Cairns Fudge v Richard Denner XI at Wheatley

“If you build it he will come” the voice from Kevin Costner’s crops told him in the film the Field of Dreams. After the game on Thursday while I was collecting the boundary flags, I swear on my Nan’s eyes that I heard a voice that sounded like Chris Cairns whisper the same thing from the bushes at the Bush end.

Believe what you like, but after our narrow victory against Holton on Thursday, I think we laid the foundations for a Cricketing skyscraper that will act as a beacon to the people of Planet Earth bring peace and hope to all.

More bricks and mortar came in the form of game no 2, against the Richard Denner XI, and like spiritual brick layers, we got involved. Richard has an extensive list of Cricketers in the Oxfordshire area and gets a couple of teams out every week to play midweek and week end games so it was to be a stern test.

Bowling

An unfortunate breakdown in communication between me and Chris James meant that this week we welcomed our first guest player, the honourable Mr Alan Banyard of Holton CC and Rich Walker kindly filled in for Chris as he made his way to the ground. At 6.30 with a third of the RDXI still making their way to the ground, I suggested that we field first as the Fudge were ready to go. They accepted the proposal and we got underway.

We didn't quite know what to expect from the opposition but we kicked off as we did against Holton with Dane opening our assault from his favourite pavilion end. Dane got a lot of bounce and pace and from the off the RDXI openers looked rattled. Barney kicked off from the bush end. Before the game, he had passed a late sobriety test in the nets after some graduation celebrations earlier in the day. He kicked off from the bush end and tied up the RDXI scoring with some quality line and length swing bowling. Unfortunately, there are no stats from this game as our score book had gone missing. However I can tell you that after 2 overs, it was as if the Fudge had just been exposed to huge levels of radiation and we had subsequently developed cricketing super powers beyond our own comprehension.

What followed can only be described as a rout.

Super bowling mutant no 1 i.e. Dane continued with his electrifying spell taking a couple of great wickets in the process. Barney provided some great support from the other end and by now had acquired a can of Carling at fine leg to re-hydrate himself. The fielding was good and the banter on pitch was special. The moment of the game came towards the end of Barney's spell when he appealed as loud as he could for an lbw decision but instead of shouting "Hows That", he screamed "Its gotta be!!!". The umpire asked him "Its got to be what?" "Out!!" he replied. Needless to say it wasn't given and following some good bowling, Barney retired to find leg to finish his Carling.

Dane finished his blistering spell with a few wickets and was replaced by highest wicket taker so far this season, Drew who was getting the ball to turn and he also chipped in with a few. Jimmy, replaced Barney at the bush end and helped the RDXI with a few wides and no balls which made our our extras column their top scorer with 12. Jimmy sorted his head out and his left medium pace got a couple more. RDXI continued to capitulate and after Drew had bowled their number 9 batsman and with 2 young lads at the crease who were full of chat, I brought myself on to bowl to give them some runs. It didn't quite work out that way as the worst ball of the day (my first ball of my over) bowled the last batsman and the RDXI had been bowled out for 37.

This was their second lowest total in 30 years, a great effort from the bowling unit, ably supported by everyone in the field.

Batting

Both Sai and Matt have shown great talent with the willow sword in the nets and were rewarded with the premier slots in the evenings batting line up. Both showed poise and prowess at the crease, playing some great Cricket shots moving us closer to our target. Glory would have to wait though as Matt got out caught at leg slip trying to hook a swifty and Sai, I think was ran out, both for decent scores. It was up to Jimmy (Homo erectus from the first game after his golden duck) and Chris to finish the innings and they did with ease with some flamboyant strokes on both sides of the wicket with about 12 overs to spare. A crushing 8 wicket win was very satisfying, set up by our impressive bowling performance.

It is important to note that RDXI were better than the score they posted. They had some very good players but were prone to some bad shots on the night. A great night in the Magdalen followed with both teams getting involved. Richard Denner himself said that we were a great addition to his fixture list and we were a great bunch of lads. After the pub, much like the Baseball playing apparitions in Costner’s film, we made our way back up to Wheatley to disappear in to the bushes until the next game.

Cairns Fudge Win by 8 wickets


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