is the ball coming in your direction, or is the rotation of the earth moving you towards the ball?
Straggler bowling has varied from some ferocious, well-directed pace, to something much more leisurely (indeed long-time opponent, Sasha Azizi, was overheard coaching his partner about the Chairman’s lack of pace, “it’s very much slower than you realise”). A few highlights to mention include 12 year old Oli Bond taking three senior scalps at Wellesley House; Billy Richardson bowling yorkers at will in between the showers at Selling; Nick Wright hitting the bottom of the off stump with fearsome full tosses; Jack’s release point being lost in the clouds; and Ed’s slower ball at Otterden. Lowlights came at Nonington, when the senior opposition batsmen treated the Straggler attack as an extended net session (retired hurt was leading wicket taker for a while); and everyone struggled to get the measure of the roll-out matting wicket at St. Tropez.
5 wicket hauls are usually match-winning, but occasionally not quite. Jasper (5 for 25) in the second SAC innings, was not quite enough at the end of two days of keenly contested cricket; Will Fenwick (7 for 39) certainly transformed what had seemed a one sided Inter-Straggler game; Benny (6 for 17) was more than enough to roll over Hollingbourne; Theo (5 for 38) finally saw off Tenterden in the half-light of evening; and the Chairman (6 for 43) made minor amends at Otterden for abandoning Toby two short of his ton.
And after all of that Theo (13.53) leads the averages by a whisker from Benny (16.58), Jasper (17.20) and Nick Wright (18.00). And of these, only Jasper is playing at Stowting….
