A Harborne points deduction of cosmic proportions totalling 207 points after a meeting with Feckenham kicked off a week of mass confusion in the Martley WhatsApp ranks in the days preceding Saturday’s game. Providentially, double agent Christian Mulvihill was able to give the Martley bumpkins the inside line on the goings on.
We move onto match day, your reporter is unsure of what happened at the toss but I am sure that Martley batted first.
Things started well, the “Bat 40 overs and hold it together” opening batsmen innings finally came to the party for the first time this season in the form of Christian Mulvihill. The solidity provided from one end helped immeasurably in assisting the other in scoring quickly. Owen Birchley helped out first. Against a good opening attack he made it to 13 in double quick time getting Martley to 31 in 4 overs before being bowled by a surprise full toss.
Alex Basford came out to join the treacherous double agent and he struggled initially as a Harborne side, playing purely for pride and staring down the barrel at relegation, bowled tidily all day and made Martley work for every run. Basford eventually got in but after taking 3 fours in one over he cue ended a sweep shot that lollipopped to mid-wicket, gone for 28.
Karl Baker came to the crease next and he took no time in getting into his work, climbing into a half-volley and a long hop but alas, he could not keep going. As quickly as he was in, he was out for 9. Martley had quickly slumped from 101-1 to 110-3 and the door was opening for Harborne.
The plan, the same as every week, was to take the innings deep and unleash the ball strikers lower down the order, Hayes, Lord Douglas Moira Stormonth-Darling of Scotland and Dunks. With this in mind, Ganderton made his way out to join Mulvihill in a very necessary partnership lasting 12 overs which consisted of stolen singles and the odd boundary. Martley edged on to 164 before skipper Ganderton (28) was caught unleashing the, to put it politely, effective batsmen further down the order. Mulvihill went shortly after his skipper, having done his job admirably and batting with intensity unseen from him this year, he was met by applause from the well oiled home fans basking in sun on the patio and his team-mates. He returned 75 off circa 120 balls. He had turned out, to Martley’s relief, not to be Harborne’s triple agent.
This stoic knock was followed by something quite different from the “biffers”. Hayes went first, scoring a rapid 53 and depositing bits of red leather on no less than 5 different spots of the B4197 before being bowled. During his stay, he was ably supported by Lord Darling. When Darling remembered the basics of looking at the ball when trying to hit it, he struck some hard boundaries before departing for a brisk 19.
Marking his guard for the first time in the 49th over, Dunks, who is currently on a mission to prove he should be batting higher up the order, only managed 6 with limited time. Howes and Birchley finished the innings off with 1 run each, the former hitting his with a RootScoop.
Martley close on 267-8. Thoughts were that it would be enough but making 275 would have been ideal.
After some high carb Victoria Sponge gifted by the WI, the Bumpkins were raring to get at the left-handed opening pair.
Ollie Dunks’ (7-1-24-1) opening couple of overs were accurate and uneventful. The same cannot be said for Lord Darling (3-0-25-0) at the other end who had openly said that he didn’t want to open the bowling. 3 overs as calamitous as Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini budget saw Harborne racing along at 6 an over, virtually from one end. A quick bowling change ensued as the resident 1st XI number 11, Alex Stratford, replaced Darling from the Nubbins End. The new pair of Dunks and Stratford immediately got a hold on the game as Harborne struggled for boundaries. Dunks, after some persistence, induced an edge, caught at 1st slip by Basford. Starting to tire, the pair were double changed for Howes (7-1-37-4)and Ganderton (10-0-38-1). The two managed to keep a lid on things with Howes taking wickets in regular intervals, one, unbelievably caught by Karl Baker and another caught behind. After Howes went for an expensive over, he was replaced by O’Birchley (10-1-46-1) who was tasked with bowling to a quality left-hander who motored to a very comfortable looking 76 before being given out LBW. Stratford (10-1-46-1) returned to take a wicket in the first over of his new spell as well as edging Harborne slowly out of the game. With the continued fall of regular wickets and the oppo unable to put a meaningful partnership together the required rate climbed just too high to be realistically chased. A panicked run saw Ganderton make a direct hit to run out one of the last batsmen. Howes picked up the last man to bowl Harborne out for 231. After a bit of drifting in the middle overs, Martley picked themselves up in the field and pushed through, the power of positivity and extra effort showing itself in an outstanding performance and result.
Additionally, is this the first time in Martley history that two bowlers have bowled out and ended with the same figures? Cite Birchley and Stratford for details.
Onto Lye at home next week. Will the lifesize cut out of Imran Khan make the trip down from the Black Country?
Be sure to read next weeks edition of Martley Cricket Club’s Report to find out.
