titwood) given the lack of cricket so far this season. It is was also important to entertain the spectators that were watching (all 10 or so of them – but special thanks for their support!). Everyone got a bowl and/or a bat and all appeared to enjoy their evening – apart from one who threw a tantrum after not getting a bat in the second innings!
