Chester Bar 2013
23/09/20 12:59 Filed in: 2013
This fixture has a long history of bad-tempered complaints about umpiring decisions by Welsh Judges, over-talented ringers being fielded by the opposition, ball tampering, corruption and spot-fixing.
But now there is a new dawn, Chester is part of the Northern Circuit and we are all friends. Which is just as well, as the Liverpool team was made up of 5 barristers, a son, a brother-in-law and 4 ringers sportingly accumulated by Chester captain Julian Shaw in the pub the night before. Although the accumulation of ringers was sporting, as things turned out their allocation amongst the teams was more than sporting.
The five barristers from Liverpool had put arrangements in place; a combination of bridging loans, remortgages and pay-day loans meant that all were ready for whatever match fee came their way. Bitter experience told them that the sumptuous banquet between innings normally came with a financial sting at the end of the match.
Worse was to come, as Harthan announced on arrival that he required the full name, date of birth, career statistics and inside leg measurements of each player for his new iPad scoring App. After new-pads-raised-match-fee-gate earlier in the season, there was considerable trepidation amongst his troops as he unfurled his new bat, as yet unadorned with his top scores over the ages.
So to the game itself; Liverpool won the toss and batted. Gosling, obviously flummoxed by Barrow CCs’ new sightscreens, missed his first ball and meandered back to the pavilion to complete his Primary Club application form. In came Ringer number 1, Bart Beswick. “I don’t play much, but let’s see how it goes” he confided to his batting partner. Twenty-five balls or so later he was back in the pavilion having made a quick fifty and retired. The revenge of the ringers then took place, as Chester’s Dave McClements spun his way through a string of Liverpool batsmen, his dismissal of Gorton the most memorable; first ball he fumbled at a leg-break outside off-stump, next ball he left a googly which demolished his stumps. Not liking what he saw from the non-striker’s end, Power then cynically manufactured a period of ten overs or so when he barely faced a ball to save his precious (only to him) wicket.
Liverpool needed a rethink, and it came with the stunning addition of Bill Prior to the pantheon of great umpiring performances in this fixture. Standing about 18” wide of the return crease at he bowler’s end, his view made it nigh-on impossible to give any batsmen out and he was true to that cause.
Will White swatted a few, the Skipper’s new bat added a quick 35 and Power meandered to 50, bringing back the Tavaré taunts that have haunted his career. Liverpool, with another ringered 37 from Andy, had made it to a post-war record of 230 in 35 overs.
That left them 40 overs to bowl Chester out. Julian Shaw failed, scoring only 44 at the top of the order. Gosling gained his revenge, skittling out Williams at the other end, but back came McClements. There then followed a passage of thrilling cricket which did not require the intervention of any barrister. Beswick and Metcalf bowled full-paced at McClements and he rose to the challenge, swatting them all around the ground until on 49 he was caught by a stunning catch from Churchill, another triumph of the ringer. This was hugely important as it mean that the batsman was denied the chance to retire at 50 and come in at the end to win the game. Prior took a quick three wickets (without the help of his Dad’s umpiring), Jebb came in and smote a few, mostly from the 14-year-old son, but his Dad came on to bowl to take revenge and Gorton caught him out to gain his and secure the win for Liverpool.
And so to the match fee. Given the fine spread of sandwiches at tea, the plentiful supply of beer and the excellent barbeque at the end, it turned out to be very modest indeed. Luckily there was no technology supplement as Harthan hadn’t done his homework and couldn’t work the App. That will come next match.
But now there is a new dawn, Chester is part of the Northern Circuit and we are all friends. Which is just as well, as the Liverpool team was made up of 5 barristers, a son, a brother-in-law and 4 ringers sportingly accumulated by Chester captain Julian Shaw in the pub the night before. Although the accumulation of ringers was sporting, as things turned out their allocation amongst the teams was more than sporting.
The five barristers from Liverpool had put arrangements in place; a combination of bridging loans, remortgages and pay-day loans meant that all were ready for whatever match fee came their way. Bitter experience told them that the sumptuous banquet between innings normally came with a financial sting at the end of the match.
Worse was to come, as Harthan announced on arrival that he required the full name, date of birth, career statistics and inside leg measurements of each player for his new iPad scoring App. After new-pads-raised-match-fee-gate earlier in the season, there was considerable trepidation amongst his troops as he unfurled his new bat, as yet unadorned with his top scores over the ages.
So to the game itself; Liverpool won the toss and batted. Gosling, obviously flummoxed by Barrow CCs’ new sightscreens, missed his first ball and meandered back to the pavilion to complete his Primary Club application form. In came Ringer number 1, Bart Beswick. “I don’t play much, but let’s see how it goes” he confided to his batting partner. Twenty-five balls or so later he was back in the pavilion having made a quick fifty and retired. The revenge of the ringers then took place, as Chester’s Dave McClements spun his way through a string of Liverpool batsmen, his dismissal of Gorton the most memorable; first ball he fumbled at a leg-break outside off-stump, next ball he left a googly which demolished his stumps. Not liking what he saw from the non-striker’s end, Power then cynically manufactured a period of ten overs or so when he barely faced a ball to save his precious (only to him) wicket.
Liverpool needed a rethink, and it came with the stunning addition of Bill Prior to the pantheon of great umpiring performances in this fixture. Standing about 18” wide of the return crease at he bowler’s end, his view made it nigh-on impossible to give any batsmen out and he was true to that cause.
Will White swatted a few, the Skipper’s new bat added a quick 35 and Power meandered to 50, bringing back the Tavaré taunts that have haunted his career. Liverpool, with another ringered 37 from Andy, had made it to a post-war record of 230 in 35 overs.
That left them 40 overs to bowl Chester out. Julian Shaw failed, scoring only 44 at the top of the order. Gosling gained his revenge, skittling out Williams at the other end, but back came McClements. There then followed a passage of thrilling cricket which did not require the intervention of any barrister. Beswick and Metcalf bowled full-paced at McClements and he rose to the challenge, swatting them all around the ground until on 49 he was caught by a stunning catch from Churchill, another triumph of the ringer. This was hugely important as it mean that the batsman was denied the chance to retire at 50 and come in at the end to win the game. Prior took a quick three wickets (without the help of his Dad’s umpiring), Jebb came in and smote a few, mostly from the 14-year-old son, but his Dad came on to bowl to take revenge and Gorton caught him out to gain his and secure the win for Liverpool.
And so to the match fee. Given the fine spread of sandwiches at tea, the plentiful supply of beer and the excellent barbeque at the end, it turned out to be very modest indeed. Luckily there was no technology supplement as Harthan hadn’t done his homework and couldn’t work the App. That will come next match.