Played

Will Brandt, Nick Hughes, Mark Milton, Joey Winter, +Chris Territt, Julian Davies, *Adrian Lightly, Jason Leitch, Ian Mayes, Ben Mitchell, Doug Winter

Officials

Umpire: Jon Winter
Scorer: Martin Winter

Report

And so to the beautiful setting of The Griffin club, Dulwich, for the second match of the inaugural season of the mighty Gentleman's Relish. The opposition this time were Whalers CC, apparently not deep-sea fishermen but mis-spelt Reggae fans (it says here). Anyway, on a lovely English summers' day, Whalers decided to bat first on what looked a pretty flat wicket and GRACC faced a hot afternoon in the field.

Things looked fairly good from the off, the openers being restricted to the odd boundary off some tidy stuff from Hughes and Lightly, with the GRACC fielders showing that the regular evening practices in Ruskin Park were certainly paying off. With 31 on the board, Nick struck first with a classic leg stump yorker to dismiss their number 2, followed shortly afterwards by a hard-earned wicket for Will B (a fierce drive clung onto at silly mid-off by the skipper). Changes at both ends brought more success with young Joey trapping another LBW and then the moment of the match; a direct-hit run-out by Nick from somewhere near point, after a wild overthrow at the other end. One gutted batsman on his way back to the pavilion and the Whalers 75-4.

Unfortunately, things drifted for a while and even a first ball strike from Ben M couldn't stem the flow of runs from a strong middle order as they put on another 60 runs before a freak ankle injury to Mark brought Jasonn to the allotment end. Bingo - another bowling change, another first-ball wicket and with the Whalers hitting out towards the end of their allotted 40 overs, Joey and Nick came back to polish off the tail. Finally all out with one ball remaining, Whalers CC posted a decent total of 195 (including 35 extras) which we knew would be tough to chase down.

After a splendid tea (large hurrahs for Squadron Leader Rowan and the GRACC Ladies Auxiliary) it was our turn to stride purposefully to the middle and face the ominous-looking Whalers attack. Immediately, they were right on the money, giving little away in a spell of fast, straight bowling which claimed Adrian and Nick for not-very-many each. Will B was more solid at the other end (despite having to take Klinsmann-esque evasive action to one that reared up off a length) and there was still hope when Mark set about their youthful bowlers with a quickfire 24, most of it in boundaries. Unfortunately, Will got a leading edge (attempting to cart another one to mid-off) and was caught and so, after a farcical run-out with Julian stranded, a collapse was on the cards. With no change in the bowling, the wickets tumbled and despite the vocal support from the pavilion, 5 (five!) ducks in the innings meant a rather disappointing 72 all out for GRACC.

All in all, an excellent afternoon's cricket with a much improved fielding performance on our side (no dropped catches this week) and plenty to discuss over the jugs of foaming ale from the Griffin bar. Many thanks to clan Winter for providing umpire and scorer and cheers to the Whalers for a good match - hope to meet them again (with an improved batting line-up!) next season.

Result

Whalers CC: 195 all out (39.5 overs)

GRACC: 72 all out (21.0 overs)

Whalers CC won by 123 runs

Man of the Match: Mark Milton (some textbook hitting)

Champagne Moment: Nick's direct-hit run out from the deep, on an overthrow

Comedy Moment: Chairman Ian booting it over the boundary for four