Sunday 31 July 2022 Stragglers of Asia vs Broadha’penny Brigands at Broadha’penny Down
Result: Brigands won by 2 wickets
Match Report
After a spring and early summer of baking sun, clear skies and Saharan temperatures, it was perhaps typical of the capricious nature of the weather that when Stragglers of Asia visited Broadha’penny Down to play the Brigands, the clouds rolled in and the rains came – again. 2022 was the year of celebrations for Broadha’penny Down, commemorating 250 years since the ground hosted the first first-class cricket match ever played. A year of headline fixtures meant the Brigands had to restrict the number of fixtures against regular opposition in order to fit in the celebratory one-off games – so we were very privileged to be amongst the “chosen few” to play in this year of years for the Down.
As the players were assembling for the game, a brief shower blew through but the skies cleared for the toss; skipper Joe Cavanagh called correctly and claimed first use of a pitch that was – courtesy of the hot summer – unusually hard and dry. Ian Perry, however, instantly negated this advantage by shouldering arms to the first ball of the match and departed to lay claim to the Thanks For Coming award. Cavanagh and Tim Harris then set about the rebuild, adding a watchful 36 at a steady rate (interrupted by more brief showers) before Harris fell. Cavanagh also departed to the evergreen Mike Beardall, undone by the first signs of the traditional Broadha’penny “variable bounce”. This also heralded yet another shower – thankfully the last of the day; at the resumption, Ben Parkyn and Joe Reid added a promising 48 for the 4th wicket, balancing composed defence with clean striking of the ball to find the boundary.
After Reid departed, Alex Asher joined Parkyn to see the hundred up, but then fell immediately after reaching the milesone. Tom Calder then entered the fray and the batsmen started to accelerate, adding 45 at 7 an over including Parkyn’s exquisite straight drive for 6 off Peach’s sixth ball. Peach took his revenge in his second over, breaching Calder’s defences and sending Tim Lerwill back for a rare duck. Danny Dawson held on for a couple of overs while Parkyn approached his fifty, but he and Mark Banham were blasted away by the last two balls of Ali’s fourth over. Parkyn then struck the boundary that took him to 50 and the skipper called the batsmen in, setting the Brigands a perfectly-judged 162 to win with 33 overs on offer.
Banham and Parkyn started the hunt for the wickets, finding useful bounce and a little movement. Their tight lines put pressure on the openers and it was only a matter of time before both fell in successive overs, Henderson chipping the ball to short extra and Hands edging a perfect outswinger into a surprised Tom Whyte’s hands at slip. Cavanagh swiftly introduced the wily left-armer to the attack – Whyte struck quickly to remove the pugnacious Ali whose ambitious drive resulted in a slighted castle and a long walk back. This brought Mann to the wicket and the batsmen started to work the ball around; going into the final 20 overs the target was 118 away and anything was possible.
Over the next eight overs the bowlers kept it tight, Banham finished his superb spell with a maiden before handing the baton to Dawson while Whyte continued to plug away at the other end. Mann finally edged one to Asher who held on to a sharp chance, and Wyld and the other Henderson (junior) fell quickly to Dawson and Whyte respectively. 112-6, 6 overs to go and game on. Peach and Turner attacked, clearing the short square boundary and depleting the bag of spare balls. 50 off 6 became 39 off 5, became 30 off 4. Calder, conceding 9 from his first over, then removed Peach to give the Stragglers hope of taking the last three wickets, but Gray continued the onslaught. 30 off 4 became 22 off 3, became 13 off 2.
Whyte conceded four singles in the penultimate over, so Calder started the final over with Brigands wanting 9 to win. A single to Turner, Gray took a 2 and another single. 5 wanted off 3 balls. Turner now chunked one up in the air for Whyte to run round and claim an excellent catch at short third man. Two balls, 5 to win, or a hat-trick to seize the day for Stragglers. The field spread with boundary catchers covering the wide arc from square leg to long on. Sargeant (presented with his Brigands cap at tea by club Chairman Nick Harris) lifted his first ball to the waiting Cavanagh at long-on. And safely cleared the fielder to land on the covers.
Team batting first: Stragglers of Asia
| No. | Batsman
|
How out | Bowler | Score |
| 1 | I Perry | Bowled | Sargeant | 0 |
| 2 | T Harris | Ct Mann | Beardall | 12 |
| 3 | J Cavanagh * | LBW | Beardall | 25 |
| 4 | B Parkyn | Not Out | 50 | |
| 5 | J Reid | Ct Turner | Mann | 25 |
| 6 | A Asher + | LBW | Henderson | 6 |
| 7 | T Calder | Bowled | Peach | 22 |
| 8 | T Lerwill | Bowled | Peach | 0 |
| 9 | D Dawson | Bowled | Ali | 0 |
| 10 | M Banham | Bowled | Ali | 0 |
| 11 | T Whyte | 0 | ||
| Extras | 21 | |||
| TOTAL | 161 for 9 Wickets |
Bowling
| Bowler | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets |
| Sargeant | 5 | 0 | 20 | 1 |
| Gray | 5 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| Turner | 5 | 1 | 19 | 0 |
| Beardall | 5 | 0 | 27 | 2 |
| Mann | 4 | 0 | 13 | 1 |
| Henderson | 4 | 0 | 38 | 1 |
| Ali | 4 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| Peach | 3.1 | 0 | 24 | 2 |
Team batting second: Broadha’penny Brigands
| No | Batsman | How Out | Bowler | Score
|
| 1 | E Hands | Ct Whyte | Banham | 11 |
| 2 | Da Henderson | Ct Dawson | Parkyn | 9 |
| 3 | M Ali | Bowled | Whyte | 6 |
| 4 | J Peach * | Bowled | Calder | 63 |
| 5 | D Mann | Ct Asher | Whyte | 17 |
| 6 | B Wyld + | Bowled | Dawson | 4 |
| 7 | Do Henderson | Bowled | Whyte | 0 |
| 8 | D Turner | Ct Whyte | Calder | 28 |
| 9 | L Gray | Not Out | 13 | |
| 10 | S Sargeant | Not Out | 6 | |
| 11 | M Beardall | |||
| Extras 6 | ||||
| TOTAL | 163 for 8 Wickets |
| Bowler | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets |
| Banham | 8 | 3 | 22 | 1 |
| Parkyn | 3 | 0 | 14 | 1 |
| Whyte | 13 | 2 | 48 | 3 |
| Dawson | 5 | 0 | 31 | 1 |
| Calder | 3.5 | 0 | 35 | 2 |