WEEKENDERS BUOYED BY BETTER NEWS ABOUT RICHARD MALONEY’S CAT

WCC 166

Sargent Men 167-7

Sargent Men won by three wickets.

Conjunctivitis is a rotten thing to happen to a puss. And it’s no picnic for his mummy and daddy either because getting those eye-drops in can be the very devil of a business, often resulting in scratches galore and enough ‘language’ to turn the air a nasty shade of blue!

So one way and another it’s been quite a week for Richard. But with Puss’s peepers definitely on the mend the cat-loving coach strode onto the Bank of England ground and stroked a purrrr-fect 43 before misfortune struck again in the form of a rebound stumping off the keeper’s pads.

At the other end Hogben copped a shooter, Husaini played a series of sweetly-timed off-side shots and Hargroves emerged from his run-mare to clatter a season’s best 31, which might have been 32 if he’d accepted Hajela’s deranged call for a single to backward point. PJ Harvey rescued a teetering innings with a timely 30* including a Harrow drive off J. Harvey which elicited a shamefaced ‘Sorry Dad’.

A heated contretemps flared up after Douglas whacked a high full toss straight to fine leg. For anyone interested, the rule book reads thus:

Law 6 b (i) Any delivery, other than a slow paced one which passes or would have passed on the full above waist heigth of the striker standing upright at the crease is to be deemed dangerous and unfair, whether or not it is likely to inflict physical injury on the striker.

Law 7 a. … the umpire at the bowler’s end shall call and signal No ball and, when the ball is dead, caution the bowler, inform the other umpire, the captain of the fielding side and the batsman of what has occurred.

Suffice it to say that most of those involved in the argument got something wrong.

After an exquisite light tea in an opulent marquee the Weekenders were hungry for success on the park. Douglas hobbled in feebly on an injured foot and there were useful spells from PJ, Maloney, d’Inverno, Simmonds and Hargroves but 166 was never a big enough total to defend on a flat track and quick outfield. Blake and Peck batted superbly and the home side always looked likely to get home, which they did with seven overs to spare in spite of a couple of titillating late strikes from Hargroves.

Anyone wondering how the Bank of England maintains such low interest rates might find a clue in the amount they charge for tea. Miaaaaowww!

STATS

WCC 166 (39.2 OVERS)

Maloney 43, Hogben 0, Husaini 28, Hargroves 31, Smee 0, Hajela 0, M. Harvey 5, P.J. Harvey 30*, Simmonds 4, Douglas 7, d’Inverno 0.

J. Harvey 3-0-14-1 (full-toss patted by Douglas to mid-wicket)

Sargent Men (34.5 overs)

Chris Blake 54, John Harvey 4

Douglas 8-1-20-2, PJ Harvey 8-1-34-0, Maloney 8-0-28-2, d’Inverno 3-0-21-1, Hajela 3-0-19-0, Simmonds 3-0-11-0, Hargroves 1.5-0-6-2.

Catches: M. Harvey 2, PJ. Harvey 1