Report by Daniel Mortlock:
It's about this time every year that Remnants warms up the Fathers And Sons juggernaut, an endeavour in which we've been spectacularly successful of late . . . at least in the sense of giving FAS a pre-tour victory to start their abbreviated season. The whole situation is complicated by the fact that about half a dozen Remnants regulars play for FAS and tonight was no exception, with Rob Harvey, Faruk Kara, Daniel Mortlock and Joe White (i.e., two past club captains and the current captain and vice-captain) going over to the dark side.
And, as usual, FAS got full value from their traitors: Rob kept wicket immaculately and took three catches; Joe and Faruk both bowled well, taking 2/23 from a total of 6 economical (six-ball) overs; and Daniel scored the same number of runs (62) in this one innings as he has for Remnants so far this season. The fact that his accumulation took the full 20 (six-ball) overs might have at least implied a slow scoring rate and a total of 130-odd, but unfortunately there was the small matter of FAS's number four, Oliver Siverton, who smashed 110* (from 54 balls, with 14 fours and 4 sixes) despite having not faced a ball 'til the 7th over. This was all the more remarkable for the fact that it was his first ever century in any form of cricket - rather than being a pro, like some of the others who've dined out on Remnants bowling over the years, he seemed to be just a decent club cricketer having a very good day.
An unfortunate corollary of Oliver's success is that we can't have bowled too well. Certainly there were a near-fatal number of full-tosses and half-trackers, and none of the seven bowlers we used conceded less than a run a ball. We did, however, bowl well in patches - indeed, FAS were just 4/0 after tight opening overs from Eli Ellwood (1/29) and Julius Rix (1/24). Eli also took a well-judged out-field catch, but all our other chances went begging and the ground-fielding wilted under the combined pressures of the slippery ground and hard-hitting.
Despite the morale-sapping effects of our time in the field, our chase started with real fire to it, as Dave Williams (20 off 19 balls) and John Richer (9 off 10 balls) took us to 20/0 after the first 2 overs. All we needed to do was repeat that trick ten times over and we'd have tied the game . . . although it's perhaps no surprise that we couldn't manage that, a succession of wickets falling to necesarily adventurous shots. By the time Eli Ellwood (12 off 14 balls) was dismissed we were 79/7 and our charge was over. Still, there was pride - not to mention the possibility of rain - to play for, and Andy Owen (36* off 35 balls) and Richard Rex (10* off 15 balls) ensured that FAS were stuck in the field almost to 9pm (although unfortunately it wasn't until about an hour later that the rain, which had briefly delayed the start of the match, finally arrived in force).
