Details are sketchy at present, but unconfirmable reports are coming in of a bloodless coup at Fitzwilliam College, with the Remnants regime defeated by a group of defectors who have become known as "The Travelling Theatre" Their self-appointed leader, Dr. Geoffrey Hales of Brampton Road, Cambridge, Cambridge, has issued a brief statement describing the incident.
The rout was led by the traitors John Gull (72* off 52 balls) and Mike Sneyd (49 off 57 balls) who, between them, put on a 121-run opening partnership that was only broken by Adrian Mellish (2/19) in the final over of the innings. The most dramatic contribution was, inevitably, that of Gull, who was injured on the field of battle when he sprained his ankle going for a second run. After much "leaping and wailing" he contined with the aid of a runner, eventually self-diagnosing himself as having a broken bone on the basis of information obtained from a medical web-site. During this period Remnants failed to respond to the Theatre's challenge, fielding "disgracefully" and dropping Sneyd "five times" before finally halting his charge one short of a half-century.
The Remnants chase started well enough, with Jon Steele (20 off 22 balls) and Tom Serby (22* off 25 balls) playing good supporting roles while Mike Jones (49 off 57 balls) picked up where he left off against The Computer Laboratory back in June. Between the three of them they took Remnants to 107/2 after 12 (eight-ball) overs, which meant we needed 24 runs from the final 16 balls.
The Travelling Theatre were probably marginal favourites at this stage, an impression that was rapidly confirmed as Remnants lost 4/17 in the final two overs, John Picton (1/22), Oliver Waterfall (2/15) and Joe Harvey (1/15) combining to keep their own club at bay.
