MATCH REPORT by Horizontal Laureate, Tom Bloor

A decidedly autumnal September morning (the game was due to start at the early hour of 12:30) saw Jack o’ Diamonds C.C. come to Winchmore Hill for a return fixture against the Horizontals. The weather (bright but fresh) put Horizontal’s talented all-rounder Amit Shanker in mind of wintertime in India, which is when cricket is played on the sub-continent. If it was this pleasant reminder of the land of his fathers that inspired Amit to his achievements with the bat that day, then the Horizontals might do well to schedule more games for the tail-end of the season.

Batting first in this 35 over game, the home side got off to a slow start. Some accurate bowling from the Diamonds kept runs to a minimum. Richard Burgess made a respectable 18 before being caught off the bowling of Gowers, but three other wickets fell for not very much at all. However it was the 5th wicket partnership of 122 between Amit at 3 and Glenn Winteringham, batting at 5, which really turned the tables. Amit paced his innings beautifully, building from a relatively circumspect beginning to a thunderous finale. And his subtle artistry found a perfect counterpoint in Glenn, whose attacking innings demonstrated once again what can be achieved with a fine-tuned eye and the ability to hit the ball very hard indeed. Glenn made a quick-fire 39 not out, including five 4s and one massive 6, while Amit crowned another good season with what is likely to be the only Horizontals century of the year, ending undefeated on 110, with the total standing at 191 for 4. Amit’s scorecard included sixteen 4s and a 6.

After tea, Craig Murray, the Horizontals captain, decided to open the bowling himself, in tandem with Arif Qawi. Arif toiled unrewarded at first, and it was the captain’s guileful spin that proved the undoing of the Diamond’s top order. Craig bagged a brace in what he later suggested should be described as a breathtaking opening spell. Short run ups and artfully floated deliveries continued to be the order of the day. Rob McLeud’s left arm spin saw off the number 3 batsman via a wonderful low catch taken by wicket-keeper Pete Fairbairn, which led Barry Needham to comment that he’d “never seen a man so old get down so quickly.” It was Rob who then provided the safe hands, pouching a catch to give Arif a deserved wicket. Meanwhile Roger Skipper’s spell of 7 overs took the club founder member to within three wickets of his four hundredth for the Horizontals when he clean bowled the Diamonds’ batsman number five. Amit then came on to produce a highly economical spell. His 6 overs went for only 4 runs, and earned him a wicket to boot. The final over was bowled by Aarif Saiyed. With his third legitimate delivery he took the wicket of Gower, caught by Barry. By a curious chance it was this same Gower who’d also been Aarif’s singular victim on the previous occasion the two teams met, back in July, and Aarif hadn’t bowled again since. Thus does the game of cricket so often remind us, all men are merely the playthings of fortune.

The Diamonds made 119 runs in their 35 overs, for the loss of 7 wickets. This left the Horizontals victors by 72 runs. However, when the last of the home side left the bar to journey home, under the yellow rays of what Craig described as “a killing moon”, it was the locally based Jack O’ Diamonds who remained in occupation of the bar.