The Golden Ducks vs The Entertainers, 06/07/2014

Clouds gathered over Clapham Common Oval

The Entertainers 207/2

Arblaster 2/31

Cansick 0/34

The Golden Ducks 171/6

Cooper 64* (30)

Stoate 31* (13)

“Winning is great, sure, but if you are really going to do something in life, the secret is learning how to lose.”

On a balmy summer evening, the new look Ducks reported for duty with a justified optimism. Despite this positivity, it must be mentioned that the team was lucky to have not sustained any serious pre-match injuries, after a particularly feisty nets session in which an embittered Allison, who had been left out of the lineup for reasons unknown, made it his mission to injure a number of players. Rodwell and Jon 'iron thighs' Yarker were both victims, and Allison was heard aggressively muttering "where's the new ball? I'm gonna chuck down a few bouncers to him" when bowling at debutant Stoate.

With fresh injuries avoided, the team news for the landmark 10th game was thus; Allison and Einsmann were out of the team, being replaced by Roe and Stoate. On paper this did make the bowling lineup look considerably weaker, but the flipside was that the batting lineup appeared stronger. Tit for tat. Kind of. With Cansick more than aware of this, the skipper chose to insert The Entertainers after winning the toss, a not unreasonable decision.

Shorn of his partner in crime, Arblaster would have to shoulder the burden of the bowling responsibility, and luckily enough for The Ducks, the Yorkshireman looked in fine fettle from the off. Rodwell had boldly forecasted Arblaster to take two wickets pre-match, eventually being proven right.

With Arblaster taking care of his business, the big question mark was how The Ducks would fill the remaining 16 overs of bowling. Cooper, Stoate, Rodwell and Cansick are all capable of moments of brilliance on their day, but would it all come together? Whilst the game isn’t played on paper, pre-match predictions of a slightly shaky bowling performance were not wide of the mark, unlike a lot of the team’s bowling. Indeed, Rodwell and Cansick deserve special mentions (or, naming and shaming) for some regrettably comical wides.

The onslaught began almost from the off: After a solid first over from Arblaster, the opening batsmen of The Entertainers, including the wonderfully named Wohanka (I could be wrong, but I think the ‘o’ is silent), sensed an opportunity to open their arms and play a few shots. The first man to be targeted was Arblaster’s opening partner for the day, poor old Cooper, who did bowl far better than his figures (0-54) suggested. Indeed, it has been noted recently that Cooper is now bringing some of that famous venom – once reserved for the nets – into his match bowling.

As the run rate hovered at around 10 an over through the opening overs, it was then time for Stoate, Rodwell, and eventually Cansick, to try their luck. While there were some uncharacteristic misfields from The Ducks off all the bowlers throughout the innings, the bowlers couldn’t just blame this and the runs kept flowing, mostly on the leg side. In spite of this, Cansick (0-34) and Stoate (0-36) did produce somewhat respectable figures from their 4 overs; Stoate giving his growing fanbase glimpses of what’s to come in the future.

Despite being wicketless approaching the end of the innings, the boys in yellow kept their heads and, with The Entertainers looking to really dominate, The Ducks surprisingly asserted the tiniest semblance of control; helped in part by finally taking the powerplay. It was a rare relief to temporarily stem the flow of boundaries for those 3 overs, and for Rodwell (0-45), whose first 3 overs went for 39, it was a nice respite to at least finish positively, only conceding 6 in his final over.

As rarely happens with The Ducks, the best was actually saved ‘til last. Not too hard when the previous 19 overs had proved completely fruitless. Arblaster steamed in and picked up not one, but two well-deserved wickets; the first was a glorious yorker on leg stump that would’ve dismissed far better players than their number 5, and the second was an impressive catch by Cooper in the deep, who held on despite heckling from Allison. I don’t think it would’ve been overstating things too much to suggest that going wicketless through 20 overs would’ve represented close to a new low, but Arblaster (2-31) made sure we didn’t have to go down that road, and in the process, joined Allison as joint-leading wicket taker.

As Chairman Allison was sidelined, he was at least at least able to offer a ‘view from the sidelines’: “We were nervous with our bowling – [the lads] just need to loosen up and worry less when bowling to show our true potential, as the likes of Coops and Gav have been [doing] with the bat in recent weeks.” The skipper acknowledged what we knew pre-match, “Obviously we were limited in terms of bowling options,” but was positive in pointing out that, “we still kept them to a respectable total compared to our previous games.”

With 208 to chase, it was always going to be a tricky challenge for The Ducks, but fans and pundits alike had been licking their lips at the prospect of Roe opening up (with Rodwell at the other end). However, it must be said, the pressure – whilst jovial – that was heaped on the young man’s shoulders was perhaps slightly unfair, and was never going to end well. Indeed, ‘mockers’ were confirmed when, two balls after hitting a stunning straight drive, Roe (6 off 6) perished; getting the faintest of edges on what was a very good delivery from their young opening bowler.

Both opening bowlers, contrasting in their styles – the languid, tall and classical medium-fast bowler, coupled with the young tearaway who steamed in like a madman – were providing challenges, but Cansick and Rodwell kept to task, scoring relatively quickly. Cansick had looked in good touch, even pulling out ‘The Cansick’ on occasion much to the delight of the partisan crowd, but his aggression proved to be his downfall. Having reached 12 off just 6 balls, the skipper went for his favoured cover drive, but the ball was a tad too straight, meaning Cansick succeeded only in edging behind to a handily placed ‘deep slip’.

A relaxed Cooper strolled to the crease next; him and Rodwell had been here many times before and set about their job in a becalmed manner. With the opening bowlers seen off, Cooper began to enjoy himself, smashing the white rock to all parts of the ground. Even Rodwell was getting in on the act, hitting the odd boundary; the highlight being a lofted straight drive that came straight out of the sweet spot of ‘The Beast’.

With Richards, who is undoubtedly in the form of his life, waiting in the wings, and Cooper and Rodwell keeping the required rate at around 12 an over – no mean feat considering the starting target – things were going remarkably well. Too well perhaps. Sure enough, Rodwell (31 off 18), who had been struggling slightly with the pull shot, and was finding it difficult against the new bowler (well let’s be honest, he was a chucker) came through too early on another attempted pull, and was soon taking that lonely walk back to the sidelines. As Richie Benaud would say, "He's usually a good puller - but he couldn't get it up that time."

Cooper acknowledging the crowd

Not to worry, Richards was in and sensibly chose to get Cooper on strike as often as was possible, whilst hitting a couple of lovely boundaries of his own, keeping the crowd on the sidelines excited. The way Cooper had been striking the ball suggested a first 50 of the season was on the way, and sure enough, the big man was soon striding back towards the boys on the side, bat raised, beaming from ear to ear. The Ducks naturally afforded him a well-deserved standing ovation.

We were now entering a tricky period; whilst the batsmen so far had done some sterling work, the required rate was still high and only getting higher. Yarker walked in and hit a lovely shot to get off the mark, but the pressure was undoubtedly on, and despite some big swings, he was soon back on the boundary enjoying a warm kronenbourg, having been caught.

What followed was all a bit of a blur. Every shot was big one, but more often than not they weren’t connecting. Richards (20) was eventually out after a battling innings. Arblaster (6) rocked up, smashed a glorious 4 over cow corner, and then was soon on his way back. I think everyone wanted to get out so they could enjoy the show that was about to unfold in the middle.

Stoate in disbelief after his 31*

Stoate was getting warm; there had been a few plays and misses, but he had practiced his full repertoire of strokes. At the other end, Cooper was quickly back in the action, chasing the team’s highest individual score. What happened next was simply astonishing; almost every ball that was bowled down was smacked for 4 or 6. The chuckers were used. The opening bowlers were brought back. Nothing could stem the flow of runs!

Two stunning performances – Cooper finished unbeaten on 64, off of just 30 balls, while Stoate contributed a barely believable 31 not out, off just 13 balls, on his debut no less. The exciting end to the match, coupled with the team’s highest score, meant the team could retire to the pub a satisfied bunch.

Indeed, the general mood amongst The Ducks was fairly positive, and rightly so. The boys had bounced back very well in light of a disappointing victory last week. Cansick acknowledged that, “Whilst a win was a long shot, we were never completely out of the game. It's another positive performance despite the defeat, so it's a case of taking what positives we can.” Aside from the obvious positives found in our batting, Cansick pronounced that, “It was great to add to the pool of players, with Chris adding an air of calm and control to the field and George demonstrating the all-round abilities we knew he possessed.”

"What is defeat? Nothing but education; nothing but the first steps to something better." We're ten games in now, and ten defeats later, one can only suppose that we're ten steps towards something better. I'm not sure how many steps it takes until victory, but I think the first part of the journey might so be over...