The Min, Cranleigh 16th August 1998
By Tim Greenwood
After the typer's cramp induced by the previous report, the following will be brief. Hetairoi managed to raise a side after the frustrations of the previous day, when the prospect of an all-day fixture against the All Sorts realized precisely three players! Fortunately these three were all prepared to switch and thus with the addition of three friends of Robin, we were ready for action. After the success of the previous weekend, our captain won the toss and elected to field..only to discover that neither side had a new ball! In a one ball game, this appeared to be a disadvantage. In the event, a modestly new ball was located and proceedings began at 2.30, Hetairoi having arrived early and indulged in fielding practice!! The exception was Andrew Cunningham, who was involved ina work-emergency and arrived at 4.30. No joy for the first hour and with Min cruising at 63 for 0 a hefty total looked likely. However Pablo tookk two wickets in two balls, and the luck changed. Whereas beforehand the catches had all gone just out of reach, particularly from the luckless Dudding, now everything stuck, including two slip catches by John Rolfe, the second of which must be in the top three of all-time, three inches off the ground one handed to his right. Even Blofeld would have been struggling for words, it was that good. Thus the Min subsided to 135 AO , with Pablo taking 4 for 19 off 12...However the batting was less secure, with only John Rolfe (25) and your correspondent (26) passing 15. Not hostile but accurate bowling and in a lowscoring gane the target can appear to be just out of sight. However sensible batting by Andrew and Jonathan Dudding advanced the score from 89 for 7 to about 110, and with Robin Wallis entering at the fall of the eighth wicket, victory looked assured until the dismissal of Jonathan by the opening bowler. Robin and Andy Monteath then clawed their way to victory, which came with three balls to go, through an elegant cut off the opening bowler by Andy for 4. Thus Hetairoi win a third in a row..a record? though it was extremely close!
Champagne moments: John's catches - pro class I promise you