Modbury knew they were in for a tough game as soon as they arrived at the ground as the full Bridford side was already gathered around the wicket, having reached the ground before everyone else and taken the chance to inspect conditions.There was no coin toss for this fixture; captain JohnCompston had decided Bridford should bat first, reasoning that they had travelled a long way and would have been disappointed if Modbury batted first and were quickly bowled out without offering much of a contest.
Tom Hatch got Modbury off to a flying start as he took a wicket in the first over, clean bowling the opening batsmanwho was then seen doing a full lap of the boundary in a duck suit. Suggestions were made that Modbury should do this, but this was quickly shut down when it was established the club could not afford to buy eleven of them.
The next few overs mainly consisted of ball retrieval duties for the team as the ball flew to the boundary and the run rate increased at an alarming rate.
First change bowler Sam Collidge was unlucky not to take an early wicket when Compston shelled one of the easier catches you are likely to get on a cricket pitch. But cricket is a funny old game as a few balls later Compston redeemed his howler by taking a superb diving catch which really did make it even more impressive that he dropped the first one.
Drinks at 10 overs were very much needed and brought about a spirited comeback for Modbury who at one point looked destined to be chasing a score above 200.
Captain Compston brought himself on to bowl which turned out to be a very good decision with a spell of 4 overs, 10 runs and 2 wickets. Both wickets were taken by good catches in the field, one by Hatch who looked safer than Freddie Steward under a high ball at Twickenham and a simply stunning diving catch down the leg side from wicketkeeper Elias McGill who defied all concerns that his hungover state would be an issue behind the stumps, but more on that later…
What followed next was nothing short of a miracle. Something no one present had ever witnessed nor believed could be possible. Mark ‘Shane Warne’ Trevethan was to take a wicket from the most unlikely of sources; a Sam Collidge catch. As the ball went up in the air and towards the human sieve, there was little confidence, if any at all, that the catch would be taken. But all of the players were proven wrong with Collidge taking a very good catch and appearing surprised that everyone else was surprised he caught it.
But it is not a Modbury performance if fielding mishaps are not a plenty.
For 18 overs, Sam Price barely moved from his spot on the boundary; in fact, most people had forgotten he was playing. After more than an hour without being required to do anything, his moment finally arrived. Sprinting along the boundary rope and up the hill, Price tried to prevent the ball from reaching the rope, only to end up hurtling through the air and landing flat on his back as the ball somehow rolled underneath him.
Sam Collidge, fresh from his new role as specialist fielder following his catch, adopted the textbook long barrier fielding approach which looked picture perfect other than he was about 3 yards away from where the ball actually was when it flew past him and his barrier.
Nick Bennet made use of his knowledge of the wicket and ground having been called up from Ermington to help make up the playing numbers and was well rewarded when he finally got the wicket of the opener who was very unlucky to hit the ball onto his pad for it to then loop up and hit the bails.
It was time for James ‘The Game Changer’ Sloman to roll over his magical, and what everyone thought was a season ending injured, shoulder. He was gifted his first wicket when the batsman made the decision to leave a perfectly straight ball and watch as the bails were sent flying. He soon followed this up with another wicket and ended up with figures of 3 overs for 13 runs and 2 wickets. However, this doesn’t tell the true story of what happened.
A combination of dodgy bowling, generous umpiring and a minor medical emergency (suspected life-threateninghangover) for the keeper saw one over go for 14 runs and something no one had ever seen before. Sloman had pitched one that had bounced over the keeper’s head for 4 byes. The next ball also went for 4 byes despite it being a very leg sided wide that even a sober McGill would have struggled to reach. Rumour has it that Sloman had bribed the umpire to give it as byes upon learning they don’t go against his bowling figures so he couldn’t care less about them!
With Sloman now hunting for a third wicket, he unveiled a new tactic. As the batsman set off for a run, Sloman turned himself into a human obstacle, seemingly trying to bring the batsman down and remove the stumps in the same movement. Unsurprisingly, the batsman was never in any real danger of being run out and the batsman survived the attempted assault.
By this point, McGill’s hangover was obvious to everyone. No longer fully present in body, mind, or spirit, he wisely chose to hang up the gloves for the final 10 overs and take a quiet moment of reflection out in cow corner. That gave Dan Clayton the chance to make his debut behind the stumps. His approach was simple: although he had the gloves on, he planned to let his body do the work. The tactic held until the final wicket, when the ball went high into the sky and Claytontook an excellent catch having remembered he was wearing gloves and giving Callum Lee-Oldfield a well-deserved wicket.
Teas provided a much-needed break for everyone involved.Price’s pretentious steak canapés proved especially popular with the Bridford team, while the brownies supplied by Bridford were quickly embraced by the Modbury players.Sloman had also prepared cheese and onion sandwiches, although he appeared to have run out of time to cut the onions properly, setting an unofficial record for the thickest onion slices ever found in a sandwich.
Sam Price was promoted up the order and made his first ever appearance opening the batting which turned out to be a master stroke from the captain. The unorthodox approach to batting saw Price occupy the crease for over 10 overs and hit his highest total to date of 21 which included four very different boundaries. One glorious (but possibly accidental) cover drive, one that was swatted back over the bowler’s head and two that went directly behind the keeper’s head.
Clayton was the other opening batsman and with his eyes set on the most runs for the season award he was not at all happy to be out for 3 runs when he was given out LBW by Callum who did not hesitate to pull the trigger when the appeal came in. As expected, he did not agree with the decision and was adamant he was not out which clearly contradicted the opinion of the seven Modbury players on the boundary who immediately called it as out the moment it hit his pad.
The captain was in at 3 and would play a fantastic innings which ultimately resulted in him retiring not out on 51, reaching the landmark with a glorious 6 over the covers.
Concern was growing over how McGill would manage with the bat. His hangover had reached a critical stage, he clearly did not look well, and the team still needed him to score some runs. To everyone’s surprise, he got off the mark with his first ball and followed it with a boundary from his second. At the other end, Compston kept urging him to play sensibly, creating the strange sight of a usually hungover, wild-swinging Compston advising someone else not to follow his example. Eventually, the hangover won: one wild swipe across the line ended McGill’s day, and he was simply relieved to finish without requiring any paramedic assistance.
By the time Compston had retired Modbury were behind on the run rate and despite some big swings from the batters at the crease they couldn’t quite get to the total. Requiring 23 off the final over, Mark Trevethan was unfortunate to get three good dot balls in a row, finding the fielder each time and bringing a close to the slim chance Modbury had of victory. A few late runs helped bring the score down and leave Mark on 10* along with guest player Nick Lockwood (who fortunately happened to be the 12th man for Bridford) also finishing on 11*.
Whilst Bridford were the worthy winners by 14 runs, it was agame played in great spirits between the two sides that had not met before, and Modbury are already looking forward to visiting them next season and it hopefully becoming a regular annual fixture. Both teams retired to the Crooked Spire for a well-deserved pint or two.
For Modbury it was very evident the reason they lost; the now infamous duo that is McGill and Sloman. They were indeed ‘Game Changers; but it just so happened to be for the other team!
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