On Tuesday 2nd July, the midweek Philanderers gathered once again at Babraham to take on the ancient might of St Giles. With a seemingly perfect blend of youthful enthusiasm and experienced campaigners what could possibly go wrong?
Well, most things it transpired.
Having won the toss, Sir George elected to bat and oversaw Ben Jakes 'lobs' start with a wicket maiden. The top order, after further struggles against all the bowlers, whether it was the Sober-esq overseas player or the 'girl' (the Fuhrer nearly fainted on witnessing this gender development) subsided to 45-5. Sally Phelps did not snare a Philly, either cricketing or otherwise but returned figures of 3-0-8-0.
Next came the Phillies only successful period as newcomers Will Faulkner 30 (4 x4s) and James Tilbury 37* (2 x6s, 3 x4s) smashed some impressive boundaries in a 48 run stand in 5 overs. However, a final total at the end of 20 overs of 121-8 seemed somewhat under par, probably not helped by the elders efforts of a total of 16 runs for 4 dismissals.
We didn't see the young lady bat (or the South African 'again', thank God) but we did see 6 others, mostly thanks to St Giles batters decision to retire at 27 (slightly odd number), having taken their runs mostly off the academy bowlers, who combined for figures of 12-0-96-2. The first wicket not falling until well over a 100 was on the board as they strode to victory, taking the chase as batting practice despite Freddie Perkins grabbing the two late wickets. John Burnett was unlucky to go wicketless in his spell (4-0-15-0) but more so the 'Heggertron' (3-0-7-0) with three dropped catches. It's probably fair to point out two were 'regulation' caught and bowled chances. However Heggers fielding highlight of the day was a brave, yet fruitless, chase to cut off a boundary, only to discover he had left insufficient braking distance to the fence for his flat soled 'pumps'. Having given up the ball, his attempt to dig his heels in failed horribly as they skidded, sending him airborne only to land heavily on his backside. Oh how the Fuhrer laughed, how he remained upright is a mystery as he cackled, audibly for several minutes and it even took his mind temporarily off the disappointment of an 8 wicket defeat. Only temporarily.
Full marks to Geoff Miller and the Fuhrer for attending the George post match with me, black marks for everybody else....
David Pimblett
'The disappointed team trudging from the field at the end of play'