Cricketers’ Club of London vs Blenheim Park at Combe CC
Blenheim Park 101 all out, CCL 102 for 1
N.Thathapudi 32no, S.Chowdhury 44no, B.Bickley 3 for 23, D.Friend 3 for 4, S.Shah 2 for 4.

Blenheim’s home pitch being inundated with politicos in the shape of the European
Political Community meeting, and the airspace above Oxfordshire replete with private
jets, this fixture was moved to Combe, a quintessentially English village with a
quintessentially English cricket club. With open fields on the offside, a church at deep
third and housing to leg – including one which appeared to be hosting a wedding, if
the applause was anything to go by – Combe is a picturesque ground in a county full
of them. The weather was warm and muggy day, it was no surprise that on winning the
game’s first set-piece, the toss, Blenheim’s captain uttered the immortal words ‘I think
we’ll have a bat’.
And so, having fortified themselves with a picnic and maybe the odd glass of rosé, the
Cricketers trooped onto the field and formed up in battle array. The first salvos were
fired by Malik and Shiv, who managed to rustle up three maidens in the first five
overs, kept Blenheim’s opening pair Boardman and Cox quiet enough as they ran
through their allotted seven at the discount rate of 9 runs (Malik) and 23 (Shiv). The
track added its own tuppence ha’penny worth to the conversation, the Church end
wont to rear up off a length like a lay member’s indignance while the pavilion
delighted in staying as low as a Sunday’s take from the collection plate. By the time
cap’n Ben brought himself on – much to the delight of all and sundry, as seeing him
bowl is almost as rare as seeing him bat – Blenheim were somewhat behind the rate at
42 without loss, much of this being down to some excellent fielding by the Cricketers,
none of whom failed to rise to the occasion.
Generously bowling at the batsmen’s legs while leaving the quadrant behind square
unprotected, Blenheim began a little acceleration before Dan Friend castled Cox for
what had been a somewhat torturous 12 runs. This brought Blenheim’s keeper, Jacobs,
to the crease. It was certainly time to up the rate, and a rash of boundaries looked to be
doing the job until Dan pouched Boardman off Ben’s bowling for 23 – competing in
acrobatical manner with Shripal to take the catch – leaving Blenheim at 67 for 2 while
Shiv caught the enigmatically monikered ‘S’ for a duck off Dan: 71 for 3. Next to go
was Jacobs, who was first softened up by the immortal line ‘does your bat have your
postcode on it in case you get lost’ (n.b. This may have been fictionalised for dramatic
purposes) and promptly feathered an edge to his opposite number who gratefully
gobbled up the chance – in deference to union rules, Jacobs did not force the umpire to
make a decision, walking off immediately with a useful 14 to his name. 73 for 4.
Blenheim’s score advanced to 75, but had done so for the loss of much of their batting
firepower. Things took a turn for the worse when Olly Boardman holed out to Shiv off
Ben two balls later. 75 for 5. Talk about getting your ducks in a row. Ingram promptly
lost his off stump playing immaculately down the wrong line to a ball that cut back (75
for 6), giving Dan his third wicket and the rather splendid figures of 4 overs, 3
maidens, 3 wickets, 4 runs. A minor fightback by Easterbrook and Spearman (J) was
ended when the former was bowled by Ben Two (or Brightman, as the scorebook
reads) for 5 (89 for 7). Spearman (J.) applied himself to the task at hand, cracking
some lusty blows, including one which almost removed Shiv’s right hand at mid on,
but the tail couldn’t stay with him, as McCracken was pouched by Ben two off Shripal
leaving Blenheim on 95 for 8. To be fair, they were lucky to have got those extra 6
runs as some delightfully village fielding led to four buzzers instead of the rather
gentle run out that ought to have ensued, but no names shall pass this scribe’s
keyboard. When Blenheim captain West fell LBW (much to his chagrin) to Shripal,
the innings was almost done at 101 for 9. Easterbrook attempted to place the ball into
orbit but was well caught off his own bowling by Ben two for a creditable 11 and it
was all over. The first half, that is.
While extras may have been comfortably Blenheim’s highest scorer at 35, it must be
noted that, on a wicket with a tendency to spit at one end – forcing yours truly to
fingertip one ball Pickford-esque over Smudger’s head at first slip rather than allowing
it to impact upon his good looks – and skip through extremely low at the other when
the cover behind square was perhaps less fleet of foot than might have been desired –
the Cricketers might well have shipped twenty or thirty more had it not been for some
sharp legside takery behind the stumps. In general, our fielding, not least from the
youngsters (including a great effort diving low to his right by Tristan), was on point.
After a suitably nourishing tea, the sun came out as Smudger and Neal went out to bat,
the target of 102 considerably higher than our last score against Blenheim. Easterbrook
and Spearman (J.) began Blenheim’s fightback with excellent, tight bowling, and if
CCL’s opening attack had operated without luck being on their side as edges went to
ground and batsmen played and missed, this was even more apparent for Blenheim’s
benighted pair. Nothing quite went their way, and their keeper’s best efforts weren’t
quite enough to penetrate the CCL openers’ defences. By the eighth over just two
fours had been scored – one a delightful square drive by Smudger – and with the score
on 21, Smudger unleashed two sumptuous cover drives, accompanying the second with
a fist pump of victory. Naturally, he was bowled next ball, for a creditable 24. But the
dye had been cast, and Shiv joined Neal at the crease. By the twentieth over it was all,
well ... over. Neal 34 not out and Shiv 44 not out. The Cricketers victorious.
Cricket is a funny old game. Sometimes you travel for three hours each way and
barely feature. But you do it for the love of the game and for your team mates. They
also serve who only stand and wait.