Great Missenden Pelicans CC » Sunday 26th July vs Winchmore Hill

Sunday 26th July vs Winchmore Hill

Winchmore Hill 202-6 (Asad Rehman 3-46) Great Missenden Pelicans 200-5 (Asad Rehman 144^*)

Match DRAWN

Man of the Match: Asad

Things surely could only get better following the game we will not speak about and do you know what……they did.

The Pelicans massed at Winchmore Hill, lovely ground lovely oppo and things immediately looked good with Skip winning the toss, naturally with the decision taken to bowl the Pelicans took to the field ready for action.

Opening for the Pelicans we had the new partnership of Toobes and Amir, now it is fair to say that last week this partnership were less Anderson and Broad and more Laurel and Hardy, but this week they bought their B game, well Amir did, Toobes was more B-.

With these leviathans of cricket in full flow it wasn’t long for the first wicket to fall, Raheel holding onto a chip up to him at cover off Toobes, Amir soon nabbed his first wicket of the season a fine catch at slip from the chicken Prince himself, Asad.

With the Pelicans on a roll Skip called the changes and took himself off followed one over later by Amir who posted very respectable figures of 1 for 10 off 5 overs, it was obviously in the bag.

With hand sanitation a plenty Suranga showed true Pelican class and took over the bowling honours from Toobes, having fitted into the Pelican team like a glove it wasn’t long before the Winchmore Hill bats took a bit of a liking to his bowling. Holding up the opposite end we had the Pelicans version of Venom…..Nico. This Dutch Cap was into his stride in no time and although he didn’t get a wicket he nearly held onto an absolute rocket that was homing in on the Van Der Peet Goolies. Thankfully the Van Der Peet hands stopped the rocket from doing any damage much to Mrs Van Der Peet’s joy no doubt.

With Suranga and Nico bowling, a special call out must got to Rupert Leach, who we welcomed back to his first game with a fielding position of pure unadulterated genius, Deep Cover and Deep Mid-Wicket. Why you may ask……Well it is possibly fair to say that this weekend’s incarnation of the Pelicans was possibly not our most mobile, and with Rupert possessing two legs the positions were his.

As the runs came Suranga and Nico were retired like pit ponies on their way to a Tesco farm, to be replaced by the King of Spin himself and Asad.

Albino Adam Cornwall soon had the Winchmore Hill batsmen in all sorts of problems generally from a fear of shoulder dislocation as the ball was carted to all 6 corners of Bucks. Asad meanwhile at the other end contained the Winchmore bats with a combination of spitting spin and full tosses, the good balls took the wickets, the rubbish was smacked to the other 6 corners of Bucks.

With Adam sending Skip the universal sign of its possibly not working, the hand drawn across the throat he too was retired following Nico and Suranga.

Step forward Raheel who in no time took his first wicket, another catch by Asad to remove the Winchmore bat who could hit it a bit.

With runs now drying up as quick as Rupert’s energy levels the innings drew to a close with Winchmore Hill on a very respectable 202….

Tea was, well rubbish really but thats Covid for you.

With the game somewhat interrupted by rain the Pelican openers took to the field slightly later than expected.
With the words ringing in Raheel’s and Asad’s ears “we are not the strongest stay in” the scene was set for a magnificent chase down.

As Raheel and Asad executed Skip’s plan like a dream, he settled back with the look of a Skipper who has just downed a pint of Smug. As Raheel holed out to Mid Off it appeared that said pint of Smug had indeed been contaminated with Rohipnol.

Taking over from Raheel who after two failures must now be concerned about his position ( he probably isn’t) The Iceman came in to show him how it should be done, namely be the Dame Margot Fontaine to Rudolph Nureyev, and for 10 overs he did just that as he watched Asad assault the WH bowling with a gusto. The Iceman himself smashed a couple of fours and looked very happy with things until he too was caught out, though having seen the score now nudge 100.

With his legs suitably refreshed Rupert took to the field and looked like he had never been away as he now played the Bonnie to the Pelicans Clyde, his sprinted singles and quick running pushed the score onto 123 as the Pelis or more accurately Asad closed in on the WH score.

Now it’s at this point that following last week’s carnage from Suranga that Skip was expecting to see the WH back finally be broken, it soon became apparent that Surangas defensive shot is exactly the same as his almighty back breaking smash shot and after two overs with a smile as broad as a Glaswegian accent Suranga left the field with the addition to the score board of One……a true Pelican.

Now it’s at this stage of the game that we tend to see a degree of calmness and swishyness as Niron takes to the wicket, but hold on, today Niron had been inhabited by his deep alter ego Runny Runnerson the famous Viking Runner of just over 20 yards and just below 26 yards.

Now the book may only say 6 for Niron but the 4 overs he occupied with Asad took the score from 129 to 166 as he ensured the Chesham Prince retained strike, how did said Prince repay him, in the only way he knows how……he ran him out.

Enter the Chesham King 6 overs to go 43 to get, this father and son partnership tried and tried but it was not to be with the Pelicans finally finishing the game on 200, and Asad on 144 plus 3 wickets, what an effort, and obviously man of the match, after Rupert.

Reports are intended to convey an entertaining picture of the day’s play. No disrespect is meant, but if on occasion we misjudge matters, please take it in the friendly and humorous spirit in which it is intended.

A visit to Middleton Stoney is always a pleasure, particularly for Messrs Greenwood and Fairweather given it’s the one fixture a year with travel time sub 45 minutes, but also because of their beautiful ground and the good folk Middleton Stoney 1st XI are excellent hosts.

Winning a tight game of “which hand is the stone in” was the skip du jour’s only real contribution and gave us the honour of the decision. He then followed his strategy of “What would Toobes not do?” so the Pelis strode out for a bat. Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam would have be proud too, as father and son were our 1&2 with James and Dave looking to open our account. A brief affair sadly with James looking to leave the USO* which pitched on a length on middle-stump which proved fatal, so out came Ajmal to get us motoring. He made a start and got to 12, before being called for a suicidal single by “Pappa Doc” Bailey, and being run out. The opposition sportingly suggested this was a tight call but in such circumstances I am always reminded the view of our clumpire NVDP that the two outcomes are “in” or “out” there is no “nearly out” or “nearly in.” Finger raised and be off with you!

A tight period followed with wickets and a steady dribble of runs, the ground and Middleton Stoney is gorgeous but a lush recently rained on outfield, and pitch size on the generous was always going to result in a reduced run volume. Dr B continued to move on steadily, with one appeal for caught behind declined by the umpire despite some protestations (I’ve checked and the book says not out) partners coming and going, with Josh and JG adding some valuable additions towards the end. Waz ended the innings facing one ball too many, which as it happens was ONLY one ball, so tea was taken.

During this period something of a drama unfolded. Mr Arif failed to notice the wasp taking up temporary residence in his drinks can, and was promptly stung on the top lip. During the break fair to say Ajmal’s lip reached epic proportion and far great than anything a Kardashian might consider. He therefore departed early – for the second time in a day! Thankfully the oppo kindly sported us a fielder however, so our thanks.

Conversation was then had about the fact that 138 may be enough (it wasn’t) and that we had plenty of bowling to give us a chance (we did). Opening was Waz and Nixon who both bowled well, and in Nixon’s case darn quickly if Dr Bailey’s face when he collected the first few into his gloves were to be observed. Dr B had his work cut out for him and manly dove both sides of the stumps for a number of the bowlers. Replacing our openers was Josh and Juelz who both bowled really well with a couple of overs from Josh delivering some absolute seeds. An echoing trickle of runs and wickets to our own effort but sadly runs were achieved whilst wickets remained, which is often the case with three dropped catches. Never mind. Game over.

A bbq and beer after the game with some thoroughly lovely opposition. Onwards.

*Unexpected Straight One

After rain fell throughout the week leaving the pitch looking, and acting, like brown playdoh, a fresh new Pelican skipper walked out to do the toss… and promptly lost. Guess the era isn’t all that different from the last. With Holmer Green looking confidently at the weather they proclaimed they would bowl first, much to the Pelicans disgust, although that disgust turned to gratitude as the clouds opened for the first hour but play continued.

It must be understood that for the first 12 overs, to say the pitch was slow was the understatement of the century, and all the credit must be given to Asad and Ali as they moved the run rate along at a sedate pace, but ultimately setting a VITAL 36 run platform for the first wicket. Ali, unfortunately the titan to fall, walked virtually straight up to the skipper and stated that with the stumping off a wide he had just fallen victim to, he had now completed the full set of stupid dismissals.

With that VITAL… I say again, VITAL 36-run platform set, the Pelis set about proving they were Pelis, and lost four more wickets over the next five overs for a grand total of nine runs. 36-1 had suddenly become 45-5 and the skipper had a very good idea of what Joe Root must have felt for 17 tests. In the middle of the aforementioned collapse, it should be noted that Tony was given out LBW. Before the bowler had even turned around, Niron’s finger was already raised to sky and Tony’s disbelief was complete, especially given the ball was probably closer to hitting his head than the stumps, it was so high. Ah well, we move on.

Jalil and Niron took on the task of rebuilding, with Jalil displaying some of his swashbuckling best and Niron standing vigil, Pelicans began to settle down a bit. Finally, Jalil fell, when he decided to play the exact shot he had been telling everyone else not to. Then Niron, who on his 25^th ball got off the mark, was caught on his 26th. Shame that.

This brought to the crease Hasan and Josh with the score 74-7. They proceeded to take the attack back to bowlers and in the 11 overs they were in the middle together put on 85 runs before Has launched a ball into orbit. He called Josh through with a swagger, “he has no chance” he said, having already been put down by the same man that day. But that man clung on and Has trudged off for a very well made 50.

Felix came out to join Josh for the final 2.1 overs and ran his heart out as Pelis finished on a very respectable 180 – 8.

Tea was a delicious chicken curry with plenty of extras made by Ali, spectacular does not come close to describing how good it was. Shame the Oppo turned it down before they even arrived.

Marching out to bowl, in the absence of Waz, Josh tossed the ball to Harrison, a man known only to Ali…. And maybe his daughter. He apparently hadn’t played cricket since school, not that it showed. A beautiful spell of swing bowling and after the openers walked away from the first 11 overs they had kept Holmer Green to a miserly 33 – 2. Solid start.

Replacing Josh at the bottom was Has, who did as Has does and spun webs for the batters, but this time to little reward. His partner in crime, however, was the young 16-year-old Felix Harris, this was the man who really stole the show. Fearing where the ball would go, Josh packed the leg side and Felix dutifully put 7 overs of metronomic bowling on middle and leg. Our very own Chris Woakes took 3 wickets in a brilliant of spell of control either side of drinks, never letting the Oppo get away from him. Now, to say that Pelis fielding can sometimes be hopeless would be putting it kindly. Catch after catch after catch went down, but still the bowlers soldiered on and finally the ball found, incredibly, James, who when he held on, lifted his arms to the sky and ran around screaming.

Drinks came and the Holmer were sat on 75, Pelis were on top, but skip knew that things could get away from them at any moment. Time for Niron. Four overs of tantalizing medium pace left Holmer wondering how they were ever going to get another run. These fears only increased when Ajmal and Asad came on to really apply the pressure. 12 overs and a sensational bit of Felix fielding later (honestly this guy had a day to be proud of) and the Oppo were dragging themselves into the last over 160 – 9, needing 20 to tie. Cometh the hour, Cometh the Harrison. Our opening bowler of magical hair came on and cleaned up the opposing skipper and victory was complete. An all-round wonderful day.