Saturday 2nd XI vs Old Southendians, 22nd September 2007
Old Southendians - 201 - 7
Leigh on Sea - 203 - 5
After two defeats to Southend in the previous week’s double headed fixture, Leigh set about taming Old Southendians this week. All the pre-game media talk had been about the dramatic step down of Stuart ‘Special One’ Elliott and widespread speculation on the identity of his successor. Many names were thrown forward as likely challengers to the crown, with Fabio Capello, Marcello Lippi and Glenn Roeder all making themselves available for the position. In the end Chairman Holmes opted to offer the captaincy to ‘Captain of Vice’ Steve Brown. In an exclusive interview with the Daily Worker, Holmes said “(Comrade) Brown was always at the forefront of our minds, despite the ginger problem and the lack of any actual cricketing instinct the board felt Brown was the right colour for the team.”
Selection had put together a side that resembled a ‘legends’ XI with the combined experience of John ‘The Don’ Elliott, Denis ‘Swing King’ Freeman, Pete ‘Silverfox’ Luker and John ‘Run Machine’ Monk. With a few younger members of the club in the side also, Brown was confident before the game that his charges would be up to the challenge. A late call up to the in-form John Threadgold strengthened the batting line-up still further and with the weather forecast set for uninterrupted sunshine, all systems were go.
The Old Southendians (OS) captain won the first contest of the day, calling the coin correctly in the air and electing to put a total on the board first up. Leigh strode out athletically, (although opening bowler ‘Lungs’ Cartwright did have a fag in his mouth as he entered the battle arena much to the chagrin of his captain) looking to quickly stamp their authority onto the game. The tearaway opening bowling combination of ‘Lungs’ and Steven ‘Roger’ Moore struggled to find their line early in the innings and as such OS were able to start the quicker of the two teams. One time Leigh first team bat John Turner particularly enjoyed the opening overs carving through the off side on a number of occasions. However the young pair were soon able to hit their stride asking questions from the opening batsman. ‘Lungs’ picked up a phantom wicket from a no-ball before having a very good shout for a caught behind turned down. It was Roger Moore who exhibited the view to a kill first, operating on a live and let (the batsman) die policy, he let rip with a vicious delivery, finding a bit of seam movement and catching the edge with the chance taken easily behind the stumps. Both opening bowlers showed the confidence to ask for one more over to try to get another break through, but despite bowling well they couldn’t increase their tally.
Next into the fray were two of the old guard of the side, Elliott and Freeman joining together to attempt to rein in the OS scoring rate, which was still rolling along fairly freely. The increase of pressure these two wise sages provided, accounted for the valuable wicket of Turner who played on to John ‘The Don’. With control now restored, Leigh began to get on top of the opposition. Brown replaced Freeman with Paul ‘Glam’ Morgan from the road end, seeking to find someone to fill in the tricky middle overs with bowling options few and far between. Despite a tricky first over with a few off side wides thrown in, Glam grew to his task and started bowling with the kind of control that the press had stated doubts about before the game. The Don rolled on at the Sicily end picking up another wicket (making it 478 for the season) caught by Threaders at cover, Corleone bowling his 8 over spell straight through picking up 3-16. After much deliberation the next bowling change brought crowd favourite former heavyweight champ Sonny Liston into the attack. Instantly the volume was cranked up to the Max (Walker) as appeal after appeal rang out for almost every ball that the big 'Aw-strain' unleashed that hit the pad no matter what direction it was going. Next up a straight delivery was scooped into the leg side and John Elliott pouched an easy catch to bring Damo a wicket! Jaws hit the ground, spectators spilled their drinks in amazement and several members of the Leigh side started to eat their own headwear.
Pete Luker came on for two overs of pace next and took a wicket instantly, deceiving the batsman completely. Liston dismissed the left handed He-Man look alike by knocking back middle stump at the other end and Leigh were making waves. Another maiden from Liston and Captain Brown signalled that he wanted to get his young opening bowlers back into the game. At hearing this Liston spat the dummy and openly questioned his captains decision, stomping off into the covers ranting that 'Strewth, ya can’t take me off now, I just bowled a bloody maiden, its coming out grouse too!’ As nobody really understood what the hell he meant Brown brought Roger and Lungs back to finish off the innings and leaving Leigh needing to score 202 in their 40 overs to secure victory.
With Liston still stomping around like lost dingo with a headache, the Leigh boys had a very nicely crafted tea. Brown finalised his batting order and let Luker and Damo know they would be opening up, with John 'The crusher' Monk at numero trois.
Unfortunately the Silverfox got a nasty delivery early doors and JM was soon striding out to join Liston at the crease (Y'alright Damo?). Damian soon hit his stride and began punishing any loose bowling from OS, getting the scoreboard ticking along nicely. Monkey was compiling runs in his normal manner and soon the score passed 50. Damo crunched a glorious cover drive for four before setting the tee off time and smashing a lofted drive over mid on. In the next over however the second wicket went down with JM being the batsman to fall for 17. Captain Brown moved out to join his VC in the middle with Leigh still needing around 130 for victory with 25 overs to go. After struggling to get the ball off the square early on, the runs began to come slightly easier with the few hittable deliveries being pushed into gaps for scampered two's (although by this time Damo was beginning to look like a man that had just stepped out of the shower straight into his pads)
With the Australia v India twenty20 semi final taking place over in South Africa, a twenty20 game was opening up at the CPCG also. Liston and Brown however were looking a bit more like Chris Tavare and Ed Joyce than Pietersen and Gilchrist. The score was still moving along though and Damian soon raised his bat as he passed 50. With the pitch and bowling lacking any real pace, finding the gaps was crucial and as both players got used to the bowling the runs flowed quicker. The introduction of a left arm spinner who gave it plenty of flight helped the Leigh cause with both batsman hitting 4's to the short boundary. Two lofted drives from Brown off Kevin Pratt raced to the boundary for 4 as the skipper brought up his half century, with Sonny moving into the 70's with a fierce drive through the covers. Disaster struck however as with only 16 runs needed Brown holed out in the deep for 62 then number 5 bat Threaders (now with a severe case of pad rash sweeping through his system) was bowled second ball and Liston followed lbw for 91.
Up stepped Billy King, midget wicketkeeper and son of boxing legend (and part time scorer) 'One Punch Machine Gun' Paul King (record: 2 wins and 22 defeats). Joined at the crease by Denis Freeman with 12 still needed from 12 balls for victory. The first ball of the penultimate over to King was dispatched past mid off for four with the second ball taking exactly the same path to the boundary. 4 needed off 10 balls; a scampered couple of singles were also scored from the over although Bill almost snapped every muscle in his back attempting to launch the remaining 4 balls onto the A127. So with the final over starting only 2 runs were needed, a single from the first ball left Denis on strike with only one needed. An attempted force through the offside was unsuccessful but next ball with the field closing in, Denis hit a well timed slog through wide square leg and the game was over! The crowd rushed onto the field and carried both the batsman off, many songs were sung in the bar and a good time was had by all.
Australia lost in the cricket as well.
What a day!
Leigh on Sea - 203 - 5
After two defeats to Southend in the previous week’s double headed fixture, Leigh set about taming Old Southendians this week. All the pre-game media talk had been about the dramatic step down of Stuart ‘Special One’ Elliott and widespread speculation on the identity of his successor. Many names were thrown forward as likely challengers to the crown, with Fabio Capello, Marcello Lippi and Glenn Roeder all making themselves available for the position. In the end Chairman Holmes opted to offer the captaincy to ‘Captain of Vice’ Steve Brown. In an exclusive interview with the Daily Worker, Holmes said “(Comrade) Brown was always at the forefront of our minds, despite the ginger problem and the lack of any actual cricketing instinct the board felt Brown was the right colour for the team.”
Selection had put together a side that resembled a ‘legends’ XI with the combined experience of John ‘The Don’ Elliott, Denis ‘Swing King’ Freeman, Pete ‘Silverfox’ Luker and John ‘Run Machine’ Monk. With a few younger members of the club in the side also, Brown was confident before the game that his charges would be up to the challenge. A late call up to the in-form John Threadgold strengthened the batting line-up still further and with the weather forecast set for uninterrupted sunshine, all systems were go.
The Old Southendians (OS) captain won the first contest of the day, calling the coin correctly in the air and electing to put a total on the board first up. Leigh strode out athletically, (although opening bowler ‘Lungs’ Cartwright did have a fag in his mouth as he entered the battle arena much to the chagrin of his captain) looking to quickly stamp their authority onto the game. The tearaway opening bowling combination of ‘Lungs’ and Steven ‘Roger’ Moore struggled to find their line early in the innings and as such OS were able to start the quicker of the two teams. One time Leigh first team bat John Turner particularly enjoyed the opening overs carving through the off side on a number of occasions. However the young pair were soon able to hit their stride asking questions from the opening batsman. ‘Lungs’ picked up a phantom wicket from a no-ball before having a very good shout for a caught behind turned down. It was Roger Moore who exhibited the view to a kill first, operating on a live and let (the batsman) die policy, he let rip with a vicious delivery, finding a bit of seam movement and catching the edge with the chance taken easily behind the stumps. Both opening bowlers showed the confidence to ask for one more over to try to get another break through, but despite bowling well they couldn’t increase their tally.
Next into the fray were two of the old guard of the side, Elliott and Freeman joining together to attempt to rein in the OS scoring rate, which was still rolling along fairly freely. The increase of pressure these two wise sages provided, accounted for the valuable wicket of Turner who played on to John ‘The Don’. With control now restored, Leigh began to get on top of the opposition. Brown replaced Freeman with Paul ‘Glam’ Morgan from the road end, seeking to find someone to fill in the tricky middle overs with bowling options few and far between. Despite a tricky first over with a few off side wides thrown in, Glam grew to his task and started bowling with the kind of control that the press had stated doubts about before the game. The Don rolled on at the Sicily end picking up another wicket (making it 478 for the season) caught by Threaders at cover, Corleone bowling his 8 over spell straight through picking up 3-16. After much deliberation the next bowling change brought crowd favourite former heavyweight champ Sonny Liston into the attack. Instantly the volume was cranked up to the Max (Walker) as appeal after appeal rang out for almost every ball that the big 'Aw-strain' unleashed that hit the pad no matter what direction it was going. Next up a straight delivery was scooped into the leg side and John Elliott pouched an easy catch to bring Damo a wicket! Jaws hit the ground, spectators spilled their drinks in amazement and several members of the Leigh side started to eat their own headwear.
Pete Luker came on for two overs of pace next and took a wicket instantly, deceiving the batsman completely. Liston dismissed the left handed He-Man look alike by knocking back middle stump at the other end and Leigh were making waves. Another maiden from Liston and Captain Brown signalled that he wanted to get his young opening bowlers back into the game. At hearing this Liston spat the dummy and openly questioned his captains decision, stomping off into the covers ranting that 'Strewth, ya can’t take me off now, I just bowled a bloody maiden, its coming out grouse too!’ As nobody really understood what the hell he meant Brown brought Roger and Lungs back to finish off the innings and leaving Leigh needing to score 202 in their 40 overs to secure victory.
With Liston still stomping around like lost dingo with a headache, the Leigh boys had a very nicely crafted tea. Brown finalised his batting order and let Luker and Damo know they would be opening up, with John 'The crusher' Monk at numero trois.
Unfortunately the Silverfox got a nasty delivery early doors and JM was soon striding out to join Liston at the crease (Y'alright Damo?). Damian soon hit his stride and began punishing any loose bowling from OS, getting the scoreboard ticking along nicely. Monkey was compiling runs in his normal manner and soon the score passed 50. Damo crunched a glorious cover drive for four before setting the tee off time and smashing a lofted drive over mid on. In the next over however the second wicket went down with JM being the batsman to fall for 17. Captain Brown moved out to join his VC in the middle with Leigh still needing around 130 for victory with 25 overs to go. After struggling to get the ball off the square early on, the runs began to come slightly easier with the few hittable deliveries being pushed into gaps for scampered two's (although by this time Damo was beginning to look like a man that had just stepped out of the shower straight into his pads)
With the Australia v India twenty20 semi final taking place over in South Africa, a twenty20 game was opening up at the CPCG also. Liston and Brown however were looking a bit more like Chris Tavare and Ed Joyce than Pietersen and Gilchrist. The score was still moving along though and Damian soon raised his bat as he passed 50. With the pitch and bowling lacking any real pace, finding the gaps was crucial and as both players got used to the bowling the runs flowed quicker. The introduction of a left arm spinner who gave it plenty of flight helped the Leigh cause with both batsman hitting 4's to the short boundary. Two lofted drives from Brown off Kevin Pratt raced to the boundary for 4 as the skipper brought up his half century, with Sonny moving into the 70's with a fierce drive through the covers. Disaster struck however as with only 16 runs needed Brown holed out in the deep for 62 then number 5 bat Threaders (now with a severe case of pad rash sweeping through his system) was bowled second ball and Liston followed lbw for 91.
Up stepped Billy King, midget wicketkeeper and son of boxing legend (and part time scorer) 'One Punch Machine Gun' Paul King (record: 2 wins and 22 defeats). Joined at the crease by Denis Freeman with 12 still needed from 12 balls for victory. The first ball of the penultimate over to King was dispatched past mid off for four with the second ball taking exactly the same path to the boundary. 4 needed off 10 balls; a scampered couple of singles were also scored from the over although Bill almost snapped every muscle in his back attempting to launch the remaining 4 balls onto the A127. So with the final over starting only 2 runs were needed, a single from the first ball left Denis on strike with only one needed. An attempted force through the offside was unsuccessful but next ball with the field closing in, Denis hit a well timed slog through wide square leg and the game was over! The crowd rushed onto the field and carried both the batsman off, many songs were sung in the bar and a good time was had by all.
Australia lost in the cricket as well.
What a day!
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