London Erratics Cricket Club

Founded 1974 for recreation and refreshment

Sunday 14 September 2003
London Erratics v South Wraxall
at South Wraxall

We few
Our special correspondent writes:
Why play cricket? For some it’s the runs and the wickets, but for those who can aspire to neither, the game at South Wraxall explains the addiction. Beautiful setting, lovely weather, competitive but friendly opposition, close game with everyone getting involved.
An unpromising build-up to the last game of the season. A certain ten, possibly eleven, faded as the weekend approached to a mere seven on the morning of the game. The oppo, who had been informed of the escalating problem, had offered two, but in the event could only deliver one. However, they very generously kept two more in the field for us throughout. More, their good nature prevented our short-handedness from spoiling the game. There are other teams in our fixture list who would not be so charitable.
The weather was warm and sunny. The pitch looked flat, dry and hard, the outfield well-mown. South Wraxall won the toss and decided to bat. Short of medium pace, the Erratics depended heavily on David Brook and the South Wraxall offer, R Kerr-Bonner. They both bowled accurately, meanly, and unluckily. David’s bowling was particularly testing, an excellent 15 overs off the reel, with 2 for 36. The slower bowlers then livened things up, with Tristan Ward much better than his figures of 1 for 39 would suggest. He too was the victim of some sloppy fielding — with nine chances going to ground during the innings overall. Michael Evans and Chris Dunabin took two apiece as South Wraxall finally realised that they had to quicken the pace, but it was left to an inspired decision by skipper Bill Bush to bowl one over himself that really lifted their total to respectability. 151 for 6, an excellent tea and a declaration.
SOUTH WRAXALL — batting
1   c & b b Evans 46
2   b Brook 2
3   b Ward 20
4   b Brook 8
5   lbw b Evans 17
6   not out 8
7   b Dunabin 5
8   b Dunabin 23
9   not out 2
10  
151 for 7 dec
Fall of wickets: 1–7, 2–43, 3–72, 4–106, 5–106, 6–116, 7–149

LONDON ERRATICS — bowling
Brook 15 2 36 2
Kerr-Bonner 7 2 13 0
Ward 10 0 39 1
Evans 3 0 20 2
Dunabin 2 0 21 2
Bush 1 0 19 0
Our special correspondent writes:
152 to win in an hour + 20 overs, but only eight batsman to get the runs. Chris and Kerr-Bonner tried to get on with but got out quickly, to be joined even more rapidly by the cavalier Michael. Nasir Khawaja and Tristan stopped the collapse, never got too far behind the rate, and built steadily. Both found the boundary with neatly clipped shots square and even a couple of drives from Nasir on a pitch of slow but uneven bounce, but it was the quick ones and twos that really kept things going.
Then another mini-collapse. Having put on a serene 89 with Nasir, Tristan looked to be unnecessarily impatient and got out LBW. Simon Davie settled in, giving Nasir a lot of strike, only to see Nasir give catching practice to gully immediately after a break.
David looked good in defence, but the burden of expectation now shifted to Simon. The opening bowler was back on, as miserly as at the start and more risks had to be taken. A miscue to leg and Simon was caught at mid-wicket. Last pair at the wicket, 9 runs still needed, 15 balls left. A Bill lean on a leg stump ball ran for 4 and eased the pressure with two overs to go, but David faced a testing penultimate over and could only find the field. So 5 needed from the last over. A Bill waft to square leg could have been caught if the field had been in but instead yielded 2. A dot ball, then a wide ran for two byes, and the match was won with 3 balls remaining.
Good cheer all round, and then off to a pub with properly warm beer. Perfect. Book now for South Wraxall 2004.  (BB)
LONDON ERRATICS — batting 4s  6s 
Dunabin caught 4 1   
Kerr-Bonner bowled 5    
Khawaja caught 58 6   
Evans caught 3    
Ward lbw 30 2   
† Davie caught 13 1   
Brook NOT OUT  6    
* Bush NOT OUT  6 1   
152 for 6
Fall of wickets:  1–12, 2–12, 3–16, 4–105, 5–134, 6–143
Erratics won by 1 wicket
2003 Season
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