SCORECARD


Fitmen Fumble Rick Bowels' Village People
The Village 126-4; Old Mo 108-7
Fitmen lose by 18 runs

What a way to spend your Wednesday evening by sampling a rush hour journey to Erdington. Luckily the Fit XI arrived in time to sample a couple of refreshments prior to the amazing occurrence of Lord Frost winning a toss.

The decision to ask the opposition to bat on a pitch more akin to a snowboard half pipe looked a good one, when at 10 overs the score was 34 for 2. Wing Commander Ralph bowled a bouncy spell from the top ramp with the majority of balls unplayable whistling through at chin height. Ade Martin asked to open up was miserly allowing only 2 from 2 whilst rattling the timbers of the opener.

Sharif again bowled superbly (2 for 10 off 4) delivering incredible stats for a T20 game, however the wickets did bring the middle order big hitters to the fore. With no scoreboard available, the croak of Bowels at the end of every over, shouting out the scores, became like a call to arms.

Amazingly, earlier in the week, the Fitmen had been emailed by a new recruit looking for a game. Unfortunately a Fit XI had already been assembled, so the said player was given a berth in the Village team. How ironic he delivered a match winning innings.

There were 2 dropped catches of both big hitters and a missed run out which could and should have been taken. This proved to be a turning point of the evening as 34 off 10 turned into 126 off 20. Alas, Nutt and Jones took the brunt of the fielding errors and a par score of 100 was overtaken.

However, a decent batting line up could deliver the required 6 an over. “Butter fingers” Howarth hit 17 before his nemesis had him caught out. Rich Bice used the spongey track to good effect before falling, allowing skipper Horatio (I hate facing Rik Bowles) to live up to his self-fulfilling prophecy to be stumped second ball.

Harris was the only Fitman to tame the jumpy surface with a quick fire 36, apart from a cameo 12 off 9 by Ralphie. Enter the fray new recruit Tom Houlgate and “one shot” Martin with a mountain to climb. Having forgotten the rope, ice picks and wearing only plimsoles, the pair failed, falling 18 short.

Beers and a huge selection of fiery chili snacks soothed the pain. But, a defeat snatched from the jaws of victory was the overwhelming thought of the night.