Full Fixture Information

Result Descriptiom

Thumping win for the Meon

Man of the Match

Jimmy, classy ton

Champagne Moment

Will, worldy of a catch

Teddy Bear Moment

Will, what a dismissal

Full Match Report

An excerpt from last year?s match report ?The Meon all out for 63! Where does that stand in the overall pantheon of pathetic performances? Only Jimmy will know. The reason for this performance you may ask? Well, in truth it was a mix of some good bowling, some very ordinary cricket and a little bit of the rub of the green not going our way. Nonetheless, 63 is 63 and we hung our collective heads.?

What a difference a year makes, 365 little days?

And yet, the make up of both teams was near identical to last year, it was blisteringly hot like last year. The East Meon openers, Rupert and Lakh, failed to trouble the scoreboard, like last year. Lakh (aka Lacquer) lost the flight of the ball from their pace bowler coming down the hill and spooned an easy catch back to him. Rupert was bowled by the rather more sedentary opener for 11. This brought the brothers Atkinson (J and W) to the crease and those sat in the shade of the pavilion settled in for the inevitable Atko Show. Alas for William it was not to be, for some reason only known to him, he managed to spoon a rank, wide, long hop to point for a duck.

This brought Ali to the crease to join Jimmy. Both batsman set about their task, sensibly defending the good balls and dispatching anything a little more wayward. With the score steadily increasing the Rioteers skipper, Bertie Hillier, decided it was time to take matters into his own hands, bringing himself on to bowl. A quick scan of last year?s report will show that Bertie was the chief architect of our sad demise, one of the best bowling spells your author (one of the victims) has witnessed. This year Jimmy and Ali were determined to make amends. Both set about their task in different ways, Jimmy taking the fight to Bertie, Ali playing a little more defensively. After five overs of pace, swing and accuracy Bertie took himself off, 16 runs conceded, Jimmy and Ali still at the crease. In the blink of an eye Jimmy raced from a half century to a full, helped when Rinaldo went for 24 runs off Jimmy?s bat in his opening over, including a monster six that flew over the pavilion. Jimmy?s retirement brought Wayne to the crease, who, after a few useful knocks for the Lions, fancies himself as a batter. After a few wild swings across the line (old Wayne) Ali had a wee word and a straight batted Wayne emerged (new Wayne). He departed for 12, but 12 well constructed runs that included a straight four back over the bowler?s head, much to the joy of the assembled crowd. Josh played a very Josh innings, quick fire 16 before he was bowled. Tim L and Ali were present when time was called, Tim held his bat on 3 and Ali on 71. 246 runs had been scored

What a difference a year makes, 365 little days.

With the sun beating down East Meon took to the field feeling pretty confident, 246 felt pretty competitive. Rioteers opened with the father and son Harrington pair. After the ignominy of his batting dismissal Willy was on it. First over a maiden, second over a wicket maiden. But what a wicket. Harrington senior looked pretty handy and very solid. He middled a straight off drive that from the moment it left the bat had four written all over it, but Will had other ideas, taking a worldy of a one handed catch low to his left. That set the tone, Meon were on one, determined to right the wrongs of a year ago. Willy eventually conceded just four runs from his five overs. Tim bowled batsmen 2 and 3 and then had Hillier Senior caught courtesy of a diving catch by Ali at silly mid on.

Aaron replaced Will down the hill and took off from his customary very long run up only to be called for multiple front foot no balls. When asked how he measures his run up the reply was that he doesn?t he just ?goes on vibes?. Suffice it to say that a combination of Aaron?s vibes and a slightly over zealous visiting umpire resulted in some rather extended overs. But when the deliveries were legal, he looked threatening, going for 29 off his four overs, which included demolishing the stumps of their number four batsman. Wayne replaced Tim from the bottom end and was somewhat wayward, not helped by Bertie coming to the crease and smacking the ball to all corners. One beaut of a delivery swung in to take their number 6 batsman, back to the pavilion for a duck, Wayne finishing on 1-31 off his four overs.

With Bertie Hillier and Sam Morgan at the crease the pendulum started to swing (albeit very gently) toward the visitors, but the home side did not panic. It?s at this point that I?ll also make reference to our Skipper for the day. With Andrew on his annual sojourn to the Hams, it fell on Jimmy to skipper the Meon. Let?s just say there was a notable difference in styles when Meon were in the field. Bowlers were given the opportunity to prove themselves otherwise they were off, probably an over or two before other captains may have taken the call. From the off, field placement was aggressive, two sillies were often extended to number three or four.

Jimmy turned to Josh and Stick to bring an end to proceedings and they duly obliged. Joshy had Bertie caught behind, bowling a maiden and a wicket maiden! Stick did for the rest, a cheeky 3-16 off his three, finished with a diving catch from Ali in very close. Rioteers had reached 107 but Meon were on one. Everyone contributed, everyone was determined to right the wrong. Special mention to the unsung hero behind the stumps. I think we now take for granted how bloomin amazing he is and how lucky we are to have him, stopping countless balls, with all parts of the body, that would have flown to the boundary had any other member of the team been behind the stumps.

A thumping win for the Meon.

What a difference a year makes, 365 little days.