Classic debut encounter
Highgate Wood, 9/7/2022
Strongroom won by 3 runs
Strongroom: 114
Butterlords: 111
View the Scorecard
This encounter turned out to be one of those absolute classics, and was made even more memorable in that it came against a new opposition - Butterlords CC. The Lords of Butter were much like Strongroom CC of old - cans of Red Stripe were commonly were constantly being imbibed by their fielders, accompanied by amusing and highly creative banter throughout. This was another baking hot day in London, to add to an unending sequence of such days, in this summer where climate change has finally come to show us what it’s got. The surface was very dry, but thankfully still featured sufficient grass and roots to bind the topsoil together and prevent the top from fragmenting. Oppo skipper Maximilian Hildeband (what a name) made the brave and Bazballian decision to field first on winning the toss.
Gwyn (24) and myself (28) put on 54 for the first wicket, in what was a steady and watchful start, as the opening bowlers were disciplined and we had to play with due respect. At 54-0 all was well in our world, and I noticed the rest of our team were lounging comfortably in the sun by the scorer’s shed, in relaxed anticipation of yet another 200+ total. However, Butterlords had other ideas, and the double bowling change that introduced the Hildebrand bros prompted a cataclysmic collapse that saw us stagger from 54-0 to 114 all out. The chief destroyer among this carnage was Hildebrand jnr (Theo), who from a very friendly run up and action propelled the ball at a very gently medium pace, which looked innocuous enough - but in reality he possessed such levels of drift, wobble, guile and craft that we were at a total loss of how to respond. Hildebrand snr (skipper Max) bowled what looked like left-handed chinamen (can we still say that?) off the wrong foot, and together they formed a deadly sibling duo, finishing with 8-59 off their 16 overs. To add to this maelstrom we contributed to some of our own downfall, with Mario making the tough and brave call as umpire to give both our premier batsmen Gwyn and (Mumbai returnee) Fenil out LBW (ouch!), and Naveen then triggered Riaz out leg-before much to his fury. Palm Tree loanee Kevin looked like a classy bat until Theo again produced a magic and mysterious bit of wobble that somehow removed his off-stump (it seemed to go around his bat; bizarre). By the latter stage of our innings the outfield was peppered with flattened Red Stripes, and at one stage five runs were generously awarded in our direction when a certain boundary was arrested by a tinny encounter with one of these obstacles. This unusual occurrence was to prove crucial, given the tight finish to this game. At tea, I estimated we were 100 runs short of a par total.
Another post-COVID DIY tea (when will the homemade tea return?) was hustled down, as we considered how to dig ourselves out of this hole.
Given our paltry total to defend, I opened with Riaz and Mario, who both bowled really well. Runs proved very hard to come by, as we aimed to squeeze the scoring rate and build pressure, and over the next 2-3 hours the game seesawed constantly in what proved to be a magnificent tussle. As well as bowling superbly (2-27), Joe Miller also pulled off a stunning run out with a one-handed direct hit from the covers, and Nilesh also bowled well, producing a wicket with his first ball after tea, in an inspired bowling change from yours truly (ahem). The surface was by now keeping low and was not easy for Nara to keep wicket, and the regular flow of byes and leg-byes simply added to the total (and the mounting drama). In all this, Butterlords wickets fell at regular intervals, yet one figure remained to the very end - opener Hameed (35), whose obdurate display kept the run chase alive. For a while the big-hitting Shastry threatened, but again we made a key breakthrough, and soon enough we found ourselves in the endgame death zone. It was at this stage I took the risk to bring Ramu (off-spin, shoulder injury) and myself (harmless medium pace) onto bowl for the death overs. This started badly, as both Ramu and I were rusty and got slammed to the boundary, but then Ramu snared the defiant opener Hameed LBW, and we were down to the last pair with 10 runs needed to win. I was slammed for a huge six over long-on, but got two successive deliveries to jag back in and hit the pads, the second of which was given LBW, and with it the fate of the game.
Big kudos should be given to Butterlords, whose umpires very sportingly gave two critical LBWs in our favour, with just 10 needed to win. Not many teams would do that. Ultimately this was a tremendous game of cricket and played in a great atmosphere.
In this image below we see the Ramu facing up to Max Hildebrand.
Written By: J.Gower
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