RNVR Cricket Club

Scorecard

Hurstpierpoint CC v RNVR Cricket Club on Thu 05 Aug 2021 at 2.30pm
Match was Abandoned after 24 overs

Match report Up Periscope.

From our special correspondent Mostyn Saxby on tour with RNVR CC, day six of seven in Sussex.

For reasons possibly only known to the fixture secretary, Hurstpierpoint CC were apparently expecting to play against the Submarine Service of the Dutch Navy; what they got instead was Skipper Ford's version of Dad's Army with an average age well in excess of fifty.

The merry bunch I last saw enjoying all manner of tomfoolery in the Ditchling pavilion on Sunday by now resembled broken husks of men; in between they had been exposed to the myriad rigours of life in the RNVR bubble; rain, sun, the sea, dropped catches, kippers, skippers, a surfeit of red wine and golf-balls. Indeed, even on his day off Club Captain Crichton was spotted in a corner of the pavilion rocking back and forth and repeatedly muttering 'subs, subs' quietly to himself.

Skipper Ford managed to induce the opposition to allow the RNVR to bat with an unfavourable weather forecast in the offing and openers Hardman and Shipley ambled out to the wicket to get things underway.

Hardman was typically ascetic in his efforts to see off the opening bowlers who seemingly offered him little to work with until he left one that pitched outside off and nipped back to take the off bail. Shipley was far more successful in moving the ball around and piercing the fielders to take sole responsibility for keeping the scoreboard ticking over. In at three was Paige Collins (Cuckfield CC) who fell immediately after and in similar fashion albeit offering a shot. Third wicket to fall was that of young Rupert Emmins (Oxted CC) on debut which saw the club sommelier Reza Maroof come to the middle. Visibly perturbed by the slowness of the wicket he perished to a catch in the outfield having found the boundary in between scoring shots off his pitching wedge. Brian was next out having scored a very useful 31 before finally finding a fielder in the way of a rare aerial shot.

At this stage the steady drizzle which had been falling since the start of the game, had grown ever heavier and was now also blowing horizontally. Bertie Miskin was joined by the returning Charlie Perkin and were able to steady things for a while until Perkin was compelled to depart. With the arrival of his replacement Davinder Ranu, it became apparent that batting conditions were becoming difficult to such a degree that Miskin's glasses were effectively opaque and he could only grope for, or guess approximately where he would meet the ball. However, Bertie Miskin is no ordinary member of the RNVR Cricket Club, he is Lieutenant Commander Miskin, aka The Destroyer of Outwood and is specially equipped with his very own sonar set. Now activated, as the ball was released by the bowler an ASDIC 'ping' was heard and shortly thereafter a 'bang' from the bat and the ball was soon racing across the boundary. It really is a remarkable piece of kit and if this technology can be adapted for fair weather use by those ordinary RNVR batsmen who close their eyes as a matter of course, then the scope is almost limitless.

Alas, we weren't to see to its full potential; the Hurstpierpoint fielders had gamely let the match continue but it was now patently impossible to carry on as the rain was blowing through in sheets and a hasty retreat was made to the pavilion to dry out and watch the mysterious thing known as Olympic Handball. The conditions did not improve and sadly the game was abandoned with the score 69/6.

Eventually, that became too much to bear and remnants of the touring party retired to the New Inn for yet more golf, before curry night at the Nupur, a scare at The Poacher and then to bed before one big last push the next day and the final tour game at Staplefield against the Sunday Seconds.

Almost forgotten among all of this was the simple fact that Skipper Paul Ford remained unbeaten on tour...

RNVR Cricket Club RNVR CC Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 9 wickets
0
69		        
Tim Hardman b Jones 0 19 28 0
Brian Shipley ct Lynch 31 63 48 6 64.58
Paige Collins (CuckfieldCC) b Jones 0 5 1 0
Rupert Emmins (Oxted CC) ct Emms 1 17 11 9.09
Reza Maroof ct Shepherd 9 17 14 1 64.29
Charles Perkin b Shepherd 1 20 13 7.69
Bertie Miskin Not Out  9 18 1 50.0
Davinder Ranu Not Out  1 7 14.29
Alex Foulds  
Paul Ford  
Ninian MacGregor  

Hurstpierpoint CC Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
R Piper5.011000.002.00
R Jones4.02623.001.50
M Palmer4.01800.002.00
H Emms3.0016116.005.33
L Shepherd4.01422.001.00
B Lynch4.0112112.003.00

Hurstpierpoint CC Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 0 wickets
0
0 (0.0 overs)		     
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

RNVR Cricket Club RNVR CC Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
No records to display.