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Result - Hampshire Hogs

Sun May 8th Grannies drew with the Hampshire Hogs

Match report

Grannies drew with the Hampshire Hogs
Hampshire Hogs 218/8 (T Gibbs 4-45, B Percival 0-15 (yes the chairman)
Grannies 209/8 (J Scott 60, J Williams 40)

On a surprisingly sunny day (given the torrential downpours of Saturday) 11 grannies ventured from all parts of the country, Worcester, Cambridge & Wales, to the Hampshire countryside to play the Hogs. So keen were these men to perform that 8 arrived before 10.45, thus ensuring proper preparation, coffee and conversation.

Having lost the toss and been asked to field, the first tough decision of the day was to declare which of the 3 keepers in the side deserved the honour of wearing the pads. The Chairman won the vote and we made an excellent start with "lame horse" Gibbs down the hill and the war horse Stanners up. Both were proving hard to score off and it was just rewards when Stanners removed the opener with smartly taken catch by Bob down the leg side. Our first wicket coming some 3hrs and 190 runs earlier than the year before. The pressure continued to be applied by the change bowling of Thomas and Martin, however it wasn't until the 20th over that we got our second breakthrough, with another catch from the reliable Chairman and a debut wicket for Martin.

Shortly after this the chairman decided he had seen enough of the frugal bowling and decided to used his head rather than his normally safe hands to stop another leg side delivery. Luckily the sting was taken off the ball by his gloves, so only ice, a sit down and a large whisky were required, rather than A&E. Even more fortunately, the foresight of the captain bore fruit, and we were able to call on Parkenson to don the gloves.

Normal service was resumed and shortly before lunch the battle scarred chairman returned to the field, showing why it is best to let him keep rather than patrol the covers. Just before lunch there was time to introduce some flight and guile from the unlikely spin twins of Fernie and Boa. The success this brought was swift, if unlikely, as the Boa used extra flight to coerce the batsman back and, in attempting to clear the longest boundary on the ground, his momentum forced him back onto his own stumps.

So an excellent lunch was taken with game evenly poised seeing the Hampshire Hogs on 90 for 3, the Grannies having completed 38 overs in the morning. Whether it was the lunch time Pimms or a pep talk, a different approach was taken by both sides after the break, so with more attacking batting and unusual bowling changes the score board rattled along after lunch. The first bowling change of the afternoon surprised a few, shocked a couple and down right confounded a couple of batsman desperate to bowl, when the captain turned to the chairman (yes, the normally wicket keeping, Bob Percival) to turn his arm over. The experiment was short lived, with the captain sobering up and returning to more conventional bowling a few overs and runs later. The returning lame horse came on from the bottom end for his second spell and promptly proved why bowlers should not be allowed to choose their own ends, by taking 4 wickets. The chairman showed that without the gloves he is as fallible as the rest of us, by taking 1 from 2, ("the first didn't carry as it hit me striaght on the ankle" he claimed). The declaration came after an excellent century from the Hogs number 3, and 2 wickets in 2 balls from "lame horse", leaving him on a Hat trick and 1 short of a Michele. 218 for 8 from 60 Grannies overs!!!!

The reply started well with Baldey and Parkenson, making it look comfortable from one end and swash buckling from the other. However the excitement got too much for them and Baldey departed running himself out going for a 3rd. However at tea we were nicely placed at 50 for 1, with Williams and Parkenson looking good, although it was rumoured the only reason Williams was still there, was that he had been threatened with not being allowed any of the excellent tea if he was out.

After several scones, brownies and cucumber sandwiches, Williams (40) and Parkenson (29) continued where they had left off. Both departed in quick succession just before the start of the final 20 overs, leaving the arriving Martin and Scott to chase down 110 with 7 wickets remaining. The chase started well with some lusty blows into the trees, however as the Hogs rang the changes so the run rate slowed, and both departed, (Martin (25) & Scott (60)) and it was left to the middle and lower order to try to get us home. As the required rate climbed, a typical, yet understandable Grannies collapse followed. Leaving Stanners on strike and Fernie at the other end to survive the last over for the draw as the heavens opened. Neither side was leaving the field, Stanners was confident in surviving for the draw, which he did in his own inimitable style by hitting 2 fours and a 3 from the first 4 balls of the final over, allowing Fernie to successfully survive the final two balls, the grannies finishing on 209 for 8 from 50 overs. So we finished with a draw for the second year in a row, this time with honours definitely even and a thoroughly good game played in excellent spirits and enjoyed by both sides.

Match info



Location
Warnford,
SO32 3LB

How to get there
http://www.hampshirehogs.org.uk/directions.htm