Westow and Ovington Reports
Westow break first team run
On a splendid afternoon, the first team travelled to Westow to take on the best their village could offer. Things started off quite well with Jim “sideshow” McCullogh bowling an accurate spell, without the luck of taking a wicket. Mark Grewer ably supported him, taking wickets at the other end. After a short spell from Pete Wood, Prateek bowled his first spell for the first team, with some beautiful skiddy seam bowling, taking a couple of well-deserved wickets in the process. After an eventful spell from Albert Hall (for eventful, read “expensive”), Chris Copeland came on to bowl one of his best spells for the club in a long while, taking 3 wickets in the process. Woody returned for a second spell to help finish Westow off for a not-ungettable 166.
An almighty tea followed. See the separate report below on the Westow tea…
The batting reply started well, with Messrs Grewer and Copeland getting some quick runs in reply. After Mr Copeland was bowled, Prateek came to the crease and began well, with both putting on some good runs until Mark Grewer departed. A mini-collapse followed, with Pete Wood getting out to an excellent catch, followed not long after by Mis Slezak and Rob Dale. John McCullogh then joined Prateek at the crease, and started positively until a mix-up led to Prateek’s unfortunate run-out after a classy innings of 20. Mr McCullogh followed shortly after, leaving Jon Martin and Dr Geoff Seavers at the crease. The two had the beginnings of a useful partnership, with Jon hitting some beautiful shots. However, both followed in quick succession, leaving “The Sting in the tail” (Albert and Sideshow) to try and get an elusive batting point. This wasn’t to be though, with the team bowled out for less than 70.
Askham IIs make it 4 out of 4
Ovington won the toss and with the sun shining elected to bat. They made good progress reaching 78-0 at the half way stage, aided by some sloppy fielding! There certainly had been little evidence of what was to follow. Skipper Mike Hodgkinson, returning for a second spell, ripped through the Ovington order taking 8 wickets for 4 runs from 5 overs, finishing with 8-15 off 10. The collapse was spectacular with Ovington reaching just 108 and using just 30 overs. Aussie Mark Davies made his Askham debut taking a wicket, with some ‘raw’ bowling, two catches and a run out. The ever reliable Paul Thornton also took two catches.
The Askham response can best be described as leisurely. When Colin was out in the 16th over for 4 with the score on 21 it looked as though we may have left things a little late. However, Mike Bains, assisted by Scooby (23) and Mike Clark (20*), timed the charge to perfection finishing on 50* with 15 balls to spare. Good to see Mike Clark breaking his run of ducks with a confident innings.
The tea at Westow deserves an extra special mention. Served at their village hall, the spread was impressive, with the highlight being some home-made cream and jam scones. Though some elements (such as the thick crust pizza) were controversial, the consensus was that the tea was excellent, even getting the rare thumbs up from the vegetarian contingent of the team.
The tea itself was almost overshadowed by the intellectual debate the team had at the time. It is difficult to capture this entirely in a report, but here is a summary of some of the topics:
- A long discussion about the definition of a fruit/vegetable. A number of suggestions were made – the traditional “grow in the ground” theory, the “if it’s in a fruit bowl, then it’s fruit” theory (C Copeland), the “if it’s sweet then it’s a fruit, sour it’s a vegetable” theory (Sideshow), and the “What about melons?” conundrum (R Dale).
- A discussion of the status of both strawberries and apples as fruit. Pete Wood enlightened the team that the majority of an apple as we know it was actually mostly “false fruit”. This was a shock in many quarters, particularly as nobody knew what “false fruit” was.
- A very intellectual discussion about the Russian army in World War Two. Rob led this discussion, though Woody provided the (unfortunately unprintable) quote of the day in this area.
- Further, less high-brow discussions. Again unprintable, but nevertheless entertaining.