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Sunday 27 July 2008

Match Report

Sudbury, Suffolk

Sudbury 251-9

The Lords Taverners 254-6

Result: Taveners won by 4 wickets

It's always great news when the Taverners are invited back to local clubs - it must mean the previous experience was a good one all-round. Those Tavs who played at Sudbury in 2005 will recall a high-scoring game and a decent win, aided by the appearance of such as the then not-so-well-known Alastair Cook, and Andy Flower. 2008 brought another stack of runs...and the closest of finishes, the Taverners making it home with one ball to spare.

The venue is very attractive...a compact playing area close to the centre of Sudbury...and the locals turn out in force to watch - this year, braving soaring temperatures, not least on the slope some over-droll wag dubbed Tarrant Terrace in honour of the Tavs headliner for the day (and, it might said, Chris's son Toby, who once again put in an impressive appearance).

Sudbury batted first and immediately benefited from the fact that (as was later discovered) umpire David (or was it Russell?...or was it Harry?) had seven coins in his pocket by mistake. Although there were times in the innings when the scoring-rate sky-rocketed, the key for the Taverners was that priceless ability to continue taking wickets. These were nicely spread around as skipper and match manager Paul Aldred shuffled his pack - two each for Frazer Hines, GB athlete Martin Blades and Andrew Green, plus one each for Mike Gatting, Paul Aldred himself and Adrian Aymes, who showed the slow-bowling talent that brought him a massive 7-wicket haul in his long first class career.

Frequent loss of the ball after six-hits meant plenty of opportunities to recover from all the heavy breathing on a sweltering day. Talking of heavy breathing, the word after the game was that one ball-search behind the marquee involved averting eyes as, well, a mating pair carried on doing what came naturally. This remains just a rumour though, possibly started by a local ornithologist.

Starring with the bat for Sudbury were Ben Reece with 55 and Jay Phillips with 51. 251 the total. At the tea interval, the Tavs were led from the field by Charlie Dale, who performed miracles behind the stumps, not least in coping with the electric pace of the likes of Paul Jarvis and Darren Cousins. His flying reaction catch to dismiss Peter Siegert off Frazer Hines will live long in the memory.....until yet another Devastating Dale Deed displaces it.

The Taverner innings began slowly in poor light. Lloyd Scott (45) and Mike Gatting (28) had to contend with super-quick stuff from local whizz-kid Billy Moulton-Day, recently given a place on the MCC ground staff. But this proved to be a key partnership, gradually accelerating the run-rate to keep just in touch with the demands of that Sudbury score. The two Tarrants offered cameo innings, while Darren Cousins was unlucky to be undone by a lightning-quick stumping.

The key innings then were from Adi Aymes and Paul Jarvis. The boundaries came thick and fast - at one stage Jarvo hitting 22 off an over. When he was out (for 52 off 18 balls) Paul Aldred joined Adi to shepherd the innings past the winning post, despite the reappearance of speedster Moulton-Day. Aymes was not out 77 at the close - a performance winning him the Tav MOTM award. This softened the blow of a fan belt problem that was set to make his trip back to Hants a trifle complicated. There again, it looked to me as if Adi engineered the ride from the AA so that he could enjoy a few bevvies, clever thing.

We offer huge thanks to everyone who made the occasion work so fantastically well - whether Tavs such as the indefatigable Les Rowland or members of this wonderfully enterprising club - for another absolutely brilliant day. We promise to surrender meekly next time if you invite us back again! Well done Paul Aldred. Thanks to all the players...and to all the sponsors - especially Barclays Wealth.

Sudbury scorecard

The Lord's Taverners scorecard

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