B.O.C.C.

Score Card    Match Report

Score card:

Match Report:

Editor's Disclaimer:  These are Ollie's personal recollections and views, not those of the Club - any complaints, corrections, or abuse should be addressed to him !!

               Barnes Occasionals stormed to the finish to break yet more records on a windy Sunday afternoon.  

Steve Flower is now in sight of Keith Seed’s former record of 44 wickets in a season.   He also came very close to taking two hat-tricks, and became only the third Occasional to take forty wickets in a season.   Somewhat more importantly, however, Barnes thrashed the Exiles to win a seventh consecutive match.

After losing the toss Pete Tagg’s mighty team set about imposing their wills on the athletic youngsters of the Energy Exiles.

               The usual suspects went out to open the batting and performed surprisingly well.     When Roger Price (33) perished - caught behind - in the eighteenth over, he and Adam Hogg (36) had put on their first forty plus opening stand since 1^st July.

               Mike Webster (6) came out to join Hogg, to help put on a steady 18 against the variable spin, seam and low bounce of Patel and the flighted drift of Thomas.    

With the wind blowing across, Thomas was almost devastating and when it wasn’t…

Thomas, so it was, had accounted for Price, and four overs later he had Webster “leg before” standing exactly in front of his stumps and unable to cope with the lack of pace and spin from his tormentor.

               65 for two, and Martin Lawrence joined the fray.   Hogg had moved serenely onto 18, and Lawrence (19) was quickly into his stride, dealing with Thomas as necessary and expelling three of the first four balls he faced from him for two, four and four.   Webster had shown Hogg his sweep earlier and Hogg was now applying this method to get the crap-hound away.        Lawrence and Hogg were wresting control and after one appalling over off which the partners smote thirteen, Thomas was removed from the attack.

               At 105 for two, Barnes were looking in a position of some strength.

               At 105 for five, Barnes were staring down the barrel.

               Replacing Thomas from the scoreboard end came the Australian, Sammut - he of the high action and late in-swing (ooh I wish I’d been playing).               In his first over Sammut zipped one through Lawrence’s loose prod forward.     Then in Patel’s next over Hogg made an injudicious lunge and was bowled, to be followed two balls later, and somewhat predictably, by Nigel Pettitt.

               Steve Flower sprinkled in a flairy ten and Jim Mundy (16*) dug in.

               By the boundary all manner of padding up was taking place.      Would the number eleven need a runner?        Lawrence made ready to repad.

               Pete Tagg strode to the middle to play the customary captain’s knock.  Slashing at his first ball from Patel, he took a single through the covers to pinch the strike and shape up to Sammut’s away swing.   The first ball aimed apparently at his legs evaded everything including the wickets as Tagg high-tailed towards square leg.              The next ball started a little further over to leg.               Again Tagg danced towards square leg, and out cart-wheeled his middle stump.  

               At 121-8 Mark Lichfield came out to offer his sublime skills to the audience.    At many of the eighteen balls he received, Lichfield aimed a massive square-cut-off-on-drive-pull-hook.               The ball skewered about in many directions and swiftly Lichfield had attained the tremendous heights of ONE.

At 128, Lichfield too was back in the hutch, bowled by the rotund one - Devlin - who had replaced Patel.

               Bob Lilliman came out to join the Mundy machine.   And it happened, Lilliman slashed through cow for four, dashed a few quick singles and had his highest score of the season - seven not out as Barnes scraped their way to 147 for eight at tea.

And that was pretty much it really.   Tea was nice especially the sausage rolls, and somehow 147 to defend didn’t seem like quite enough.              Steve Flower vaguely licked his lips at the prospect of bowling from the rugby ground end, and the scorer mentioned that he probably should take six or seven wickets if Barnes were to win.   There was a bit of huddle round the table, with the skipper and his first slip surprisingly absent from the discussions.   But the upshot of all the talk was that Roger Price WOULD go to Cabris, to join in the fun, and maybe help in the push towards a victory against the new “old enemy.”

               Oh yes, then after tea Mark Lichfield took a rather splendid head high catch at square leg off Pete Tagg (1-19) and the big hitting opener was gone for nought.   Seventeen balls later, Steve Flower with four wickets in six balls had reduced them to 13 for 5.      

The game was practically over.

Then he took another one - all bowled mind - and then another one.       Lawrence bowled a terrible over for seventeen.   And Flower took another wicket.              All bowled - no tosh.   Some might have been a touch low.       Price had remarked that the pitch sounded hollow and it was very slow.   And somehow that made it all the more remarkable how easily Flower (7-25) got through them all.              

               Pettitt bowled a couple of maidens and Mundy came on at the finish to wrap up the tail with a dodgy “lbw” to stop Flower from surpassing the captains record figures all those years ago.

Sadly the Exiles had no number eleven.         And the spare man scoring at the side did not offer to play as Barnes ran out winners by 76 runs.       Keith Roberts, Exiles skipper, remained fourteen not out at the finish, having batted throughout, and the whole sorry tale took eighty-eight minutes.

               WHAT a team!

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