Nonington

Match Report

It was lovely to be back at Nonington once again after a number of rain disrupted fixtures in the recent years.  Nonington are the longest standing Straggler fixture, dating back to 1949; and it is to be noted that the Chairman played his first game at Nonington before any others in the 2019 Straggler team were born!!

For a change, the Stragglers did not lose a wicket to the first ball of the match; indeed, openers Tom Tribe and Inigo Pullen looked remarkably comfortable seeing off the ferocious pace of Shernyl Burns (West Indian pro from Montserrat with first class experience and 100m runner of note).  The hundred partnership came up in the 14th over, and all was well.  Both then contrived to get out to consecutive balls hit high off change spinner, Adam Cork – 103 for 2.  This brought Fred Bond (who had previously turned out for the Stragglers as a Wellesley schoolboy in 2016 to capture the wickets of both Matt and Jasper) and Louis Glyn Williams playing against his home Club.  Louis knows the ground and the bowling, and dominated the next few partnerships for an excellent 69.  Fred (11) and Benny (20) played second fiddle as the total grew.  However, wickets kept falling, and it was left to skipper Rufus (27) to marshal the tail after Louis’ departure.  When Rufus was last out, bowled aiming another boundary blow, the score had moved on to 251, but the Stragglers had not taken advantage of all their overs.

Nonington, much as Highland Court had done a couple of weeks earlier, came out hard, attacking the openers and romping along at 8 an over.  Nick W was up to the challenge, and had both openers back in the pavilion in short order, which slowed the charge a little, but there was still plenty of time and some big hitting to come.  While Fred kept one end tight with his leg spin, Michael Barber, who had opened the bowling against the Stragglers at Highland Court, and now making his Straggler debut, removed another two batters, but this brought in Shernyl and Adam Cork, both of whom could clear the ropes with something to spare.  The Chairman did for Cork, the ball arriving long after the leg-side heave had been completed, and tried to keep Shernyl off strike.  However, Shernyl only needed to face a couple of balls every over and launch them into orbit, to keep Nonington well ahead of the rate.  At 212 for 5, with 7 overs remaining and Shernyl well set, the Stragglers seemed on course for defeat.  A final throw of the dice saw Louis introduced; Shernyl (62) did not quite connect with the low full toss, and a “heart in mouth” catch was held by Rufus on the boundary.  One more hitter to come, but Nick W, coming back to tidy the tail, was up to the task.  The final 5 wickets went down in a clatter for 10 runs, 222 all out and Nick finishing with an excellent 5 for 39.