To Wivenhoe Town Cricket Club! …on Saturday afternoon. One week it’s the La-de-da lifestyle down at The Oval, and then the next it’s back to the parched barren patch that wouldn’t look out of place as a burnt-off straw field from a farmer.
Actually that’s a little unfair on the ground staff at Wivenhoe. The wickets have somehow managed to maintain their greenness. It’s just that the outfield resembles grated cheddar.
We rocked up fashionably late as ever. We weren’t alone. We’ve learned over recent months that the real action begins around 3 pm when the socialites start to arrive at Rectory Road.
Abberton with the opposition for the second eleven this afternoon. A quick squint at the scoreboard and we could see that the visitors were on 123 for three. A running debate throughout the afternoon was how many overs are played in this format.
Having taken up a position in the sun as a hard bastard, my guard was let drop less than ten minutes later as I retreated to the shade. Phew! What a scorcher! etc.
The wicket was on the other side of the ground. There was quite a large gap between our seats and the boundary rope closest to us. I still managed to have a front row seat for a stunning catch by one of the Wivenhoe fielders.
Some big hitting followed from Abberton. I couldn’t work out if this was a decent batting performance or equally a decent bowling performance, as Wivenhoe seemed to match them with wickets falling.
The opportunity of a lost ball over in the allotment end led to early drinks being taken. There was also a change of Umpires. Like I said it was bloody hot work out there.
We had a good chance at the drinks break to see who was playing for the second eleven. There were a couple of very, very young kids holding their own in the side. These could possibly have been twins.
It was disappointing to hear some of the other banter around on the boundary being all about football. It was even more disappointing that it was bloody West Ham.
The wickets started to fall at a rapid pace after the drinks break. One Abberton player in particular stormed back in anger to the pavilion.
Abberton reached Gawd knows what, with 44 overs on board. It might have been around 251. This still didn’t settle the question about how many overs were being played. They either just fell short of their 45 allotted overs, or were back in the hutch early if it was 50. I suspect the former.
I had a bar trip at the break. I was able to see the tempting teas on offer for the players. The spread looked amazing. It would probably be worth playing cricket for the afternoon teas alone.
A brief turnaround and out came Abberton to the field. It was excessive seeing some of their pace bowlers with the white war paint on.
The two Wivenhoe openers were slow and steady with their response. The aim appeared to be to keep the partnership and then accelerate the run as the overs continued.
Back at base I had set my telly to record the crappy MI London match in the horrid Hundred. I was almost half relieved when some kid sitting next to me scrolled his phone and shouted out the score. That will save a job of catching up with that crap later.
With around ten overs bowled by Abberton, sadly I had to make my excuses and head home for some work. Another decent afternoon watching some proper cricket.
