Drizzly rain followed the Nomads as we travelled up North on Sunday. But thankfully the weather Gods shined as we arrived at the ground. And what a thoroughly nice bunch Didmarton are.
With resident Skipper Rees away in Europe, it was left for stand in Skipper Sheward Senior to ask the team if anyone else would like to be Skipper. With a resounding silence in the dressing room, stand in Skipper Sheward had no choice but to marshall the assembled band of highly tuned athletes.
Sheward decided on an inclusive approach for game management (note to self, is game management with the Nomads a thing?). With a thin batting line up he decided to bat first. With a thin batting line up he decided to “mix it up a bit”. In the early stages of the game this approach appeared to be a master stroke of game management (Ed, is this a thing?).
Opening pair Davies and Fallon looked very composed in the early stages. Fallon particularly seemed quite at ease in what for him was a lofty elevated batting position. Fallon grasped the chance to open when offered, what a Nomad he is. The opening pair clipped singles with a degree of hardship over the first couple of overs.
It soon became very apparent the pitch was not behaving terribly well. It was rather like a difficult eight year old boy who had not slept for a day and a half and had just been served an e number packed double can of Alphabetti Spaghetti washed down with three cans of Red Bull.
Indeed the pitch was clearly not behaving well at all, as accident prone opener Davies called for his helmet at the end of the first over. For the man who has broken his leg walking off a golf tee, who has had his fair share of visits to A&E including just from a quiet afternoon of Gin Rummy in the front parlour, this was a disconcerting development for the Nomads sat pensively waiting to bat.
The helmet calmed the batsmen’s nerves but the first wicket fell in the seventh over with the score on 14. Davies bowled for 2. Fallon carried on stoutly but followed soon, as it turns out joint top scoring with 9. Indeed, it was a sorry and long tail and tale for the rest of the Nomads.
Wickets tumbled, Panda flattering to deceive with a swift 7 including one of only three fours in the innings. Nigel Hardwick looked remarkably accomplished with the bat, showing the makers name upright and proud with every glorious forward defensive. For a moment the Nomads sensed a new batting talisman, only for those thoughts to be dashed with him falling to a quite remarkable catch in the circle. Four down, 16 - 4.
Pete fell for a duck, Judgy followed two balls later. Joe Sheward batted well before he too was caught in the ring for 6. Didmarton were just not playing ball, catching everything, remarkable catches taken with aplomb. The Nomads could only watch on in wonder at the dexterous endeavours in the field by their opposition.
By the time Skipper Sheward fell with an ugly hack to mid wicket for 1, the Nomads were 34 -8. Corky showed a bit of resilience with 9 before he too fell for another catch. As the Nomads were one short (second note to self don't mention we didn’t have a full team for an away game again doh), Panda came out for another bat but Wall was out bowled for 1 before he got to flourish. The Nomads innings closed on 45 all out.
Didmarton struggled with the pitch too during their innnings. Skipper Sheward tried to redeem his foolish game management (Ed?) approach by opening the bowling. He and Panda bowled well but the hosts ticked off the runs and won by four wickets. During this innings a strong mention must be made of Nigel Hardwick’s fielding.
Despite being nutmegged for four in the previous over, Hardwick performed one of the most selfless acts of fielding the writer has seen for some time. He launched himself full length with both arms out stretched, reaching for a hard driven shot through mid off. The writer had just delivered the ball as bowler and as such was able to witness the dive, at close hand and in high definition. Hardwick was fully horizontal, focused, stretched like a startled Gazelle leaping from the clutches of a prowling leopard, every sinew driving him towards the ball.
Being a Nomads fielder he comfortably missed the ball by at least six feet, but his endeavours were commendable. He landed on the ground like a sack of rotting spuds dropped from the deck of the Queen Mary on to the quayside in a loosely sewn hessian bag. To his great credit Hardwick was neither winded nor seemingly troubled by his endeavours. And so it was time for tea.
Hurrah you say, another match report navigated. Not today folks. The early game conclusion meant a window for tremendous cricketing value, indeed it was time for a second game for free. After an unremarkable (by high Nomads standards) tea, another game was proposed by our hosts. Not knowing when to lie down when beaten to a pulp, the Nomads agreed and steadied themselves for a second game.
This time around I am just going to give you a jumble of words and you can make the story up yourselves. No, that’s just lazy. Suffice to say, we lost again. We bowled first. In a day of firsts Judgy opened the bowling and also managed a 12 ball opening BOGOF over. Sheward Junior opened at the other end and took a wicket, excellently stumped by keeper Davies. This was the start of an excellent spell behind the stumps by Davies who created three stumpings and a run out.
By this time the whole Nomads team had bowled during the day, Pete took a wicket too and Didmarton finished on 81 - 4 off their 15 overs.
Alas it was another poor batting performance by the Nomads in their run chase. Corky bucked the trend with an excellent 31, and Davies hit a quick fire 17 at the death. Putting those two to one side, the balance of a weak Nomads batting line up saw an otherwise top score of 4 with nine single figure innings and a finish of 68 all out.
Phew, we made it. Well done if you have got this far. A great day of cricket notwithstanding the result. Everyone did “Get involved”, the emerging Motto of the Nomads. Fun was had by all.
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