Kingston Methodist Cricket Club

Brighstone vs KMCC

29 June 2008

Bright Sun and Windy

STATS LINK

 

The beautiful weather continued on the tour Sunday and after an improved hotel breakfast or a fat-boy Alexander’s Cafe special (depending on which part of the party you joined) we gathered on the beach for a morning warm up. Chambre Deux and half of Zimmer Zwölf (the half that can bat being away) teamed up for some beach frisbee, whilst the skipper led the obligatory pre-match cider drinking and perving at girls with tattoos in the promenade pub.

 

The KMCC convoy set off for Brighstone, a glorious drive along the coast if you own a low-slung German sports coupe and a nausea inducing roller coaster if you’re a passenger in one. After Cuttsy and I had overtaken a few slovenly tourists and got the rear wing to come up, we blasted straight past the turning to the ground allowing everyone else to get there first and dredge up their Aesop knowledge.

 

Brighstone provided another lovely setting and a real grass wicket. There were fewer clouds and probably just as much wind as the day before, with Cuttsy replacing Fellsy in the playing XI.

 

Brightstone put us in to bat and the ex-Quad and Tenzing treated us to a very good opening stand of 65, Richard going on to make a top-scoring 59. Orbison came at three and made a good 19, and in fact everyone who batted got a start, but despite a nice short downhill boundary on one side, no-one made a really big individual score. Tom was the star of the middle order with an excellent 32 not out and no-one failed, so we were happy with our 195 for 7 from 43 overs at tea.

 

In reply, we made early inroads to the Brighstone batting, the Chairman picking up two tour wickets after opening at one end, and Scott getting two more. We also made a conscious effort to speed through our overs, impressive but something which was to cost us in the end.

 

Although Brighstone lost early wickets and looked to be struggling, their middle order offered stiff resistance and they began to score very fast. The KMCC team showed the effects of age and a tiring tour as our mobility in the field seized up somewhat. Niggling injuries and a lack of thirty-somethings for the skipper to throw about meant that we would have seen some all-run fives slogged up the hill were the Brighstone batsmen not the wrong side of forty themselves.

 

There was also a lot of fishing the ball out of the nearby stream as the KMCC attack tired and on a sloping pitch struggled with line and length. Although we did in the end break the big partnership thanks to a sharp stumping by Cuttsy off Clatters, the left handed key Brighstone batsman went on to make a fine century which would win them the game by 4 wickets with 3 overs left.

 

It was a great comeback and in truth a good game, though defeat hurt for a while after a game we should have won. Still, it hopefully gives us an incentive to return because in truth this was probably the team closest to our own in ability we’ve played on all our Tours.

 

Sunday night saw us admiring Spain winning Euro 2008, and finishing as we’d began, drinking Stellas around the Pool Table in the Crab. The weather just got better and better on the Monday and, minus an early-rising Tenzing and the non-golfing Harts, we took to the tees and greens of Sandown and Shanklin GC once more for the third Major of the season.

 

The ex-skipper, who scored about 4 stableford points all day on the Friday, returned to form with 29 points and duly won the Human Squid Memorial Challenge on count-back from Richard Driver and Bernard Retief-Goosenbison.

 

On the ferry home it could not have been a greater contrast to last year - it was like a cruise round the greek islands in the hot sun on the calm Solent and everyone was nicely chilled, if not a little sunburned before hurtling up the A3.

 

Thanks to everyone who put the time and effort into this year’s Tour: Mike “Tour Admin” Hayden, Clatters for the fixtures, the spectators who travelled over, Barnso, Felllsy and Tenzing for staying as long as they could with other commitments to attend to, and of course to all the guys who were there the whole time and made it such a great atmosphere . We were almost down to the bare minimum this year for two games worth of cricket, but the comedy and the schedule were (in my view) the best ever, and I think confirms what I said all along that the Isle of Wight is “the sunniest place in the UK”. Therefore it remains only for me to advise the ladies and gentlemen of the class of 2009: wear sunscreen.