On a hot and humid Sunday afternoon, the Old Blues played Newick Cricket Club in the heart of
The Old Blues won the toss and decided to bowl first, a diplomatic choice seeing as there were only 3 actual bowlers. Richard Stringfellow and Neil Green opened the bowling and it became quickly apparent that it might be a batting track. The outfield was as dry as a bone and once the ball had beaten the fielder there was no point in chasing, as the ball would fizz to the boundary. Richard and Neil opened the bowling well, Neil was getting an interesting amount of bounce and turn and Richard was steaming down the hill with a snarl on his face. After Newick lost an early wicket to Richard and then nearly losing a second not long after, (even though Edd Young heroically dived to try and take the catch) Newick started to build up a steady total. There was some good bowling support from Vishanka whose wily spin was out-smarting the batsman, Dominic Roberts bowled with good line and length and Frank Thomas who hadn't bowled in a cricket match for over ten years took the valuable wicket of Rupert Thacker, Newick's prize batsman with his leg spin bowling ………….or was it seam? If the fielding had been a bit better than the standard of an Under 13 girl’s team, the Old Blues may have restricted Newick to a easy total, but Newick smashed on and ended their 40 over innings on 211 for 9, a total that the Old Blues would have been fairly happy to accept at the beginning of the day. One of the stand out performances came from Ed Dean, producing a stunning display of wicket keeping, taking 2 catches, standing up to the ferocious seam bowling and talking the batsmen into submission.
After Tea, the Old Blues opened the batting with Luke Dealtry and Frank Thomas, two batsman who haven't batted together since 1998. There were some good looking shots from both players, certainly not showing any sign of rustiness over the years. Everything was going well until an untimely call and Luke was run out in his prime. Neil was next in but fell not long after to what looked like a no ball beamer. The scoring continued adding up but wickets were also falling. When Johnny Owens came into bat many Old Blues were starting to fear we may be falling short, but an innings that will live in the memory of the spectators was provided by our John. He smashed his way to a fantastic 86 not out, helped along the way with contributions from Vishanka and Rudi Coulter, with only 3 needed of the last ball to win, a wild full toss (again looking like a no ball) was bowled and only one run could be taken. The Old Blues lost this game by one run but it was a fantastic day with a great result that both teams can be proud off. It was a game of spirit and pride that has produced a new team of friends in a village called Newick.
