Match Report SACC vs SFDWP
Firstly, apologies that this report is light on details. The all-electronic system at Clarence Park seems to have refused to update. What is wrong with the traditional scorebook and pencil? If your performance was exceptional and not mentioned here, it is because my memory is not good enough. I welcome further contributions in the chat!

The sun was beating down on the parched landscape as we prepared for the Peter Church Memorial Match. This match celebrates the contribution that Peter made to both clubs. Unfortunately, Jamie was away and so we would be unable to replicate the famous Peter Church smash of the ball over the bowler’s head (none of the team being capable of a straight drive). Toss won (or lost), SACC went in to bat. The dry outfield meant that anything hit was likely to be a boundary. Even so, bowling was tight under the circumstances. There were no heroics until Tucks fielded a ball, square of the wicket and proceeded to throw down the stumps with just one to aim at. A remarkable feat and one that I believe is unlikely to be matched in the near future. The batsman looked surprised, Saddos also looked surprised, but none more so than Tucks himself. Was it a fluke? Maybe, but Tucks was on fire. A few overs later, a high, spiralling chance lobbed into the air. Normally the wicketkeeper would call for this as it was near the stumps, but Dan kept guard at the stumps and looked expectantly to anyone else. Tucks realised that it was up to him, whispered, “mine”, and then stood for a very long time waiting for the ball to come down. Eventually it did and was grasped cleanly by our, now superstar, fielder. This wasn’t the end of his exploits, as some time later he chased a ball heading for the boundary, caught up with it and back-heeled it to prevent a certain four. It may seem like the only highlights were Tucks, but this would be true. Bowling was fine, except for Captain Chenners who insisted on bowling friendly long-hops on a firm wicket. Many of these flew past WG, who decided that he wouldn’t put his body on the line for poor bowling. The only highlight for Chenners was that another poor delivery tempted his son to give it some welly, only to create the spiralling catch taken by Tuckstastic. SACC ended up with a total of 208 off 25 overs. Just over 8 an over on the fast pitch would be achievable… except that the Saddos don’t know how to get past 120.

Batting, Saddos brought out their top guns. Things were looking good until Granty planted both legs in front of the stumps and played across the line. WG had no hesitation in raising the finger. Granty was less impressed with the quality of the decision-making, but then who was ever really out LBW? This signalled the rebuilding of the innings with a display of batting that Boycott and Tavare would have been proud of. Block, block, block, miss, single. This pattern continued until the captain decided that they would need to bring in the heavy-hitters…who never arrived. That is, with the exception of Williams who showed all of his flair and shot-making. Where has he been all season? The man is a legend. Once he retired, the score ambled slowly upwards, wickets fell, until the moment that WG needed to go to the crease. This is never a good sign. He was given three tasks: score a 4, get the total above the magic 120, and get out to allow Williams back in to do his bit. It was good to see that he was on-message and delivered all of his objectives, plus helping a loose delivery to four leg byes. Adam Tavare went back out to see off the last few balls, and it was all over.

Saddos lost - but that was no surprise. Cricket and sportsmanship won. Peter would have been proud and we can’t ask for more than that. A big thanks to everyone involved, especially the SACC players who made a game of it (Jacob’s moonballs were a joy to behold).