MCS Dynamos
24/06/21 18:01 Filed in: 2021 Season
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MCS Dynamos v Liverpool Bar
At 5:45pm, 15 minutes before the first ball was due to be bowled, I surveyed the conditions outside. They were less than ideal for cricket. The rain was continuous, puddles were growing and light was fading. Undeterred I soldiered on to Aigburth.
I was not the only one wondering whether the match would be effective. Harthan’s drive to the pitch was spent on the edge of his seat. Every ping of his mobile phone could have been the news of an aborted fixture but nevertheless he too soldiered on to Aigburth.
On arrival it was obvious that the wicket was in a state of disrepair. The chances of Brownson maintaining any balance over the wicket looked slim due to significant erosion of the bowling crease. Furthermore, the backdrop of people milling about the clubhouse set against the grey skies evoked themes found typically in a John Betjemen poem.
Despite the inclement weather and after a short delay, the coin was tossed and Bar decided to bat first.
Harthan and Clarke are an opening partnership worthy of significant praise. Not only do they take the fight to the opposition, but it feels at times as though they are sparring each other. Runs came like water out of an old tap - slow to begin with, followed by a continuous stream. The Dynamo bowling attack were no mugs I should add. Wides were at a premium and the chances to score boundaries were hamstrung by the wet outfield.
Clarke made 53 with relative ease allowing the patient Reeve into the mix. An enterprising innings came to a premature end. Up stepped Baxter. I had never played with Baxter before. People had waxed lyrical about his ability with the bat and I was excited to see some flair. My chance was scuppered on this occasion. Whilst I was in the changing rooms padding up I caught wind of a wicket. Baxter lasted merely 1 ball before he retreated to the clubhouse for a pint of pilsner.
No sooner had I put my gloves on before I witnessed Harthan heave one to cow corner for a maximum which tallied him over 50 and to join Clarke and the others. Runs dried up at this stage. The Dynamo bowling attack remained disciplined and nothing was put away with real authority. In essence, it was a limp to 140 runs. A decent total but it kept Dynamo firmly in the contest.
A contest which was made much less challenging for the opposition after just 2 balls. Brownson (perhaps a little side-tracked about his 2-day trip to Doncaster without a brief) came steaming into the death trap (sorry, I mean the wicket). His first two deliveries went for 12 runs. Harthan stood gingerly behind the stumps as the ball hooped around him disappearing into the weeds behind the boundary cones.
With Brownson looking a shadow of his former self, the bowling attack needed a new wicket taker, a true strike bowler. Step up man of the match - the Wigan Glen McGrath – Adrian Rogers. Figures of 4/19 are exceptional at this level. The wickets he took were proper dismissals and included a nice catch on the boundary by Austin. Rogers also bowled a man around his pads, leaving the batsman resembling a folded deckchair as he heard the death rattle. Rodgers also took a caught and bowled which was the cherry on top of the icing on top of the cake.
I reserve this paragraph for a very special mention. Austin, whose bowling has been a mixed bag this season I think it fair to say came up with the rarest of birds, the pinnacle of LMS, a lesser spotted maiden. A truly awesome over of bowling which sapped and suffocated the life out of the opposition.
It is perhaps not unsurprising that the over after the maiden produced two wickets by yours truly. The first involved the thinnest of snicks, caught smartly by Harthan. A few balls later and with my tail up, I swung one into the right hander – the bails flew high and the game was almost up, one wicket required.
Baxter demonstrated some awful slip fielding . Not in the cordon as one might expect in this game, but in the outfield where he fell consummately onto his bottom (on numerous occasions). Despite that slapstick, despite some misfields and despite the wides on offer from Bar (sorry Clarke), the win was finally sealed in the penultimate over when Dynamo’s last man standing failed to get back to his crease. A satisfying 26 run victory.