Scorers Meltdown

This was , quite simply, an incredible game of cricket. The sort of afternoon where there is steam from the scorers pencil and tin hats needed for spectators on or near the boundary. The last time nearly 550 runs were recorded on a Fleckney afternoon it was alledgedly attributed to an out of date batch of Chobbys BBQ relish.

Mandeep had spent the pre match rituals imploring the skipper to bat first. We soon found out why.

His new bat had the width of the one case that Weightwatchers turned away and he used it to breathtaking effect in an innings that was everything the man himself is not. It was brutal, aggressive and thoroughly inhospitable. He reached his 50 in the 6th over and his ton in the 14th. He had faced 41 balls including a dozen dot balls and had simply murdered the bowling. Job done, jacket on and a spell on the sidelines ensued.

It would not surprise anyone to hear that the scoring slowed after his retirement. Fleckney batting went from stick cricket cheatmode to the regulation, sadly even some quality innings down the order seemed mundane by comparison. This is no complaint against Manu (56) and Yak (45) but once you have ridden the roller coaster the roundabout at the local park loses its lustre.

By tea Fleckney had scored 273 for 5 off 40 overs. To be honest seasoned Fleckney supporters probably didn't realise the Scoot-o-meter reached that high. Some jokingly referred back to a game last year were 268 for 1 was scored and the team still lost. Lightening couldn't strike twice, right?

There was an early wicket, Mole deceiving opening bat Evans to cut to the covers. Well, either that or getting lucky with an absolute pie. You make your own choice, dear reader.

In came Sanjay Giri. He didn't say a lot but he let his bat and his footwork do the talking. He scored 83 off 53 balls. Not quite Mandeep level but still special in its own way. It's no exaggeration to say he was running down the wicket to attack the spinners, each time the Fat Keeper yelled encouragement believing he would eventually miscue or run past one but each time the execution was spot on. Seam eventually did the trick but the base was set.

The barely believable idea of defeat began to loom ever larger but Fleckney didn't change course. This wasn't a Titanic seeking a chilly date with a particularly attractive iceberg, more a conscious choice. Fleckney had picked 3 Juniors but rather than chasing a friendly victory decided to give those promising young men opportunities, a move described as making "cricket being the winner" by the Umpire. Would a more senior approach have provided a different result? Maybe (only maybe) but who would deny seeing Henry bowl so beautifully, Adam bash the ball like a mini Mandeep or Charlie field like a Tasmanian Devil. It's an absolute pleasure to spend a Sunday afternoon with all 3.

Marton won by 4 wickets with 2 overs to spare then, and credit to them, decamped en masse to the Shield. Fleckney were slightly stunned but it had been a heck of a day and there is always next week. This gives 7 days for the other 10 Fleckney players to locate Mandeeps bat supplier but the deforestation required would send Swampy into a tailspin.