g23_13jul06_rhiwbina

I remember walking into the toilets of a Dublin pub a few years back and on the side of the condom machine was written "It's easy to fail". Those words came back to me with some poignancy yesterday as the Casz flopped unceremoniously to a lame six -wicket defeat.
This was a game that saw five run outs in our innings, a belly-flop by one of our more 'rotund' players which caused a quake that reached point seven on the Richter Scale, and the same player forced to leave the pitch with a dislocated finger.

let me be blunt. Our innings was about as tight as Julian Clary's arse. Will Goad, who batted admirably for 24 before being bowled, and John F (15, caught), were the only players to reach double figures, as the Casz crawled to a mere 85 all out off our 20.
In the midst of it all there was the catastrophic - no, suicidal - running between the stumps. Before I put the spotlight on Dan, I have to own up to the first fuck-up of the day. JF and i were just settling into a rhythm when he cut one to backward point. i said no, then the guy fumbled, so I said yes. before we knew it, JF and I were doing the hokey-cokey in the middle of the strip until I fell flat on my arse like a twat, and despite the guy fumbling it at least twice more, was run out by a good 10 yards for 6 (18-1).It was a sign of things to come.

After reaching a fairly respectable 44 for 2 off 10, we got really bogged down. the next five overs only yielded 15 runs, and by the time Dan came in to run everyone out, we were 76 for 6 off 17.

To be fair to Dan, (I can hear Andy H, Muff and Nadeem saying "no, fuck Dan"), the runs weren't flowing and big risks needed to be taken to move the score along. And boy did Shagger take them. Before long, he had gone through the lower order like a dose of clap.

At least Shakey, an 11th hour deputy for the sleepy Steve O (who, call the cops, had been to work! It'll go down as one of those "where were you" moments, like when JFK was shot), had agreed to be Dan's fourth and final victim, as they attempted an improbable three off what should only have been a single from the last ball. let's face it, even if he hadn't agreed, Dan was having way too much fun to resist.

Fair play to the opposition who bowled a very tight line and length and generally fielded well. However, on a benign wicket we didn't do ourselves justice and a score of at least 120 was required to make a game of it.

Morale was low in the field but Pablo gave us a glimmer of hope with his customary tight spell of bowling. his 2-16 was aided by Andy Hood's stingey 0-10 from his four.
Although we managed to reduce Rhiwbina to less than 40 off the first 10, their number two batsmen tilted the game with a fine knock of 33 before JF caught him off Shakey's bowling. JF fielded superbly, taking two catches, as well as producing a magnificent aforementioned belly-flop as he stopped the ball. Unfortunately, he dislocated his little finger when he dropped one off Shakey's bowling. Not only was his finger bent backwards it also pointed at a right angle.

The crunching noise his finger made reminded of the moment in Escape to Victory when they break the keeper's leg so Sly Stallone can play in goal.
The pain on JF's face summed-up our overall performance as Rhiwbina reached home with three-and-a-half overs to spare. the fact that they were thrilled to have pulled-off their "biggest scalp" of the season illustrates how well we have been playing this season.

We can put it down to being one of those evenings, and after all, it's easy to fail.
Hope the finger is OK John. If not, perhaps you can be our new spinner? the grip you will get with that finger will make Murali look tame.

back