St. Lawrence & Highland Court

Match Report

Many more decisions are required of the skipper in a declaration game, not least the timing of the declaration both to make the game safe from defeat and giving your bowlers enough time to reach for victory. At Highland Court, Will Hilton had planned his declaration to perfection, only to find that he had not one, but two batsmen approaching their respective tons at just the wrong moment. Will Heywood was in the ‘90s, while his partner (and Straggler opponent from the BB game, Shermon Lewis), seemed to have left it too late, with a mere 73. “Have two more overs” was the signal from the boundary. That didn’t help, as Shermon was on strike and took it as a cue to launch rockets. At the end of the two pre-declaration overs, both batsmen were now in the high nineties. “Have another over, came the signal”. This time Will made to his ton and nicked a single to leave Shermon one ball to score three. A slight miscue, some furious running and Shermon was found short, run out for 98. Of course, all this used up time, while setting a target, which even the most optimistic Straggler might find a struggle – Highland Court declared on 282 for 4 from 37 overs.

On an unusually green playing area (HC usually resembles Karachi in mid-August), Straggler bowlers took some punishment. Nick Wright opened with his usual ferocity and, in a long, hot spell, took excellent wickets, but, as is ever the case, when Hilton is batting at 11, the batsmen kept coming. Angus Hay generated pace and great lines. Tom Instance sent another back to the pavilion, after a mild exchange of views on the merits of walking. This, however, just brought Heywood in to join Shermon, and they seemed to be enjoying themselves. There was a (very) brief spell, with Will Evans and the Chairman bowling in tandem for the second time in four days, when the run rate dropped sharply. One inexperienced Straggler even flirted with the idea that the Straggs were now on top. It didn’t last, the partnership extending to 187 runs in 23 overs.

The late declaration had used up some time, which Will Hilton had hoped to use to persuade Straggler batsmen to surrender. In the end, gritty resolve for 36 overs was the order of the day. Angus was undone by the swing that hadn’t been obvious in the over before, but matters calmed as Pete Cooper (58) and KP (43) resisted with aplomb. Pete dominated the strike and scoring shots, closing in on his half century, while KP was still in single figures. Kieran was not going to be left in the shade for long, and contributed significantly to the 98-run partnership, before falling in quick succession. KP managed to find a very deep mid-wicket, when trying to hit a Will Hilton pie into earth orbit. Very unusually, Straggler batsmen also kept coming and then sticking around, no collapses here. Will Chilcott (27), having damaged (possibly broken) a finger in the field, was in glorious touch. Tom Instance (31) kept the runs flowing nicely. The fall of these two brought skipper Patch Mitchell and Harry Pattinson (16) together, the score on 180 for 5, with 7 overs remaining, victory probably not quite on the cards. Patch (50*) took particular pleasure in hitting Shermon back over his head for a huge six into the orchards – it should be noted that Shermon was bowling some gentle spin and not coming in from his full run. The Stragglers closed on 247 for 5 in a high scoring draw, from which few bowlers emerged with respectable figures.