Bashers Leisure, 2012 Champions

My own memory of the day is a little hazy, however, as I cannot recall anyone appointed as Lumberjack and there are far too many overdue reports already this season, I will upload this brief account of the days play. Fortunately, I have 57 minutes of video of the day to provide a visual record of the day thanks to Garbo’s filming efforts!

At 7.45am the Camel was subdued with some nerves in the team, but we were inspired by the sight of the Jaguar looking immaculate in his new linen suit, and gently strumming his ukulele (price tag still attached). “No beers before noon?” Don’t waste my time – we are the LEISURE for a reason and there were mandatory tunnel beers! Dags was present in his least hung-over state of the season, and arrived with the mascot, Koko, who showed his displeasure with the new SRFC cards-or-pay policy by leaving his personal card on the floor of the clubhouse foyer.

It was a perfect day for cricket: a comfortable temperature with a gusty breeze down the pitch. The opposition started by dancing around the pitch and enthusiastically looking like a bunch of posers. So we showed we were Leisure by finishing our beers and feigning catching practice – thanks to Omega for wielding the bat. Stretches were also attempted, but we missed the expert guidance of Sharapova.

Dags either won or lost the toss and so, according to our plan, we were fielding first. The Pope blessed the day’s play, and the game commenced with a hearty Bashers cheer!  There was some spirited bowling from Loose, who teaming up with Parrot to remove one opener, and also Woodstock, who pulled off a magnificent one handed caught and bowled. The Dream Team managed to keep up a good scoring rate, until a fantastic direct hit run-out from Parrot, who was playing on with an injured thumb, put the brakes on the run rate!

Cranky continued the hostile Leisure bowling after the drinks break, and deserved better than just one caught behind. He also maintained good concentration despite having to run off the field to stop a cage fight in the trampoline pit on the sidelines. One of the Dream Team managed a 50 and was retired, but the new batsmen didn’t find any momentum as Tantric and Dags kept up the pressure. Dags even managed to extract an LBW decision from the umpire after the batsmen missed a slow full toss. After 20 overs the Dream Team finished on 148/7, and we were confident we could chase down the target. The wind supported the bowlers, who bowled as fast as they could even if it cost a few wides, and overall, it was a solid effort from the team in the field.

I have to add a special mention for Parrot, who walked around calming the batsmen down and giving some advice along the lines of “we can’t leave it all up to Cranky”.  He led from the front with a quick-fire 40 in a solid opening partnership with Shitshoes that put the Leisure in control of the match early in our batting innings. The Dream Team seemed a bit nervy and their bowlers didn’t hit top pace with the tail wind, although they bowled only a handful of wides.

I’m not going to write myself up, but after starting the season with a golden duck it was nice to finish with an unbeaten 53.  Mouse, Cranky and the Gear made contributions, and after some discrepancies in the scorebooks, it was left to Tantric and the Pope to finish things. The Pope chose the most stylish way possible and smashed the first ball of the last over to deep fine leg for a huge six! It was a fitting end to a great season for the Leisure!

After the win, Tank presided over the trophy presentation and the mandatory photo shoot.  The fine session was legendary, if only I could remember more of what was said (the photos show Loose inventing a stylish new use for the Bashers tie)…  The Leisure stayed around to give vocal support to the Business, who didn’t manage to pull off the Basher’s double.  Here the video record stops, and my only recollection is Mouse giving me a hug/headlock and pouring vodka into me!

Thanks to the Bashers who showed up for the match – it was great to see so many blue blazers on the sidelines.  The video is coming soon!