CtC played their second ‘overseas fixture’ (as distinct from a tour) as a hastily attended VIII took on the Black Storks in Islamabad as an unofficial curtain raiser to England’s three match tour of Pakistan. Indeed as CtC attempted to loosened themselves up having either just arrived from a 8 hour flight from London or five hour bus journey from Lahore (which had in fact taken even longer after smog stopped play on the motorway), rumors went round that some of the team may need to step into the national side after sickness had struck the national side. Our hosts were courteous beyond belief and offered us the choice of conditions. Less through knowledge of the wicket (turf, hard, with a distinct sheen for those asking) and more of a desire to try and stay in the game (two of the oppo were off to the world champs in Cape Town the following week), we chose to bowl. Davo organised a ‘proper’ warm up, which Jack attended, whilst the rest of us shuffled around nervously. Eventually, powered by a few ciggies and some amusingly sweet instant coffees, we did what we do, firedupbeys, and got bloody out there (worth nothing we were joined by two LMS umpires, provided free of charge by LMS Islamabad, Ross take note) Davo got us underway and kept things fairly tight. Peaso went from the other end. There was some no ball stuff. We got ‘round him, whipped him out the attack, we knew he'd have a crucial role to play later. Dean came on, there was some filth, the run rate crept up. The oppo had a good base and were looking to accelerate as Sgt. Tom “Reg” Jelly came on to make his LMS debut. What followed was a superb spell of middle overs stuff as Reg bustled in and hit a heavy length (think Liam Plunkett for England in 2019). Our loanee, necessitated as Rudders was sadly not fit to take the field, got through some offies at the other end and we started to, in the manner of Liam Dawson and Boris Johnson, take back control. When Pearson returned and bowled his final three overs for zip, including a sharp stumping by Shaw, from what should have been called a wide, we had not only taken control, but with the score just 91-3 from 13 overs, we felt like we were on top. What we hadn’t realized was that our hosts' hospitality extended to hiding their guns down the order. Ali Naqvi plundered 51 off 20 whilst Khan added a crucial 14 off the final three balls of the innings to take their total to 166, a challenging target on a ground close to twice the size of Wray Crescent. Worth noting we fielded well, with Dillon particularly active in the deep, and that Davo squaked if anyone fielded in front of the video camera live streaming the game at long off in case his legion of global followers weren't able to watch his every move. Cassels, true to form, evoked Espirt du Tour, despite being on a non drinking holiday, to claim a mystery ailment and drop the order to number three. This elevated Dillon to partner Perason and aim to get us off to a good start, but sadly fell to a good one early. Amusingly then, rather than wedge in with the boys in the sheds, proceeded to run laps around the outfield. Against a largely spin based attack we struggled to keep up with the rate, but Pearson (32 from 23) and Cassels, (50 off 28) gave us a platform and a sniff. Davidson, Ringer McGee and Dean came and went, as did two enormous pizzas incredibly kindly provided by our hosts, without managing a significant contribution, to leave the last pair of Shaw and Reg requiring 35 off 18. The boys could neither find the crucial boundary, nor find a way to get Cass back in back in, but scampered hard to add 18 off the next 11. 17 were now needed off 7 and we really needed something and Valencia style, we go ball by ball:
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AuthorGeorge Dean. Archives
October 2023
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