Bashers Business vs Pudong Power, 3 Aug 2014

Bashers Business vs Pudong Power, 40 over game, 3 Aug 2014

And so it was back into the long version of the game after 5 or 6 weeks of T20 action. In the week before the game, we struggled for numbers. It’s still Summer holidays and people are away, but the list of usual Business players not available this weekend was long…

Tiny – gone! Miss you already.

Tubby – mortally wounded and out for the season

a Trois – out of town – work

Smurfy – out of town – work

Shandy – in HK playing golf (fair enough!)

Fruitbox – Summer Holidaying

Lunchcutter – Summer Holidaying

A significant recruiting effort from our Club and Business Captains (well done Shoes and Stats) and some volunteers willing to step into the breach saw a competitive 11 confirmed to take on Pudong CC for the first time this year.

The bus was on time and everyone but Cassius managed to make their way to the ground to start at midday. However, there was tragic news awaiting the spritely Business; the mighty Leisure had capitulated for only 25 runs only minutes before! Dear oh dear! I’m sure you can read about it in detail in another Lumberjack coming real soon…… Whilst we were recovering from this news, Captain Stats came back from the toss and boldly declared that the Bashers would field first (it later became apparent that he lost the toss and Pudong elected to bat). Unperturbed, we quickly donned our gear, went for a short run, stretched a few muscles and strode out to the middle determined to keep the Pudong team to a minimal score and get back in the shade quickly.

Our fielding innings started quite well. Paps and Poppy were bowling line and length with good pace and were very well backed up by a team fielding effort that saw Pudong 1-26 after 8 overs. Sir Dick took a great catch in the slips in this period to remove Ankit. Long Dong and Post-Op then came on. Donger bowled his usual reliable, excellent, tidy, hard to hit even though you want to try and hit it, nagging, line and length and frustrated the Pudong bats. Long Dong bowled his 8 overs on the trot and finished with a very tidy 2-31. Well done mate. Note: LD utilising the patented Long Dong “short barrier” fielding technique (two scrawny legs together and bend at the waist to pick up the ball), even got through the day without misfielding which is a testament to the skipper for managing to hide him very well. See you at training.

After LD’s first over, Post-Op marked out his run up and ran in……. Post-Op, Post-Op, Post-Op…7 wides, 3 boundaries, 2 singles, 1 dot ball, 1 wicket, 1 no-ball and a partridge in a pear tree later, Waqar finally called, “over”. Post-Op was knackered and looking for a sprinkler cover to hide under and the score had doubled from 26 to 49! (The scorer had to use 2 boxes on the sheet to fit all of the +’s in!) But he had trapped the Vicar (who can be a damaging batsman) LBW for 10! It was decided not shatter the plucky pommy by dragging him, (and I’m sure he wanted to keep going anyway). Post-Op then doggedly continued to run in and try his best, hitting the pitch hard and getting through his allotment of 8 overs with only another handful of extras after that disastrous start. Um, definitely see you at training mate.

I think Benny Hill once said, “Cometh the hour, cometh the man”, but after a short search we couldn’t find one, so our Skipper brought himself on to bowl. Stats bowled a good first over but then took pity on his friend and countryman struggling at the other end. We were then treated to another epic over by a dedicated team man determined not to let his mate drink a beer for the longest over of the day. 6 no balls (off the pitch), 4 wides, 4 dot balls and a couple of singles later he had reached his goal (16 deliveries!) and let Post-Op off the hook. He then quietly dragged himself and was later seen wandering around the point area mumbling something about a sprinkler cover to hide under. Stats, see you at training straight after you and Post-Op get back from the Psych appointment.

It was sometime around this point that one of the batsmen absolutely creamed one into the covers. Our man, Tantric, was prowling in that area and before you could say, “that’s gonna hurt” was struck by the ball that had travelled like a laser beam from the bat directly onto to his shin. As he was hopping around there were many calls from his concerned teammates of, “don’t rub it Tantric! Don’t rub it!”. Gotta love playing for the Bashers. To his credit, he didn’t rub it and continued roaming the cover area and cutting off ones and twos, on one leg. He has since booked himself into Long Dongs next fielding clinic so he can learn how to apply the Long Dong patented “short barrier” fielding technique without injuring himself.

Our designated spinner and dedicated Club Captain, bowled quite well and with good control but was very badly let down by his team mates. There were at least 6 (maybe 8) dropped catches and a missed stumping in his 6 overs which saw him punished by Deepak and Sandeep who knew they couldn’t possibly get out. These guys couldn’t believe their luck! There were 3 dropped catches in 3 balls. (A shit-trick?) Everyone was looking for those elusive sprinkler covers (Where the f$%k are they? Are they camouflaged? How do they water the grass at SRFC?). Despite this, Shoes kept putting the ball on or nearish to the spot and bowled 6 overs on the trot with Poppy and Paps at the other end to finish the innings. Good effort with no reward. See you all at training for some catching practice.

Pudong scored 7-242 off 40 overs,

Deepak 60 n/o, McKim 38, Sandeep 34

Poppy 1-22 off 8 (2 maidens), Paps 3-30 off 8, Long Dong 2-31 off 8 (1 maiden)

Bashers opened up with Korean and Cassius. Our openers soaked up the new ball according to instructions from the skipper but when they tried to up the run rate, Korean was out. Sir Dick was in and out. Stats and Starfish didn’t make double figures and then Post-Op came out blazing. It was similar to his sensational 50 not out in the Bash Off (which was a fantastic day. There should be more of that stuff). Post-Op slapped them around for a very fast 36 before being caught very well on the long-off boundary. Poppy strode out, hit a 4 and strode straight back in. And then, Cassius was finally out. Cassius’ innings of 47 was one of grit and determination. He hit some very nice boundaries, a glorious six and ran many 2’s and 3’s. During his innings, he copped one of those SRFC pitch specials, a delivery rearing up off a length and hitting him on the wrist. Despite calling for it, no one had any “Magic Spray” in their kit and we couldn’t find his Mum, so our wounded opener had to grit his teeth and keep batting. His legs and fitness gave out in the end and he walked back to applause from his team mates. Well batted but your fitness is rubbish. See you at training.

What followed the departure of our opener was a defiant 70 run partnership between Paps and Tantric. This partnership kept us in the game and made the opposition really work for the win. Paps was creaming the ball through the covers and mid-off and added a few searing pull shots to the midwicket boundary. Tantric pushed the ones and twos, belted a few boundaries of his own and kept the bowlers honest.  There was plenty of encouragement from the sidelines and it was great to watch the guys dig deep and leave nothing in the tank in search of a win for the Bashers. Tantric finally trudged off, an exhausted warrior. His face was beetroot red (and still was 2 hours later) such was the effort he had put in. Well done Tantric. Top effort. You still need to come to training but. There’s that catching to work on you see.

Shit Shoes strode to the crease to replace Tantric and immediately took up where Tantric left off but there wasn’t enough overs left. The run rate required now was 17 or 18 an over. Shoes and Paps continued to hit boundaries and make the bastards chase the ball around the park until Shoes missed one and was out for 9. Donger walked out with his trademark one pad and blocked out the last 3 deliveries with his usual aplomb. He was even dropped on the very last ball at first slip and celebrated with a fist pump like he had hit the winning runs! WTF? That was the only catch our measly, tight as a fishes arse opposition dropped all day! At the end of the overs, we were 30 odd short but had seen some excellent efforts from Cassius opening, Post-Op and his hitting and then Paps and Tantric with their partnership. Paps finished on 44 not out. A great all round performance earning him Man of the Match for the Bashers. Top effort Pappsy!

Bashers Business 7-210 off 40 overs

Standouts: Cassius 47, Paps 44 n/o, Tantric 19

There was some light rain in the first few overs and then the clouds disappeared and the sun came out. It would have been uncomfortably hot if it wasn’t for the nice breeze coming from the SRFC clubhouse end. The weather was glorious for the rest of the match and was suitably hot for the Pudong team fielding second. We know this because even in the absence of Tony Grieg’s famous and highly controversial “Players Comfort” meter from the 80’s, we could see them struggling to run after the ball and when they trudged off, despite being victorious, the colour of their faces (not unlike Tantrics) showed that they were completely knackered.

The fines session was subdued (compared to the noise we could hear when we were on the field from the Leisure session). There were a lot of positive fines to go with the bowling and batting efforts on the day. It’s always great to have a few beers with the Bashers after a game, win or lose. That’s what makes the Bashers a great club to be a part of. A top bunch of blokes (and ladies) that come together to play cricket. We also mingled with the Pudong guys that were left before jumping on the bus where our driver loudly informed us he would NOT be stopping on the way to the Camel under any circumstances. That led to some pain and suffering for some.

In summary, it was a good game of cricket where both teams batted for their full 40 overs and scored over 450 runs in the day! If you came away from a one dayer at the SCG or Lords, you’d probably be happy with that.

I think Abraham Lincoln once said, “catches win matches”. The 16^th president of the USA couldn’t have been more right. Bashers, it’s past time to show some commitment to the cricket part of the Bashers Cricket Club and maybe celebrate a few wins. The beer always tastes better after a good team win.

See you at training.

Poppy