The 1884 St. Louis Maroons, the 1995 Chicago Bulls, Arsenal’s 2003-4 Invincibles, the 3rd season Springfield Isotopes. As we looked to make it 6 wins in a row, could the 2020-21 Pandemic Peckers join this pantheon of great winning streaks? Read on to find out…
Dare to dream?
The Peckers descended on Sanderstead to be greeted by the familiar clubhouse set up which includes Pilgrim ales on tap and the prospect of a post-match curry from the nearby curry house. Unsurprisingly, the mild April afternoon saw the majority of the peckers arrive in good time in order to enjoy the aforementioned ales and quench their thirst before inevitably being put into the field by the skipper, POB. Peckerinos/WAGS featured in the form of Burnley Badgerina (BB), Avocado, Plumb, Steam Train and Baz amongst other friendly faces.
Ales enjoyed by all (Pilgrim Brewery, Dorking)
Cuddy padding up and Henners picking 6 stones, what could possibly go wrong?
Yours truly, attempting to score whilst being ‘watered’ courtesy of Horse
Much anticipation was building following last Sundays victory in RIPley and the promise of ale and curry meant that the fixture was in high demand. Added to this, the matches played at Sanderstead are usually filmed so for many it was an opportunity to be in the limelight and hopefully not be on the wrong end of the highlights. Most notably, the 2019 fixture saw our Village antics go Viral (Kholi) and was viewed over 42,000 times on Twitter. The disarray was demonstrated, amongst other things, by the fact the in-coming batsman (Motty) had to take the injured man's gloves (Owain Walcroft aka Steamtrain) meaning that the world was to witness the true meaning of VILLAGE cricket which we all know too well. Link here, enjoy…. https://twitter.com/crickshouts/status/1122920070794108928?s=20
Onto the toss, which POB won and in a completely unprecedented manner elected to bat, much to the delight of many Peckers who were able to enjoy a few more Ales in the sunshine.
Felix the Cat did NOT get the memo about the bar being open which was further compounded by the fact his roadie beers had leaked in his bag (see below).
Clean up Aisle 6 - Cat salvaging his Red Stripe lagers whilst the opening pair Badger/Cudd await battle in the background
As we were to find out, the pitch was somewhat of a ‘road’. All that was needed was for a few partnerships to ensure that the April sun could be lapped up a bit longer by the lower order batsmen. Sadly this is a rare occurrence for the Woodpeckers as shown by the disorderly collapses seen as recently as RIPley where we limped over the line to secure a one wicket victory chasing a mere 119 runs.
Pecker’s Innings
Hydrated sufficiently by the fine Pilgrims Ales, POB decided to keep the faith in the opening duo of Cuddles/Badger from last week’s match. Both batsmen had points to prove from the week before with Cudd being triggered by Henners for a questionable LBW decision on his way to a sure half century and Badger for his unfortunate Royal duck. Alas, cricket being a cruel sport, Badger only mildly improving his Royal duck to record a 2 ball duck when he chopped on to be bowled, leaving us 1-1. As he trudged off the field he was greeted by Cat who tried his best to console him with the line ‘at least you’re on a hattrick mate’ a hattrick yes, but of ducks…
Badgers’ new memorabilia
Despite this early loss, Cuddles was joined by Dabbler and the pair made easy pickings of the Sanderstead attack and both rapidly reached half-centuries bringing the Pecker total to about 150-1 off 20 overs. Dabbler was brutal off the back foot and eventually fell for a very fine 77 and was unlucky to not reach a highly coveted century on debut for the Peckers.
Dabler gives way to Karl with a K after a fine knock on debut.
Cuddles soldiered on, taking full advantage of the quick outfield and the flat wicket. He quite literally hit one of the bowlers out of the attack when he clubbed one straight back towards the bowler. The full toss delivery took with it a flailing finger of the spin bowler which amidst the chaos could only soften the blow as it hurtled its way towards POB. who had to take evasive action but failed to avert danger with a badly bruised wrist. .
One such over included 3 6s in a row and the cars parked closest to the square were in really danger throughout. It . On his way to an illustrious 139, Cudd hit 19 x 4s and 6 x 6s meaning only a mere 20 odd runs were from running between the wicket. It added insult to injury that four of these blows landed in the oppositions skippers garden..Whilst talk on the sidelines were of record breaking totals there were mutterings on field about Sunday Cricket and unfair totals. Mercifully Cuddles eventually chipped one back to the bowler after a brutal knock
Karl with a K (53) had joined Cuddy at the crease for the later part of the slogfest and also tucked into the ever-demoralised bowling attack.
A true pecker century which will live long in the memory.
This brought to the crease Macca (15*) and Cat (5*) to bring the innings to a close with some well-taken shots to increase the tally at a slightly slower pace than the other batsmen.
So, not a Pecker record (c.dozen short), but an imperious total of 314 runs off the 40 overs to defend for the peckers. A defendable score? Never say never with the Woodpeckers.
Badger: “Tough batting out there today boys”
TEA
It was always going to be hard to top the Dupa sponsored hampers which were given to each player at Ripley but the smorgasbord of BYOT gave it a run for its money. A real highlight was Horse’s hamper box which contained all sorts of treats mainly procured from an M&S service station en route to the ground. With all the chat mid-week about the curry which was to be enjoyed, this would have to wait until after the procedure and the draw of the bar saw more ales go down the hatch of the peckers’ gullets.
Sanderstead Innings
Despite my first over going for 9, luckily not on film, I opened the bowling with Motty and we managed to restrict their scoring to 40 odd for 0 off 12 overs. Like a fine wine, Motty produced a Jimmy Andersonesque spell with an economy of 1.67 an over (6-1-10-0). In fact, the plaudits from the Sanderstead commentary team described our ten (10!) man bowling line up as a ‘near county attack’. Not sure which counties are producing 10 slow medium pacers but we will take the pleasantries.
The first change of bowlers saw Henners and Horse brought into the attack. Horse in particular really mixed up his bowling with a variety of deliveries which had the batsmen guessing. Thankfully the loose beamer which nearly beheaded one of the opening batsmen was avoided tactfully.
The Ales enjoyed during the fireworks of our 1st innings didn’t help our cause in search of the 1st wicket and meant numerous exchanges of the Armband (penance for misfields) around the field during the afternoon. I admittedly had the honour of wearing it for most of our fielding display.
Although behind the run rate, Sanderstead neared to breaking 100 runs just before the halfway point of 20 overs. At which point, a change of bowling saw Macca into the action and his left arm darts brought yet more questions of the batsmen. More importantly the uncertainty it caused the batsmen who by this stage had seen it all, meant that runs were drying up rapidly. Giving the Beeyaron a run for his money with pace (or lack of), the round the wicket angle proved too much and a breakthrough was made with a full bunger causing a thick edge up in the air which was snagged up gleefully by cat’s claws. Macca ended up with a very respectful 4-0-23-1. Cat who bowled in sunglasses also got in on the action with some ‘spin bowling’, only it wasn’t really spin bowling, more so medium pace off a shorter run-up but managed to snaffle two wickets nonetheless (5-1-28-2).
The other notable bowling performances include two-fers for Badger (5-1-28-2) and Dabbler (2-0-16-2). Not a sentence usually written when reporting on a cricket match but it was the 2nd and 3rd changes that brought about the majority of wickets (6 out of 8). Finally, the 4th change of bowling saw the centurion Cuddles and POB finish off the 40 overs with a wicket for the former (2-0-20-1 and 2-0-9-0 respectively).
Sanderstead who never really looked like chasing the target, faded towards the later overs, ended up on 193-8 which meant a resounding victory of 121 runs for the Peckers.
As the shadows lengthened from the April sun and with the taste of victory fresh in their mouths, the Peckers enjoyed many an Ale at the clubhouse. To line the stomachs for the drive back, the Delhi Kitchen takeaway certainly delivered a much-deserved feast featuring chicken and lamb tikka wraps and onion bhajis.
BB and Avocado preparing the unorthodox but sumptuous Tikka wraps complete with Mango Chutney and Minty Lime dip.
And so onwards to the HAC where we look to continue the unbeaten run (6 matches in a row) and possibly become record breakers.
Top Row L-R: Badger, Cuddles, Cat, Horse, POB and Motty
Front Row L-R: Karl with a K, Macca, Henners, Spinach and Dabbler.
For those who would like even more content and to watch the Sanderstead innings highlights, here is the link for the match - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ja16OEDg-gU&feature=youtu.be