Farmers Cricket Club

Match Report

With return flights booked for late afternoon, Sunday morning found Stragglers at the ground early, with swallows skimming the dew-covered grass, and buzzards harassed by seagulls on another glorious day. Out in the field, Harry Thomson was finding edges for fun, but that was where the fun stopped, as Straggler catching continued the dismal performance on Saturday, heading for a new low.  And this time it really mattered, as the top three for Farmers were ‘red helmets’, fresh from successfully representing Jersey against Guernsey the day before. Zac Tribe (no relation) had scored 96* on Saturday and was still looking for a first century of 2023; he did not intend to miss out today. Regulation singles became hard run twos; anything missing line or length was smacked to the boundary; Straggler fielding had the look of a 5am finish in the bar, not a more sedate, Jersey late night of 2-o-clock.  It was hard to keep the ball dry when it fizzed across the turf with such regularity. It took local guest, Matt, to remove the other opener (87 for 1 in the tenth), and there was a very marginal dip in the run rate when pace came off.  Zac continued to his century and retired, which at least opened a door, and from a very unpromising position (221 for 1 in the 25th), the Stragglers almost managed to apply a very late brake. Six wickets fell in a hurry, four in the final two overs, to allow some bruised Straggler bowlers to save a little face – Alex 2 for 57, Matt B 2 for 45 and Harry 2 for 31. The old aphorism has never felt so apt – “catches win matches” – we can only wonder what the target might have been… chasing 249 for 7 from 30 overs looked like a tall order.

Charlie took the charge to the Farmers but was gone too soon for 13. Simon Schilder briefly rolled back the years, but both he and son Barnaby were back in the pavilion with the score on 25.  Theo and George picked up from the day before, but this time Theo could not follow on, caught in the slips by Zac (who else?) for 16.  Will (30) joined George (another tour half century – 69) and hope blossomed briefly, as they put on 62 for the 5th wicket. But wickets kept falling, the required rate just too much to allow new batsmen any opportunity to settle.  The tail fell away, leaving Matt Bignell still chasing but stranded on 14.  Defeat by 74 runs, the most substantial in 2023.

The Farmers’ Field was another wonderful tour venue, and Stragglers were given a most generous welcome to Jersey. Thanks are due to Matt Bignell (both games), Mike Hill, Josh Winstanley, Simon and Barnaby Schilder for turning out for the Stragglers.