Bedouins v Chancers at Enville, July 5^th

Chancers won by 62 runs

Well, really! Fancy turning up for a meeting with the Bedouins with a team of actual cricketers! The Chancers produced a team consisting not only of batsmen with more than a hint of knowledge about the right end of the bat to hold; they also had a string of capable bowlers, and weren’t too dusty in the field either.

Thus the Bedouins’ run of five games unbeaten came to a shuddering halt and defeat by 62 runs. No complaint, this time therefore, from the scorebox about the closeness of the finish and its possible negative effect on the scorer’s dicky ticker. It’s an ill wind …..

On a steamy Enville evening and with an outfield now starting to show the signs of near-drought conditions, the Bedouins made the decent, though perhaps unwise, decision to allow the Chancers first use of a dry wicket, as some of their members were late arriving. As it was, play did not begin until 6.20, meaning that the Beds would have the worst of the fading light in their innings.

With two batsmen reaching the 30-run retirement point and four others making double figures, the Chancers rattled up 156 for 4 in their 20 overs (a wicket apiece for Richard Spratley, Paul Lippitt, Jon Stanier and Ray Bate) – a challenging total, even if they had not much bowling to follow it up. In fact, that was far from the truth, as most of the Beds batsmen found to their cost.

The honourable exception was Ian Woodhouse, who made an attacking 33 retired, including six boundaries and a six. The only other batsmen to reach double figures were Paul Lippitt (16 not out) and Mejdi Mabrouk (11), the final total reaching no more than 94 for 7.

All good runs have to come to an end sometime, but this one was particularly hard to take. In truth, the Chancers were too strong for the Beds in all departments. Not that the home team were in any way despondent afterwards, all of them sitting around in the pavilion enjoying each other’s company, as well as Sam Chambers’s usual excellent buffet.

Chancers 156 for 4 (Spratley 1 for 28, Lippitt 1 for 26, Stanier 1 for 21, Bate 1 for 8)

Bedouins 94 for 7 (Woodhouse 33, Lippitt 16 not out, Mabrouk 11)