{"id":546,"date":"2019-04-29T17:45:37","date_gmt":"2019-04-29T17:45:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rioteers.com\/?p=546"},"modified":"2019-04-29T18:13:30","modified_gmt":"2019-04-29T18:13:30","slug":"rioteers-cc-v-st-mary-bourne-cc-28-april-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioteers.net\/?p=546","title":{"rendered":"Rioteers CC v St Mary Bourne CC, 28 April 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The afternoon got off to a fair start with as many as 10 of\nthe 11-man squad present for duty at the allotted time.  The 11th<\/sup> man having to rest after\nan over strenuous warm-up the evening before. \nThere was an important introduction to be made as the team was\nintroduced to Sam Cook who was making his debut after a lifelong ambition to\nrepresent the Rioteers \u2013 he had travelled 12,000 miles to ensure his dream\ncould be realised.  A fine effort by\nanyone\u2019s standard.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The skipper won the toss and elected to bowl, and it was\nnoted that the temperature and dappled sunshine made a far more pleasant\nexperience than the corresponding fixture 12 months prior \u2013 which was arctic-like.  That was until the 6th<\/sup> over when one\nof the opening batsman, who was eager to score from the off, top edged a hook\nand the ball went skyward.  Not believing\nhis luck and already mentally writing up his skilful feat of wicket-keeping\nmastery for the match report, yours truly duly called \u201cmine\u201d and then made a\nroyal blunder of epic proportions.  The\nball dropped to the ground as the fielders gazed in disbelief.  Bowler Matt, was gracious on the surface at\nleast!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, this set the tone as at least 8 chances were\ndropped during the rest of the increasingly cool afternoon!  Needless to say, the dropped batsman went on\nto make plenty of runs and retired hurt to give some of his comrades a bit of\nmiddle practice.  Both openers made big\nfifties before there was a rally of sorts by the tourists after the drinks\nbreak.  Skipper (Martin Hillier) had seen\nenough and brought himself on to bowl. \nThis change of pace seemed to confuse the batsmen and he trapped one LBW\nand had another stumped by the keeper – who having seen his comrades spill\nmultiple catches, was feeling part of the gang again!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Skips then put his cousin George on to bowl from the same\nend and having not played since Ropley five years ago, rolled back the years\nwith some fine bowling, generating both pace and bounce.  He was duly rewarded with a snick to his\nother cousin behind the stumps who gratefully snaffled the one and only\nsuccessful catch of the inning!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matt came back on to bowl the last over before tea and,\nhaving bowled so well at the beginning with no reward (thanks to indifferent\nfielding), succeeded with 2 wickets. \nThere were other highlights too. \nPace and youth in the form of cousins Bertie and Sam \u2013 genuinely hurried\nthe batsmen – and on another day would have both taken a hatful of\nwickets.  Robert Rinaldo\u2019s continuing\nguile and agility shone all afternoon.  Damian\u2019s brave fielding putting every part of\nhis body on the line, and invariably in line with the ball.  James Whiting, back by popular demand,\ndelivered a pot pourri of assorted deliveries that fair bamboozled batsmen and\nkeeper alike.  Special mention must also\ngo to Braz, though it pains me to say it, whose set of overs were tidy even\nagainst the batsman who was \u201cin\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Tea came and quickly went. \nThen out strode Sam and Matt to launch the Rioteer reposte.  They didn\u2019t disappoint, with double figures\nappearing on the score board before Matt fell to Brennan Bulpitt who bowled her\nopposite number in the second over.  This\nbrought the wiley Whiting to the crease to join Sam \u2013 by now starting to stroke\nthe ball beautifully around the park. \nJames also batted with aplomb and the pair put on another 70 runs before\nhe succumbed on a total of 28.  Sam\nfollowed in the same over, for 45 runs, to one that \u201cdidn\u2019t bounce as much as\nit would have in New Zealand\u201d!  Sam had\ngiven great impetus to the inning and victory was certainly on the cards.  However, with 2 new batsmen at the crease the\ninnings had to build again.  George\n(20-ish runs) and Bertie (26?) both set about the task diligently, and by the\ntime their 50-run partnership ended were getting the run rate back on\ntrack.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Martin and I were next up, with victory 12 overs away at\nabout 8 an over.  After some lusty blows,\nhowever, the skipper departed which brought Damian to the middle.  After looking solid for an over or so, one\nnipped back and took his off-bail \u2013 and with it the hope of victory.  Veteran Richard \u201cBraz\u201d Brazier came\nchuntering to the crease.  Complaining it\nwas a tactical miscalculation for him to be batting so low in the order, he\ngrimaced through the next few overs against everything the opposition could\nthrow at him like a seasoned war-horse. \nRoberto was still back in the hutch as insurance, but in the end was not\nneeded as the draw was played out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you to our hosts, St Mary Bourne, for a most enjoyable\ngame and allowing us to play this form of declaration cricket.  Also, thanks to the George Inn for the post-match\nentertainment.  We hope to see you all\nagain next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last word must go to man of the match, Sam (whose mum,\nKate n\u00e9e\nHillier, erstwhile Rioteer scorer 1990-1992-ish and only female ever to have\nbeen officially allowed on tour), for successfully completing his rite of\npassage and becoming a Rioteer!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The afternoon got off to a fair start with as many as 10 of the 11-man squad present for duty at the allotted time.  The 11th man having to rest after an over strenuous warm-up the evening before.  There was an important introduction to be made as the team was introduced to Sam Cook who … <\/p>\n

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