Well this the inaugural cricket match between the Ebor Players and combined Parish Council/Millennium Trust team had it all. What began as a beautiful sun drenched evening ended with a nail biting finish and a wounded match winning hero.
The final ball is struck..but what happened next?
Thoughts on that Cricket Match - written about midnight after a few celebratory drinks in the Ebor after the match.)
Thanks for a wonderful evening and well done - we won (not that I had any doubts!)! We started slowly with Googly Drummond and Deadly Davies taking an over to find their feet - Googlies were lost under his oversize pads - but they both came good in the end, Deadly striking the ball cleanly for a four and then the only 6 of the night! I had to drag them both off to be replaced by Belter Bewley who soon found her feet but she was then joined by me Howzatt Harrison (quickly dispatched as per the name). There was an opening flourish from both of us and we got carried away on the enthusiasm and somehow the umpire gave me out following a slight mix up whilst running between the wickets! Belter was then joined by Slogger Jess - who listening to her captain's advice (there's a first time for everything!) - succeeded in getting several runs added by allowing wides to pass her by and pick up 2 runs on each occasion! I might add that after Belter had been called in by the Captain (who took great pleasure in doing so!) Slogger also protected Gotcha Godfrey from the best bowler of the evening for a couple of balls! However, Gotcha managed to show his true worth and defended nicely against the "bowler" on the Ebor team. Gotcha was then joined by Catchum Godfrey who also proceeded to protect him from the bowling until being caught and bowled. In all Gotcha Godfrey played a good straight bat innings after being identified as a turncoat by the Ebor Players. By this time the score was moving along nicely (somewhere around the 50 mark and we only needed 57 to win) and we thought we had the game in the bag. So the captain decided to put on Silly Mid on Green and Dude Dudley - well they ran a few and got us a couple of runs but then Dude decided he'd run to the other end to discuss the situation with Silly Mid On and was run out. So.......... Out to the crease came Demon Dunn who attempted to hit and miss a few times but was finally so surprised when he did hit one that it took the combined efforts of the rest of the team to remind him to run! And what a run - it has been described as "running in slow motion" a "moonwalk run" and "what's that!" but it was indeed a run - and a very necessary run as it turned out! We were now down to the last over still requiring one run to win - Silly Mid On was determined to hit the ball and despite calls to retire from the Captain appeared to not hear until she had two further attempts. Eventually with four balls to go she retired and Lively Livesley took his bat to the crease. It was now getting very tense as we still needed one run to win - the captain was on tenterhooks as he had decided to play his final player ,and if he was out first ball the game would be a draw, and we may have won if a previous player had not been withdrawn! BUT Lively lived up to his name - took one ball to get his eye in and then struck the ball for a quick single and ran like the wind - we had won!! The whole team ran out to congratulate the winners when we suddenly realised that Lively was on the ground - floored by the throw in to the wicket to try to run him out - for one moment things were confused and could we celebrate?? Then Lively - like the player he is - stood up and showed off his black eye - always good for a vote when obtained for the good of the village! - and joined in the celebrations. We had indeed won and some of us have the war-wounds to show for it! I must at this point thank the umpires for their careful and considerate handling of the game including encouragement and coaching given to most players - after all we needed all the help we could get! Thanks also to the scorers - as without you we would never have known who had won! As I said previously - thanks for the effort and well done to the BPC/MT team and thanks for a good clean game played by the Ebor Players - although I was a little disappointed the pantomime horse did not bat at No.s 7 and 8! The trophy will be displayed in the village hall - and we will all reconvene in twelve months time to contest what will hopefully be an enjoyable annual event. "Howzatt" Harrison Captain of the Parish Council / Millennium Trust Team
