MATCH REPORT by Tom Bloor

This match was played between two cricket teams, but it was perhaps the third element involved, the pitch, that was to have an even greater role than usual in deciding matters. The fixture was played at the council facility on the Great Cambridge Road, barely a mile from the Horizontals current home at the Paulin Ground. Jack o’ Diamonds C.C. formed two years ago and are playing their first home fixtures here this season. As a result they were almost unfamiliar with the vagaries of the pitch as the visiting team. In the drizzly conditions that prevailed throughout the game, successive good length deliveries landing in the same spot were as likely to leap up to head-height as they were to skid along at ankle-level. But all that was still to come when, having won the toss, Craig Murray, captaining the Horizontals, elected to bat.

Arif Qawi opened with Matt Webster, and was an early victim of the pitch, the ball rearing up to strike him on the shoulder before ricocheting unluckily onto the stumps. Richard Burgess joined Matt in the middle and together they forged a partnership worth 58, providing a vital platform for the batting side. As the weather conditions improved slightly, the batsmen began to hit out. Inevitably, given the pitch, more wickets fell, with Richard out for 20 and Matt top scoring with 35. Amit Shanker made a sparkling 31 runs, timing the ball so well that even a shot that looked like a defensive push could race to the boundary for 4. Stivin Borden and Chris Wilcock contributed important cameo performances with the bat, as did Imran Majid, playing a first game for the Horizontals. Barry Needham was 15 not out, and provided the backbone of the lower order, along with Craig, who entered the fray at number 9 to push the score along. He was out caught within sight of the final two overs of the allotted 35, whereupon Tom Bloor joined Barry to help see the batting side home. The Horizontals made a total of 165 for 9.

There was a downpour during the tea interval, and conditions were still very damp when play resumed. Amit and Matt opened the bowling. The results were startling. Within eight overs the Jack o’Diamonds had been reduced to 6 for 7, Matt taking 4 and Amit 2 wickets. The pitch had once again played a part, but the opening bowlers exploited its wild and disorderly nature very well. Aarif Saiyed came on to bowl his first spell for the Horizontals. He was rewarded with a wicket in his second over. The sun came out and a rainbow arched over the ground to mark the occasion. Next, Barry demonstrated the mystical powers of the high, looping delivery, which bamboozled the batsman into guiding the ball onto his stumps. With the rain clearing up at last, the Jack o’ Diamonds lower order set about building a respectable total, though the result of the match was never really in question. Craig took a wicket with a ball caught by Stivin behind the stumps and Arif Q eventually finished things off. After two catches had been put down off his bowling, a third chance went to Barry, who very seldom misses anything, and to Arif’s relief he did not break the habit on this occasion. The Horizontals won the match by 64 runs.