Highly variable, much like the bounce.
After two weeks of near unbroken fine weather the wicket at Parliament Hill was, for once, not a bog. That combined with the prospect of rain mid afternoon made Thommo's choice at the toss a simple one: Bat.
That choice having been made it became quickly apparent that a bog would have been highly preferable to the piece of loosly mowed parkland that passed for the wicket. Burton and Packer are without doubt one of the toughest opening bowling partnerships we face during the year and assisted by a wicket offering a mixture of pea-rollers and wicket-keeper-clearing bounce off a length the Village were quickly in trouble.
Knowing the quality of the opposition attack Thommo slyly opted to promote Pitch to open the batting with one role in mind: soak up deliveries. A battling 24-ball duck followed which, under the circumtances, was an important contribution. Villagers as a rule came a went in a hurry, Burton and Packer accounting for Abbs (1), Pitch(0), Bilal (0) and Morgs, who looked to have settled well when he flicked Burton round the corner for the innings first bounday, only to be trapped plumb in front twice in two balls by Packer. To be fair to the umpire the first one was tight, the second while almost identical was very out and had Morgs trudging back for 5. 30 for 4 (of which Frank had 20-odd) and the Village needed a contribution from the form batsman of the season: Bosh-time.
While your auther ground away, playing and missing and generally enjoying a fair amount of luck to compile an excrutiatingly slow (even for my standards) 35, Bosh played with freedom from ball one. 48 runs for Bosh and a 97-run partnership later, the Village were out of the woods and on-track to post a score which on this wicket and with rain looming was always going to be tough to beat.
Thommo arrived to kick the last few overs of the innings into life with and aggressive 39, ably supported by Naz (11) and one of best 1s you will ever see from new-spad Woodhouse.
Tea was a rapid affair as by this point the sky had darkened and the long forcast rain was well on its way.
Soutwark and Lambeth to their credit came out looking to play shots and get the game won before the rains arrived proper. They played almost all of their innings in rain ranging from light to torrential on a wicket getting worse by the second, but there was never any hope of a result. Thommo had three-fer and had to be dragged away from the wicket by the other 12 players who were by this point soaked to the skin.
Metion should be given to Pitch's catch to dismiss Burton, who having been decieved by a Thommo slower ball had slapped the ball very straight and very very high. Pitch had a lot of ground to cover moving round from mid-on and it may have been for this reason, rather than his lack of confidence in the fielder, that Oli declared "100% drop" as the ball began its descent. As it transpired Pitch judged it to perfection and grabbed a chest high take while falling to the gound in his own inimitable style.
There followed a splendid session of beers and live music somewhere in a pub. I forget. There was an uber involved, at least I skipped the curry this time.
Southwark & Lambeth CC (Gupte-Burton Trophy) Innings
