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by Adriano de'Lightly IV

Thanks to all who made the trip out to Tenterden on Sunday, for what was a very entertaining match against the amusingly-named Quaggies CC.

With Roger piloting the GRACC tour bus from London and the Skipper & Chris racing up from a campsite on the South Coast, we convened at Smallhythe for a 35-over game in the picturesque Kent countryside, complete with adjacent oast house.

Having won the toss (in my absence, natch) and with a strong attack plus cloudy skies, we decided to have a bowl. Siva & Brian were first up and were quickly into their stride, although their opening bat had clearly 'played before' and needed no excuse to hammer anything loose to the fence. Still, it wasn't long before Siva's pace struck and he quickly had a couple of their other top order back in the hutch. Brian ran in at his usual pace but had no luck and we brought our guest Joe (from Trafalgar CC) on at the pavilion end. His nagging length had the Quaggies in all sorts of bother and he too saw off a couple without much bothering the scorers. Siva then castled yet another in his alotted 7 overs but their opener was still looking comfortable and raced past 50 before Salman lured him into a massive straight hit on 86, which Siva heroically clung to just inside the boundary, to the general delight of his fellow Relishers. With the Quaggies gently collapsing, it was left to some lovely straight bowling from Joe and Salman to clear up the tail and when Chappers held on to a skier at cover, that was that. Quaggies 133 all out in just 19.4 overs.

After a quick turnaround, and a hastily chalked up batting order, it was the turn of the mighty Relish. Our LH/RH combination, Chris and Roger, finished their fags and strode out to the wicket full of determination. Unfortunately, they met the Quaggies' equally determined captain, Rory, whose unusual 'round-arm' technique offered movement in the air and off the pitch. He soon accounted for Chris, then promptly bowled both Suresh and Muz (sadly making his last appearance for the Relish) to take a somewhat startling hat-trick in just his second over! When Salman then perished shortly afterwards, we were 19-4 and reeling with only 6 overs gone.

The clock had just ticked round to 4pm so tea was taken, and very nice it was too, although the still-to-bat GRACC lower order looked distinctly queasy (perhaps it was the prawns :O)

Upon resumption, it was the turn of the skipper and he was in determined mood as he joined Roger, who had hung around since the start for his 10. Unfortunately, that was his lot as he almost immediately turned a short-ish one into the leg side and was out to a smartly taken diving catch from mid-on.

So 20-5 then, and Lightly and Wiggins at the wicket. There was an air of calm yet steely determination about the heroic pair [...insert waffle about the fields of Agincourt here...] and the Skipper immediately biffed their spinner back over his head for the first of seven boundaries. With Joe rock solid at the other end, the runs began to flow as they started to get the measure of the wicket. A very good partnership of 58 was only broken when that man Rory brought himself back on and finally got one through the Skipper's defences for 32, much to the Quaggies audible relief. Siva, Brian and Chappers all came in for a knock but the opposition tails were up and with Joe left unbeaten on 21, the GRACC innings came to an end for a slightly disappointing 87 all out from 21.2 overs. Still, it was certainly a thrilling afternoon, with their big hitting opener, our middle-order fightback and Rory finishing with the amazing figures of 6-3-5-6!

Result

Quaggies CC: 133 all out (19.4 overs)

GRACC: 87 all out (21.2 overs)

Quaggies won by 46 runs

Man Of The Match: Joe took 4-26 and finished on 21* so a debut award for him.

Champagne moments: Siva's catch to dismiss their opener had us all quite lieterally whooping with delight.

Comedy moment: Sorry, Muz, but last game or not, you were the hat-trick victim!