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day dawned bright and, surprisingly stayed that way. Once
again the vice captain, Mark Frosties Evans was late despite
being the closest to the depot! All were eventually collected
and we were on our way. After a fairly uneventful journey
we arrived at the White Hart in Wolverton. Eif however spotted
that they had Jennings bitter in the pub next door but unfortunately
they had run out. Jack failed miserably in his quest to locate
(& score) a chippy. His latest book “Chippies of
the World” will be published later this year.
We made our way to the delightful
ground at Wytham and were met by Bob Keen, Wytham captain.
All was going well until the captain discovered that he had
no pants. Tony offered a spare pair which were a trifle snug.
I later discovered they were boys. Dee Valley won the toss
& decided to field. The first wicket fell at 14 but Mr.
Blakeman & Mr. Lowe then put on 101 runs before Charlie
struck with one that moved both ways & spun. Our youth
policy (Bert) was then introduced into the attack & bowled
well taking 2 for 37. Eif bowled well before pulling up with
fetlock trouble. Curtly Jones bowled a tidy four over spell
taking a wicket & running out Mr. Roper. His celebrations
making Monty Panasar look like an amateur. Wytham however
made good progress & finished on 165 for 8 from 40 overs.
Tea time!
Tea was excellent
with quiches, rolls, dips, chicken legs etc. Unfortunately
Matt is a veggie but enjoyed the strawberries! So to Dee Valley
reply.
Mike & Ian opened the innings
and as usual Weav made two runs to every one of Planty’s.
Sixty eight runs were added before Weav gloved one to the
keeper. Mike eventually went next with a yahoo to long off
but Charlie scored steadily. Evs did not occupy the crease
for too long in true “like to give everybody a bat”
style. Bert followed in his dad’s footsteps with a four
& out. Peter eventually connected with one for a rather
nice leg side four. After years of trying Tony actually made
some runs (four) which were re-lived many times that evening.
Unfortunately the innings fell away a bit resulting in Wytham
winning by 25 runs. The game was played in an excellent spirit,
despite Bob Keen resorting to chemical warfare. My thanks
to all the boys at Wytham, particularly to Trev Buck who helped
to organise the whole event.
Both teams
retired to the White Hart for a post match shandy! We then
went on to our hotel & into Oxford for a curry & a
few beers. Bert was not up to serious touring and almost fell
asleep in the restaurant. After a couple of nightcaps most
of the team retired with very little incident.
After breakfast & a tour
of a nearby car boot sale we headed for Edgsbaston for the
Warwickshire & Glamorgan fixture which gave myself &
Bert the opportunity to wave the Welsh flag. Only sixteen
overs were possible to which Tony remarked “that’s
a pound an over!”
My thanks go to Evs & Pete for driving the bus, to Tony
for sponsoring it and to Jack for suppliying the trophy &
team beer. Once again this was a very enjoyable tour and I’m
sure we are all looking forward to a repeat fixture next season.
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