SCORECARD

The heat is on - but Fitmen keep their cool

As everyone knows - including those who don't even know what cricket is - Test Match Cricket is the greatest sport of all.
The game contains all the hope and despair, magnificence and misfortune, and triumph and disaster that life throws at you, all crammed into 5 days or less.
Squeezing all that into a Sunday afternoon is a rare occurrence but the Old Moseley Arms Fitmen and the Sportsman Old Boys managed to achieve just that.

Any suggestions that this was a different Sportsman side to the one which had repeatedly destroyed us over the years (to the point of being cut from our fixture pool) were soon dashed as the sight of familiar faces assembled at the clubhouse.

As temperatures reached the meltingly oppressive levels usually reserved for our matches at Barford, Captain for the day Stevie Nicks (press-ganged into the role by Committee henchmen after Sherif turned down the opportunity) kept to the tradition of losing the toss and accepting the invitation to field first at the parched Graveyard.

Sherif and Harry Sandhu opened the bowling for us, finding good line and length, but that didn't prevent the ball landing among the bushes, brambles and assorted flora beyond the boundary.

Harry, manfully bowling his eight overs in one spell, did deservedly pick up the first two wickets, bowling the opener who'd put on 45 in 31 balls, and the No.3 bat, who sent a ball sailing towards the square leg boundary and straight into the hands of Tony Thapar.

That left the visitors wobbling on 121 for 2.

It was four down in no time as Mo Billal took two-in-two. After snaring the other opener lbw, his next delivery was a full bunger which was scooped away by the left-hander only to be brilliantly caught by Sam Lockyer, clutching the ball in his right hand as he dived to his right.

That lifted Fitmen spirits and they kept toiling away, fielding stoically and bowling thanklessly as the next partnership rattled up 51 more runs.

Billal found good variation with his spin, not giving the batters to wind up for their big shots. Michael Ralph bowled at an intimidating pace and was unlucky not to grab a wicket, seeing several rockets miss the stumps by fractions and having a bullet of a nick-off spilled in the slips.
Special mention for the bravery of stand-in wicketkeeper Stuart Mould, whose ankles were in the firing line of many low shooters from Ralphie.

We needed another breakthrough and so the skipper turned to the reliable 'Mr Wicket' Lockyer.
After seeing a couple of deliveries end up on the golf course, Nokia brought out the bamboozling box of tricks and tempted a lofted drive straight to Mouldy (who was now fielding at extra cover, after Harry Sandhu took the pads for the last 10 overs.)

Mouldy had been brought out from behind the stumps to help bolster the wearying bowling unit and, soon enough, he too was among the wickets after a back-of-a-length delivery was cut straight to the skipper, who had decided to stand at point.

Things then started to unravel somewhat, as the seventh wicket partnership took Sportsman from 186 to 261 with no further loss.

As the Fitmen crawled towards lunch break after six hours in the field, dark clouds loomed large (actual clouds that is, it's not a metaphor) and halfway through the 39th over it started to pour down.

As various fielders scampered to get the covers on to the wicket, the skipper went to find his opposite number to confirm that lunch would be taken early and the game reduced to 39 overs per side.

Unfortunately, before he could do this, the rain stopped, some INSANE Fitmen quickly wheeled the covers off again and the batsmen walked back out to the middle.

So we were going to have a 40th over. In hindsight, an irked Captain with 3-1-13-0 under his belt was not the best option to send down the final six wet-ball deliveries.

Or 10 deliveries as it turned out, the ones the batters could reach being smashed all over the place, with some wild overthrows finishing it off.

This, of course, improved the Captain's mood no end.

Looking at the target of 262, we needed to make sure our likely run-getters had enough time to get their eyes in, so the pre-planned batting order was hastily reconstructed.

(However, chasing 262 is not as bad as chasing 320, which it was looking like before Fitmen had clawed it back in the middle part of the innings.)

The skipper positioned himself in Scorer's Corner, declining the offer/request from the opposition to score on the Play-Cricket App, and despatched the trusty opening duo of Harry Eames and Uncle Mo Azam to get the Fitmen innings under way.

Both settled in quickly, playing sensibly for the good ball and picking up runs when the chances came.

But progress came to an unexpected halt when Harry lost the line of a full toss which hit his off peg.

(Never mind Bazball, try Badball if you need wickets.)

Mouldy strode out to join Mo and clobbered a rapid 12 before being castled, leaving us on 83-2.

Mo was going great guns, hitting eight boundaries and maximum, biding his time and waiting for the inevitable half-tracker or pie to arrive.

He was joined by our classy left-hander Fadil Okera and the pair put on a further 17 before Mo was well caught in the slips for a 42-ball 54. Really good to see him back among the runs after missing out a couple of times recently.

Fadil was then joined briefly by TT and Sherif, who both perished cheaply while trying to keep up with the gradually inflating run rate.

We were 120-5 at the halfway point, needing 7 an over.

Wg Cdr Ralph, originally down to bat No.11 because he was one of our main bowlers, was sent in at No.7 to join Fadil and they made steady progress before Fadil was out caught for a valuable 25, including two sixes, which helped keep Fitmen in with a theoretical chance of chasing down the target.

Nokia was next in, cheered on by his Catalonian fan club, and he wasted no time in getting back to be reunited with his Barca buddy.

Next batting order reshuffle saw Billy in at 9. We were 138-7 off 24 overs - 124 needed of 16 overs, three wickets left.

What followed was a magnificent display of power hitting, placement, running and, ok, a bit of luck (Billy being dropped three times).

Ralphie hit some glorious drives that raced to the boundary and two giant sixes, one of which cleared the trees at the golf course end.

Billy also deposited a couple on to the golf course and hit some fours that were well and truly middled.

It would have been only fair for the pair to see us home, but Ralphie perished with the score on 243.
He scored 56 in 44 balls and the 8th wicket partnership was worth 108 - a Fitmen record (since stats began).

But there was still work to do. We were 19 runs adrift, 3.3 overs to go and only two wickets left.

Harry Sandhu had the No.10 role, and one of his instructions was make sure Billy didn't lose focus.

A couple of scampered leg byes brought the target down to 17 needed off three overs.

It was gripping stuff.

Billy then walloped the first ball of the 38th over for six. Then dot-dot-single.
Harry nurdled a single and Billy ended the over with ANOTHER DOT.

We needed 9 off the last two overs.

Harry scampered another single to bring Billy on strike. He hit a four. Four needed off 10 balls.
A dot. Another dot. The Captain, padded up as No.11, praying Billy didn't do something rash.

At which point Billy sent a six crashing into the trees next to the pavilion and the game was won.

He scored 60 off just 40 balls, to go with his bowling figures of 8-1-25-2. Even if Billy packed up cricket tomorrow, he is already in the Fit Hall of Fame.

A spectacular win and a magnificent game. And the important stuff? Everyone made a significant contribution to the team effort and the visitors were a lovely bunch, graceful in defeat and staying behind for a chat and drink. They play cricket with a smile, which isn't always the case with strong outfits.

Special mention to Steve Hall, who served up double drinks breaks in each innings due to the heat, and is very much the club;s Mr Dependable.

And a special, special mention to Cricket. Best sport by a mile.