SCORECARD

Three Captains and a Little Lady

With the exception of a global pandemic getting in the way in 2020, this was the latest the Fitmen had started their Sunday program of games in six years. The game may have been played on the 5th of May, but as always, a Fitmen report starts much before a toss.

Waz, the initial captain for the fixture, pulled out on Tuesday due to work. Nokia, a Bham Uni alumni, volunteered to skipper and did well by getting all fitmen on site before the toss. He also brought Fit-tea, which was appreciated by all. Kudos to Nokia.

Students lost the toss, and Nokia elected to bat, which looked like the right call, with a strong Birmingham Uni side doing laps of the boundary to warm up and something called “catching practice” - It’ll never catch on.

A minute's silence was impeccably held for Worcestershire's left-arm spinner Josh Baker, who died earlier in the week. Baker had previously donated kit and equipment to the Birmingham Uni team. Sounds like a top lad who will be missed by the whole Cricketing community.

Paul and Moldy opened the batting against a strong opening bowling partnership, sending down rockets, right-handed from one end and left-handed from the other. It was tough going. Paul fell early IBW, Moldy quickly followed, Stevie Nicks was next, and the top order was blown away early.

Students (probably wanting a game to last beyond 4pm) then took off their gun bowlers, which made the scoreboard look better for the middle order. Jonesy dug in, Kev hit a swashbuckling 16 of 13 before skying one up.

Next in Raja, who, with Jonesy, built a partnership toward the drinks break, only for Jonesy to drive on the up to cover 2 balls before drinks for 38 (45).

Captain Nokia next in, and went for 3 (12), stumped off a wide, tick that off the list of unique dismissals pal.

122 for 6, and with 18 overs left in the innings – a long way to go.

Raja and Billy dug in and played sensibly.

Billy then, bashed two full deliveries onto the golf course, pushing Dave Moore off the Six'O'Meter (at least for the time being). However, when he tried to repeat the same shot from the other end, he was caught at mid-off in spectacular style (similar to Ben Stokes -2019), resulting in him falling for 18 (20).

Raja played a proper rebuild innings, finally falling for 48 (64) with only 4 boundaries, he played the match conditions perfectly.

Sharif and Bal saw the Fitmen complete out 20 overs, eating up dots, and Sharif ending 17*(31) and Ball 0*(10).

191 for 9.

First Fit tea of the season, was a combination of two Sandwiches – (Cheese and Pickle, Tuna and Sweetcorn) crips (multipack Morrisons) and cakes (Mr Kipling’s). It wasn’t a classic, but a great start. Room for improvement.

Unfortunately, Sam was hit by a migraine before heading back to the field. He had to leave to sleep it off. In contrast to the IPL, the Fitmen had our impact substitute, Jonesy, stepping in to captain the fielding section of the game. It felt like herding cats out there with a team full of slow bowling options and nothing close to pace; we had an uphill struggle defending 191.

Sharif started well and to script

1) “I don’t want a fine leg”
2) First ball wide
3) Second ball wicket! – brilliant and unforgettable catch above his head by Steve Nicks.

Never change rrrrkid.

Unfortunately, it was downhill from there.

Birmingham Uni batsman picked off the bad ball, ran their singles well, and never really looked in trouble; three batsmen got to 50 and retired.

Raja, Billy, and Jeet all bowled their allotted 6 overs with the economy under 5, which is commendable under the circumstance.

The Students got over the line with 5 overs to spare. Fair play to them, they played good cricket, in the right spirit, they were brilliant guests, and gave us a fielder for the whole of the 35 overs.

Fitmen, we should take note of how it’s done. These youngsters played the game in the right spirit and never questioned an IBW or run-out decision.

Big thank you to the volunteers who got this game on and completed. Sam for his organisation, Chairman Tony for pavilion duties and the unnamed student lady who did much of the scoring and umpiring duties throughout the day.

We next move on to Wednesday and a T20 against the old foe, The Village looking for the Fitmen’s first win of the season.