"A feast of hat-trick opportunities" (but no actual hat-tricks)
Our third match of the season brought us "back home" for the first time, on a warm day under an almost cloudless sky. As we gathered on the back pitch, many of us surveyed for the first time the state of the ground after months of flooding and the unfortunate injury to our groundsman, David Elsdon, which had rendered him unable since last autumn to provide his normal care and attention.
Although our worst predictions were not borne out, the outfield still resembled a patchwork quilt with lively growth of grass in some areas contrasted by bald patches of earth in others. Despite the fine weather of the previous week, the underlying dampness was evident in a lack of bounce and soft undulations towards the edge of the ground which we agreed would make boundaries difficult to score. Fortunately, the artificial wicket in the centre appeared unaffected.
Back in the changing rooms, we debated our options on winning the toss. Opinions were divided and so, in the interests of maintaining team harmony, Zoob was despatched to the middle with a mission of losing the toss. Once again, he did not let us down, and we found ourselves in the field.
Our opening attack of Ripman and Porter bowled with spirit and enthusiasm despite the heat of the afternoon, but without luck until Ripman beat the defences of one of the Dulwich openers and then repeated the feat next ball with the number three. We gathered around the next batsman in anticipation of a hat-trick, but Ripman was unable to oblige.
Owen replaced Porter and bowled an intelligent but unrewarded spell. Zoob therefore turned once again to "golden arm" Baker in search of another breakthrough, and it wasn't long until the latter induced a catch behind which was well taken by Osmond. The next Dulwich batsman then gave the impression of being late for an appointment as he charged down the wicket first ball and was easily stumped by Osmond. Another hat-trick opportunity... Baker produced a good one but failed to penetrate the defences of the next batsman.
Chapman arrived at the other end to bowl in tandem with Baker and also produced a testing spell which, after several half-chances, was eventually rewarded with a good catch by Goulston at mid-wicket. In the meantime, Baker took the prize wicket of the remaining opener, who was trapped LBW after a solid knock of 46.
At 100 for 6, we had high expectations of finishing off Dulwich quickly, and these were raised even further when Zoob combined unexpectedly with Baker to snatch two catches off consecutive balls. A third chance for hat-trick glory loomed, and we felt sure that the law of averages would be in our favour this time. The final delivery was stabbed hard towards mid-wicket where none other than Zoob threw himself towards the ball and nearly pulled off a remarkable hat-trick of catches by the same out-fielder off the same bowler (has this ever happened before in the history of the game?).
Zoob returned to his pace bowlers in search of the final breakthroughs, but we were frustrated by a sprited stand by the Dulwich tail-enders, who quickly added 33 runs without further loss before declaring the innings closed not long after the half-time mark for the match.
Over tea, we mulled over our chances of making 134 to win the match. Our batting line-up was strong, but a number of our stroke-makers would be impeded by the lack of pace in the outfield. We agreed that it would be crucial to run at every opportunity, even if a boundary looked certain.
Goulston and Kibriya started solidly against some sharp pace bowling from Speer at the top end, and canny leg-spin from Lawrence at the bottom end. After 8 overs without many alarms, we had reached 25 without loss when Kibriya was surprised by Speer's lift and lofted the ball for an easy catch. Owen arrived at number three and was greeted by a snorter of a delivery from Speer which cut through his back-foot defensive shot and produced an edge behind. Burcher appeared at the crease for his second-ever OAs innings and successfully negotiated the hat-trick ball (yet another!), but shortly afterwards was castled by a full and quick delivery from Speer. Marmion then joined Goulston and played a short cameo before succumbing in the same way as Burcher, much to his annoyance. Suddenly, at 36 for 4, and with a demon bowler on the loose at the top end, we seemed to be heading towards our first defeat of the season.
Osmond strode to the wicket with different ideas, and quietly supported Goulston by holding firm at one end and taking a series of singles as the latter began to cut loose with a succession of well-timed strokes. When Steer completed his first spell with figures of 10-3-15-4, the pair started to impose themselves on the lesser bowlers. As the final twenty overs began, we required three runs per over, and Goulston and Osmond combined to take us ahead of this rate with some clean hitting through the line. After a relatively quiet patch in the forties, Goulston brought up his fifty with a superbly-timed stroke and, as the score neared 100, the pressure shifted from the home side back to Dulwich.
In the mean time, Norcross had returned from an early end to the 2nd team fixture to lend us his words of support: "Life is a paradox", to which an unnamed wag added: "Well, it is, and it isn't". The OAs continued to live by this philosophy as Goulston and Osmond made our earlier problems against the Dulwich attack seem like just a bad dream with an exhibition of immaculately executed strokes, and even the cutting-edge of Speer looked worn on his return to the attack.
With nine overs to go, we required just ten runs to win. Goulston duly launched an aerial attack on Speer to yield four runs off the next over, and then Osmond waited for a loose ball from Lawrence which he heaved for six to finish the match. It had been an extraordinary partnership which once again showed the fighting spirit of this side when faced with adversity.
Ian Chapman
