Bedouins v Enville at Enville, Wednesday July 13
Bedouins lost by 3 runs
The annual meeting between the Bedouins and those who occupy the ground that they hire for “home” games ended in a narrow – and boy, was it narrow – win for the Enville side. There were just three runs in it. Another game that the Beds should probably have won.
No matter. The sun shone, most of the evening, and that was the most remarkable aspect, seeing the appalling weather that has prevailed in this so-called summer. Part of the game was played out against a backdrop of a magnificent rainbow, which drew oohs and ahs from the scorebox. Alas there was no end-of-the-rainbow win for the Beds, who couldn’t quite get the scoring going quick enough towards the end.
The game had been preceded with a bit of “will he, won’t he” about dear old Lippo. Having somehow been missed off the availabilities list for the Bedouins (an omission about which he made little or no fuss – not much!), he was then selected for the Enville side. At the last minute, with the home team 12 strong, the Bedouins were able to negotiate, at little cost, a late transfer back to their own ranks. There was a certain amount of banter.
Batting first, Enville made rapid strides at the start, with Mahoney hitting 30 before retiring, including three boundaries and (surely a record for Beds games) eight 2s – the scorer was going wild with excitement!. There was a wicket each for Lee Bywater, Jon Stanier and Adrian Susman, with the latter managing to bamboozle most of the batsmen with his leg breaks.
Chasing 110 to win, the Beds got off to a good start, with Ian Woodhouse hitting a couple of sixes on the way to 26. Other batsmen contributed well, with the skipper making 14, John Howells 13, Jon Stanier 17 not out and Adrian Susman 23 not out. But no-one was able to find the boundary rope until the very end, by which time it was just too late, the Bedouins falling just three runs short at 106 for 4.
Enville 109 for 3 (Susman 1 for 13; Stanier 1 for 15; Bywater 1 for 19)
Bedouins 106 for 4 (Woodhouse 26; Susman 23 not out; Stanier 17 not out; Branch 14; Howells 13)