A muggy but overcast Regent’s Park played host to CICC’s first Friday night T20 of
the season against opponents Larkhall Wanderers. The scene was set – with the
customary lions roaring in the background (or orgasming according to Leon, who I’m
inclined to believe as a man who’s name literally means lion in Spanish).
Roughly half of the CICC unit arrived on time for the 6pm start, and after the oppo
chased twenty small children from the outfield, Captain Jon Stern undertook the
ceremonial toss and Clapham In would bat first.
James Lynch and Matt Williams opened up, both skilfully advancing the scorecard
and tactfully allowing Finn, Tooze, and the alphabet of Sams B, O’C and D to arrive.
Some fine shots saw the score advance to 26 before Lynch decided it was time for
some real excitement. Facing three wide deliveries in succession, he decided a ramp
shot would prove the most effective countermeasure, only to be bowled (sorry
Lynchy).
Leon joined Matt in the middle, with Larkhall’s first and second choice bowlers
proving effective with some good line and length. Working the ball around the field,
including a couple of glorious boundaries, Matt didn’t quite make the retiral score and
fell for 20. Captain Jon strode to the middle (from being square leg umpire) just as
the Larkhall attack looked at its strongest.
Leon’s strong hitting saw him easily reach the retiral of 25, including a sublime six
that he made look as easy as Jaymin’s ability to find friends. With wickets in hand
and 6 overs remaining, some shot-attempting from Tooze, Frecknall and O’Connell
saw a flurry of wickets with Jon consistently finding the middle of the bat at the other
end. Frecknall was perhaps the shortest-lived owner of the duck suit in many years,
with O’Connell so jealous of the President he decided to sacrifice his wicket in order
to adorn the famous garment.
Next in was Finn McCullagh, with a brand new but already cracked bat, who
proceeded to hit a gigantic square six that had a nearby picnic party ducking for
cover (more on them later). The glue of the innings was undoubtedly captain Jon,
who reached the retiral score on the final delivery and saw CICC finish on 132 for 5.
Most honourably, Jon’s last ball retiral meant that the next-in-line Sam Dooley didn’t
have to venture to the middle with Dooley Sr. watching on.
Coinciding with the end of the day at the World Test Championship Final, Ed Gregory
and PvS joined Dooley Sr. in providing the largest group of patrons a CICC Friday
T20 has ever seen. The group was frequently made larger by the picnic party next
door, with one particular lady taking a shine to Dooley Sr. and asking him about the
“white costumes” we had decided to wear.
Escaping that situation as promptly as possible, CICC took to the field with Jaymin
and Dooley Jr. opening up. Larkhall’s opener liked the look of quite literally every
delivery, firing the ball to the boundary and retiring within the first 5 overs despite
good bowling. Sam Burton and Lynchy operated as the change bowlers and with the
pace-spin combo proving too much for the Larkhall upper order, Sam claimed two
wickets with a straightforward catch behind the stumps and a not-so-straightforward
catch in the outfield.
With the score at 59-2 after 10 overs (albeit with the opposition only counting one for
each wide), the game was completely altered by Finn and Sammy O’Connell and
some fine catching in the CICC outfield. Four wickets fell in the space of two overs,
with Finn’s double wicket maiden (!!) and first wickets for the club proving a just
reward for his turn and bounce that left him with figures of 2-1. Still sporting the duck
suit as he came running into bowl, and undeterred by shouts of “Chicken Run” from
the boundary, Sammy took two wickets “for the first time since Covid” which could
have had the author fooled given his consistency of line and length.
Six overs remained and with Larkhall still needing another 60, Frecknall, Stern and
Crowley looked to secure a victory for CICC. Some tight bowling and fielding yielded
more wickets as Crowley bowled the Larkhall number 9 before Jonfra secured a
wicket of his own. Leon’s second wicket brought the Larkhall opener back to the
crease, who hit his first ball on return to the crease for four (uh oh).
Some uncertainty over exactly how many overs remained (I’m not sure how either)
meant that Larkhall’s goal looked a little closer than before. What better time for Sam
Dooley, spurred on by his doting father, to be the man to make the difference.
More used to hitting boundaries, the Larkhall opener seemed surprised when
Crowley’s bouncing delivery forced him to prod mid-on, where Dools was ready to
pounce. His picture-perfect pick up and underarm throw left the batter yards out of
his crease when the bails came flying off, despite shouts of “easy” from yours truly
and a few others. Unfortunately for Sam, Dooley Sr. was still more impressed by
Sammy’s wickets in his duck suit, but it was a fitting end to a well fought game for
CICC.
Larkhall finished on 124, meaning CICC won by 8 runs.
CICC – 132/5
Jon Stern 26, Leon Crowley 25, Matt Williams 20
Larkhall Wanderers – 124 a.o.
Finn McCullagh 2-1, Sammy O’Connell 2-5, Leon Crowley 2-7, Sam Burton 2-10.
Champagne Moment – Finn McCullagh’s gigantic pull for 6.
Headband – James Frecknall’s unfortunate overthrows, on a rare near perfect day in
the field for CICC.
About the author – We wish there were two James Tooze’s but unfortunately there is only one. Taker of one of CICC’s finest caught and bowled’s diving forwards in his follow through in a T20 vs Bluies. If we had two he could keep and bowl too!
