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Result - Armadillos

Sun Jul 19th The Grannies lose by 3 wickets

Match report

A Grannies season starting in July - who'd have thunk it..? Well - so it was that on the 19th July, the Grannies had their first game. After months of lockdown patiently spent smashing indoor furniture playing corridor cricket, 11 Grannies swapped la retraite for la reprise. 2020 had one last trump card though - after taunting us in May/June with beautiful weather, we were met with what the opposing skipper described 'Mizzle" - apparently Cornish for drenching drizzle. Unperturbed, we decided we'd come all this way and gone through the tortuous rigmarole of game on/game off due to lack of players, we decided to play and not come off - if we came off we'd never get back on. This decision was helped by the fact that the groundsman was nowhere to be seen - after the first innings the pitch resembled a carpet after a cat-fight.

The Grannies started well - we won the toss. That was about it for a while though - Chris Good and Xander Drury opened up against a youthful and pacey attack who looked like they'd spent lockdown fizzing short stuff into their parents parquet floors, and after 10 overs we were 30-1. Good had his patient start interrupted by a smart catch behind stumps, and soon after Drury was caught & bowled for 12 by a youth with a Mohican (lockdown or not, that's unforgivable in my humble opinion). In came last-minute call-up H Brooke who insisted he hadn't played since prep-school. This was clearly more than just a modest lie, as a Gower-esque cover drive thudded into the sodden bench at extra-cover. With comrade J Snowden at the crease it looked promising for an over or so, but even good batsmen can't mitigate for a snorting pitch, and Snowden was out for 3 from a tricky delivery on a length.

There it was - a 35 over game, and we were 45 for 3 off 17. Skipper PSW used the slow run-rate as leverage to bump himself up the order - a risky manoeuvre but somehow it paid off. In my mind it was essentially sink or swim with the pitch as it was, and we were already practically swimming in the rain anyhow. Swim we did for a bit, with the ball flying expertly off miss-cues and edges to the sodden ropes. N Lewis came and went without disturbing the scorer, bringing B Maisey to the crease, fresh from a century the day before. The run rate continued on its positive trajectory and a partnership of 50 soon arrived. Shortly after though Maisey was caught hoiking the leggy, and F Holt came to the crease having genuinely not played since prep-school with PSW unable to give any really constructive advice from the other end. If I'd had the presence of mind to actually look at the scoreboard I'd have realised we were now past 100, and with a good 10 overs to go - we had time to rebuild and then power on to finish at the end. Blind to logic though, I carried on and was soon bowled for 63, and after a brief exposé of lower order finesse, N Lubbock, M Adams, and O Buttler all came and went leaving the Grannies all out for 142. The view at the time was that 170 was a par score.

COVID restrictions meant no Tea as we know it, and the Grannies had to put up with a PSW tea special, which may or may not have impacted our bowling efforts soon after. The 'mizzle' subsided during tea, H Brooke was woken from his stupor, and the Grannies took to the field. Buttler and Drury opened up bang on the money, with pace and zip exploiting the 22-yard bomb-site. Buttler struck in his first over, and Drury soon after leaving a youthful Armadillos at 20-2, game well and truly on. Maisey came on soon after with some rockets from the Church end and soon had his man too, then came an comic mix-up and a sharp run out combo from Drury and PSW. 55-4, the Grannies smelt blood. What we got though, was a taste of our own tonic. Mohican came in and thumped us left and right - apparently not satisfied with his 4 wickets earlier in the day.Despite the best efforts of beguiling spin from Lubbock and C Good, the batsmen continued to find the ropes, and - aided by his comrades, the Armadillos got there with a few overs to spare. B Maisey managed to pick up two final wickets but it wasn't enough in the end.

So, the first game wasn't a win, but it felt a victory for cricket against all the odds of COVID, the opposition ducking out 5 days prior, the 'mizzle', and 7 hangovers in the Grannies team alone. Let's hope the Grannies joints slowly loosen, we get steadier on our pins, and we soon find that first victory of the season. Thanks also should go to Armadillos Skipper Johnny Colville who put together a strong ringer side at v late notice.

Match info

This match will be played at Temple Grove Cricket Ground in East Sussex. [NB. It is not being played at Sheffield Park this year]

Also playing: Max Adams, Nick Lewis, Harry Brooke, Finn Holt


Location
Temple Grove Cricket Ground,
Heron's Ghyll,,
Uckfield,
TN22 4BX

How to get there
On the A26, south of Crowborough and North of Uckfield in the grounds of Temple Grove House (part of former Temple Grove School).