The Easton Cowboys Saturday XI were eagerly anticipating the commencement of their campaign in Division Three, up bright and early and waiting at Frenchay for the opposition. And waiting. Leaving aside comments about whether our new friends in the south had enough agricultural diesel to drive their tractors to the big city, there was mention of the regulations pertaining to late arrival and the forfeiture of the right to toss.
Naturally, new skipper Joe wasn't so churlish as to deny the Shepton Mallet captain the opportunity when they eventually arrived, by which time the Cowboys were nicely warmed up and ready to bowl. The opposition duly won the toss and put the Cowboys into bat.
Angelo and debutant Dave B navigated through the opening overs, cautious of the variable bounce and pace of the hard oatmeal wicket. When Angelo departed after hitting three boundaries, Ben continued the Cowboys' circumspect approach as the total crawled along. Having done a lot of hard work before he was eventually caught out, he was replaced by Evan who joined an increasingly solid looking Dave. Together they forged a steady partnership, then both cut loose to launch sixes and distribute the ball to all corners of the fast outfield.
When Ev was stumped attacking the ball, Kahlu did well to continue and build upon the momentum, hitting six boundaries in his 32 not out and unfortunate to miss out on more, thanks to some very competent fielding by the opposition. Meanwhile, at the other end, Dave had cruised well past fifty and as the innings approached its conclusion the big question was whether he'd get enough of the strike to make it to a century. This he answered emphatically in the final over, with one of the flattest sixes possible, punched powerfully over point: It was a remarkable performance and having carried his bat, he remained not out on 104, from a respectable and defendable innings total of 198 for 3.
Joe did well to shoulder tea responsibilities in addition to captaincy and somehow just managed to make it feed the multitude. Buoyed by this and the welcome vocal home support and scorer, the Cowboys took to the field.
Disconcertingly, the runs came easily to the opposition batsmen who used the pace of the ball and outfield to their advantage, seeing off Joe and Rich's opening attack. When the breakthrough finally came with Gretch taking a catch behind the stumps, bowler Ev barely noticed and had already started back to his mark. Fortunately, other fielders and the sporting batsmen were more aware, the former joining in muted celebration as the latter left the field.
As the flow of runs continued unabated, it was becoming clear that the Cowboys were not alone in having a solid, aggressive opening batsman who was also capable of finding the aerial route to the boundary. There was little in the pitch for the bowlers who found themselves buffeted by a strong crosswind which didn't help their cause and after a spirited but fruitless spell by Rob, your correspondent was called upon to replace him at the top end while Kahlu tried from the other.
A rare false shot facilitated a caught and bowled while Kahlu was eventually rewarded with the scalp of the opening bat, who departed for 91, thanks to Ben's excellently judged catch in the deep. Unfortunately the runs kept coming, the more so from the seventh and eighth bowlers to be called upon as the batsmen found the boundary with increasing regularity and in the 31st over the opposition overhauled the total for the loss of three wickets.
Any euphoria from the earlier Cider Moment of Dave's ton-reaching six had all but evaporated, as had Dave, clearly alarmed by the demands on his wallet made by the other jug-expecting Cowboys, who'd also voted him Man of the Match. Nevermind, there were lots of positives, our new friends in the south were sound, Rich got the barbecue out and did things to bits of pig, there was beer and dubstep on the way back to the Plough and your correspondent hadn't yet realised that despite a bag of ice his ankle was the size of a melon.
Scorecard
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