A serious shortage of players for the trip to Heckington, with some rubbish excuses;
Roffy – doing what his girlfriend says.
JWH & Bash – rat racing.
Tim – at a Corbyn rally.
Bino Jon – strained knee ligaments.
Lamin – moth bothering.
Keeno – haircut.
Buzz – still upset about not getting an LBW last week.
Baston’s recruitment team had worked tirelessly through the week, and pulled off a coup on the Saturday morning, poaching local talent George from the grasps of Uffington. Another proposed debutant dropped out at the same time to leave Baston with only 10 players.
With little optimism of doing well and only 2 conceivable bowlers, Ben naturally lost the toss and Baston were sent out to field. Neil continued his knack of striking early and clean bowled A Machin (0) with his second ball giving a glimmer of hope to the Baston boys. Liam rolled back the years to bowl some seam up but was met (halfway down the track) by Heck captain Kopp who smashed it around at the top of the order. Liam (12 overs 2-46) turned to his spin after 3 unsuccessful overs and found a lot more success picking up the wickets of Geoff (6) and Behan look-a-like Nunn (21), both LBWs given by Mr White.
Neil (12 overs 3-51) bowled well throughout his spell, taking the wickets of skipper C Kopp (33) bowled, and another C Kopp (6) with a return catch. Ex Timberland all-rounder M Machin joined class act Revu at the crease and the score really started to move. It would be generous to call the rest of the bowling attack ‘part time’ as Ant Morris risked his delicately assembled frame to replace Neil, while 2022 keeper Dave G replaced Liam.
Ant bowled well and found a good spot on a length that was hard for the batsmen to get away. At the other end, Dave got some serious tap with both batsmen smashing him regularly to the legside boundary. Revu reached 50 in good time, but he had been dropped on 0 by Al, who chose to two foot the ball away at deep midwicket, rather than drop down and catch it with his hands. The fielding in general was decent led by Luke and new signing George (despite throwing a ball into a tree), but there were several missed opportunities.
Ben did what every selfish captain does, and brought himself into the attack; a real last resort. Each over contained at least one wide, one full toss and two half trackers. Amazingly he struck early with M Machin (33) deceived by a slower ball, swinging and missing a good 20 seconds before the ball zipped through into middle stump.
League secretary Carter (10) was given out LBW to a ball missing off stump by a foot over the top, and another foot wide. Ant (1-48 from 10) ousted a small boy for the 8th wicket. Meanwhile on the boundary, George had used his special x-ray glasses (purchased from the advert pages of the Beano in the 1990s) to spy two locals getting frisky in the bushes, and refused to change fielding position with anyone else.
Nearing a century and now farming the strike with numbers 10 and 11, Revu was turning down singles, and looking to only play in even numbers. He did not expect Ben to bowl a good ball, nipping back and bowling him through the gate to dismiss him for 98. The innings was over 2 balls later as Dave Greenfield pulled off a superman catch at mid-on. Heckington posted a very healthy 217, while Ben took an unlikely 4-27.
Ben 4-27, still got it
After tea, George treated himself to a coffee and coke from the bar. Ant refused to open the batting, as he eased his broken body into a cryogenic chamber. A decent start from Al and Ben soon ended as Al (5) dragged a wide half volley back onto his stumps. Ed came to the crease and showed some good form scoring quickly. Previously untroubled, Ben (9) was undone by a ball that dribbled underneath his bat, bowled by superstar left arm spinner Revu. Dave joined Ed and they took the score along to 36-2 before Ed’s cut shot bounced up and landed on top of his stumps.
There was a lot of excitement to see George bat, as he strode out to the middle. He wasn’t hanging about and picked up the line and length of Revu very quickly, firmly striking the ball and unlucky not to beat the fielders. He creamed a pull and was miraculously caught by Heckington’s number 11 at square leg. George (0) couldn’t believe his bad luck, striking his bat against the ground and shaking his head all the way back to his half-finished latté.
New signing George
A procession followed, Dave (7) was bowled, before Liam (1) and Peter (1) were both given out LBW. Someone was eyeing up a quick getaway. Ant (1*) managed to drag himself to the middle, but Neil (0) and Luke (0) didn’t last long enough to support him. As Luke played on, Baston were dismissed for 40 odd, which was dreadful. Only Ed had reached double figures, and his 2 fours were the only boundaries of the innings. Revu paired his 98 with a 5-wicket haul, a shame their 1st team didn’t need him in their narrow defeat to Bourne 2nds.
Fair play to Heckington who were comfortably the better side throughout. Great to see a team that has progressed massively in the last few years, now having two good sides in the SLBL.
Scorecard - https://baston.play-cricket.com/website/results/5175441