17th June 2023
MIMCC – 146/7 (40)
RUTHIN – 147/3 (37.2)
RUTHIN WON BY 7 WICKETS
Scorecard here: https://mynyddisamaeshafn.play-cricket.com/website/results/5711027
There have been many notable events away at Ruthin over the years. Hailstorms. The Hon. Sec nearly blinding the Club Treasurer with a wicket celebration. One of my many dismissals for 49. To name but a few.
But now we have another for the canon. Regardless of what happened on the pitch, I have a feeling Saturday will be most notably remembered as The day the Hon. Sec put the wrong address on Spond and sent half the team to the wrong place. In a feat of navigation which perhaps surpasses his efforts on the 2012 tour of giving us precise instructions on how to find the transport café we were meeting at and then being unable to locate it himself, the Hon. Sec (for reasons best known to his good self) entered the location of the game as Ruthin Castle. Those who have known him for many years disregarded this blatant nonsense and went to Ruthin CC instead; but those more trusting followed the directions to the letter. The net result of which was that, having won the toss and elected to bat, we were faced with the prospect of starting the game with only 5 men. Meanwhile Jit was incurring the wrath of a wedding photographer for stopping to ask for directions in the middle of a bridal party on its way to the castle.
Another unintended consequence of this feat of misdirection was that it necessitated an unplanned change to the batting order. Apples who, along with yours truly, can’t buy a run at the moment, had negotiated a spell down the order to try to find some form. However, with everyone else on a wild goose chase round the streets of Ruthin, he was once again pressed into service at the top of the order alongside Abs. And in a tragedy of Shakesperean proportions, Apples once again fell without troubling the scorers, crossing Umpire Jadhav off his Christmas card list in the process.
A partnership between Abs and (the now arrived) Yash followed, with scoring not easy against tight bowling and on a pitch which had plenty of demons. Ruthin later admitted to having failed to roll it before the start of play, so must have been delighted when Muggins here won the toss and foolishly elected to bat. Yash eventually departed for 11, and was swiftly followed by Siv and Jit, who joined Apples in the duck club (which by the end of the day would become a very crowded place indeed). These two ducks can surely only be explained by the mental turmoil of have been made to drive up and down every street in Ruthin searching for a cricket ground…..
Enter Umang, and a partnership ensued which moved us toward the 100 mark. Umang was scoring at a decent rate and Abs was starting to motor. Abs eventually departed for an excellent 43, skying a catch while trying to push the scoring rate on.
Enter the skipper. Exit the skipper.
Enter Prasad. Exit Prasad.
Enough ducks to supply a Chinese restaurant for a week. But thankfully Dave and Umang decided that it was time to stop the rot and shared an unbeaten stand which saw Umang finish with a superb 52no and Dave finish with a rapid 22no including the only 6 of the innings.
146/7 off our 40 overs. A total that definitely put us in the game.
After tea, Yash opened the bowling in partnership with Umang who still steamed in despite having batted for the majority of our innings. A tight opening spell eventually yielded a breakthrough as Umang trapped their opener lbw. More wickets soon followed as Prasad, operating as first change, picked up their other opener with a typically casual caught and bowled, and rearranged their no. 3’s stumps with a delivery which beat him all ends up.
Unfortunately the wickets then dried up. The pitch seemed to even out and batting became easier as their skipper led the way with a good knock of 58. Our bowlers plugged away – Jonty with 0-22 off 8 (we shan’t mention the half tracker in his first over which was pulled away with such ferocity it nearly killed the square leg umpire), and Venkat and Dave both with figures of 0-21. A late blast from the returning Yash and Umang made for a tight finish, but Ruthin got there with about 3 overs to spare.
The points don’t reflect what was, in reality, a very close game from wire to wire. A game played in excellent spirits, and plenty to build on going forwards.
We have been just on the wrong end of a number of close call results this season. MIMCC have traditionally been stronger in the second half of the season so hopefully history repeats itself this year. That said, availability looks a bit shaky over the next few weeks, so please do update Spond as far in advance as you can. It really does help.
Next up, our first trip to Corwen in many a year. A ground on which we once scored 300. History, as they say, is instructive……