CHILCOMPTON SPORTS SATURDAY 2nds 47-4 OLD PARK 143-8

Match abandoned due to rain.

Just when you think you’ve seen it all in cricket – Lara’s 500, that Stokes catch, Rammers hitting a 50 – something previously unwitnessed comes along to live long in the memory.

On Saturday at the CSG, it was the unprecedented sight of four opening batsmen padded up and marching towards the middle. Two from hosts Chilcompton, two from the visiting Old Park.

Cue confused faces and a very sheepish John Burgess. The Chilcompton Captain had lost the toss (obviously), immediately forgotten the decision from the visitors’ skipper and then, panicked, instructed his team to put their pads on. Hypothesising that the mix-up may have happened as ‘bowl’ and ‘bat’ both start with the letter ‘b’, the Captain was comforted only by the unrelenting sympathy of his teammates.

A quick change and Burgess (8-21-2) was ready to join Harvey Hadrill (8-46) to open the bowling in front of Chilies’ Barmy Army (The First XI opponents had

defaulted). Both Burgess and Hadrill bowled a testing line, with the watchful batsmen going after the odd loose delivery.

Eventually the two combined – Burgess bowling, Hadrill with the sharp catch – to account for the first wicket, and the skip clean-bowled number three soon after. Clive Christer (8-24-1) continued the pressure, getting an absolute jaffer to turn in from outside off-stump and bamboozle the opposition Captain even more than he had been during the coin-toss debacle.

Just as opener, David Barker, was threatening a repeat of his daddy-hundred from the opening day of last season, Theo Pavli produced a superb bit of fielding to run him out on 59. From there, the wickets tumbled in quick succession, largely thanks to some shapely swing-bowling from Pavli himself (8-24-2) and some tricky off-spinners from Miles Hadrill (8-23-1).

After a day in the field to forget at Patchway last week, Ross Warren and Paul Denning showed Chilcompton what they’d been missing, with a decent catch and lightning-quick run-out to their names, respectively. Burgess tried to restore some continuity, seeing a shy at the stumps from gully ending up bobbling down to fine leg.

With 144 required and the spectre of dark grey clouds overhead, the Chili batsmen headed confidently out to bat… for the second time. Adam Marshall was bowled for a duck on the fifth ball of the second over, appearing to play a shot better timed for the sixth. Ross Warren departed for 2 in similar fashion, going big at a straight one like a right-handed Chris Gayle.

Mark Colbourne picked up where he left off from his half-century at Patchway, bludgeoning the rare bad ball from the Old Park bowlers to all corners. The best of the bunch from ‘The Mountain’ was an effortless six, creamed back over the head of mid-off.

Some customary Dave Travis (9) shovelling came to a premature end when he was run out chasing down a rare two – of course, according to the man himself, he made his ground with minutes to spare.

Paul Dening fell LBW for a duck soon after, plumb according to the Umpire, at which point the rain started falling. Covers on, Colbourne stranded on a well-made 29 not-out and the palpable disappointment of the intoxicated crowd that they wouldn’t see Steve Longden head out to bat.

Subsequent pitch inspections suggested that a conclusion would only be possible with the teams wearing snorkels, and so the Captains shook hands, taking ten points each and allowing Chilcompton Seconds to close the gap on Mells at the top of the table. They travel to Bedminster Fifths in Bristol this weekend.

Adam Marshall