As the clock approached 8pm on yet another sun drenched Sunday afternoon the Buccaneers were left mad in Maidstone as they were robbed of victory at the last.
The 10 men of the Buccs had battled throughout the day to set an imposing target and then squeeze the opposition on a lightening outfield and shirt front of a pitch. Victory was snatched away however, by the bizarre shout of “Not out!” from the Mote umpire after appeals for a clear run out. So blatantly short of his ground was the Mote skipper, that gloves were off for hand shakes and thoughts turned to the bar. A shame to end the game in this fashion after what started first as an exercise of cajoling players to turn up and was followed by some fine cricket.
After an agreed toss, the Buccs were invited to bat first on another sweltering Sunday. Liam ‘premier league’ Ward and S Leefe opened up and got the the side off to a solid start. What followed was an excellent display of batting from everyone in the top order. Nearly all the batsman got starts with Ward showing his class by passing 50 in only his third Buccs appearance.
Other notable contributions came from S Moules, M Harms, P Hobson and A Rydon, all of whom stroked the ball around nicely, finding gaps and ensuring that the Mote’s pretty woeful chat was kept to a minimum. As we reached 40 overs the Buccs fell away just short of 250. With only 10 men in Buccs’ colours, defending was always going to be tricky but as we were reminded throughout we had two players that had just two weeks prior lined up in the same side as Joffra Archer.
After a decent tea, the highlight being ice lollies, washed down with several pints of the local pale ale, the Buccs took the field. The new ball was taken by Buccs debutante Dr James Knight, and T Rydon as the perils of 10 men started to show. The Mote getting off to a quick start. Skipper Berry then introduce the threat of left arm spin from both end with S Leefe and the skipper himself wheeling away for 16 overs. This slowed the rate considerably and Leefe in particular found ways of taking wickets at regular intervals.
With the Buccs edging ahead in the game as the final overs came into sight the game’s flash point reared its head. Liam ‘I really am friends with Joffa’ Ward bowling, the opposition skipper batting, Dr Knight prowling the boundary, the Buccs victorious? Alas, as the Dr threw down the stumps from long on, the opposition skipper beginning to unpad, skipper Berry charging to the bar, the home umpire decided that he wanted a little more time in the sun. “Not out” he bellowed. Cue disbelief, on all sides.
The Mote got over the line in the following over with the oppo skipper deciding to apologise for not walking. A bizarre time to decide to do so but there we go. We finished the day in the bar discussing the poor umpiring decisions from the history of the game. With just enough time for our premier league players to tell us which county players they will be fielding fine leg to next week.
Thanks to all of those that traveled to the game with some long journeys among the ten men. Well done to debutante Dr James Knight, hopefully not the last time we see you in a Buccs shirt. A good performance given the circumstances and a real shame that we had victory stolen from us.
Should make revenge all the more sweeter next year.
Innings of the Buccaneers
L Ward – 52
S Leefe – 11
S Moules – 45
P Hobson – 36
M Harms – 34
A Rydon – 28
C Leefe – 9
T Rydon – 3
A Berry – 5 Not Out
J Knight – 1 Not Out
Extras 12
Total 242-8 from 40 overs
Buccaneers Bowling
J Knight 6.2-0-38-1
T Rydon 4-0-19-1
S Leefe 8-1-27-3
A Berry 8-0-34-0
P Hobson 5-0-33-1
C Leefe 5-0-35-1
L Ward 3-0-33-0
The Mote 242-9 from 39.2 overs
The Mote CC win by 1 wicket