Everyone remembers where they were when certain world-changing events took place.The assassination of JFK, the death of Elvis, 9/11……these are the moments that define history and will live forever in the memories of everyone who witnessed the news coverage at the time they happened.
On Saturday 4th July an event of equally epic proportions took place -an event that will go down in the annals of history.Frindsbury 3rd XI won a game of cricket.Yes, folks, in case you have somehow managed to avoid hearing the news (where have you been?) your eyes are not deceiving you – after seven straight defeats Frindsbury 3rds won their first match.
How could this possibly have happened? Well, the story goes something like this……………..
John Tadman kindly offered to stand as Umpire, which gave Frindsbury an immediate advantage over the home side who had to forfeit the toss.Skipper Steve Jones elected to bat first on a wicket that looked likely to deteriorate as the day went on.
The visitors could not have wished for a better start, as Daves Gracey and Evans stroked the ball around with consummate ease, putting on 102 for the first wicket before Dave G nicked one to the keeper, departing for a fine 40.Dave Evans then began to unleash a series of thunderous blows, growing in confidence with every ball, and having reached his fifty he celebrated in style by despatching a huge six into the pavilion.Evans went on to notch up an excellent 70 before mis-timing one to Rob Cooke at mid-off.
The importance of the opening partnership became clear when five wickets fell for 59 runs, as despite this mini-collapse Frindsbury still looked in reasonable shape at 161-5.Asad added a fine28, and solid contributions from Ray Burt (12) and Dave Tomlin (16, all in boundaries) had brought the score to 235-9 when Rob Peters joined Richie Gibbons at the crease with 6 overs left.The final pair added 25 useful runs in five overs, and importantly ensured that Hythe Green only received one additional over.When Gibbons departed for 20, leaving Peters unbeaten on 14, the total of 260 was greeted with satisfied murmurings and a feeling that this was a job well done.Some even dared to suggest that maybe, just maybe, Frindsbury might be in with a chance of winning a match.In reality it was more than just a chance – this was a real opportunity and the team knew it well.
Just as the batting had got off to a dream start, for the first time all season so did the bowling.The skipper led the attack, and with no runs scored off the bat opener Little nicked the fifth ball of the first over to Rob Peters behind the stumps.This was the stuff of dreams, but it got even better in the second over when the ever-improving Gibbons forced skipper Whybrow into an error, and another nick was snapped up by the keeper.The scoreboard showed 5-2 (actually it didn’t, because the home side had conveniently forgotten to update it) and Frindsbury were in buoyant mood.
Jones and Gibbons continued to make life hard for the batsmen, with Gibbons (6-1-26-3) producing surely one of his best bowling performances for the club.Two moments of magic stand out among all the highlights.‘Keeper Cave was clean bowled by an absolute beauty that would have beaten most batsmen, and best of all Dave “Superman” Gracey produced a simply outstanding one-handed slip catch high above his head that defied the years and the laws of gravity to dismiss Moloney.
Brown (89) and Cobb (26) decidedto try to bludgeon their way out of trouble, and succeeded in repairing some of the damage before Cobb fell into George Burt’s carefully-set trap and skied one to Dave Evans on the boundary.
By now, Brown was running out of partners and showing signs of wilting in the heat.The skipper introduced Raza at the pavilion end and himself at the other.Raza (9-0-32-1) bowled superbly to keep Brown quiet, and after a fine battle deceived him with his slower ball to finally end his resistance. The Hythe Green tail was unable to wag in the same way as Frindsbury’s, and Steve Jones (11.2-0-50-3) mopped up the last couple of wickets to give Frindsbury victory by a comfortable 60 runs.
