Who needs 11 players and a grass strip?
When on a Thursday the skipper says you've only got 7 players and we're playing on an Astro strip how do you react? Pray for rain/call him names/hope for the best?
Turns out when Luke Rich is at the helm what isn't possible? The forecast showers didn't arrive at Devizes cricket club (playing against Calne 3’s) sowewere able to use a grass wicket (what luxury!). The one-good-legged wicket keeper had persuaded two new players to come straight from their 200-mile homeward journey to the ground. So come an hour or so into the game we'd have 11! Even as the stars seemed to be aligning, I was sure it was a bat first day.
So, when we arrived at 12:55 to find out that our Luke had "no choice" but to bowl first, I was very worried we’d been stitched up for a long day in the field. 5 overs later when we had them 3 for 10 my mood had decisively improved.
Kev Golden Arm Evans got one of the openers to play a loose drive cleanly taken by Rich Bean at mid-off. Next over, new man Stan was hunting around at square leg. He may appear to be another hippie from Bristol, but he also has a Cannon arm. Attacking the ball, he FIRES in a throw with the batters stranded in the middle and Nelson in self defence takes the stumps apart. Over 5, Stan bowls a ball right in the corridor bringing another loose drive from Calne No.3 for Nelson to take a one-handedgrabinfrontof1stslip(sorryGraham).
For the next 23 overs Calne battled away. Their opening bowler turned best bat sniping at anything loose combined with their Goliath hitter trying to send the ball out of the park proved quite effective. ‘Porridge’ toiled away, keeping the ball on a solid off stump line to avoid it being mooooooed away. Captain Veg tempted their hitters only to find them always somehow landing it short of our fielders or them getting back into their crease to avoid being stumped.
Box had a few half chances the closest of which Rich Bean somehow managed to superman dive to his right at mid-off only for it to just not stick. Top effort.
Now Captain Rich gave Sam, borrowed from Allington a go. After a slightly rocky start he kept at it and tempted their big hitter (I‘m talking Bazel kind of big) to go for a maximum. The big swipe to the cowshed nearly made it but for the skipper gliding around the rope taking a good catch. This broke their stand of 119. Cheers Andy please come back again.
Having bowled himself out and wanting to leave some overs for our Bristol dewling opening bowlingduoofKev&Stan,youngLaurieLewis&‘I haven’t-played-in-years’Tomwereaskedtoturn their arm over. Laurie fresh from his 7:30am start on the road back from Cornwall,came up the slope with his left arm medium pace. Making his adult league cricket debut but you wouldn’t have known it. His tight line paid off trapping the batter on the back leg. As their scorer asked Laurie,surely, it’s an if, not when, he gets into the Wiltshire setup. At the other end Tom was maybe

unsurprisingly quite sparky. Wanging it down off 5 paces to keep the batters and umpires guessing on the line.
All in all, Box keeping Calne to 195 with a misfit team of injured/old/borrowed/new players was a great effort. Special mention to Porridge who bowled then kept the 2nd half of our fielding innings.
Now having been told I’d bat at 6 I took the opportunity to find a real toilet as the windy nettles behind the shed could be risky for a sit down. On returning 4 overs into our innings, I found a SPITTING Captain Veg and somber Rich Bean who had been given LBW by porridge. Fair to say the most experienced umpires were either /batting/padded up or shitting. Porridge had no choice but to give them out. At the close of play Larkhall’s most entrepreneurial farmer agreed it’s important we play fair.
Despitebeing 1 for 2 at the end of the first over,come the 11th over,Johnny I-drove-200-miles-and-for-what Lewis (he threw a reasonable tantrum mid bowling innings; I don’t feel I can go on any more tangents ask me later) had SMASHED a league cricket debut 50. With Graham patiently anchoring the other end Johnny decided to go ballistic, unluckily caught at first slip for 64 off 57 balls. Yes, my last minute recruited players were great, still waiting on my free veg box.
By the 18th over we were 4 down and still 102 runs required. Thanks to Johnny’s rage batting we had plenty of overs to knock the rest off, but not the most experienced lineup. All this is justification for one-legged-Nelson’s tactics. What we call in Yorkshire, Oldmanning. Where you play to a brand of cricket so boring you force the opposition into throwing it away.
With 92 years between them Kev & Stu dug in. Patiently looking to bat the overs and get Box over the line. In 24 overs they put on 98 runs together. Waiting for the bad ball and letting Calne bowl out their opening bowlers in search of taking wickets. Kev as ever bats in 3 modes; rushed wild shots/beautifully waited backfoot play and yes-no-while-walking-forward singles. Finishing on 64 not out a great innings for our very own cult hero. Nelson on the other hand... Let's just say I loved playing for Box again and played like Boycott just as Jordan said I should. Going for a maximum to win the game was caught at mid-off for a gnarly 45.
An unlikely win in many ways. Taking the mighty Box 2nds to 3rd in the division with a game in hand. The team spirit throughout was excellent and blooding new players is surely what 2nd Team cricket is all about. Up the Box.

The Bard of Box’s special apprentice- Stuey