Game 2 v Thrapston II

St Michael's Cricket Club

Opponent	:	Thrapston II
Date	:	3 May 2008
Venue	:	Brixworth
Result	:	Won by 13 runs

Innings of: St Michael's

1	S Tinant	ct Bettles	b Morson	34	Bowling	O	M	R	W
2	D Harrison	ct Johnson	b Williams	5	P Morson	13	3	37	3
3	G Mayes		b Williams	13	F Williams	11	4	38	3
4	A Bartley		b Williams	41	R Gavin	10	1	44	0
5	M Collier		b Morson	19	I Johnson	4	1	11	0
6	G Lambert		b Morson	6	M Dowling	7	1	19	0
7	I Geddes		run out	6
8	M Lowe			7
9	T Marlow			7
	Overs	45	Extras	19
	Wickets	7	Total	157

Innings of: Thrapston II

1	L Bettles	ct Bartley	ct Lambert	1	Bowling	O	M	R	W
2	A Garton	ct Swann	b Baker	16	M Baker	10	0	34	2
3	R Jeffrey	ct Collier	b Baker	4	G Lambert	8	2	23	1
4	A Rowan		run out (Lambert)	66	T Marlow	13	3	28	1
5	F Williams	ct Harrison	b Geddes	18	I Geddes	4	0	22	1
6	M Borrett	ct Geddes	b Marlow	3	M Swann	10	3	28	2
7	P Morson	LBW	b Swann	1
8	P Spicker		not out	13
9	I Johnson		b Swann	15
10	R Gavin		not out	0
11	M Dowling
	Overs	45	Extras	7
	Wickets	8	Total	144

A respected spectator writes.....

St Michael's recorded their first win in Division 9 with a hard fought battle against a competitive Thrapston side. In the continued absence of skipper Will Kingston, stand in leader Ian 'Steve Sidwell' Geddes lost the toss and St Michael's were invited to take first use of the Brixworth track. Dale Harrison, who would later make a significant contribution (he swept the away changing room after the game) was first to return to the clubhouse, soon followed by Graham Mayes who was out to one of the worst shots you will ever see. Oh dear.

Simeon Tinant and Alan Bartley repaired the damage with a stand of 23 in as many overs, taking the home team to 67 before Tinant was caught low down for a platform building 34. Bartley was then joined at the crease by Matthew 'Kitty' Collier for a stand of 59 to up the tempo. Big Al's 'block, block, miss, slog' approach was perfectly balanced alongside Collier's 'whip every delivery to leg irrespective of where it's pitching' approach, which confused not only the Thrapston players but his team mates as well. Late cameos from Geddes, Lowe, Lambert and Marlow took the Michael's to 157, 30 short in the eyes of the some of the supporters who had turned up to cheer on the lads.

After an inspirational team talk from Captain Marvel Geddes (C'mon on lads. we've got to put the effort in!!!) Rambo Lambo made the immediate breakthrough having the dangerous Bettles caught by Big Al at mid-off. 'Gilly' Baker snared the next two, with pensioner Malc Swann taking a sensational one handed slip catch to dismiss Garton.

However Thrapston looked to be in control in the middle of the innings. That was until the introduction of Tom 'Philip' Marlow proved to be the turning point of the game. The great big lump bowled through to take 1-28 in 13 breathtaking overs, with a mixture of long hops, rank long hops, interspersed with the odd unplayable delivery. At the other end, Capt Marvel kept Thrapston interested with second helping of tea, a plethora of leg side buffet for the visiting batters to tuck into. One lollipop resulted in a wicket, (God knows how!!), before he finally stepped aside for the timeless Malc Swann. The Help the Aged volunteer bowled a superb 10 overs on the bounce to take 2-28, a combination of slower balls and even slower balls, being too slow for the Thrappy batters to clobber away. Lambert's direct run out of Rowan turned the game in the home side's favour and Baker returned to finish the job off.

The players rejoiced by downing a beer or five at their new Brixworth home. Capt Marvel Geddes won the football card with a cheeky punt on Hibernian, before retiring to make plans re next week's home game against Wicken II

The adventure continues...