Gunnislake shuffled the pack once again, handing debuts to Andy Metcalfe (qualification: mate of Adrian) and a friend of Andrew Morris also joined us as a late Saturday morning call-up. Turns out the friend of Andrew was David Emmerson, son of former Gunnislake stalwart Gary, and well known to all the ex-Callington contingent. David has returned from duty on HMS Ambush, to attend a navigation course at HMS Raleigh, and should be a fine addition to the squad.
Late arrivals meant Gunnislake only had six players when the toss was wonn, so a decision was taken to bat against a Milton Abbot side chasing promotion. A brave or foolhardy decision remained to be seen, for Milton Abbot have a strong bowling attack. Gunnislake struggled early on, scoring at less than two an over, despite a liberal dose of wides. Milton Abbot moved the ball off the seam, and on a drying wicket some kept low, and Gunnislake were all at sea. A brief interlude from Andrew Morris was all too brief, and the only chink of light was some dogged determination from seasoned campaigner Sylvan Pook, who took an age to get past one, but late on, against a slightly tiring bowling attack, managed to adjust his radar to the boundary, reaching a very creditable 25. Iain Barker, back from a spell in Surrey, briefly looked as if he meant business, striking two fours before falling to the old trick, bowled by a slow full toss. Andy Metcalf also cracked two fours (a promising sign of things to come), and Emmerson fell to a brilliant diving catch at deep mid-off. Geoff Husband was stranded on a familiar 0 not out and after 34 overs Gunnislake had surrendered, having limped to a total of 91. Milton Abbot all bowled well, with Williams and Rickard taking three apiece.
Milton Abbot started their reply cautiously, and after one over were behind the run rate, but the downhill side of the ground is a short boundary, and the run soon started to mount. There was a glimmer of hope as Crocker fell LBW to Pook, but Milton Abbot were sailing serenely along at more than three an over. From a Gunnislake perspective things never got out of hand, but equally Milton Abbot never looked in trouble. “Chopper” Helyer was bowled by Barker, but only after blasting 31 runs. There was no respite; grey clouds and a couple of overs of very light drizzle provided some brief banter, but the umpires declined to take the teams off. Gunnislake were fatally holed below the waterline. Meanwhile, back at the match, Plymouth student Mathew Elmer joined Tom Rickard, to knock off the runs with no further alarms.
Despite a valiant effort, Gunnislake were ambushed by an astute Milton Abbot, who achieved a victorious triumph. Trenchant batting was unable to make up for a lack of talent, and Gunnislake will have to be vigilant if they are not to slip to the bottom of the league. Perhaps vengeance will be at hand next week, when Tideford are the opposition?
Like Somerset in The County Championship, the Gunnislake batting has been letting down the bowling. We have faced good bowling the last two weeks, but a school report would say “must try harder”. At the end of the match quite a few apologies were made for next week, leaving the selection committee with a problem. However, the captain has a cunning plan; he headed off to the pub with Milton Abbot team and now has four offers for a game next week if he is short of players…..
Quote of the Week
“Send Reinforcements, we’re going to advance” (Military communiqué sent from the front line by word of mouth).
“Send three and four pence, we’re going to a dance!” (as received by HQ)