Strollers won by 39 runs
Strollers 232
(35 overs; Broster-Turley 46, Bourne 40, Oliver 37, Rogers 32, Wilson 22, Travis 21)
Wall 193-9
(35 overs; Macaulay 3-21, Hodgson 2-24, Broster-Turley 2-33, Rogers 1-34, Salvesen 1-40)
There was a certain hum around London on the morning of another tour into the Midlands for the Fleet Street Strollers. Players came on all forms of transport to arrive at the Litchfield Sports Club to face Wall.
Being selected to tour with the Strollers is one of the greatest achievements a cricketer can aim for, however there is great pressure to preform to the highest ability once picked. Sir Alastair Macaulay was appointed captain by the Fleet Street Strollers Cricket Board for this match, and his first course of action was to lose the toss and be sent into bat.
The opening batters towered over the rest of the Strollers as they began their walk out from the boundary, being labelled the tallest opening batting duo the team has ever fielded. Sean Bourke (6ft 4ins) and Blair Travis (6ft 4ins) set out to see the shine off the new ball.
The two batsmen would get straight into their work, scoring ones and twos with the odd boundary in between. Wall were struggling to keep the ball in their hands as Bourke was dropped several times during his innings, but it was Travis who fell first, trapped lbw by Christopher Boyson on 21 runs.
This would bring wicketkeeper/bowler/batsman Steve Wilson to the crease. Thus, there were two Australians playing on a soft, damp wicket they would not have seen Down Under. This did not worry the two baggy green supporters but Sean eventually fell short of a half-century, bowled by Chidanand Hullur for 40.
This resulted in the entrance of Brad Trebilcock, full of eagerness to score runs after his hard-earned 10 runs the week before. Trebilcock had got to the ground the night before and faced 872 balls over a six-hour period in the nets having gone through the night to get his eye in while coach Glen Oliver gave advice from behind the bowling machine.
First ball from Hullur on the bat for none; second ball missed the ball and crashed into the thigh; third ball missed the bat and crashed into the front pad; innings finished for Trebilcock.
Oliver was taking a break from captaincy duties and went out to bat with no pressure and looking for his 1,000th run for the season. He required 17, which only took 10 minutes to obtain. However, once the 1,000 was reached, Glen scooped one too many and was caught by Callum Rubisch in the deep off Simon Foulds for 31 runs.
Meanwhile Wilson was only getting into his work, scoring runs all around the park with Steve Rogers as his batting partner. The two Steves would work together like a happily married couple – perfect communication, a nice amount of physical touch with a pumping of gloves between overs, and the thumbs-up to each other when a tight run call was made. But divorce came when Wilson was bowled by Rian Mistry for 32 runs.
Freddie Broster-Turley then marched out and – after watching numerous reels of Glen Maxwell batting highlights – scored nine boundaries off 18 balls with only three dot balls to his name. During this batting spray around, Broster-Turley launched a six which put Madame President Maggie Patston in peril as it bounced off the scorer’s table causing all types of chaos. However, all good things must come to an end, and Rogers went for 32 and Broster-Turley for 46.
Tom Salvesen and Jim Hodgson were the last two Strollers to score runs – two singles and a six to Salvesen, and a single to Hodgson. Macaulay and Simon Brodbeck tried to see out the remaining deliveries but Brodbeck foolishly scooped the final ball from David Craig to Peter Richards. All out for 232 off 35 overs.
Once the first innings was over, tea was all that anyone was thinking about, as always at Wall. It was a delight – samosas, sandwiches, sausage rolls, cakes, scones and jam, and so much more. All thanks to the gastronomic wizardry of Rae Craig. How was anyone going to move after consuming all of that…
Broster-Turley was the Strollers’ Mitchell Starc, taking a wicket with his third ball, caught by Rogers. A brilliant start that proved short-lived as Richards and David Glanville put up a fight that was frustrating the fielders.
The veteran Salvesen did not want to hang around and dismissed Richards thanks to Wilson’s glovework before Broster-Turley claimed the prize scalp of Glanville, Wall’s keeper/batsman who looked a real class act.
He edged Broster-Turley behind to demonstrate that Wilson is no stranger to this role. Despite his modest protestations, Wilson had reluctantly taken the gloves because the Strollers selectors had picked no designated wicketkeeper for the tour. But this performance made it clear that Wilson had done this many times before. He would go on to take two catches and one stumping on his Strollers keeping debut.
Hodgson was then thrown the ball. With the body of a rusted Land Rover but the engine and mind of a F1 car, Hodgson took two wickets, Rubisch caught by Broster-Turley and Foulds clean bowled.
The captain all of a sudden thought that there would be no victims for himself if he did not do something about it. So Macaulay danced the ball down the pitch, twisting and turning it into the batsmen, taking three quick wickets.
Trebilcock and Brodbeck were the last two bowlers to have a crack, but without reward. Wall fell short by 39 runs after their 35 overs and the Strollers had won their first match of the tour.
The after-match function was, as always, a grand affair. Plenty of food and drink to be shared around while the sun set on a beautiful Midland county, a sight that the Strollers would have to wait another year to see. The Strollers departed Lichfield CC for a quick meal at The Bridge Inn before a two-hour net session and then all in bed by 9pm with no arrests.
Match highlights:
*Blair Travis – 11 Samosas for 0 catches at slip.
*Sean Bourke – 243cms tall for three pints of beer.
*Freddie Broster-Turley – two sixes for two cigarette lighters.
*Jo Perrin – 11 boundary walks for six wines.
*Brad Trebilcock – 0 for 1 against South Africa.
*Thank you to David and Rae Craig - plus all the Wall lads - for their warm and generous hospitality.
Capt: Alastair Macaulay. Wkt: Steve Wilson. Match report: Brad Trebilcock.