Olton Sunday 2s enjoyed a pleasing win in fine weather at HQ thanks to a gorgeous, and chanceless, 104 not out from Matt Stait, and some fine back-up bowling from Dave Pullin and Steve Wallis.
(xxxxxxxWebsite Editor: can we get a fact checker on this please? Thanks.xxxxxxx$**). Olton's innings unusually featured two century partnerships, between Phil Budd and Stait, and between Stait and Wallis.
Sutton Coldfield fielded a side containing several youngsters, and it was to a chorus of ear-splitting encouragement that their bowlers got off to a good start, with Olton losing Pullin early on. Phil Budd and Stait then proceeded to accumulate runs serenely, despite Stait being struck on the right cheek by the ball when diving to make his ground following a quick single (a Nobby special). The blow, and Stait's subsequent stoical resumption, brought some perhaps ill-advised military-related quips from the Olton side.
When Budd lost his wicket for a typically deft and nuggety 39 with the score on 113, Steve Wallis came in to score a rapid 48, playing some powerful drives in falling just short of his second fifty of the weekend. After Tim Joiner was unluckily bowled by a ball that kept low, James Danks appeared for an untroubled cameo to help Stait to his hundred. In calmly gathering his runs, Stait displayed excellent technique, and played not a single lofted shot, sending the ball skimming over the fast outfield to the boundary on no less than 14 occasions. Olton closed on a challenging 249 for 4 from their 45 overs.
Sutton's reply got off to an excellent start, both batsmen playing shots with confidence. A couple of off-side drives from the older opener, played very late wide of point, and a late cut for four from the youngster, provided a perfect illustration of the quality of the track. George Wilkinson generated good pace, but Olton struggled to gain any control. Skipper James Eaton rang the changes as the score rocketed alarmingly.
After a rocky start to their respective spells, Paver and Eaton – particularly the latter – established a degree of control, although both suffered from a “big over” later on. Eaton settled down to bowl his usual tantalizing length, while Paver finished strongly to trap the young opener leg before with an inswinger. Paver had earlier taken a stinging blow on the instep while trying to avoid a drive, although the injury appeared to have a galvanizing effect on his bowling (the affected area is sore and swollen but mobility has not been overly impaired, thanks for asking).
Despite the dismissal of their top-order batsmen, Sutton continued to score freely, albeit increasingly desperately. Wickets were to fall regularly, keeping Olton on top. With the home side short of bowling options, thanks in part to Steve “sixfer” du Cros' deserved promotion to the Sunday 1s, Dave Pullin and Steve Wallis stepped into the breach. Pullin bowled a series of those excellent and annoying deliveries that seem to die on you just as you think you're about to lamp them back over his head (anybody who has faced Drive in the nets will be familiar with his stock delivery) to finish with 6-1-33-2 from a useful spell. Rumours that one of Dave's wickets came from a ball that was edged to Matt Ayling behind the stumps from the toe of the bat just as the umpire was in the process of signalling a wide are surely, ahem, wide of the mark.
Steve “all-rounder” Wallis, meanwhile, having been complimented prophetically on his “strong action” before the match (remember that, Wally?), and having survived some chirping from beyond the boundary, produced a fine spell. As so often happens, it was the good balls that created the pressure, and the, er, less good balls that took the wickets (see the unsubstantiated rumour about Pullin, above. See also Paver's first wicket). Never can catches have been caught with such a visible show of disgust as the two snared by Eaton at extra cover from Wallis full tosses. Wally even exclaimed “Oh no!” as the ball sailed to Squeak on the second occasion.
Matt Ceillam then returned manfully to the attack, producing a jaffa to help bring to an end some defiant late-order hitting. Wallis wrapped things up to finish with extraordinary figures of 3 for 13 from 7.4 overs and 3 maidens – a splendid display of off-spin bowling (it was off-spin, wasn't it Wal?). Sutton were bowled out for 218 in the 40th over.
Olton's fielding was good throughout, with Squeak taking three catches, and Tim Joiner and George Wilkinson in particular keeping things tight. Wally lost one in the sun at deep midwicket, but that was arguably a tactical move so he could get another wicket. Nobby's mild observation that Wally “could pull his cap down over his eyes” appeared to be regarded as a dangerously radical suggestion.
In the end, victory was achieved comfortably despite the rapid start to Sutton's innings, illustrating the value of a decent score when batting first on this wicket. Squeak had accurately predicted this scenario in a positively Churchillian pre-innings address, in which he pointed out that “even if the batsmen are going well, it doesn't mean that we're out of it”. The huddle was missed by Nobby, who was changing his sweater for the 17th time (out of a season's best total of 43).
Everybody made a contribution to the outcome, the bedrock being laid by Stait's hundred, and (this sentence has not appeared on this website, or anywhere else, before) Steve Wallis's bowling ultimately sealing the win. And on that bombshell…further honourable mentions are due to Matt Ayling for a sharp stumping and a neat catch, for some effective talking, and for generally being as mad as a badger; and to George Wilkinson for fielding with admirable verve and athleticism, and for declaring after the game that he had “had a nice time, which is all that matters.” And, as they say, there's no answer to that. |
