01/06/2024
MIMCC 239/8 (40)
Hawarden Park 3s 103ao (34.5)
MIMCC win by 136 runs
Scorecard here: https://mynyddisamaeshafn.play-cricket.com/website/results/6272194
MIMCC renewed their acquaintance with the ‘hallowed’ turf of Shotton CC for the first time in about 10 years in Saturday’s meeting with Hawarden 3s.
As usual, the skipper lost the toss. And as usual we were invited to bat. I have done a bit of digging, and the last toss I won was against Caernarfon in the abandoned game at the Argoed last July. This means I have now lost 11 tosses on the bounce.
By my GCSE maths, the probability of this is (1/2) to the power of 11 – apologies skipper but our web software doesn’t like mathematics graphics!). Which I believe equates to odds of 2048 to 1. To test my luck in a different setting, I have this evening placed a £1 accumulator bet at similar odds on a series of random football matches. If it wins, the end of season dinner is on me.
Mathematically implausible scenarios notwithstanding, once again we found ourselves batting first, and Apples and Siv went out to open on a pitch which had more grass than an Amsterdam café, and a boundary one side so short even Pete Ford would have had a chance for a maximum.
The bowling was somewhat mixed, but one opener offered reasonable pace with a knack of jagging back off the seam. Eventually one of these did for Apples for 9, while at the other end Siv had begun to get the measure of the pitch and was starting to score freely. Abs joined Siv, but departed fairly soon for 5 to a caught and bowled. He then spent several minutes in quiet contemplation in the changing rooms reflecting on what a s**t game cricket is. We’ve all been there.
Aryaman struck a few blows for 9 before being caught. This brought Deepak to the crease fresh off his 50 against Llanrwst. Deepak picked up exactly where he had left off, sending the ball to all corners of the park. At the other end, Siv was doing the same and soon passed 50. In so doing he also passed 1000 runs for the club, joining an exclusive group which includes the likes of Messrs Applewhite, Hall, Webster, Lloyd, Houghton, Fagan and Ford. Some of these names have demonstrated consistent batting excellence for the club. Others have played a lot of games. I leave the categorisation to the reader.
Deepak and Siv pushed the score past 150 before Deepak was bowled round his legs and Siv was out stumped to finish with 61. Saboor made a brief appearance to open his duck account for the club, before Sanath strode to the wicket, apparently under the impression that we were playing Bethesda. Cue fireworks and the ball being despatched all over Shotton. Jay (10) and the skipper (13no) played minor supporting roles, but this was the Sanath show. In his first MIMCC appearance for 2 years Sanath put the Hawarden bowlers to the sword to finish with 63 in a superb final score of 239/8.
After tea Jonathan and Nasser took the new ball, keeping the scoring rate miles away from what would be needed to even get near the points. This pressure soon told and Jonathan picked up the first wicket, with Abs (having recovered from his sulk) taking the first of what would be a pair of sharp catches in close. Naseer removed the other opener lbw and we were all treated to the benefit of the batsman’s opinions on life, the universe, his own umpire, the weather, and Steve Pugh’s golf swing as he made his way back to the pavilion.
Aryaman and Saboor came on as first change and were both in the wickets almost immediately. Aryaman rearranged their no. 4’s stumps before Saboor took his second caught and bowled of the week following one against Llanrwst on Monday. Aryaman’s second came courtesy of Abs’ second catch to leave him with excellent final figures of 8-3-10-2, and Saboor finished with 1-17 off 6. This could well have been 2-17 had a certain wicketkeeper not grassed one behind the stumps sparking rumours of clandestine payments from Naseer in order to ensure he stays ahead in household wicket stats….
Deepak was the next to join the party, picking up a remarkable 3-14, one bowled, one caught in the deep by Siv (without breaking any digits), and one caught behind by wicketkeeper Applewhite who had apparently not been paid off in this instance. Jay chipped in with his first wicket for the club, before Jonathan returned to finish matters off, trapping their last man lbw.
Hawarden dismissed for a total of 103, well shy of even the first point. 15-0 and we move into third place in the table. Well played all.