After the last over excitement the previous week against
Pimlico Strollers a stronger Horizontals attack (on paper at least)
took to the Winchmore Hill pitch against a Taverners side that had
given us a fair bit of trouble over the last couple of years. The
day was fresh but warm and the Taverners won the toss and elected
to bat on a new pitch under blue skies just before 1pm. The Captains
agreed 40 overs a side, the bowlers limited to 8 each
Amit Shanker and David Scally took the new ball for the Horizontals
and bowled tidily, restricting the Taverners to 2 an over before
Scally struck (in his opening spell!), bowling one of the Taverners
openers. There was a little more in the pitch than usual for the
bowlers, but not enough to explain the events of the next 20 overs
or so.
Murray was brought on to replace Scally at the road end for the
12th over with the Taverners on 23-1. At the end of his first over
they were 24-3, with opener Simon (?) bowled of his pads from the
first ball before big hitting Dave Terry was persuaded to lob a
full toss outside offstump to Amit at mid-off from the penultimate
delivery. What were those clowns with the new ball playing at?
Scoreboard pressure then exerted vice-like grip as the Taverners
batsmen tried desperately to raise the run rate. Unfortunately for
them neither Murray nor Winteringham, replacing Shanker at the pavilion
end gave them anything to hit and the innings continued to progress
slowly. As the pressure mounted wickets inevitably fell as Murray
cramped Steve Parr for room forcing him to chop on, before repeating
the full toss-mid-off trick to dispose of the Taverners number four.
Taverners captain Andy James resisted for a while, but in Murray’s
8th and final over AJ took a single from the first ball exposing
the Taverners number seven to a by now rampantly confident bowler.
Murray finally got one to turn and collected his fifth wicket, just
before the enforced end of his spell (5-2-18-5). Meanwhile Matt
Webster replaced the unfortunate Glenn at the road end and blasted
out the Taverners tail, clean bowling four batsmen in less than
5 overs to leave the sorry Railwaymen rolled over for 79, in just
under 30 overs.
Tea was taken, and a somewhat bemused Murray, unused to this level
of success, wandered off to the nearest cashpoint. Skipper Willcock
instructed Mike Herlihy and Richard Burgess to get their pads on,
and the Horizontals run chase began, whilst spectators flocked from
the bar to see if Richard could bat his average. Progress was steady,
but with so long to attain such a small target, the result was never
in doubt. Smiler demonstrated his usual repertoire of stylish strokes
all round the wicket, as Richard homed in on the magic number (14).
Once the big lad was gone, there was time for Barry to play and
miss at a few before being caught and bowled. The Skipper himself
came in, and he and Mike brought the scores level without any alarms
before the former Sundowner smacked four through mid-on to give
the ‘Zontals victory by 8 wickets. In the bar by half-past
five!
Murray, ostensibly not drinking during September, phoned home to
negotiate a temporary truce before, unfamiliar with the form, buying
2 jugs to celebrate.
The usual hilarious nonsense was the bantered, the pick of which
being Murray describing himself, Amit, Scally and Webster as the
“Champions League “ bowlers before Richard informed
a shocked barroom that at University he had resembled no one so
much as David Bowie during his Thin White Duke period (what happened
Rich? Did you change the laws of Physics?)
Finally everyone dragged themselves away from the England women’s
football (with one ‘Zontal fervently wishing the players would
“lez up” when celebrating a goal) and wended our weary,
beery ways home, looking forward to the last home game against West
XI. And Murray eagerly anticipating spending the working week talking
through his “Michelle” in tortuous detail, to anyone
foolish enough to ask.
