Report by Daniel Mortlock:
An e-mail from an opposition organiser more than a week before match day can mean one of two things: they're extremely well organised; or they're extremely short of players. In this case it was, arguably both - although it's only the latter which really matters. Their first (very appologetic) message stated that "we currently have only 7 players available" and "2 of those 7 are in their 70s" (a qualification which suggests Remnants should start providing similar demographic information); then, just in case that wasn't sufficiently pessimistic, the follow-up was that their "match manager/selector hurt his back today in the reduced numbers game we played today - possibly the last ever involving the club." While it's frustrating to once again find ourselves hunting for an opposition, it's even sadder to think that L&O might not even end up lasting a decade - let's home some cricket obsessives move in over the winter.
Report by Daniel Mortlock:
Having once again found ourselves with just a few days to find an opposition side, we took a rather Buddhist approach, finding the solution to our problem from within. With 18 players available to play already we were already within touching distance of being able to have an internal game, and after some successful negotiations with "the boss" and some Remnants-adjacent recruiting we had two full sides. The next question was what to call them, for which we quickly settled on an Olympic theme, Stephen Doel noting that "cricket has appeared once in the Olympics, in 1900; it was played between GB and France - we are still reigning Olympic champions." So it was Team GB, led by TK, taking on Team France - or, more, correctly, Equipe de France - led by Daniel. With the evenings now noticably shorter we went for 15x8s with the additional modifcation of having five-over blocks from each end.
After losing a few early wickets, Team GB established an early ascendancy through the relentless hitting of Saurav Dutta (26 off 23 balls) and Marcus Baker (35* retired not out off 20 balls) who, between them, scored off all but 12 off the 43 balls they faced. After 7 overs Team GB were 74/2 and were a few good overs from killing off the game as a contest . . .
. . . only for the runs to dry up as Faruk Kara (2/20), Anand Kairamkonda (0/18) and Arad Sethia (0/3 on debut) spun a web of dot balls around John Young (9 off 25 balls) and Neil Grover (3 off 11 balls). Team GB's scoring rate halved as just 25 runs came from the next 6 overs, a sort of cricketing echo of their namesakes' efforts in the Olympics once the sitting-down sports were done. There was also a catch-off of sorts in the field, with Stephen Doel and Daniel Mortlock matching each others' efforts numerically with two grabs, but Stephen winning on artistic merit thanks to his audacious choice to attempt spectacularly unnecessary triple juggle when presented with a sitter at mid-wicket.
The delicate cross-Channel balance resulted in some tensions between the fielders and the decidedly non-neutral umpires, with Daniel receiving a Level 1 warning when he noted that the umpire who'd just turned down an LBW appeal was "looking at the ground". Then in the last few overs both captains took centre stage: Daniel (3/24) nabbed the wicket of Rahul Jhawar (10 off 6 balls), but couldn't dismis TK, who was (once again) undefeated, his innings of 14* off 17 balls taking his season's batting average to an amazing 174.00.
Going out to defend what seemed like a par score of 120, TK (1/8) picked up where he left off with the bat, getting the prize wicket of CJ Barrie (2 off 3 balls) leg-before - or actually chest-before - with his first ball. Richard Rex (15 off 23 balls, scoring almost with pull shots), Stephen Doel (36* retired off 41 balls) and Arad (20 off 25) then mounted a solid recovery, keeping Team France within touch of the required run rate.
The game then reached its conclusion with some insane see-sawing: Rahul Jhawar pulled things back with an economical spell of 1/15 (which also included a wicket maiden), which seemed like it might have won the game for Team GB; then Ben Stone (14* off 9 balls) to have the proverbial "big over" off Neil Grover (0/18), bringing the requirement below a run a ball for the first time all innings; only for Saurav Dutta (2/6) to then take two wickets in the penultimate over. That brought Daniel (2* off 4 balls) to the crease, and with TK electing to bowl the last over we had a nice repeat of the end of the first innings, albeit with roles reversed. There were no boundaries (and no wickets), but some scampered runs meant there was one needed to tie and two to win from the final ball with Ben on strike; TK pulled out hist faster ball, which Ben insisted he knew was coming . . . but it was too good, and Marcus made a great take standing up, leaving Team GB victorious by a solitary run.