A large crowd, many staying on after the Junior XI barbeque were treated to superb afternoon of attacking cricket which will go down as one of the enjoyable in recent Duffield history. Many first XI members came down to support the stiffs, including an increasingly inebriated Mr Short.
Hooters won the toss and elected to field first in the sweltering sun. John White and Mike Poyner opened the bowling and were soon put to the sword by the Derbiens opening pair. After 4 overs the score had moved to 66, a long afternoon appeared on the cards for the Toffs.
Replacing Poyner at the Pavilion end was Darts Mason who immediately took a much needed wicket with a long hop that struck the batsmen on the back pad just before it was about to bounce for a second time! The Ant took over from White at the Church end and proceeded to stunt the run rate as Duffield hauled their way back into the game.
Some hefty blows from the typically slap dash Derbiens middle order started to shift the balance, so Hooters replaced Mason at the Pavilion end and began an excellent spell of tight bowling taking three wickets for just 36 in his allotted 10 overs, which included good catches from Dickie and John White along with a stumping for Bygraves.
The Ant bowled out at the Church end, his 10 overs, consisting of 2 wickets at a cost of just 9 runs. Elmo replaced The Ant and booked his place in the Evening Telegraph with 3 for 25, featured a driving catch by The Ant in the gully, much to the delight of the on looking audience.
Old Derbiens were eventually all out for 195 after 44 overs. Duffield had performed very well to drag the innings back after a bad start, a good display with the willow would give the home side an excellent chance of progressing to the semis.
Duffield's opening pair, The Ant and Dickie, commenced the run chase positively with plenty of quick singles and a handful of boundaries, both batsmen looking in good form (at last in Dickie's case!). The fielders were beginning to become disheartened and large gaps began to appear as some rather bizarre field placings were adopted.
Having added 80 for the first wicket The Ant fell for 38, caught and bowled as he got a leading edge to a full toss. He left the field after exchanging some verbals with the bowler regarding the nature of his shot. 'Come on matey matey!'
In at three was the Gay Cavalier, who began positively, driving the spinner through the covers for a boundary. His innings was brought to an abrupt end by the same bowler who turned one through the gate to hit the off stump.
Meanwhile Dickie, in top form (yes I am going to celebrate this one because it doesn't happen that often) had reached his fifty with a nudge into the on side. The increasingly vocal audience on the balcony reacted with enthusiastic applause.
Dave Olsen entered the fray at number four and again looked good, playing with his customary positive approach. He then proceeded to call Dickie through for a dicey single, which resulted in the Duffield opener being run out by about a yard despite a full length dive. A disappointing end to a good innings, a welcome return to form nevertheless.
Meanwhile, on the balcony, Mr Short, having taken his bottled lager consumption into double figures for the afternoon, lit the barbeque and rustled up some burgers, sausages and chicken, several of which ended up on the floor as he tried to handle them in an increasingly boozy state. Dong was presented with most of the soiled items, which he put away with little fuss.
Back in the middle, Max Bygraves (junior) came in at number five and batted beautifully, holding the innings together as Olsen, Dave Stevenson and John White fell in quick succession. Duffield required 45 of 10 overs to achieve victory; Mike Poyner joined Bygraves at the crease as the record crowd started to become nervous. He quickly made his mark with a couple of hefty blows included a six to edge Duffield ever closer to their target of 195. Max continued to push the ball into the gaps in the field and take advantage of the bad balls offered up by an increasingly disheartened bowling attack. The extremely vocal audience sensed victory and cheered every run with great enthusiasm compounded by copious bottles of Stella and Bud.
Poyner's cameo, came to an end when he was removed by the Derbiens spinner who proceeded to barge into the younger all-rounder in his follow through, not particularly sporting behaviour!
Darts Mason arrived at the crease with just 12 required off the remaining 3 overs. He wasted no time, launching a couple of big shots to the boundary included a fantastic moment when long off let the ball through his legs, the balcony rocked with laughter, victory was in sight. Mason finished matters with a drive down the ground, the crowd erupted, Short nearly dropping another sausage as celebrations began in earnest.
Gonzo performed a celebratory jig in front of the pavilion as a beaming Max Bygraves came off 40 not out, a superb knock from a player of great promise.
Meanwhile Short continued his drinking, the night ending with him being helped back to the Hadfield residence, hardly being able to walk! A warning was issued on this very website by the concerned landlord.
So now to the semi-finals, and a possible tie with Ockbrook, Shipley or Rolleston. Another home draw would be favourable as would be another full house on the balcony to spur on the lads. Get those suits ordered, we're only one game from the final.
For this week only I have replaced the Tottie Meter with a new piece of equipment, The Stella Meter. The meter, only at prototype at this stage, measured Adam Short’s Stella Artois intake at an approximate total of 9 bottles at the close of first innings and showed an estimated reading of 20+ bottles at 10pm. Further testing will be carried out during the semi final.
News Just In……..
Reports have emerged of Harold Bishop loosing his specs again during Sunday's match. Having left the ground to take his posse of children home to bed he realised that his glasses had gone missing. In desperation he returned to ground to search for the lost bins finding them in the pavilion. Good excuse for another beer Harold!!!!!!!
Related Links:
Duffield 2nd XI Fixtures
Dirty Den's April Diary
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