Romany

ALMONDBURY CASUALS CRICKET CLUB

MATCH REPORT

ACCC v. Romany    Arthington         26th June 2005

Romany 62 all out  (Davies 4 – 2 -4 – 4, Brown M 2 -1 – 1- 2, Brown P 2 – 0 – 2 – 2) 

ACCC 65 for 1 Lockwood 22, Bone 35 not out     

A brief sojourn on the sunniest afternoon of the season to the rustic charms of Arthington – rural delight, minimal toilet facilities, and the youngest Casuals team since Burge and Parry used to appear in nappies. Romany were in a similar plight, the coincident England Bangladesh match at Headingley proving too much of a temptation, resulting in a below strength team of 13 featuring 5 under-15’s. After a little balancing, 12 a side was agreed upon and Romany elected to bat against a fearsome Casuals attack fed on a diet of no cricket and raw steak for the last two weeks.

The results were predictable. Matt whipped out the two openers in his first two overs, ably assisted by a cracking catch from the born again Bone at short square. James Umbers kept the pressure on the other end, but the underbelly was exposed. Davies, brought on to avoid serious injury to the opposition youth, took full advantage and gobbled up four more wickets, and the total of 62 all out was due mainly to the stern resistance and controlled aggression of 13 year old Henry Murray with a fine 26. His despatch of poor balls to the boundary was a pleasure to watch, particularly since Spike and Dunc were the guilty parties. Mohicanned Skipper Brown brought himself on to tidy up the tail with a mean and accurate couple of overs of zippy swing. 

The Rugby club provided more players this week than they were able to muster against us last week (4), and a dashing opening partnership between Zorro the Gay Blade Lockwood, and Borne again Bone saw us within sight of victory, Lockwood’s sashay down the wicket to carve his initial onto the chest of the slower bowler yielding an easy stumping. 

A rather pleasant tea was followed by a 20 over game with two mixed teams, carefully chosen for maximum entertainment value. The battle of the brothers Brown was shaded by Paul, scoring 31 against some fearsome deliveries from Matt, Rotheray and Cleave each scored 27 against their club chums Bone and Lockwood – but a total of 127 from their 20 overs looked a little under par to those accustomed to the Evening League thrashes. Indeed that proved to be the case, Longbottom and Ward making a sound start with some later solid hitting from Zorro, Boney and two Romany’s. Spike had one of those days – a stunning catch in the deep to dismiss Matt Brown then being asked to bowl the 19th over with 27 runs required. That Charity was his middle name was unsuspected but in no doubt after a spate of friendly short pitched deliveries were despatched for 16, leaving a bemused Noz narrowly failing to rescue the situation in the final over. Cricket won and we all faded away into the sunset.

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