Match Report

The Stragglers continued a remarkable series of results against I Zingari, now three draws and three victories since the fixture was added to the card in the aftermath of Covid.  In 2026, Stragglers arrived at Torry Hill on yet another hot, dry day with a squad of XII, and IZ a man short; the Chairman volunteered to switch sides to make a debut for IZ. The Straggler performance was among the more dominant in recent years, albeit not without a few idiosyncrasies. Archie Brown (4 for 29) and Hugo (5 for 7) dominated with the ball, while Inigo (113), skipper, Will Falcon (49), and Sam Gilliland (37*) built an innings of consequence. The Stragglers, however, were casual in the extreme in their donation of extras to IZ.  IZ had leaked a very creditable 9 extras in a Straggler total of 257 for 9.  By way of contrast, the Stragglers gave away 42, some 37% of the eventual IZ score, with wides (24) and byes (15) second and third most significant contributors to the total.

The Straggler innings did not begin well.  The IZ opening bowlers extracted significant early lateral movement from a good wicket, the fielders were on every stroke, and runs were an uncommon luxury.  Archie Brealy and Benny departed with the score on 12, and two balls later, were followed by Tom Tribe, the only hard fought positive from Tom’s innings was a strike rate of 200.  The Straggs score was a very modest 16 for 3 in the 7th over. However, at the fall of the first wicket, Inigo Pullen had arrived at the crease. He didn’t seem to be finding matters any easier, with one scoring shot from his first 15 balls.  However, with James Felton, there were signs of a recovery. James (21) fell to a well disguised slower ball, followed by Archie Brown offering a return catch to the same bowler – 77 for 5.  Will Falcon now joined Inigo.  Will was given a life early in his innings, when a hard-hit shot was put down at mid-on by the Chairman.  On another day, that might have been the difference. Lunch was taken with the Straggs on 139 for 5, perhaps just ahead, with Inigo and Will just beginning to dominate.

Sufficiently refreshed, Inigo and Will now upped the pace and were cruising for a really big partnership, when Will, on 49, tried to reach the distant mid-wicket boundary, caught the ball high on the bat and was gone to an excellent catch running in.  Inigo and Will had put on 98 for the 6th wicket.  Freddie Evans came and went, and Sam Gilliland joined Inigo.  A brutal spell of batting took the total well past 200 (an 8th wicket partnership of 64 in 7 overs). Inigo (113) reached an exceptional century before also falling to an even better catch in the deep, the fielder apparently having misjudged the line before a last-minute correction.  Hugo came out for a hit down the ground before walking round one to bring the innings to a declaration on 257 for 9 from 41.5 overs, with Sam undefeated on 37*.

Having set the target, the Straggler opening bowlers, Henry Elliott and Hugo began with great pace, the batsmen unable to find a scoring stroke until the 7th over.  However, the score had been jogging along nicely with a selection of wides and byes doing well to conceal otherwise great control. Hugo was rewarded with an LBW decision, and very nearly had a second wicket, with a ball which clipped the base of off stump, only to be denied by the horizontal arm of the umpire – no ball.  Hugo was not going to let it go, and in his next over, repeated the ball without overstepping, then going one better by bowling number 4 later in the same over.  At the other end, Archie Brown got into the act, inducing an edge with his first ball – IZ under the cosh at 40 for 4, three wickets in 5 balls, and only 12 runs from the bat in the total. Something of a recovery was just getting underway, when Archie held one back and took a return catch, and a couple of overs later benefited from another exceptional catch, this time Hugo tearing in from the long-on boundary to remove the IZ skipper – 93 for 7. Freddie Evans nipped in to pick up a wicket, and then, just in case hopes of holding out for the draw might be given credence, Hugo came back on, and not to bowl gentle left arm spin at the tail!  It took all of four balls to wrap up the innings – 113 all out – the Chairman finding a robust edge to Will Falcon at second slip, who failed to return the compliment and put the catch down!  Straggler close fielding had generally been of the highest order, stopping good shots finding their way over the electric outfield to the boundary and sustaining pressure. Victory by 144 runs is the equal 20th largest winning margin in 79 years.