SCORECARD

FIT MEN WIN IN ERDINGTON!

After last weeks withdrawal of a fixture by West Mercia Police (apparently all but 4 of the oppo's team where available......leaving crime to solve itself!), a hastily re-arranged fixture aginst WMD fell by the wayside resulting in cancellation due to the tail end of a hurricane!.........with this back drop in mind it was good to take to "The Field of Dreams" once more for our penultimate midweek "Thrash" of the season. So what better venue to hone the finer skills of cricket......than on Hollyfields Sports Ground, undulating, green tinged wicket......a truly sporting track!

With a strong team assembled........Skipper Howarth called heads correctly.....the only problem was he called it after the coin had landed heads up......momentarily distracted by the the composition of his own batting order.......this dinosaur of a captain then correctly read the concerned look of the oppo's captains face and avoided perceived unsporting conduct by instructing their skipper to toss again. This resulted in Birmingham Libraries skipper winning the toss and batting. (We would have fielded 1st anyway)........15 eight ball overs per side being an agreeable option.

Fit Men opening bowlers Ash and Greg did a fine job getting plenty of lift and movement interspersed with the oppo's number 1 bat punishing anything he could. Number 1 bat went to the final ball of Ash's spell, skying a catch to keeper Tucker. Chris Jones and Sharif bowled well in spite of the number 2 bat now opening up and playing shots all round the wicket.......Taz and Geraint finished off the innings bowling well enough........so at half way with a run a ball 120 to chase the skipper Howarth was feeling fairly comfortable.

With The Fit Men batting order composed.....and the usual machinations of trying to accommodate all calculated......Mo and Millibice strode out to open up.....and open up is what they did admirably! Mo getting into boundary hitting stride immediately, whilst Millibice was a little more circumspect to start with. A partnership of 69 at over a run a ball was a terrific platform from which Mo departed, stumped for 34 from 27. With Bice now in top gear and pounding boundaries whilst riding Lady Luck on more than 1 occasion (see Tucker for exact amount of times), reaching a fine 50 with a boundary and Geraint in partnership playing a superb support act, running well and finding the gaps....the second wicket partnership put on 49 off 46 balls. Alas gallant Geraint perished, caught (a rare act by the oppo') having scored 19 off 27. Tucker went out to bat, and didn't have to face a ball as with 2 runs needed Bice crashed a 4 (63 not out off 57 balls)......and the Fit Men won by 8 wickets with 7 balls to spare......(Who said we couldn't chase in the dark!!!!).
PS: Special thanx to Taz (I'm a batsman not an umpire) and Jonesy for adjudicating from behind the stumps beyond the call of duty.