Cowden Sunday 2008: A tale of two halves 
The ignominy of Saturday's humiliation and the farce of Jumping Jacks seemed to do nothing to dim the enthusiasm of the Strollers side that stepped out against their oldest - in all senses of the word- adversaries on 3 August. Youngy was dropped for having suggested he might play for another team, Jabs Fletcher was recalled to strengthen the fielding and Rob Tinline made a long awaited return to give the opposition some encouragement. J Allen, another gawky diplomat (and a hot favourite for Most Improved non-player) also made the trip, even bringing a new WAG in an attempt to distract his team mates from his underhanded effort to break the Strollers financially by failing to secure free entry to Jacks.
The sky was grey, pride was at stake, WAGs and Mums were watching, heads ached, stats were at stake. Ideal Strolling conditions.
T Fletcher won the toss again, and opted to confront the team's - and his own - demons by batting first. In a moment of great courage, a weaker leader might say desperation, he pulled on his gloves and strode purposefully out with Tinline, steely eyed, to face with confidence the South African quickies. Four overs later, both were back in the pavilion, Fletcher having left an inswinger outside the off stump and Tinline having left a straight one. The Strollers languished at 11/3, laughs were nervous, WAGs underwhelmed and demons unconfronted.
But Luke had other plans. Aided by a furtling and nurdling but effective Andy Morris, he played out the quickies, had a fascinating duel with fired up old adversary Ian Platt, and then harvested from the lesser bowlers. A near flawless knock (bar nerves in the upper forties and a dismissal in the 90s for the third time in his career) saw the total into comfortable territory. Andy Gregory swashbuckled at the end, and Roscoe (clearly a true Stroller) played for his average. The 160 total was a tonic to those who feared they would never see the team pass 60 again without Holliday and son.
The wet ball, hangovers, relentless drizzle and grey sky were all blamed at various points for the Strollers subsequent proof - counterfactually- of the overused adage that catches win matches. At least five must have gone down, with J Allen showing admirable patience when 3 were dropped during just one of his overs. But solid bowling and sheer enthusiasm soon put the game beyond Cowden's reach. Maurice bucked the trend by taking a beauty on the boundary to dismiss the danger man. Cowden found themselves six wickets down with 16 overs remaining and the Strollers tasting blood.
But the pitch was now a quagmire, and no case could be made against calling it a day. However, in the land of the blind the one-eyed man is King (or as some have it, in the land of the non cricketer, the Stroller has a credible average) - moral victories are not to be shunned. Drops aside, a decent performance, even if the WAGs were all clearly bored even more senseless than usual. I'll resist the temptation to include their ratings as watchers, nor their ratings of Best Stroller buttock - suffice to say that a few of us need to spend the Winter on the stepper. As opposed to G Winter himself, who needs to spend it at a lonesome bar called
"the former Strollers' Arms", where the average is always 0, you're fine leg both ends, Crocker talks endlessly about his 5 wickets against Pent Valley in 93 and the bouncers ignore your stage dives.
The kangaroo court was unable to sit to judge the player ratings, and it would be a brave man who suggested his own. So a quick overview:
Better than usual: Luke (great knock, the nearly ton man), Andy M (snail runs and matchwinning catch) Andy G
(pinch-hitting but left early)
More of the same: Andy/Rick/Roscoe (smart but not explosive bowling), Tingle (stuck around for his duck, less static in field than previously), Jabs, Jon A (unlucky not to have taken more wickets, but was bowling pies), Andy G (pinch-hitting but left early)
Stroll of Shame: TF (solid skippering but failed again with the bat - thankfully there is no KP in the wings yet, though the next generation are hungry), Alex (failed with bat and did not meet usual high standards with ball), Youngy (played for another team), Paddy (did not play, but hated by whole village), Macca (felt pressure behind stumps and put down a couple, lost inexplicably to Rick at golf, and found it hard to emulate past glories)
Minds now turn to the 10/10 and then awards. Separate articles to follow, and Jonny's garden party will no doubt be a hotbed of fevered discussion. To my mind, Carey and (L) Fletcher are untouchable for Player, with several Big Names fighting it out for Player's Player (salaried Rick, evergreen Youngy, vanhiring Alex, most improved Macca etc).
TF