Bedouins v Chancers at Envile – Wednesday, June 1st
Bedouins lost by 48 runs
The ball kept disappearing to the boundary, and occasionally over it, with alarming regularity as the Bedouins took on the Chancers on a typically freezing cold early June (!) day. The Beds received a pointed lesson in the less-than-subtle ways of 20-over cricket as the Chancers produced a production line of one after another capable batsmen, who bludgeoned and scampered their way to a total of 160 for 4 in 15 eight-ball overs. And all that after managing only one run in the first over, bowled by Josh Lemm.
With no fewer than three batsmen reaching the 30-run retirement point, and three others recording double-figure scores, all the Bedouins bowlers suffered a bit of a mauling. Spratters managed a couple of wickets., before having to leave the field with recurring illness problems. On the plus side, only one catch was put down (wasn’t it, Jon?), and there was a smooth-as-silk stumping by the almost legendary John Howells.
Having finished the previous match with wickets from the last two balls of the game, Neill Smith came on to bowl at the end, needing just one wicket with his first ball to complete a memorable hat-trick. The danger was the immediate impact on the pocket of possibly beers all round. However, it’s no good getting older if you don’t get wiser, and Neill made sure that his first ball was just wide enough not to be called “wide” but not reachable by the batsman.
The Bedouins made a determined effort to get the scoreboard moving quickly in reply. Paul Lippitt was in belligerent mood, hitting 30 and retiring in great style. Ian Woodhouse hit three consecutive boundaries and followed them with a six before being dismissed for 28. Skipper Lee Bywater reached double figures, and Neill Smith was 15 not out at the end, but overall the task was a bit too much, and the Beds finished 49 runs short of their target on 112 for 5.
After the disappointment of a cancelled fixture against Oldswinford, when the heavens opened at just the wrong time, the Beds were at least glad to get back into action. Though it has to be said that it was bl … y cold for the Chancers game. Just as well that Bedouins enjoy simply being in each other’s company; otherwise there might have been a few mutterings about better the threatened rain for this match too, so that everyone could have sat at home in the warm to watch the latest BBC2 bonkbuster.
Chancers 160 for 4 (Spratley 2 for 31; Woodhouse 1 for 19; Bywater 1 for 18)
Bedouins 112 for 5 (Lippitt 30; Woodhouse 28; Smith 15 not out)