Report by Daniel Mortlock:
Our 39th visit to Temple Grafton revealed a new look, with the ground surrounded by pale yellow wheat fields - presumably the glorious purple borage had been told to "take a blow" during the winter. While the wheat isn't so visually striking, it apparently does make it much easier to find the ball, something which became increasingly important as the game went on. As is typical here, we agreed to a timed game (20 overs from 5:45pm), although to work well this format really needs a morning kick-off and certainly not a delayed start - it was almost 2pm by the time the first ball was bowled - and a bit more discipline in controlling the breaks in play.
Opening up with Jamie Dare and Daniel Mortlock would have been natural enough but for the fact that we were batting first. Sure enough, once the TG bowlers found their line, the scoring ground to a halt - there were 21 consecutive dots at one point. This sequence was ended when left-handed Jamie nudged a single to end an over, an intervention right-handed Daniel sagely noted would be critical as both the previously settled bowlers would now be thrown off their lines. Or not: Jamie was bowled off the first ball of the next over (for 15 off 26 balls); and Daniel was similarly dismissed not long after (for 13 off 23 balls).
Joss Dare and James Houlder then combined for a much more effective partnership, characterised by clever rotation of the strike in the face of consistently tight bowling and no pace to work with. It was solid rather than exciting batting, although the perception of slow progress was unnecessarily enhanced by the opposition players' seeming reluctance to resume play after the two drinks breaks, which between them lasted more than 20 minutes - annoying in a limited-overs context but material in a timed game. The main source of drama was who would reach their half-century first, as both Joss and James were tied on 46, then 47, then 48 . . . before they finally got to raise their bats in quick succession: James acted like it was just business as usual (fair enough, given this was the 28th time he's passed fifty for FAS); whereas Joss responded to the ripple applause with a quizzical "what, me?" expression (having last made a FAS half-century back in 2017, when he was already referring to himself as an "old timer").
Our innings then came to life as Joss (who finished on 58* off 79 balls) and James (58 off 60 balls) finally got some looser balls to hit, after which Hal Dare (7 off 4 balls, highlighted by a first-ball six, the only one we managed) and Harry Houlder (21* off just 12 balls, picking up where he left off yesterday) lifted us to a plausible declaration score of 180/4.
Opening up with Jamie Dare and Daniel Mortlock now genuinely made sense, at least on paper; but, while both bowled well, neither was able to make a breakthrough in their opening spells. Despite being restricted by injuy to bowling his darts, Jamie was the pick with an immaculate spell of 8 overs, 2 maidens, 0/24, figures which were soon thrown into sharp relief as the better of the opening batters, Rory Law, suddenly and decisively shifted gear. Law had looked solid to reach 33* off 42 balls, but then effectively ended the game with a destructive sequence of 4 1 . 3 . 4 6 1 . 6 . 6 1 6 1 4 1 6 4 4 (i.e., 58 off 20 balls). Some of the boundaries were explained by the mixed side we had today, with Faruk Kara unable to move much, let alone bowl (and hence one of three players to record a "TFC") and a couple of other non-cricketers who had to be hidden in the field. But perhaps the best indication of how hard Law was hitting the ball was when Harry, four-time best fielder, opted not to try to stop a hard-hit drive at short-cover. Not that even the much-missed Big Jim could have done anything about Law's five enormous sixes, each of which initiated protracted ball searches, most of which were unsuccessful.
Just when Law's century seemed all but certain, Harry Houlder (1/59) finally got one through his defenses, briefly giving us a moment of hope - not that there was any evidence that TG had a nine-player tail. Cliff Dare (0/32) went close to taking a wicket a few times, beating the edge and allowing just three scoring shots from his last four overs. One of these took the surviving opener, Richard Pedley, to his own half-century, celebrating with a fist-bump that for some reason sent Cliff into the red zone, meaning that he had to be sent off to the effective "naughty step" of deep third-man. At the other end Daniel (1/34) got a second spell and started well, bowling Pedley (for 51 off 81 balls), only to then endure the indignity of being reverse-swept to the boundary to end the game. That shot meant TG had scored at over a run a ball for the 30 overs they faced, going to victory with fully 6 of the final 20 overs left unbowled.
Neither the post-match recount, which revealed we'd actually made at least 184 (and possibly 188), nor the revelation that Law is a ringer who'd never previously played for TG, were enough to deny the basic fact that we'd been thrashed by a side we'd lost to just once since 2002.
Report by Toby Reynolds:
A new cricketing hero emerged today as the FAS snatched a dramatic victory at Fladbury thanks in large part to a phenomenal debut from Polly Streeter. She was ably supported by half-centuries from Dave Kittow and Nigel Reynolds, while the rest of the side produced a committed display in the field. But undoubtedly, Streeter stole the show at the Azteca of the Cotswolds, stepping in at the eleventh hour and putting her body on the line in the field.
After winning the toss, Fladbury captain David Prudden turned to his opposite number, Nigel Reynolds, and asked what he fancied doing. Perhaps surprisingly, Reynolds elected to field first on the 30-degree day.
Fladbury's opening pair proved difficult to separate, putting together an opening stand that lasted more than an hour. However, imposing opening spells from Ben "Kittoe" (0/23) and Teo Thistlethwaite (0/5 in his first spell) consistently beat the bat and kept a lid on the hosts at what can be a fast-scoring ground. The new ball pair were eventually replaced after long spells in the heat by Dan Adams (0/35) and Toby Reynolds (1/40). The pair maintained the pressure and soon the FAS had a breakthrough as Reynolds took a sharp catch off his own bowling to dismiss Prudden and end the 80-run stand.
A couple of tidy overs after the breakthrough continued to keep the run rate down, before the ball was thrown to Guy Thistlethwaite (1/13), who before the game quipped that his bowling was slow without turn. But it was just what was needed, opening up with a maiden, before picking up a wicket-maiden a few overs later. Again finding his nagging length, Thistlethwaite tempted the young batter into an aerial flick to leg side, where Michael Stockwell produced a stunning low catch. The man with more nicknames than days on tour reacted sharply to pluck the ball inches from the turf.
Good bowling continued to keep Fladbury down but the remaining opener, Green, continued to score fluently and eventually reached his hundred at better than a run a ball. However, it was the disciplined bowling to his partners combined with an inspired fielding performance that was crucial. Here Streeter continued to lead from the front, absorbing a multitude of blows courtesy of the abrasive outfield. Her efforts in the field, however, did not seem to dissuade the batters, who confusingly continued to target her despite her excellent ground fielding. As the end of the innings neared, their centurion was often starved of the strike. He eventually resorted to running out his bogged-down partner, coming back for a second that was never there. Toby Reynolds combined with Stockwell for a simple run out.
Teo Thistlethwaite (1/16) soon returned with a searing display at the death. He conceded just three runs from his final two overs and had their number five begging for mercy and eventually picked up a well-deserved wicket with his final ball of the match. Fladbury had edged their way up to a competitive but chaseable 170/4 from their 35 overs.
Stockwell and Kittow Snr strode to the crease knowing that almost five an over was required, but the former lasted just ten balls before a seaming delivery evaded his leg-side hoik and clipped the top of off. This brought the skipper to the wicket. He struggled to find rhythm, but was able to play second fiddle to Kittow, who cashed in with a few imposing boundaries when Fladbury's attack missed their length. After preferring the inside edge rather than the middle early in his innings, Reynolds eventually started timing the ball. Kittow now played the supporting role as his partner struck a number of glorious boundaries through the covers.
The pair added more than a hundred and knocked a substantial tally off the total. Reynolds passed fifty, overtaking the left hander in the process, but could only reach 65 (off 80 balls) before he skied a drag down to deep mid-wicket. Thistlethwaite Jnr (11 off 7 balls) then had a short but sweet innings, including a huge six and the youngest Reynolds, Tom, followed suit too (for 14 off 18 balls). Kittow was ever-present, however, and managed to marshal his side over the line. Sharp running combined with some elegant fours saw the FAS to victory with an over to spare, taken home by Kittow (53* off 77 balls) and Toby Reynolds (12* off 15 balls).
In the end, it was a perfectly timed chase, but this was a victory forged in the field. Without Streeter's remarkable efforts, Fladbury would almost certainly have found another 20 or 30 runs, and that may well have proved decisive.