I Zingari

Match Report

On the most glorious day of the summer, with a windless Torry Hill looking an absolute picture, and the occasional Spitfire over-flying the ground, the Straggs managed an exceptional team effort to produce a second victory on the bounce over I Zingari. On electing to bat, the Straggler innings got underway rather like a firework display, with lots of bangs and crashes accompanied with rather too many puffs of smoke.  Gabriel (17) set the tone with a boundary off a first ball no-ball (for height) but lifted one rather to gently to mid-on in the third over, a run rate approaching ten.  Tom Tribe (13) picked up where Gabriel left off before failing to connect for another flashing boundary to find his off stump in disarray.  Charlie Munton continued a similar vein, albeit riding his luck when caught on the boundary off another no-ball.  Just as visions of reaching lunch in a dominant position were being considered, Archie Brown (31), who had batted with his normal unflappable patience and control, walked around a straight one to be bowled, followed swiftly thereafter by Charlie, caught on the boundary for 42.  When James Felton also fell swiftly, a score of 124 for 5 looked somewhat less commanding.  However, Hugo had arrived at the crease, and, with Harry Pattinson, saw the Straggs safely through to lunch at 140 for 5.  Harry (11) did not last long after the interval, and it was now down to Hugo to marshal the tail, which he did to great effect.  The remaining four batsmen, of whom Sef was the most effective, scraped together 7 runs between them, but hung around for long enough with Hugo to see the score past 200 (aided by a goodly selection of extras).  When Hugo was last man out for 70, the score had moved on to 238 in the 47th over

With the IZ reply faltering to 30 for 3 in the eighth over, Jasper W decided that the opening pair of himself and James F (2 for 27) deserved a suitable soubriquet, when bowling in tandem – thunder and lightning (explosive pace and noisy with it).  Two of those early wickets had come from excellent catches in the slip cordon (Hugo and Gabriel) – not a phrase that appears in match reports on a regular basis.  Indeed, Straggler catching was (almost) flawless, with 6 outfield catches held.  Tea was taken with the score on 47 for 3, and new batsmen just getting comfortable.  Will Evans provoked a return catch in the second over after tea (59 for 4), but there was still more than enough time to build an innings.  With an age difference in excess of fifty years, the Chairman and Archie Brown took pace off, and in Archie’s case, used delightful flight to keep the run rate under control, and negate some of the effects of the electric outfield.  As the required rate began to creep up, the Chairman (4 for 33) worked his way steadily through the IZ middle order.  The wicket which caused the most concern was a stumping, when Harry P decided to show off all of his juggling skills before removing the bails.  Harry Thomson was left to find the bulk of the seventy runs or so required, but an even slower ball and a slight miscue found Tom tearing in from the boundary to take a most remarkable tumbling catch (173 for 8).  Hugo now rotated bowlers almost every over to find a path to victory.  The IZ number 10 had not lost sight of the target, and smacked a swift 23, but Hugo has a wonderful ball, which produces, quite regularly, a mishit which goes a very long way almost vertically.  This time, there were audible sounds of relief around the field, when it was clear that the ball would re-enter near earth orbit directly above Archie.  The catch was taken with great aplomb – 200 for 9.  Gabriel came back from the far end and turned a ball across the left-hander to clip the off stump, and IZ were all out for 202, victory by 36 runs with 13 balls remaining.

It was a particular pleasure to present James with the award for his first Straggler century (101* against the Primary Club of Australia in July 2023), in the presence of his grandfather, a centenarian and a member of IZ of 72 years’ standing.

Torry Hill has been in the most fantastic condition for the Stragglers games this season, and Groundsman, Howard Waters has our thanks.