The match against Park Street Dads was promoted as a tricky fixture which was more likely to be against Frogmore Cricket Club than a bunch of ageing fathers. As we approached 6pm the opposition looked more like ageing dads and could only be counted on one hand so we offered them the chance to bat and gave them an unwilling Jack Longbottom to bolster their numbers.



Longbottom senior was handed the captains armband for the game and he chose to go with Church and Wilson to open the bowling which paid quick dividends with Wilson striking early with the aid of a great one handed catch by Busted above his head.

Churchy was unlucky to not get a very plum LBW decision but the umpire was adamant that a straight ball striking the pad at shin height with no bat in sight was not going to hit any of the three stumps directly behind...

Pointer and CRS got through their overs using variable lengths, widths and heights of delivery to bamboozle the batsmen.

Mr Williams then agreed to move from his fielding position for the first time on the basis he could bowl and with the ball in hand he came alive peppering the batsmen with accuracy and movement in the air which deserved a wicket but ultimately was just rewarded with very economical figures. At the other end Mr Jones backed up the Welsh aggression with his mercurial looping spin which brought a wicket with a ball that deceived the batsman in the flight and went straight through to hit middle stump.

Busted and Tembras were sharp and generally accurate. Busted using an over the wicket approach looked very dangerous as he took two quick wickets striking the stumps by bowling full, fast and straight. Tembras was bowling fast and straight but the height was varied which eventually scared a batsman into missing the good ball that obliterated his stumps.

Winfield and O'Grady finished the inning against a very young lad which meant they bowled lovely off spin at a gentle tilt. The oppo amassed 120 which seemed a reasonable target.



Opening batsman for SADs - Wilson and O'Grady marched out to bat and were soon accumulating runs mainly due to extras, then it started to rain which seemed to irritate the fair weather Australian who set about getting back to the comfort of his chair by spanking a couple of hefty shots over the boundary and retired on 25. Wilson had started well and looked set for a steady accumulation before missing one and returning to the hutch for 3.

Church and Pointer quickly became Longbottom senior and Church as junior Longbottom dismissed Pointer with a caught and bowled. Longbottom senior then nearly perished first ball by nicking off to Longbottom junior but was very (very) grateful that the wicket keeper dropped the chance. Church and LB senior gave LB junior lots of respect while hoping to score against the other bowler which went well for Church but LB senior missed a straight one and was bowled for 3.

At this point it was looking a bit shaky but older experienced heads then took SADs to the brink of victory with Winfield and Church piling on the runs. Churchy sailed to 27 in the game and 1002 runs for the club before trying to hit his final ball for six but was caught with a great effort on the boundary edge. Mr Jones made a quick 3 before being caught and then Mr Williams and CRS finished the job after Tim W retired having got 26.



A relatively easy win on reflection as Part Street Dads were short on numbers and definitely didn't have any Frogmore 1XI players in their ranks. Of note Jack Longbottom was their best bowler and their highest scoring batsman was not given out plum LBW when he was on zero. SADs bowled well with everyone making a contribution with a special mention for Busted looking good with a more orthodox over the wicket action almost getting him a hat trick. The batting was mainly from O'Grady, Churchy and Winfield who looked very comfortable against the bowling. The match will be remembered for Churchy getting to 1000 runs for the club which is a marvellous achievement - well done Peter!