Full Fixture Information

Result Descriptiom

Win by 26 runs

Man of the Match

Tim Lawrence - great batting and timely bowling

Champagne Moment

Nick Sole, for his excellent catch, which helped us to regain the initiative in the field.

Teddy Bear Moment

Mark Davis, the run out that wasn't

Full Match Report

East Meon CC vs Candover CC, 9th June 2024 (East Meon CC won by 26 runs)

Full match report

The inaugural game against Candover ended in farce: Mooro had to be persuaded that stumping an eight-year-old is bad form; Tim Lawrence then bowled said eight-year-old; and the opposition captain, feigning ignorance of the fallen wicket, attempted to run a single to the bemused Mooro.

The comic tableau of the last ball belied a contest that had tension, quality and needle. That contest owed much to the conditions. Whereas the weather the week before was heaven-sent, the devil was at play yesterday. The sun shone, occasionally. The breeze blew, unevenly. The ball swung, inconsistently. It was a day when rhythm came and went like analogue radio signal. Nothing was easy. Runs and wickets had to be earned.

The one constant in the match was the competitive edge between the teams, which arose before the toss when the opposition wicket-keeper (whose personalized numberplate is not suitable for reprint in a family publication) airily said that he would be otherwise engaged by 6.30 and that, consequently, the teams must be limited to 30-overs each. We would have to provide the match ball, too. This one-sided bargain was accepted, with a clear note of distaste, by our skipper and the tone for the afternoon was set.

Oli and Ali opened, and the challenge from Candover was immediate. Both batsmen played fine shots square of the wicket before succumbing: Ali to a ball that lifted from back of a length; Oli to a wicked in-ducker. Will, in at three, played with watchful intent but could do nothing about a late inswinger. Mark and Andrew began a stylish counterattack that threatened to gather momentum when the opposition?s new ball pair struck again: Andrew clean bowled; Mark gloving behind a ball similar to that which had removed Ali four overs before. I then gave a short lesson of how not to play inswing (front leg planted towards Mid-Off, head falling over towards Cover, bat playing around the front pad) to leave us in the mire at 48-6 after 10 overs.

The innings ? and the match ? turned on the partnership between Tim Lawrence and Mooro, who combined for 10 overs to post 52, of which Mooro scored 32. Both were watchful without getting bogged down. Mooro?s innings contained six trademark boundaries, including a savagely struck six (the only maximum of the game). Yet the book also records a dozen singles and twos as Tim, especially, exploited the spreading field and tiring bowling.

It was pleasing to hear the witless banter from behind the stumps, which had characterized the first half of the innings, silenced by Tim and Mooro. Their vital partnership ended when Mooro was caught, but the change in momentum had been decisive and, from here on, Tim Lawrence was the master of ceremonies. He stroked the bad balls to the boundary (seven in total), manipulated the field and gave no chances. Nick Crombie and Nick Sole were unfortunate to be run out by a combination of ambitious calling and smart fielding, but both had stayed with Tim for crucial overs. Our baseline target of 130 runs was breached by Wayne, who crunched a boundary in the dying minutes of the innings. Tim, unbeaten on 53, and Wayne were applauded from the field by grateful teammates.

Candover needed 136 in 30 overs to win. They began briskly, thanks to two Surrey cuts and four false shots not quite going to hand. With the score at 36-0 after 7 overs, Will made a premeditated change and introduced Mark Davis, whose control and variation began to cast a different spell over the, until then, charmed openers. Will profited from the uncertainty to remove the more leaden-footed of the openers with a beauty that did enough to take the outside edge through to Mooro. The more fleet-footed of the openers then decided to charge Mark and, deceived in the flight, he missed the ball and was bowled. Mark?s joy overflowed, and rightly so: a more hubristic piece of batting would be hard to envisage.

The Candover middle order had been, shall we say, vocal in the field and much was expected of their batting. Will promptly removed the number three with a full, moving delivery that kept low but which was far from unplayable. Mark then ensnared the number four with a subtle change in flight and pace; the ensuing miscue was well caught by Will, advancing from Long On.

The contest was even at the midway point, with Candover 63-4. Tim Lawrence replaced Will (whose spell of 6-0-15-2 was exemplary) and he combined with Mark for six overs. The Candover pair consolidated and then, having got an eye in, played more assertively to regain momentum.

But the shift in momentum was not decisive; both sides knew that another wicket would check Candover?s progress.

That wicket came in the 19th over when Oli, replacing Tim at the Alpaca End, induced a poor shot from the well-set number five, Nick Sole taking a very good catch while on the move and under pressure. Later in the over, Oli rattled the number six?s off stump and gave him a seismic send off.

89-4 had become 90-6 with 11 overs to go. The intensity in the field became feverish as Candover tried to rebuild. Tim chased a third Surrey cut to the fine leg boundary. Two balls later, Wayne cut off the ball on the third man boundary as a thick edge flew wide of Will in the slips. Two balls later, Ali made a sharp stop in the gully as another false shot fell short. The following over, Nick Crombie and Andrew both denied the batsmen singles. The over after that, Will backed up successfully as Oli nearly threw the stumps down from backward point. There was no respite for the batsmen, and the required rate ticked up towards four-and-a-half an over.

The one blot was a run out chance involving Mark Davis. This fumble caused consternation in the in-field; but from my vantage point in the deep beneath the copper beaches, and being pretty much blind from such distance even with my glasses, I cannot say for sure what happened. In any event, the missed chance proved immaterial. The Candover rebuild, which had not got going thanks to our aggressive out-cricket, ended when Oli caught the number eight off my bowling to bring the last recognized batsman to the crease with six overs to go and 27 to get.

At this point, either side could have won the game; but, while the batsmen showed mettle, the fielders exuded belief.

The final act of drama was short. Tim Lawrence replaced Oli at the Alpaca End; castled the set batsman first up; and bamboozled the new boy two balls later to finish with 4.4-0-15-2 on top of his unbeaten fifty. Candover?s last man (a courageous boy of maybe seven years, playing alongside his justly proud dad) was not allowed to bat.

A good win ? and, by common consent, it felt good to win, too.