The Junior BB

Match Report

On yet another day of high drama in the Ashes, this time from Old Trafford, the Stragglers fell to a fourth consecutive defeat, the first such run of failure since high summer in 1985. Torry Hill had suffered an unexpected midnight thunderstorm, which left the wicket looking soft and slow and almost certainly not full of runs. Losing the toss again inserted, the start was dominated by a spell of (very) lively fast bowling by Henry Elliott, whose first spell involved two Straggler wickets and not a run conceded. At 11 for 4 in the sixth over, matters did not look promising. However, two carefully constructed partnerships involving James Anderson (no, not the one also accompanying Johnny Barstow at Old Trafford), began to put some substance to the score card. The first involved an brisk cameo from Sef Rahman, who was undone on 23 by a slower ball lifted into the hands of mid-off. This brought Arthur Collins to the crease, and with James, they put on 77 for the 6th wicket, only brought to an end by the unfortunate run out of Arthur for 37. James (52) had just reached his half century only to fall victim to a returning Henry Elliott. Skipper, Jasper Williams (10) helped the tail wag briefly, and the Stragglers managed to use the full allotment of 35 overs to post 144 for 9, Xandy Long undefeated on 1*. Henry Elliott finished with figures of 5 for 7 from 6 overs, of which the first three were maidens.

The Stragglers needed wickets and two came along immediately, Sef bowling his nagging line to remove one opener, and the second fell victim to such a poor piece of calling that he was half way to the pavilion before Benny bothered to remove a bail. This brought two Straggler regulars to the crease, Will Pollington, Junior BB skipper for the day, and Harry Heming. They set about moving the score along smartly, but Harry then walked into a very well telegraphed trap, when he lifted the fourth ball of the Chairman’s opening over into a distant cow corner, only to find James Felton waiting patiently for the ball to arrive. There was a moment of excited celebration for the Chairman’s 400th Straggler wicket. Will, however, was not offering chances, and the target put him under little pressure. James Felton came on to squeeze in the middle overs (1 for 13 from 7 overs with four maidens), which increased the pressure and when another run out saw the back of Archie Brealy (99 for 5), there was the makings of an upset. Arthur Collins induced Will to chop on for an excellent 56, but it was too little too late and a couple of big boundaries were enough to see the Junior BB close in on victory. Jasper brought himself on to bowl a wicket maiden with only two runs required and sustain some forlorn hope (a fine diving one-handed take behind the stumps by Benny). Nick Connor duly despatched the second ball of the 30th over to the boundary to seal a Junior BB victory by three wickets.  It is worthy of note that Straggler fielding was of a high order, with very little terracotta on display, and with Archie Brown and the Long brothers hurling themselves to stop almost everything coming their way in the covers.