Full Fixture Information

Result Descriptiom

Lost

Man of the Match

Ali Wheeler

Champagne Moment

Ali Wheeler getting to hundred

Teddy Bear Moment

Oli losing the ball in the sun and managing to walk away from a perfectly catchable catch

Full Match Report

Ali Wheeler first played for the village in 1983. Maybe.

He?s played on average 15 games a season since then.

That?s 41 years of batting, 41 years of bowling and 41 years of trying to catch the ball. I make that about 615 games for the village. Surpassed only by his brother, Melvyn and the much-loved Bash.

And after 41 years of trying, at the 615 time of asking, Ali arrived at three figures with an elegant late cut through gully for two runs. To be honest, for such a cautious batsman it?s odd that he?s not got there before. He doesn?t hit the ball in the air, he is patient, has an excellent eye and should really be hitting hundreds every year. Perhaps today the floodgates will open and this is the first of many. I certainly hope we don?t have to wait another 41 years.

Anyway ? to add a bit of background to the day.

It was EMCC v STONOR ? a Wednesday, sneak off work, don?t tell the teacher kind of fixture. This may be the 5th or 6th year we?ve played them and I think they probably have the better of us now ? but the games are usually tight with lots of runs and an excellent pitch and outfield and delightful amount of beer and burgers afterwards.

This year, we were without our glorious leader, although his older and younger brother had both negotiated a pass for some or all of the afternoon.

I lost the toss, but we were asked to bat so it wasn?t a disaster.

I opened with Ali ? and although their bowling wasn?t particularly threatening, it was pretty accurate and relentless, every single ball was outside off stump and it took until the 18th over before EMCC scored their first run on the leg side (a thumping pull for four from Ali). Nearly all our runs coming off the back foot through cover, extra cover and point, occasionally off and through the fielder?s hands but on the whole along the ground.

I may have had one or two lives, but given one of them took the fielder?s nail off on the way to the boundary, it would have been a good (and brave) catch if he?d held on.

Scoring was hard, the grass was thick and lush and after Monday?s rain, perhaps a cm or two longer than it might have been, and so consequently getting to the boundary was much harder than it would have been on Tim Clay?s outfield down the road.

I was caught behind for 40 with the score on 66 in the 18th over. But a solid platform had been built, the opening bowlers had been seen off and it was time for the Atkinson brothers to tuck in and up the tempo.

Or that was my plan as I walked back to the pavilion. Stonor had different ideas. James Atkinson at 3 struggled to time the ball (perhaps I?d made it look easier than it was?) and although he crunched one four through the fence at mid-wicket was bowled by a full toss he managed to miss for 7. This brought Oli to the wicket, who biffed two fours in a row before being caught at point going for a third four for nine.

Suddenly it was about 100-3. Ian Cook making his debut for the season having nursed various ailments came in at five and looked solid until he was caught for 1.

Chris Hollis came in, batted OK, but managed to spoon the ball to cover for 10. No worries, Josh Haslett is a proper sportsman, he?ll help Ali up the tempo and we should get to 220 before tea. But unfortunately Josh spooned his first ball to cover for a golden duck?

Suddenly the score was about 150-7 and we were a few runs short of what would be a good target.

But still Ali was there. Nudging and nurdling his way past 50, hitting some fours (10 in all) lots of twos (19 in all) and the rest singles and suddenly he realised he was close to the big one (he was 78 when Josh was out) Nick Crombie who joined him at the wicket then played an excellent hand, scampering singles off the last ball of the over and giving Ali as much strike as possible, until suddenly, in the 46th over of the innings, at 4.29pm on the 17th July 2024 Ali set off the two that would bring him to three figures.

Shortly after we declared with the score on 190-6.

Would it be enough. Would we regret scoring at only 4 an over for 47 overs?

Dave Rees opened up and struck in his first over, their opener humping the ball to Oli at Mid-On. 0-1.

In Matt?s first over the other opener spooned the ball gently to gully where Josh, perhaps expecting it to come a bit harder and faster, managed to mistime the catch and spill a catch you?d back him to take more often than not.

Dave and Matt then bowled a mixture of good balls and bad balls. The bad balls were punished and Stonor scampered along at five an over until Matt had their number three caught at Mid-off by Nick Crombie 24-2. This only bought their skipper Justin to the crease.

Justin hits the ball hard and far. And took sixes off both our opening bowlers, before Nick Sole came on to apply some control. It took him a couple of overs to find his radar, before finally a double-wicket maiden in his third over lifted the spirits. Justin was well caught by me at mid-off on the boundary for 39 and then their number 5 was LBW without scoring.

82-4 off 17 overs, and 20 overs to go.

Their number 6 batted very well. The ball may have gone in the air a lot, but there was never a fielder there to catch it. He made 66 not out overall, with only one further wicket to fall when Crombie bowled their opening bat for 33 with the score 148-5. But EMCC had too much to do, with too few runs to play with and finally, in the last over with three to win Stonor hit the winning boundary.

We?d tried, Josh 7-1-32-0 and Oli 7.1-0-36-0 had bowled well but gone without wickets. And none of our 6 bowlers had really managed to bowl a consistent and tight line.

But the result didn?t matter. Today was about Ali and his wonderful 100 - hurrah.