It Was the Best of Grounds, It Was the Worst Of Grounds

Carnage In Nomansland

The most village of villagey pitches I ever did see. The ground sloped, the pitched was on a slope, there was a Well of Sacrifice? inside the boundary, there were trees inside the boundary. Local rules, if it hits the building or a tree, play on, can’t be caught off them (not even one bounce one hand).

I can guess your next question will be, ‘What, in the name of the holy Douglas Adams, is a Well of Sacrifice’.

And I would reply, ‘that is indeed a good question’. The answer being:

It is a war memorial, dedicated to the areas fallen from the two world wars, and therefore due full respect.

It was also well placed square of the wicket to cut off any boundaries going in that direction. A pun about ‘well fielded’ being more or less obligatory whenever a ball hit the building. There were also several trees scattered about.

What all this meant was that it made it an interesting place to play cricket, a full on ‘cricket is a weird game at the best of times so why not go all in on the weirdness’, which is something that I fully enjoyed. And it was also beautiful.

The view from near the pavilion

But it was a hard place to play, as it was so disconcerting, where to place fielders, the best value shots, bowling lines, all took far too much thought for my brain. I mean, when I bowl, I always have long on out and someone on cow. So, I put fielders back there and they ended up behind trees.

A view from long on, looking towards the wicket

So, enough of setting the scene, how did the game go? Well, we won the toss for the first time this season and elected to bowl. Bramshaw then set off like a steam train in the first few overs, while we wrestled with where to put fielders. We stuck with it though and did pull it back, limiting Bramshaw to 211 (it is also a small ground). Although this sounds like a huge score, the local team gave the view that it was more or less par rather than a particularly big score. We were also very helpful to the opposition in that we were catching like Muppets, with no hands, on Mogadon. 4 easy chances were put down. Remind me what the opposite of ‘catches win matches’ is?

Our innings went to pot fairly quickly, I think it is fair to say scoreboard pressure was a thing and a lot of our batsmen gave wickets away to false shots. Kev Roberts came in to show us all how it was done. And it is simple, blocking the good balls and attacking the bad ones, top scoring for us on 46. Ah well, you either win or you learn. For Branshaw, Joe McNeilly top scored with a dominating 66, before eventually falling to yours truly – he just couldn’t handle the pace I bowled………

Should point out that my comments on the ground are in no way a criticism or excuse, I fully enjoyed my day’s cricket and Bramshaw were full value for their win, batted with aggression and bowled with accuracy.

Would also like to say that Kev had also come to the game a few days after burying his father. Having buried a parent can say that it is one of the hardest parts of life’s journey, so will raise a glass to Kev’s dad and best wishes to Kev and his family.