Regular readers of Rioteers\u2019 match reports should be\nprepared to suspend belief before continuing with this one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Sunday, 21st<\/sup> July, the Rioteers (but not\ninitially their Captain) found themselves once more in the delightfully rural\nsetting of Braishfield, ready to play old opponents, Newport Inn CC. In the\nabsence of Martin Hillier at the appropriate time for the toss of a coin,\nVice-captain Dave Bickford duly stepped in and, having called correctly, chose\nto bat on a dry wicket whose slope makes (un?)even Lords look like a billiard\ntable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dave opened with\nMartin Hawthorne in a classic right\/left-hander combination which produced a\nsteady start despite some hostile bowling from the \u201ctop end\u201d. Having\nestablished themselves, stroked some boundaries and begun to look settled, both\nsuccumbed in relatively quick succession. (Readers please note: Dave was not\ngiven LBW by the Rioteers\u2019 own bowler-friendly umpire. Ed<\/em>.) There then developed a most entertaining partnership by two batsmen of contrasting\nages, shape, and style. The younger, taller Sam Cook (don\u2019t mention the ODI\nFinal) bludgeoned his way to 47 runs with five boundaries, including 2 sixes,\nwhilst James Hillier played with the straightest bat in the team. However,\nJames may have regretted his adherence to the classic tenets of this noble game\nwhen having to run no fewer than 40 of his score of 56 not out- no wonder that\nhe retired, bemoaning the fact that the scorers could have informed him earlier\nthan they actually did of his feat in reaching the half century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As is his tried and tested custom, Campbell Williams decided\nto take a close look at the bowling and to assiduously assess the testing conditions\nbefore hitting his first 2 deliveries for 6! Live by the sword\u2026.Campbell made\n29 before holing out in another attempted boundary hit. Meanwhile the much younger\n(it does show Campbell) Bertie Hillier demonstrated to his older partner\nexactly how to bat aggressively by hitting 7 fours and 2 sixes in his 54 not\nout before he too became the second batsman to retire, allowing Damian Stafford\nand Harry Hill brief cameos of innings. Indeed, Damian in his all too brief\noccupation of the crease, raised one of the bigger cheers of the day from an\nunusually large number of spectators by means of a textbook drive to extra\ncover. (One Newport player was heard to remark that it was time to cash in on\nsuch local interest by charging spectators an entrance fee. One assumes he was\nin jest. Ed<\/em>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rioteers declared at tea: 235 for 4 and 2 of those wickets\nwere the result of superb catches in the deep by Ben Travers. Despite a slight\nhiccup with the water-heater which delayed the (liquid) tea, tea (food) itself\nwas well worth waiting for: traditionally thick-cut sandwiches for healthy\nappetites and a wide variety of cakes. ( A lemon cake, my favourite. Ed<\/em>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rioteers produced yet more contrasts when in the field after\ntea, not least the age difference between the opening bowlers- well over fifty\nyears. The younger, much faster Archie Hillier, came steaming down the slope\nand took two wickets, one courtesy of a slip catch by brother Bertie. Archie\ncould well have had more but some chances went begging. At the other end John\nHall, running (tottering?) up the hill, bowled much slower and offered to be\ntaken off after 3 consecutive maidens bored everyone to death. (Spectators were\nobserved to depart at this point. Ed<\/em>.)\nThe even younger Harry Hill replaced Archie down the hill (confused?) and also\nbowled fast but perhaps found the slope too great to adjust to his familiar\nrhythm. (Have patience dear readers; there is much more of his role to come. Ed<\/em>.) Meanwhile our earlier maligned\nskipper demonstrated his adeptness at man-management, combining the pursuit of\nvictory with the necessity to keep each individual involved in the game. His\nnext bowling change, the introduction of Robert Rinaldo at the upslope end\ncould have been a masterstroke, so many chances were created by his bowling.\nSadly, chances did not become wickets most noticeably when Campbell reversed\nthe tendency he perfected in Alderney, not to move forward for a catch, by\nfailing to move backwards enough at mid-on to provide Robert with a deserved\nwicket. Campbell rubbed salt into the wound by later coming on to bowl at the\nsame end then taking two wickets, one of which was a catch in the same mid-on\nposition. (Could you write the script? Ed<\/em>.) The catch in question was truly astonishing:\nthe right-handed Bertie Hillier ran full pelt from mid-on towards the boundary\nbefore flinging himself horizontally to clutch the ball spectacularly with his\noutstretched left hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bertie and Sam Cook both had spells at the top end, but\nwithout success. It is interesting to speculate at which point the slope fails\nto be an advantage to the bowler; on this occasion, it clearly was not as the\nfinal events of this compelling contest revealed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Newport Inn CC, faced with so formidable a total, did not\nlook like winning the game but at 78 for 3, then 107 for 4, well into the last\n20 overs, they had every prospect of a draw. Moreover, the game was being\nplayed at 12-a-side to accommodate the number of visitors wishing to play in\nthis popular fixture which meant that 11 wickets would have to fall. Well dear\nreaders, it is at this point your credulity will be taxed; Martin turned again\nto pace: this time, Harry up the hill, and eventually Bertie back down it.\nHarry produced the performance of the season, if anything generating more pace\nthan in his first spell at the apparently more favourable end. Four opponents\nwere cleaned bowled: one in the earlier spell; one by a fast full toss which\ndipped at the last; one by a good length ball and one by a slow Yorker which\nvisibly swung away. Another batsman was LBW and one caught which meant that\nHarry\u2019s remarkable figures were: <\/p>\n\n\n\n 7 overs; 1 Maiden; 13 Runs; 6 Wickets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bertie took the last wicket so Newport were all out for 123\nruns- save, that is, for Richard Brazier who kindly agreed to make up Newport\u2019s\nnumber when they generously agreed to 12-a-side game. Richard was 7 not out, including a sweetly timed 4 off\nthe back foot, perhaps a portent of things to come now that he intends to\nforsake bowling for batsmanship. <\/p>\n\n\n\n After the game we retired, not to the hostelry from which\nour opponents are eponymously named, for it no longer exists, but to the\nWheatsheaf. How apposite that the Rioteers\n<\/em>should play Newport Inn <\/em>in such\nfine spirit <\/em>on and off the pitch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Regular readers of Rioteers\u2019 match reports should be prepared to suspend belief before continuing with this one. On Sunday, 21st July, the Rioteers (but not initially their Captain) found themselves once more in the delightfully rural setting of Braishfield, ready to play old opponents, Newport Inn CC. In the absence of Martin Hillier at the … <\/p>\n