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Shawn Hill reporting. Well, what can I say. Last sunday was a pretty surreal day for those that played against Pacific in the heat of Highbury. The Wash won the toss and elected to bat on the astro strip that had good pace and carry. As no other members put their hand up by sunday we only had 10 players and Pacific kindly helped us out with a fielder. We started off well with Sam Clarke taking an early wicket and Luck Mitchell beating the bat countless times and when it did hit the bat, it flew high over the slip cordon.
But then it all went wrong.... skipper Hill chased one of those high balls over the slips to the boundary behind the keeper, took the catch over his shoulder but spilled it as he hit the ground. That wasn't the only thing he hit though because same had been coming around from fine leg and since both players were focused on the high ball, they didn't see each other and with an almighty clash of bodies that resembled a tackle that would have looked better in a Bokke vs. All Blacks rugby test.... two very winded and battered bodies were left lying on the ground. Play stopped for 15 minutes and unfortunately Sam, who came off worse, wasn't able to resume on the field. For those of you that stood watching this all unfold without a warning, thanks guys.
This meant we were down to 9 and a bowler short as same was in the middle of a very good spell. Matthew Holt struggled to find his line and length and left the field with a severely sprained ankle midway through his second spell, struggling to walk (we were now down to 8) and Hill got slapped around a bit (0-52 in 8). Mark Cumming bowled well and Joel Braniff weighted in with 2 wickets albeit it at a price. Even the usual bright and chirpy Glenn Matthews behind the stumps had to give up the gloves as his hands were all battered and bruised! Chad excelled in the field with his ground fielding and catches were taken by Holt, White and Hill. Despite a valiant effort, the opp put on a very good c.280 in their 40 overs.
With Clarke off and Holt sidelined, the Wash Realistically only had 7 batsmen. Cumming opened the batting with Matthews and they batted well before Matthews was out. Mark went on to make a brisk 48. Pretty soon though batsmen number 4 and 5 were in though and Kiwi and White stabilised the ship and went on bat superbly, both making unbeaten 50s as the Wash ended up just north of 200 for 3 wickets, 70 runs shy of the opposition total.
I'd personally, as skipper, like to thank the guys for a tremendous effort sunday in some pretty tough conditions. The Wash had a pretty strong side out but am afraid things were against us. I still have a severely swollen ankle and my ribs, well... they hurt like hell.
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