With no victory in a month, Baston welcomed Orton Park 2nds to the Shrine for this June clash. Thankfully under pressure skipper Ben managed to get a full 11 out this week, mainly thanks to Uffington conceding their Div 2 match, and being able to loan in tearaways Jon and Kobe Wiles. There was a welcome return to the side of fan favourite Teddy, and a first match of the season for semi-professional footballer Garmo.
Jon and Kobe back to help the team out
Orton skipper John Pipe, no relation to Baston player Dwayne, won the toss and invited the home side to bat. Keeno, given a rare day off by wife Mel, opened up with Dr. Norris, who had got to the game in good time thanks to his excellent working knowledge of the bus timetable.
It was predictably hard going at the start with the Orton seamers keeping it tight, and the lack of pace in the wicket making it tough to punish any poor deliveries. Keeno (5) missed a straight one early on, and Ben stuck around well for a gritty 17 before departing in the 16th over. Garmo dug in with Ant and Baston reached 50-2 at drinks, both wickets going to Orton’s Stuart very Broad.
With a decent crowd in attendance, featuring a large gathering of Padmores basking in the sunshine, the two Anthonys saw off the dangerous opening seamers, and then made hay when the change bowlers came on, punishing the regular short and wide pies coming down.
Dr. Ant showed the value of staying in, as the in-form bus pass holder notched his first 50 of the season, continuing his excellent form. Baston were 120-2 with 10 overs left, a fantastic base to mount a big total with wickets in hand. This was too far out of Ant’s comfort zone, and he honourably walked past one and was stumped for a well made 52 off 117 balls.
Monster partnership from Ant and Garmo
Disgraced former Baston player James Jackson was making an appearance for his latest club Orton, taking the afternoon off from his 100k per year chef’s job. After keeping a low profile prowling the boundary, he came into the attack. He bowled a bit of a mixture and got an undeserved wicket as a half tracker scuttled underneath Garmo’s bat. Garmo had made an impressive 44, including 5 fours and a six, and was unlucky not to reach a half century.
Roffy at the other end was showing good positivity, rotating the strike well and preventing Baston from having too many dots when setting a total. Buzz (8) was pretty much 6 and out, as Jacko bowled a slightly better ball to clean him up. Roffe (24* off 21) and Kobe (10* off 6) pushed Baston up to a more than respectable 173-5 from their 45 overs.
Orton’s reply didn’t get off to the best start as Buzz nicked Sweary (0) off to safe hands Roberts behind the stumps. Fellow opener Debell played a couple of expansive drives, and had a couple of lives, as usual safe hands Lamin put him down in the gully, and Jon Wiles never saw a skier that landed a yard away from him at extra cover. Thankfully Debell (12) went for one big shot too many and marshalling the legside on his own Garmo took a fantastic catch on the run to get rid of him, giving Kobe Wiles his first Baston wicket.
Skipper Pipe was joined by Khalid Snr who looked the part with a couple of early boundaries. Sensing his teams need for a wicket, Ben turned to Keeno to give him a bit of magic from the Thetford Farm End. Keeno’s pace had the desired result as Khalid (11) mistimed a straight drive, and the next moments seemed to be in slow motion. There was a scream of “CATCH” from Keeno, who then realised that he was in the best position to take the catch, taking a couple of steps to his right and pouching a simple caught and bowled, sending the rest of the team into tears of laughter.
Left hander Stuart very Broad was in next but didn’t trouble the scorers as he snicked Keeno through to keeper Jonny. Keeno (2-9 off 2 overs) then had to be withdrawn from the attack as he then struggled to stop bowling beamers at a 12-year-old, but had done a great job of bagging a couple of top order wickets. The 12-year-old was probably still rattled as Jon Wiles cleaned him up early in his spell.
Orton captain Pipe (25) dug in well but couldn’t take advantage as he was caught by top fielder Garmo on the stroke of drinks, with Orton 65-6. After an eventful afternoon, Keeno was then collected by wife Mel to go home and do some jobs.
Buzz 1-17 off 12 had bowled typically well for typically little reward, and Kobe came on for a second spell replacing him. Kobe picked up a wicket with the first ball after drinks as Jacko (6) popped one up to Ben at cover.
Jon giving Buzz some advice on how to take wickets
There were further wickets for father and son team Jon and Kobe. Sainsbury (7) stumped off Jon’s bowling by the impressive Jonny, and Kobe removing swash buckler Mitchell (18) with a rare slip catch going to the hands of Dr Ant. Jon 3-23 and Kobe 3-43 both saw good returns for the Wiles family, and Kobe will be hoping his performance finally earns him that new TV he’s been after.
Teddy had been exemplary in the field but was getting a bit ratty as he was late for a barbecue at home. With just one wicket left to get, he took matters into his own hands. Demanding a bowl, Ted marked out his run up, jogged in and enticed a loopy drive from the Orton number 11. Teddy never broke stride as he ran towards mid-wicket to take the catch. Game won, he kept running straight to his car so he didn’t miss out on any burgers. Orton finished on 95 all out.
A good win for the boys, and good to break the poor run of form. A special mention to John Lamin who did next to nothing. Mainly his own fault for not telling the skipper he was still unable to bowl after his Lincs over 60s escapades.
Teddy, late to the barbecue, but toasting his own excellent performance.
Scorecard - https://baston.play-cricket.com/website/results/5175413