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| The evolution of The Ducks |
Arblaster 2/44
Allison 1/35
The Golden Ducks 106/6
Rodwell 59* (37)
Allison 13* (11)
“Any coward can fight a battle when he's sure of winning; but give me the man who has pluck to fight when he's sure of losing.”
As the Golden Ducks rocked up on a hot and humid Sunday, a couple feeling slightly worse for wear (and one sans Duck shirt!), they were as determined as ever to put in a good performance, especially with Super Sunday coming up next week. This match marked the halfway point in the season, and also providing motivation was the unconfirmed rumours that the DTL might be huge wankers. These rumours were quickly confirmed. Regardless, with defeat against a solid-looking outfit (who had come very close against Dicket and Mpingwe) likely, the Ducks took the option of bowling first.
The opening trio of Allison, Arblaster and Einsmann bowled excellently first up. Allison looked particularly fired up, having been the first victim of the DTL’s atrocious banter when it was commented that he had “a bizarre action!” Indeed, in the opening 6 overs only 42 runs were conceded and two wickets were taken – both by Arblaster, who was delighted to break his wicket drought.
The first breakthrough came as early as the second over, when one of the openers tried to go too big, too early. Perhaps he thought he saw Cansick fielding at long on, but with star fielder Hollis stationed out there, there was no way the catch was going down. With the runs not exactly flowing, another wicket came in Arblaster’s next over – this time, ‘Blaster’ dropped one in slightly shorter and found the top edge, with the ball being safely pouched by Rodwell at gully. Arblaster had been waiting 5 weeks for a wicket, and then 2 come along at once – it’s a funny old game eh? On top of that, Hollis and Rodwell added their names to the growing list of Ducks who have now taken a catch.
With the DTL ever so slightly under the cosh, the match was approaching an important phase. Cansick had been talking up the middle-over bowlers in recent weeks, not unreasonably, but unfortunately they weren’t able to keep a lid on proceedings this week. With the batsman starting to free their arms, and putting the pressure firmly back on the bowlers, an eye-watering 113 runs were conceded from the 8 overs bowled by Rodwell, Cansick and Hollis. The trio did create the odd chance here and there though, with one Cansick delivery causing the batsman to sky the ball high into the Clapham sky – Rodwell and Allison began to bound in, looking likely to make up the necessary ground, when a huge shout of “CANS” was heard, causing everyone to stop. Including, bizarrely, Cansick. And that was that.
Unfortunately, with the batsmen now swinging from the hip, there wasn’t too much our premier trio could do upon their return. Allison, the only bowler to go at an economy of under 10, raised spirits with a late wicket. I say Allison, and credit to the bowler, but it was a stunning catch in the deep by Hollis; the Golden Ducks enjoying a renaissance in the field. The renaissance lasted all of one ball, as Allison bowled a very good bowl next up to the new batsman, only for the ball to fall desperately through Cansick’s hands.
Brief amusement was provided by the DTL’s choice of sideline snacks – salmon paninis – but there wasn’t a plethora of smiles on show from the Ducks as the innings came to an end at 242/3. Credit must go to Arblaster (for his two wickets), Allison (for his useful economy) and Hollis (for his outstanding fielding). While it was a very good effort in parts, Cansick did acknowledge that "we let the bowling get away from us a little".
With a target of 243 on the board, the Ducks were determined to have some fun in the face of some dreary banter from an increasingly annoying DTL. Rodwell, opening with Cansick once more, was greeted with a cry of; “oiled your bat much lately?” Ignoring attempts to get in his head, Rodwell swiftly grabbed a single to bring Cansick on to strike. Unfortunately for Cansick, who hasn’t fared too well when opening, 4 balls later and he was gone for a duck. Cansick was perhaps put off by some of the fielders smoking, and it wasn’t long before Arblaster had enough and stormed on to demand some respect.
Next up, a clearly fuming Yarker came and went – unlucky to only last two balls, and he certainly wasn’t happy to have to leave the crease. On a positive note though, Yarker did manage to psyche the bowler into bowling a wide at him first up, meaning he avoided the dreaded duck.
Speaking of respect, plenty was being shown to the bowlers as Einmann and Rodwell grinded away against the new ball. Having been forced to listen to the DTL recite train stations for a good 10 minutes, Einsmann (11 off 25) might well have been pleased when he eventually departed. Saying that, it was unfortunate for Einsmann to get dismissed just when it seemed he was about to tee off against some of the secondary bowlers.
Having waited so long for his chance, Richards walked to the crease (having also had to listen to the DTL’s mindless chat), only to get a beauty first up, and thus take the long, slow walk back to the sideline with only a golden duck for company. Hollis was the next to join Rodwell at the crease, the pair combining for a bright’n’breezy partnership, characterised by some good running between the wickets; it’s not often you see a 3 run at the Clapham Common Oval!
A tiring Rodwell soon after reached his 50, which only actually contained two boundaries. One of the two boundaries was a highlight of the innings though, getting a big cheer from onlookers around the Oval. One of the DTL bowlers – to the bemusement even of his teammates – decided it would be funny to bowl a ‘windmill’ delivery. It was promptly despatched back past the bowler for 4.
The game was petering out at this stage, but after Hollis (13 off 13) was out, going for a big hit on the leg side, we were treated to some glorious stroke play from the classically trained Arblaster (8 off 7) and some lusty blows from Allison (13* off 11). Unfortunately, Allison was on the end of a lusty blow himself, with a short ball taking a nasty bounce right into his beaker. After a short break though, there was no stopping the man, who is now getting tantalisingly close to dragging his average above 10 thanks to a few cheeky not outs. At the other end, Rodwell, looking in decent form ahead of the one game that matters most, finished on 59* off of 37, helping to drag the team to 106, our highest score since 18th May.
Cansick was unsurprisingly “very disappointed with the lack of class shown by the opposition.” He was however pleased that the Ducks were “able to take some positives out of it on the batting side, such as the 50 from Rodwell” and gave a hint to team selection next week when suggesting that “[our shortcomings] can be rectified with the return of Coops for this weekend’s games, which take on huge significance.” In summation the skip gave a rallying cry to all, “We’ve reached the half way point in the season, and it’s time to start measuring our improvements and turning performances into victories.”
Let’s be honest now, the last 7 games have all just been a warm up. Next week is when things get real – see you there!
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