Coach and Horses vs Village at Springfield Park, 5 July 2008

Coach 196-8 (36 Overs) Jon 52*, Mohammed 21*

Village 173-7 (36 Overs) James 2-30, Shakeel 1-20

Coach win by 23 runs

Goldenballs puts lead in his pencil as Coach drives Village out of Town by James ‘The man with a million nicknames’ Morton

A triumphant victory for the Coach on a day, which threatened rain, but provided a sunny if breezy day. Sadly our Vice-Captain had to pull out at the last moment after suffering from a reoccurrence of the mysterious Ainsworth Opticalitis. His usual sledging against his favourite opponents was sadly missed but another Adam, making his debut for the Coach, performed admirably.

Our brave Skipper somehow negotiated with the Village Captain to ensure that the Coach batted first although nobody actually saw any tossed coins. Shane and Phil provided another excellent example of the Jon’s experimental opening partnerships but both fell fairly early to some tight bowling. Andy bowled one of the best spells we have ever seen from him and was rewarded with a couple of wickets.

At the half way stage the Coach were 72 for 3, a decent platform to build on, if slightly behind the ideal run rate. If it weren’t for a magnificent 52 not out from The Schnad, the Coach would probably have struggled to put on a decent score. As it was, Jon batted with supreme confidence despatching the ball to all areas of the ground and he never looked like giving his wicket away (apart from the 2 dropped catches). English Ian supported him superbly before given out Bollock Before Wicket by a reluctant Golden Balls and then Jon and Mo put on a fantastic partnership at the end with the Coach finishing on 196 for 8 at Tea. This was always going to be a competitive, but get-able, total and the Coach’s bowlers needed to bowl well to restrict the Village.

English Ian and Mo opened the bowling and provided the best start possible for the Coach with a tight, straight attack and restricted the Village openers to great effect. The Sultan of Swing and Jon then took over and continued the good bowling. Only Graham, batting at number 3 for The Village, provided any resistance and was looking good until he skied a slog shot off the Skippers’ bowling. Jon, Ian and Mo all converged underneath the ball but Springfield Park resounded with Jon’s booming call of “Mine!” Everyone held his or her breath as the ball seemed to hang in the air for ages until coming down and sadly the skipper spilled it (Spilled it!! I never even got close!!!). Graham was eventually caught and bowled by James. Shakeel bowled with great variation and the batsmen were frequently baffled by his movement and changes of pace.

Sultan took another fine catch at deep gully off Jon’s bowling and Mo appeared to be the team’s lucky mascot as the ball seemed to follow him around the field everywhere he went. Indeed he took a wonderful catch (breaking a finger in the process) and produced a superb fielding display, which resulted in a run out. Jon claimed full credit for his good captaincy and it is true that it seemed that every time Jon asked Mo to move, a wicket would fall. (That is very true, I was marvelous)

The Village never really looked likely to catch up with the run rate and, although their batsmen never gave up, in the end it was a comfortable win for the Coach. All of the bowlers contributed with a wicket except for Ian who bowled one of his best spells of the season for no reward. (Good!)

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