Flycatchers, Winchmore Hill, 20230611

Sunday took us to Winchmore Hill to play the Flycatchers, for what was in many ways a very quintessentially Hetairoi game, but in one way was a noteworthy one. Due to a recent serious medical diagnosis and upcoming treatment, Mike Penington will not be appearing for the Hetairoi as much as usual this summer.

Mike has been a stalwart of the club since its inception. As I am sure you all know, he is a combative opening batsman, with a preference for the backfoot - learned from his youth batting on matting wickets in Australia. He has been ever present in the Hetairoi side over the years, although I can only talk of the last 10 or so that I have played in. Mike introduced me to the Hetairoi after meeting me playing for the Baldons village side just outside Oxford. True to his Aussie roots he is a fierce competitor. I recall a moment at Kimble, in the early years of my Hetairoi career. Having joined Mike at the crux of a chase, a few overs and several boundaries later, the required rate was now well below run-a-ball. As we met in the middle of the wicket, I suggested that we should ‘knock the last twenty or so off in singles’. The response from Mike was definitive: ‘No. Finish it.’ 

At times such as these, one reflects on what is most important in life. For Mike I think this is family, friends, and pastimes - crosswords, skiing, and of course, cricket. What is more pleasurable in life, and thus important, than a crisp off drive that beats mid off, or a deft cut behind point that runs down to the third man boundary? 
It was with this knowledge that I found myself driving myself, Mike, and his son Geoff, to Winchmore Hill on Sunday. Based on the trials of raising a side during the week, this was already promising a typical Hetairoi match, and it turned out to be just that. For that alone, I think it deserves chronicling, and that we knew it might be Mike’s last game for a while, doubly so.

A sultry day presented itself when we arrived and the tree-lined ground looked idyllic. Winchmore Hill has done excellent work in the years since we started playing here. Gone are the falling down sheds, so too the undergrowth that made ball finding so hard. In their place, new nets, well kept surrounds, and a shiny new electronic scoreboard.
Stephen duly won the toss, and elected to bat - certainly the choice on such a hot day. Cricket is an unpredictable game, and never more so than for an opening batman. So it was with trepidation that we watched Mike walk out to open the batting with Hari. What would this innings be? A free-flowing hundred (probably not, these days at least), an innings cut short by a good ball (hopefully not!), or an anchoring innings that formed the bedrock of our innings (perhaps more likely)? I don’t know how many times I have watched Mike walk out to open for the Hetairoi, but it feels as much part of the club as the caps and jumpers. 
Almost immediately there was calamity - we lost Hari in the first over, and the opening bowlers looked unlikely to provide the kind of fare that Mike prefers. However, Mike survived the opening attack, now partnered by James. The next hour and three quarters followed a similar pattern. We proceeded at a reasonable four an over, with Mike partnered first by James, and then by his long term opening partner for the Hetairoi, John Ball. James is an excellent find for the Hetairoi. He reeled off a series of excellent boundaries before his innings was cut short by a very good ball - in what was otherwise a very mixed spell. 
That brought John Ball to the wicket to join Mike; a partnership that seems to have been a constant in the Hetairoi since I joined the club. I wonder if I need to describe the deft shots, well-taken singles, and the odd well-struck cover drive - the latter mostly, but not exclusively, from the bat of John. As the overs ticked by, the urgency of the batting increased; albeit without as much effect as hoped. John perished in the cause of upping the rate, which brought me (Henry) to the wicket. The foundation of the innings was strong, but with only 120 on the board, and a little over an hour to bat, we needed to get on with things. I was welcomed with a well-directed second ball bouncer. Mike called me through for a trademark sharp single, which meant the riposte had to wait an over. The first ball of the next over from the bouncer-deliverer went racing to the cover boundary - for the first of three well-struck boundaries in the over. However, this was not to be a long innings - I was caught at long on in the next over. Paul’s innings did not last long, but the upside was that this brought Geoff to join his father at the wicket, wearing borrowed kit as all of his had been thrown out by Mike and Frances since Geoff moved to the US. Despite his right handed gloves (Geoff is left handed), he did at least have his own bat, which had survived the purge of the rest of his kit.

Now, I feel I must digress here to give the best context to this partnership. Mike is very proud of his three children - Catherine, Sarah, and Geoff. But, were there to be one tiny disappointment from Mike in his children, it is that none are keen cricketers. Geoff was probably the most likely, but as a late developer who is still barely ten stone dripping wet, his cricketing accomplishments have never touched his academic (or skiing!) ones. 
So, Geoff walked out as a bits and pieces cricketer. Probably primarily a left-arm wrist spinner, but not completely clueless with the bat. Top score (we think) 25 - for the Hetairoi at Whitchurch. We couldn’t collectively recall a time he had batted with Mike. None of this will have been helped by spending the past seven years in the US, and not having picked up a cricket bat in that time.  

Add to this the match situation; now 139-5, with the combined pressure of time and wickets running out for the innings, and Mike moving towards his fifty. So, I think it was to Mike’s great pleasure that Geoff drove his third ball firmly past mid off to the boundary. The rest of the Hetairoi were pleased too - and surprised (particularly our scorer, who had remarked  moments before, ‘Geoff Penington, this probably won’t last long’). There quickly followed another boundary - this through mid wicket. From there, the partnership developed, and then flourished. It was a union of contrasting styles: Mike, right handed, relying on deft placement and the pace of the ball, with a short backswing. Geoff, contrasting, with a long left handed stroke, a full, languid, swing of the willow. Yes, there were some swings and misses, but those that were hit were hit well. Not with raw power but with excellent timing, in an arc forward of square, from cover to long leg. Geoff also brought some urgency to the running; as much focused on improving Mike’s score as his own.

So now, the questions on the boundary moved from ‘how long might this last?’ to, ‘who will get to fifty first?’, and ‘when do we have enough to declare?’. And so the partnership continued with its contrasting styles and well-taken singles. Geoff was now finding boundary riders as often as the boundary itself, and Mike creeping his way towards fifty with singles and occasional boundaries. Perhaps the highlight was a booming extra cover drive up to the pavilion from Geoff, clearing the man in the ring, and evading the boundary rider.
To add to the mix, now the storm clouds were brewing, threatening to spoil the spectacle. But, finally, it came: Mike got a back of the length ball outside the off stump, which he - fittingly - deftly cut behind point, down to the vacant third man boundary. This was met by cheers from the boundary, and a hug from Geoff. Alas, the next ball went on the full to point, and that was that. 

Geoff, now with 45, was joined by Liam. With time short, it was a race between the increasingly necessary declaration, the storm clouds, and Geoff’s half century. Unfortunately, with Geoff running out of steam (and as it turned out, fluids), the declaration won, leaving Geoff undefeated on 49. A wonderful innings, into which Geoff had given almost everything - to which he added his lunch, helpfully just off the wicket. Some water and a helping hand got him into the pavilion for tea.

With the excellent tea came bad news. Rain, not heavy, and lightning around. This delayed the restart for forty minutes. The second act was not proving to be as well-written as the first. A sporting target of 160 from 30 was agreed for the Flycatchers (for context, messers Duckworth and Lewis would have had 175 or so). 

We restarted in the rain, which continued for most of the innings. In many ways, this proved to be a very typical Hetairoi fielding effort, but, unlike the first innings, in a bad way. Throughout we toiled without much luck, the bowling at times good and at other times bad, and the fielding similarly. A few things of note: a spectacular slip catch from James - a ball that flew from the top edge and was taken above his head. A wonderful spell of leg spin from Manish - who at the age of 11, was bowling with a bigger ball, on a longer pitch than usual. Adding to that a thoroughly wet ball, he showed excellent control. But for a dropped catch from his father (who took two harder catches), the spell might have changed the game. Perhaps it was the fielding that let us down the most. Winchmore Hill is never the easiest ground to pick up the ball, but with dark clouds above and rain falling, and a wet ball, things were particularly challenging. However, even given that, our fielding was below what we were capable of. 

So, whilst all the bowlers - Henry, Liam, Olly, Manish, John, and finally Stephen - toiled away, we were always behind the game. Not far enough to make it hopeless, but never with our noses in front. Perhaps another twenty would have meant a different result, or better bowling, fielding, or just some luck. In any case, with the scoreboard now casting an orange glow onto the outfield, the Flycatchers made it to the target with fifteen balls to spare. 

As ever, many thanks to Winchmore Hill for the use of the ground, the Flycatchers for another good spirited and competitive game, Sue for an excellent tea, and Stephen for raising the side.