Milstead

Match Report

Match Tied

On the back of three victories, the Stragglers were in cruise control at Milstead. Jasper was back to his 2017 form, notching up another ton (106*), James Boyd Moss fell two short of a half century (run out by Jasper), Paddy Thornton (26) on debut after a six year lay-off had no trouble finding the boundary, and Ben (36) carried on much as before. However, it was not easy to score runs early in the innings, with only 4 scored between the 10th and 15th over, leaving the Stragglers on 46 for 1 at the end of 15. Things began to improve, and, although the odd wicket fell, the run rate kept on increasing – 96 from 20 overs, 183 from 30 overs and a declaration at 233 for 4 from 35. Early tea, plenty of time.

And it all seemed very straight forward as Milstead came out to bat. Strike bowlers were notable for their absence in the Straggler side, so Ben Simpson bowling down the hill opened up, supported by the Chairman, who used the slope to induce a high degree of uncertainty in the mind of the batsmen – would the ball ever arrive? Indeed, one batsman was so confused by the complete absence of pace that he had played at least four shots before he heard the ball hit the off-peg. The Chairman (4 for 48) and Will Attwood, replacing Ben, with 2 for 10, put the Stragglers in complete control – 77 for 6 after 17 overs. However, one Milstead player had been obliged to head home to Loughborough, and it turned out that a spare was sitting in the crowd – would we mind if he batted? It turned out that the replacement bat was Chris Piesley, former first class cricketer against whom we had played at Provender in previous seasons. In the end, Chris was important in delivering the nail-biting finish, but the Stragglers had already opened the door, as batter number 6 was dropped 4 times, and went on to score 63 before a return catch was finally held by skipper Charlie Munton. The 7th wicket (before Chris came to the crease) put on 52; Milstead now needed 105, had 13 overs in which to get them, and had a batsman up to the task. When the 8th wicket fell (the return catch to Charlie), the pair had put on 89, and put Milstead in control; Chris had been ‘ramping’ Theo on either side of the wicket (alternating angles to pick the boundary not being patrolled by Matt). Theo was the only other bowler to take the uphill option, and was tasked with defending 7 from the final (and 42nd) over. A six on to the pavilion roof from the second ball, and a single from the third brought scores level, but took Chris off-strike. Two dots, a prod to leg, batsman running and run-out. This is the first tied match since 2005 and only the 7th in 71 years of Straggler cricket.