Greenland resists but Passage Trumped

S Grant, J Bishop, M Scantlebury, S Greenland, T Higginson, S Leeson

JP, J Mulvey, Bij R, D Iwanyshyn, J Finklestein

The warm weather meant the usual Millfields Somme was replaced with a firm, true deck. The rest was as usual. Slow outfield and lopsided boundary. James Mulvey was back. Park cricket was back. We bowled. 

Sheldon Greenland and Stan Grant opened up for The Passage. Some tight bowling saw a few LBW shouts turned down and I dropped a cover drive. The probing paid off eventually, as Fields’ opener fell ‘bellied-on’; a Shelly full-toss rapped the lad on the stomach and hit the top of off peg. Complaints of a no-ball went unheard. In hulked Fields 3, KP tattoos glistening. Clearly a very able player, he gave our bowlers much to think about. Shelly immediately asked to be taken off. 

In came Bij and ‘Slow Left Arm’ Dan, who held up their respective ends well and kept the remaining opener quiet. Scoring runs along the ground was tough, so Fields went aerial, with Stan L holding onto - and then dropping - a chipped ball into the leg side. Bij soon bowled the opener with a nicely flighted ball, bringing a very technical Fields 4 in an Fanta Orange helmet to the crease. Matters continued, with many boundaries struck, until Jack Bishop tempted Mr Fanta into charging him down. A nick, a great Mulvey catch and a wicket in the book. Dan made way for Michael, whose wrist spin made good use of the bouncy track, beating the Fields 3 outside the bat. Michael then threw the ball to Mulvey, who bumped the Fields 3 off a two-yard run up. 

With Fields on 160 for 2, we were scrambling a little. Who else but Shelly to bring the breakthrough after his hard-earned rest. Fields 3 timed a length ball straight back down the ground. Shelly (with what Stan L later described as “very long fingers”) reached down and palmed the ball onto the stumps. The non-striker was comfortably out of his crease and departed, run out at the non-strikers end. You be the umpire!

Up the other end, Bij beat Fields 6 through the gate to leave him stumped after some sharp Mulvey glovework. Troy walked to the crease and received some appropriate sledging from Shelly, before he spooned his first ball to Shelly himself at straight mid wicket. It was a hat-trick ball which was well bowled, but not to be. Fields finished on 250-6, with Fields 3 (Arjunha) making a chanceless 128 not out. 

It was our turn to bat. I went out there with Stan Leeson and both of us set about chewing up deliveries. Dan eventually gave up marking dots in the book. Even when we timed the ball, the slow outfield stopped it for one. The Fields opening bowlers sent down reasonably consistent overs and we limped to 10 overs bowled for 28. Stan L played a disciplined game and was just getting into his stride when I called him back for a suicidal second and roasted him alive on the BBQ. 

Jimmy Mulvey is hailed as one of the greats of our league. Taimoor, the head umpire, regales us of Mulvey’s lusty blows when we were known by another name. “He was a proper player” (unlike you lot). Mulvey came out in a cap and took guard. The Fields bowler, muscles popping, sent down a good length ball. A flash of the blade and a kiwi voice. “Shit”. Mulvey walked back to the boundary. 

Bij replaced him and played a good innings, hitting a nice six square of the wicket. I then fell for a tortuous (but technically correct) 17 to Fields bowler Rob. This started a classic Passage collapse. JP came in and looked good before a ball snuck through him. Michael - a player whose sound batting surely owes him a score - was then sadly bowled. Debutant Josh, a baseball player in his salad days, looked good too but fell to the same bowler who got the rest of us. He completed his five-for. Stan Grant, so often the hero in our waggly tail, holed out for 3. Jack Bishop joined Mulvey in the Golden Duck Restaurant, bringing Dan to the crease with their bowler on another hat-trick. 

Dan absolutely creamed the ball for four with a textbook cut. Jubilation on the boundary. Shelly, with his ‘Over 300 balls faced at Hitz’, went on to top score with 21, including a remarkable pull shot which went for six directly behind the wicket. The 10th wicket partnership shaped up. Alas, we lost, so we did what we always do and went to the pub. Someone (?) left the book in the park in spontaneous protest. It felt good to be in the sun again. The season is here. Nets on Thursdays 7PM, Victoria Park. 

London Fields win by 171 runs. 

Passage 79 all out. 

T Higginson

S Leeson

J Mulvey

Bij R 

JP

M Scantlebury

J Finklestein (Debut)

S Grant

S Greenland

J Bishop

D Iwanyshyn