20/04/2025
Marchwiel 2s 160/4 (40 overs)
MIMCC 161/9 (39.4 overs)
MIMCC win by 1 wicket
Scorecard available here: https://mynyddisamaeshafn.play-cricket.com/website/results/6817726
Easter is a time for comebacks. Tiger Woods winning his first major in 11 years at the Masters on Easter Sunday 2019. Harlequins no. 8 Nick Easter being recalled to the England rugby squad for the 2015 world cup at the age of 37 and scoring a hattrick. And some chap who dabbled in carpentry bouncing back after a difficult encounter with some Romans.
At the Argoed on Sunday another comeback for the ages would enter the collective memory as MIMCC defied the odds to beat Marchwiel by the slimmest of margins.
The comeback itself was preceded by a legitimate miracle – this being the playing of cricket at the Argoed in April. This time last year, head groundman Fagan was attempting to cut the strip in his fishing waders – so even though the pitch did look greener than one of Aryaman’s smoothies – to actually get a surface capable of having cricket played upon it was nothing short of miraculous.
But wait, we’re still not done with miracles. The skipper, with his mathematically implausible record of losing tosses, strode out the middle coin in hand, confident that he would have absolutely no say whatsoever in whether we would bat or bowl first. Yet, in defiance of a whole season of accumulated bad luck, he proved himself (at least temporarily) not a useless tosser, winning the coin flip and taking the easy decision to bowl first on a green deck with the NWCL’s latest bright idea, the (completely seam-less and apparently non shine-able) orange ball.
A third miracle! 2 balls into the season, and Jonty picks up the Marchwiel opener (and incumbent league top scorer) caught at midwicket by Aryaman. 0-1 and MIMCC in early season dreamland.
Thereafter things got a bit tougher as Marchwiel started to put together a few partnerships. Prasad and Aryaman chipped away 1 and 2 wickets respectively, but a previous foe in the form of the Marchwiel no 5 threatened to swing the balance in the opposition’s favour. This batter was also in receipt of his own miracle, having been clean bowled by Naseer, but then reprieved by the divine intervention of a sudden revelation on the part of the umpire when the batsman was already halfway back to the pavilion. Lightning strikes twice in two seasons. Yet another miracle.
Marchwiel pushed on to a total of 160/4. Experience tells us that anything over 150 is a good total at the Argoed, and on a green surface this felt like a chase that would ask a lot of our batters.
A slightly re-jigged order saw Aryaman come out to open with star wicketkeeper Pete Ford. After a steady start, the trigger-happy skipper (in defiance of his own teachings) removed both Fordy and Umang lbw (sorry lads…), and Jay soon followed bowled to leave us at 40-3. Fortunately at the other end, Aryaman was finding the boundary with regularity and soon took his own score (and essentially the team’s) past 50. Saboor joined Aryaman in the middle and contributed 12 in a partnership of 40, before chipping one into the leg site. Naseer followed next ball caught behind.
Aryaman’s innings eventually came to an end after drinks for a well made 62. Prasad and Venkat pushed the score to 100, with Prasad unfurling some of his trademark flamboyance before being run out. Venkat followed caught behind to leave the Niall and the skipper at the crease with 61 needed of 16 overs, but with only 2 wickets in hand.
What followed was a masterclass in digging in from Niall, allowing his partner to start to free his arms at the other end. It was clear that Marchwiel only really had 4 bowlers so if we could see off their main attack, there was a chance to win the game against the part timers. Niall’s 8 off 47 balls was exactly what was needed in the circumstances, nullifying their strike bowlers and giving us the opportunity to take the game into the final overs.
Niall eventually fell caught at cover, bringing one C. Gayle J. Fagan to the crease. Under orders to give his skipper the strike, he duly obliged, only for the skipper to take a number of big swings off the penultimate over and miss the ball on each occasion.
The final over came down to a simple equation. 8 runs for victory and to complete a remarkable comeback, or 7 for the second tie in the club’s history (the previous one having also been against Marchwiel). The first ball went for 4, followed by a wide and a couple of singles. 1 off 3. Easy, right?
Editor’s note – at this point the skipper unfortunately appears to have ingested hallucinogenic mushrooms and the report gets a bit hazy. I have included two versions of events, the first the accurate version and the second the ‘influenced by mushrooms’ version. NB: this editing used to be required when ex-captain A.Meakin wrote match reports under the influence of red wine.
Version 1 – the correct & accurate version
Captain W Webster was on strike, he hit what looked like a perfectly reasonable nurdle to the leg side where there was no fielder. Batsman J Fagan called the run as it was most definitely his call. Captain W Webster was stood examining his bat to see why he had hit the ball for a change when Batsman J Fagan tapped him on the shoulder and told him to run. Captain W Webster then ran as fast as his little legs could carry him, jumping over and around two Marchwiel fielders who were busy performing some kind of modern dance reinterpreting a cricket ball. Both batsmen ran in circles for a little while before joining in the general team group hug to celebrate our momentous win.
Version 2 (caused by ingestion of hallucinogenic mushrooms)
Yours truly on strike, who taps the ball into the leg side for no run. No worries, reset and 1 off 2. But wait, what’s this? The Hon Sec has taken it upon himself to call a single, despite it being resolutely not his call. Cue both batters at the same end, and an easy run out chance for Marchwiel to claim the tie. Bedlam follows, with the skipper sprinting to the other end as fast as his little legs with carry him, Marchwiel fumbling the chance in the field, and yours truly vaulting over 2 Marchwiel fielders at the bowler’s end to claim the victory. A farcical end, but a superb victory and a great game of cricket which will live long in the memory for all those involved.
Man of the Match (new feature for this season via weekly Spond poll)
Aryaman (2/36 with the ball & a catch, and 62 with the bat)