Bashers vs Hot Dogs Lumberjack, 23 May 2004

Report in SCC Newsletter from the Anti-Basher:
It’s tough being a Basher at the moment. They’ve not won a game yet, a controversial appeal is still hanging over them, and their injury-list is growing. Even their sponsor is being forced to relocate, though we’re not sure how much of this we can actually blame on the Bashers.

But on Sunday they had a chance to put much of this to right against their arch rivals, in a clash which, following the recent slander, accusations and threats, promised to make King Kong versus Godzilla look like a chimpanzees’ tea party.

Both sides were missing players, and in the interests of the game’s repute they remained civil long enough to issue a joint pre-match statement declaring that these absences had nothing to do with the events on Mao Ming Lu on Thursday night (the Bashers were apparently being briefed by their lawyers at the time).

With the formalities over, the Bashers won the toss and unsurpisingly elected to bat. They were met though by a Hot Dogs side who had decided to let their opposition do the barking and were instead ready to bite. A superb spell of 7-1-4-23 by Adam Taylor destroyed their top order, and backed up by immaculate fielding and a mean spell from Mike Tsesmelis (7-3-1-7), the Bashers were left reeling at 39-6 in the 14th over.

Thereafter they staged a good fight-back thanks to an excellent counter-attacking innings from Rod Springer (55 off 60 balls) and another useful knock from Pete Cain (24 off 43), which took them to a defendable 134-8.

It should have been a relatively easy chase, but contributions from Sean McIlroy (26 from 27), Tim Knowles (25 from 40) and Dale Ranson (20 from 28), weren’t proving quite enough as the wickets kept tumbling. When John l’Epagniol picked up two crucial wickets it looked all set for another close finish, and the scorers began to look as nervous as vampires at a wooden stake sale. But to their rescue came Anthony Maxwell with a run-a-ball 27*, including three late boundaries that clinched it for the Hot Dogs, and to put it beyond doubt, Man of the Match Adam Taylor smashed 22 of 8 balls at the end to win it by 26 runs.

Quotes recorded at the Match:
Adam Taylor – whose attendance record of late has been far from exemplary – was greeted by Pete Cain with a mixture of surprise and concern as he enquired, “Did your taxi get lost?”.

Anonymous conversation: “It was like being back on the Jakarta tour this morning. I was knackered, hungover, and torn between cricket and an insatiable Indonesian”.

Paul Turner to Mike Tsesmelis after winning the toss, “May the best scorer win”.

Unnamed Basher bowler expressing his frustration after bowling to an innocent Hot Dog, “You ****ing cheating ****.”

Bitter Basher to triumphant Hot Dog as they walked off the pitch, “So that’s 1-1 then.”