St Lawrence & Highland Court

Match Report

A serious amount of generational baton passing seems to be underway in 2010. Following two very modest batting performances by Stragglers of a certain age, the match at St. Lawrence & Highland Court underlined the depth of youthful talent coming through.

The Straggler opening bowlers, Jamie Lavers and Harry Bee, each struck once, but the Highland Court innings was developing momentum and moving steadily towards a reasonable total, when Toby Russell-Vick, introduced late in the day, bowled the one over spell of his life. His first ball, we now know, was rather unremarkable; the second induced a miscued heave, caught on the boundary by Simon Allport; the next removed the well-set number four, having just reached his half century; the fourth boomeranged back into the stumps to complete the hat trick; the next, perhaps with a little over excitement creeping in, shot through for 5 wides; and then another batsmen bowled. Four wickets in four legal deliveries for figures of one over 4 for 6!! Highland Court slipped to 170 all out.

Straggler openers Theo Allport and Sam Russell-Vick set about the chase without a reverse sweep or dilscoop on show, and were marching confidently towards a century opening partnership, when Sam was undone by one that nipped through his defenses; Theo then fell for an excellent 54. This brought together Andrew Cloke and Dan Westinghouse, making his Straggler debut. They were seeing the Stragglers home in some comfort, when Andrew fell to a superb slip catch, and allowed Al Lang in for a brief cameo. Al hit one four and then, seeking to end it all with another mighty blow, overbalanced, and was stumped while rolling towards cover. Simon duly dispatched the winning runs, for a first victory at Highland Court for some years.