Dear All, Findon Cricket Club
For those that missed it here is the Cranford Chronicles Back Page match
report on the Findon Cricket Semi-Final. In summary it was nail biting:
When we arrived – an hour or so after the start because of the Grand Prix
(which Ferrari won 1st and 2nd place, pleasing Schumacher no end), Findon
had lost the toss, and the opposion (Oxford Downs) had put us into bat. As
we took our seats we had lost 4 wickets and only scored 45 runs after 15
overs. The match was to comprise 40 overs each and so heads were down all
around the perimeter boundary, on which there wasn’t a spare space to be
found, sometimes several bodies deep!
Oil drums and electric air horns were in abundance in preparation for
explosions of noise as Findon sixes were scored and Oxford wickets tumbled.
However all was quiet! The general view amongst the experts was that it was
a slow pitch and we were in for a bit of a drubbing! Anyway, things did
pick up a bit from then on to the point where we scored 142 after 38 overs
but were all bowled out.
Tea ensued.
After tea the atmosphere on the pitch seemed to have changed (no doubt a
dressing room team-talk had occured)! Before tea Oxford had fielded in a
quiet and dignified manner dispatching each batsman back into the pavilion
in a neat and timely fashion. In contrast Findon players were positively
voiciferous; where-as Oxford had maintained a dignified silence throughout
the first half of the match – apart from the occasional Howzat (and even
that seemed to be said in a whisper), Findon kept up an almost continuous
dialogue between fielders which must have been off-putting to batsmen and
the many Oxford spectators alike. Findon closed ranks, quite literally, by
fielding closer in and allowing very few balls to be hit away for fours and
sixes. It doesn’t take much effort to calculate that Findon’s pre-tea run
rate had been a fairly low 3.7 runs per over. By excellent fielding the
Oxford run rate was kept to below 3 for most of the game and had not a late
showing by the last three Oxford batsmen elevated the rate to this level,
it would have been left hovering at about 2 per over for all of the second
half.
If the match had reached 80 overs it is likely that Findon would have won
without dispatching all the batsmen but after (I think) 32 overs the last
bails fell and Oxford had not reached 100 runs. The memory of the rest of
the day has, for most of us, disappeared into an alcoholic haze so I will
have to rely on others to complete the rest of the story. I do remember
that the atmosphere was electric throughout the second half of the match
and on through to the pitch invasion, the showering of the players from
magnums of champagne and the crowded victory celebrations that took place
well past my bedtime.
It really was Schumacher’s lucky day too as Ferrari had won 1st and 2nd
place in the Turkish Grand Prix and now Findon had won through to Lords on
the 9th September. Unfortunately he didn’t make it the hat trick as he
hadn’t bought a raffle ticket – if he had done I suspect he would have
scooped the pot!
Kind regards
John Roche
Founder Member – FGCC & Priveleged holder of a Truffles Loyalty Card.