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2009 - Looking for the silver lining

Oxford: Damp RBCC preserve unbeaten start to season

We came through the Oxford weekend with no damage to anyone's averages, largely because the early-June monsoon which we narrowly avoided last year finally caught up with us and removed all possibility of play on either day.

Worcester: Where's the rain when you need it?

After a two-year hiatus, RedBat hit the road to Worcester again, starting the weekend with a hard-fought draw against the Fossils, who reached a worrying 130-3 in pursuit of our 150-6 before a burst of wickets from returning openers O'Connor and Kennedy took the wind out of their sails.  When time ran out at 133-7 with one man absent, we felt the momentum was very much in our favour, but this could have gone either way. 

Sunday was spent in the company of Holt & Grimley CC, who performed like the league players which most of them clearly are from first ball to last.  Despite appearances we didn't bowl or field particularly badly, but our pitiful batting performance reflected a team who just wanted to be somewhere else.  The afternoon was punctuated by a couple of spells of cold drizzle which were heavy enough to add to the misery, but unfortunately not persistent enough to provide an early finish.

Stamford: A la recherche des joueurs perdus

After the existential horror of the last match, it was a relief to arrive in the soothing surroundings of Stamford with good weather forecast for the entire bank holiday weekend, and a set of fixtures crafted with infinite care by tour manager Anzani.  In addition to the prospect of good cricket, rumours abounded that several emeritus members might put in a 25th-anniversary appearance - all of which proved to be gratifyingly accurate.

On Friday we were drinking with the seldom seen kid

Stamford is slightly outside the borders of Suffolk, but that didn't stop Phil and Fran arriving on Friday evening and even coming to the ground for Saturday's match.  Sadly Phil could not be persuaded to make another comeback, heading off instead for some goat curry (which is apparently not a euphemism of any sort, it just means goat curry).  He did however stay for long enough to see grown men close to tears of joy at the beautiful limited-edition personalised RBCC polo shirts provided to members at highly competitive prices by the suspiciously entrepreneurial Solomon-Anzani conglomerate.  An equal pleasure was finding Gill on hand to take charge of Richard's numbered shirt.

The match itself, against Witham on the Hill, might have been winnable had Witham not possessed a trump card in the shape of their no 3, who scored a hard-hitting 80-odd and bowled 6 stingy overs as we tried in vain to chase their 204 all out.  Yes, that's all out, and it's a long time since we did that to anyone.  Star performers for us were Keith with the ball and Matt and Lloyd with the bat, their 69 opening stand deserving a better follow-up than it received from the rest of the order.  Flushed with victory, most of the Witham side were happy to join us for a pint in one of Stamford's more up-market bars, and also to invite us back for another fixture in the future.

And on to Sunday and Tolethorpe Park.  We've played on many a bowler's graveyard over the years, but their very pleasant ground in Little Casterton had the real thing just beyond deep square leg, not to mention a very short boundary on the other side.  This proved a tempting target for one of the Tolethorpe openers, who peppered it in making 79 of his side's 184-5, despite some outstanding bowling from debutant Billy Lange-Hewlett.  In reply, only Peter and Billy managed to get into their stride as some steady bowling saw us off for just 86.  Aside from the excellent tea, friendly oppo and heavy defeat, three features of this match stood out.  1)  Tolethorpe had two experienced scorers in attendance, one of whom kindly volunteered to look after our book for the whole afternoon.  The result is a multi-coloured work of art which  might even outdo JA's finest efforts, and should be An Example To Us All.  2)  For the first time in our quarter-century of history, we received an email from the opposition captain thanking us for our company and inviting us back.  The Collective mind is even now weighing up the relative merits of Worcester and Rutland/Lincs, and frankly Worcester is playing catch-up.  3)  Midway through the afternoon, members of the Collective became aware of a burly figure lurking inconspicuously in the lea of the pavilion and watching proceedings with interest.  John Nolan (for it was he) was instantly relieved of most of his ready cash in exchange for his very own personalised polo shirt, and thus made to feel as though he'd never been away.

The return of the Brown Bottle

As the ever-expanding touring party gathered together for a quiet Sunday night in, more than a few eyes were rubbed in disbelief; there, casually propping up the corner of the bar as though to the manner born, was the unmistakeable figure of Tony Rose, dropping in on the tour after a decade messing about in boats.  He was immediately stung for a large round and a polo shirt, and thus  made to feel etc. etc. Like the other occasional visitors, Tony was determined to resist all attempts to get him on to the cricket field,  but did allow himself to be drawn into a successful bid for victory in the JA quiz as part of a team with many names, most of them abusive.  Perhaps surpassing even this in improbability was the arrival not just of Ziggy, but the entire Welbrock family, meaning that seven members of RedBat's first ever team (and a total of 11 participants in that match) had made an appearance over the course of the weekend.

First we take Manhatt Oakham a paracetamol

But there was still some cricket to be played, and on Monday morning, the RBCC caravan straggled over the border into Rutland to take on the Oakham over-50s.  However, on close inspection the oppo showed few signs of advancing age - less so in fact than most of RedBat.  The alleged over-50s turned out to be a strong-looking Sunday 2nd XI, containing a couple of first-team players and some more-than-promising players from the youth teams.  You would have struggled to find a bookie willing to accept any bets on an Oakham victory; nonetheless, it was a fine day and there was an intimidatingly large and smooth expanse of outfield awaiting us, at the centre of which lay a straw-coloured wicket which would have won the approval of the most pedantic ECB pitch inspector.

Oakham batted first, and started well, with the generous supply of loose balls getting the full treatment.  After a short while the batsmen got their eyes in, and the good balls started disappearing as well.  Despite the punishment being handed out, the bowlers and fielders all stuck doggedly to the task and began to chip away at the home side's batting order. With Oakham firmly in control, two batsmen retired on reaching 50, but we bowled the rest out fair and square in 34.1 overs, and the final total of 250 was far from a disaster.

Our attempt on this implausible target began with an opening stand of 32 between Matt and Dave, before Phil replaced Dave to add 77 more for the second wicket.  When Matt reached a well-constructed half-century,  a brief debate ensued on the boundary about the possibility of him retiring to give someone else a go - a discussion which rather fizzled out when confronted with the threadbare reality of the batting order to come.  Matt simply took a fresh guard, carefully appraised the gaps in the field, gave the very youthful bowler an intimidating stare, and promptly chipped a catch down mid-on's throat.  Phil, Billy and Steve then took the score on to a deceptively comfortable 163-3 before the wheels fell off and a clatter of wickets late on left us at 167-7 at the end of the 40 overs.  Oakham always had bowling in hand just in case we ever caught up to the required rate, but this was a more than respectable score, especially for the final day of a tour.

After a brief deliberation, the Muir family decided to hand the Beard Memorial Trophy on to Billy Lange-Hewlett for his all-round performance against Tolethorpe and Oakham.  A wise decision for several reasons, not least that it obliges Steve to make sure that Billy tours again next year, when he will be a year bigger, stronger and quicker, and we will be a year older and slower and looking for all the help we can get.

Waiting for Statto:

2009 wasn't a vintage year for statistical milestones, with just a couple of highlights for the hard-core numerophiles.

• After years of waiting, we have finally brought up the half-century of draws, courtesy of the Fossils' old-school distaste for the limited-overs thrash, and our own inability to knock over 10 wickets.
• Dave Muir's brief and unhappy sojourn at the crease during the Holt & Grimley fiasco was his 200th innings for RedBat, making him the second player after Matt to achieve this feat of persistence.  Next in line is Giles, currently on 199 innings.

Next year might just have a few more crowd-pleasers.

• Paul's two not-outs this season have taken him to within 3 of Phil Solomon's cherished Collective record of 42 - and if that doesn't persuade the bee-keeper to take off the netting facemask and start practising the forward defensive I don't know what will.
• Phil Jones only needs 69 runs to reach the 2500 mark, while PoC is only 53 short of 1500.
• Bruce  has 196 wickets, so anything like a decent season should see membership of the 200 club increased to 5.
• Danny should find three more wickets next year to bring up the 50.
• PoC needs just 12 wickets for the big 400.
• Giles is 12 wickets short of the 250.

The season by numbers

• P 5, W 0, D 1, L 4

• Highest total: 167-7 (RBCC v Oakham CC)

• Most runs: M Gummer, 104

• Highest innings: P Biggs, 56* (RBCC v Fossils)

• Most wickets: B Kennedy, 7

• Best bowling: K Miller, 4-46 (RBCC v Witham-on-the-Hill)

• Best partnership: M Gummer & P Jones, 77, 2nd wicket (RBCC v Oakham CC)

• 2009 averages

• Cumulative career averages

2009 Fixture List