It was a glorious late spring day in Enstone as the teams arrived. Enstone took the usual decision to bat first and as the opening pair of Speke and Parker took to the field rest of the team settled down for some sunbathing and discussing the work of the late, great Paul Newman. After enduring the best the FFMCC could offer in terms of bowling the opening pair seemed to be settling in for a good spell but having hit a stonking 4 W. Speke got a little over excited and mistimed a shot and was caught. As he left the field an Enstone player asked if the bowler had done anything special and the captain replied by quoting Paul Newman in The Sting “Hell, no. I just cut into him!” F.Forder then took the crease but decided not to hang around long, out for just 6, as he needed to learn more about Mr Newman’s filmography; about which he was woefully ignorant. Claiming, outrageously he had never even seen Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Parker was undeterred and continued to frustrate the opposition by smacking the ball all over the field. He was helped for some time by A.Smith (3) and more notably by S. Wilson who shrugged off his lingering thigh strain to notch up a healthy and productive 30. To quote Paul Newman in Colour of Money “You make him feel good, I teach him how to run.”
Spirits were as high as the warm sun over West Oxfordshire and S. Parker passed his 50 with a cracking shot for 4. But just as he was setting his sights on a season debut tonne he too mistimed a shot only to be caught like his unfortunate Captain. It was, however a remarkable bat notching up a brilliant 67. This left J. Watts, who quickly settled down to some excellent run making, and B. Gregory who had set aside his essay marking to grab bat and pads. Sadly, despite a valiant stint he was embarrassingly run out by Watts. And leaving the field he complained bitterly “You can’t play your friends like marks, Hooker”.Also quoting Paul Newman in The Sting. P. Anthony established a useful partnership with Watts as the run total grew but sadly Watts marched down the wicket to attack a loose delivery from a FFMCC spinner only to completely miss it and get stumped a good 10 feet from his crease. D. Stewart took to the field desperate to beat F. Forder’s 6 and after a sizeable 4 and a couple of singles a delivery that really had some pace to it took his off stump, just. It brought to mind Paul Newman's line in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof “People like to do what they used to do after they’ve stopped being able to do it”. D. Wilson had a brave knock before being caught out. Leaving T. Peterson and Anthony a few deliveries to try to get to the 170 that Pony so wanted to reach. They did it despite .Peterson never actually hitting the ball despite a valiant effort of the final ball. Enstone left the field for tea with a healthy 171 and high hopes for the first win of the season. After a delicious scran by K.Anthony Enstone set up their field and welcomed the opening bats. Watts and Anthony quickly set about them with some impressive accuracy and ferocity keeping the run rate very low with three maidens between them. Speke took over and with a look of steely determination quickly took a wicket. When the new batsman didn't give quite the respect for Speke’s bowling that it deserved he was reminded of Paul Newman’s line in Butch and Sundance: “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”: “Listen, I don’t mean to be a sore loser, but, uh, when it’s done, if I’m dead, kill him.” There was no need as Will powered a wicked delivery past the disrespectful batsman chipping a piece of the stumps with it’s venom. He got a little fortunate with his third dismissal as the umpire gave lbw for a delivery that pitched and stayed well on the legside. Surprisingly Speke did not complain about that umpiring lbw call and the Umpire was heard to wryly quote the famous movie star, Paul Newman “Boy, I got vision and the rest of the world wears bifocals”. As drinks were taken at the half way mark there was no doubt in the mind of the Enstone players that victory was assured. However, the two batsmen returned to the crease with renewed focus and intent and started taking quick singles and boundaries. T. Peterson took over from Anthony and despite some accurate bowling couldn't find a way past the bat or to keep the runs down. Stewart took over also at the other end and similarly found the runs adding up. He did take the wicket of the dangerous left hander brilliantly caught by Wilson at point. Peterson almost immediately dispatched the new batsman only for another left hander to arrive. By this point the two bowlers were tiring at the expense of pace and accuracy and Stewart especially was probably kept in an over too long. With ten overs to go FFMCC still needed 68 to win yet with 4 left were somehow within 20. The field grew quiet and desperate; mistakes started creeping in to simple fielding. Both bats were dropped and even with the inclusion of S.Wilson to bowl and the return of Watts the damage had been done and the total was passed with 10 deliveries to spare. It was an agonising loss made worse by how convinced the lads were of victory. Nevertheless it was a good all round performance and there were positives to take with them into the next game against Wytham. The boys could do well with remembering the words of Oscar winner Paul Newman in Harper. "The bottom is loaded with nice people, Albert. Only cream and bastards rise." Maybe it’s time for Enstone to be creamy bastards again.
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