The Junior BB

Match Report

When Glen Burrell, our Australian ringer, fresh from holding the Stragglers at bay in St. Tropez, asked skipper Jasper how he should bat, Jasper replied “All day”. This was just as well, as the rest of the powerful Straggler upper order managed to donate their wickets, via assorted inside edges, to The BaBes, without troubling the scorer much at all. Glen had managed a long and gritty half century on the matting wicket in St. Tropez; at Torry Hill he toyed with the full slip cordon, playing late cuts through the gaps, on his way to a hard fought 27. When he was fifth out, the Stragglers had stumbled rather feebly to 61. Fortunately a brace of Egerton Stragglers, Will Fenwick (17) and Fergus Berger (32) managed to lay bat on ball with better effect, and dug the Stragglers some way out of the hole. When Fergus was last man out, 147 was a score Jasper would have gladly accepted at the half-way point.

The target was just enough to create some pressure, if early wickets fell, and fall they did, as Nick Wright continued his strategy of ‘fast, full and straight’ and knocked over the top order (3 for 29). With the BaBes at 47 for 4, the Stragglers just about had control, and the BaBes needed a batsman to step up. Benny Smallwood held up one end, while Will Falcon, facing the Stragglers for a third time in the summer, hit the bad balls out of sight. Jasper took a ferocious blow to the foot from a Falcon drive, and had to limp off for ice treatment (his main concern was about how he would manage an evening on the dance floor). The BaBes were back on track, and, in spite of a casual one handed catch by Patch Clews at wide leg slip to remove Benny, and then Patch going on to bowl a mean and accurate spell to pick up a couple of lower order batsman, Will remained at the crease. He gave one very hard chance, but was increasingly dominating the bowling, and the coup de grace was delivered with a brace of hard hit boundaries – 148 for 7.