Wenvoe (175-9) beat St Peter's (117) by 58 runs
We can make short work of the display in the field. It was exceptional for the first 30 overs: tight bowling from all, three wickets for Tony Lewis and Matt Sweeney (now leading wicket-taker for the season) and some sharp work in the field, not least Paul's brilliant catch in the deep (marred only by his equally breathtaking spill a few overs later, Paul distracted by Ian's meandering walk across his eye-line).
With Wenvoe little more than 70-6, there was a real opportunity to restrict the opposition to a total that even the Rocks' mis-firing batting line-up should have managed to knock off.
As it was, an impressive counter-attack exposed cracks in the fielding for the first time this season and, having conceded 175, there was an unspoken sense that this was a total some thirty runs beyond our current scope.
And so it proved, as a series of inexplicable swipes left the Rocks at an embarrassing 13-6, when Joe, batting down the order, joined Tony in the fifth (yes, fifth) over. At which point, the side stumbled across a batting truth universally known to all cricketers except, it seems, us. Namely, put your pads on, walk to the crease, take your guard and then spend at least five or six overs playing a few forward defensives, leaving anything wide and playing yourself in. Do that and, surprise, surprise, you find it suddenly becomes a little easier to score runs.
After a number of circumspect overs, not least against Wenvoe's youthful off-spinner, Tony opened his shoulders, confident in the knowledge that Joe had settled into Chris Tavare mode and was happy playing dead-bat defensive shots to half-volleys, long-hops and slow full-tosses on the leg-stump. One on-driven six, in particular, appeared to crack the sound-barrier. His 66 was by some distance the batting highlight of the season so far.
A partnership of five runs doubled to ten to twenty to forty and, by the time it reached ninety, Wenvoe's fielders had gone quiet. However, with the pair having got the run rate down to a little over five an over, the game was up when Joe played a half-drive, half-prod and lost his off-stump. The final wickets fell swiftly.
Those who had remained chewed things over in the pub. Despite the humiliating nature of the defeat, some pride had been restored at the end and there was optimistic talk of how to ensure this club's long-term future. But that, as they say, is for another day.
