After two ties and a super over, for the peckers 10th match of the season the fitting venue of Withyham CC awaited. Nestled in the Earl de la Warre’s estate the ground was the perfect picturesque village scene. A quaint clubhouse surrounded by marvellous oaks opened out to a sloped square guarded by generous boundaries. The club is supported by the Dorset arms a friendly and inviting pub offering an excellent range of real ales, lagers, and wines and appropriately this was to be our meeting point.
The day began with the usual rousing of several of the young peckers. Pippin, having not heard from his brother Merry, had to use all his Hobbitting intuition to break into ‘Bag End’ and awaken a very unmerry Merry. Similarly, Pobsy, although thankfully not having to break in, was tasked with rousing Trash. I have to thank new housemate Moley .After a very long windy journey most peckers arrived at the Dorset arms where we were treated to some delicious Harvey ale. As we regaled tails of the previous night, we were treated to a spot of hungover parking from Trash who had managed to block the pub car park for the Father’s Day punters. Before Pobsy could go into any more detail into the origins of his jaw injury it was time for the toss. Surprisingly the toss resulted in the Peckers having a bat first, smelling salts had to be administered to several stunned players and Otto trotted back to the pub for a couple of flagons of Harveys . This brought the young Hobbit brothers to the crease, who set about picking off the loose deliveries.
Brothers Pippin and Merry
Pippin in particular showed great poise in cutting the opening bowler for consecutive boundaries. The fast start brought a change in the bowling and the wily left arm spinner duly delivered the breakthrough; Pippin magnificently caught in the slips by Withyham skipper Mike for a brisk 18. As the scoring slowed, Merry still feeling the effects of the previous night’s/morning’s endeavors, tickled one behind for 8.
This brought Pirrate and Moleman to the crease. After hoisting a couple of lusty blows over the bowler’s head, Pirate preceded to supply several stumping opportunities. One can only assume that the keeper was wearing one or even two of Pirate’s eye patches as he repeatably knocked the bails off without the ball. After a fiery 29 Pirate holed out in the deep which brought a grumpy Trash to the middle. After exclaiming that he “could hardly lift the bat” he was reprieved on 0 by a generous ‘no ball’ call from the Beearon and mercifully sent packing, brilliantly caught and bowled for 3.
The tight bowling from Withyham had slowed the peckers scoring and singles where the order of the day for the next couple of overs. However, after the spin duo had finished their allocation, Withyham’s bowling options began to dwindle. The replacement bowlers proceeded to supply a plethora no balls, which the duo of Lamby and Moleman were unable to fully capitalise on. This seemed to rouse the peckers on the boundary who began to applaud the resulting singles loudly. One particular single from Lamby was cheered so boisterously that many mistakenly thought it was to signal his fifty.
Meanwhile Moleman at the other end was showing what can be achieved with a decent night’s sleep. He is wonderful to watch, scoring freely off front and back foot whilst showing solid defence when required. He struck 13 4s and a 6 in a glorious 102 not out. His 1st ton for the Peckers and indeed the first Club Ton of the season.. This is due reward for some excellent batting and keeping
Moley warmly congratulated by the Beearon
After finally dismissing a couple of loose deliveries to the boundary the peckers finished on an above par 238 off the allocated 35. Lamby finishing on a run a ball 30. On a slow wicket this would be a tough chase for the “bowler heavy” Withyham side.
An excellent tea of sandwiches and an especially varied supply of cakes provided exemplary fuel for the bowling to come. Tea also gave an opportunity for the peckers and Withyham to join together to send their best wishes to Tom Saxty who is unwell in hospital. Tom a prodigious Withyham run scorer was given his senior debut by Pobsy aged 12, and has appeared twice for the Peckers and is a great friend of the club.
George ‘Fancy Pants’ Rook a 2nd cousin of Pobsy was making his Pecker Debut having just finished his A-Levels. He was supported by parents Egg and Princess Kindly, Grandma Queen Kindly and cousin Wheezy another keen cricketer who’ll debut next year.Motty and new pecker Fancy pants were tasked with delivering the new ball. Both started miserly and restricted the run rate well. This forced the openers into elaborate down the track charges. Motty responded by finding the top of the openers off stump and Fancy Pants followed soon after with his first Pecker’s wicket after several impressive pacey overs.
Fancy Pants steams in from the pavilion end
The Baron was then introduced and found a wicket with his first ball. Flight and guile were the order of the day for the Baron who bowled quite beautifully to restrict the Withyham scoring. He prized out a further two wickets, including a lovely grab from Fancy Pants who added a first Pecker’s catch to his wicket, darling Baron finishing with figures of 3-12 from his 7. Beearon was delighted that it was the first week that 3-4 catches hadn’t been spilt off his bowling, not a 1(Fancy Pants didn’t get the memo)
Whilst Baron had been wreaking havoc at one end, Spinach had been angrily running in the from the other. He produced some considerably bounce and was unlucky not to pick up a wicket. Pippin started well with his off spin, but by this point the Withyham middle order had got their eye in and his final over was picked off with some strong blows up the hill.
The remaining bowlers were tasked with constricting the inform batsmen. Pobsy and Merry bowled relatively tightly but the withering fielding was allowing boundaries. Pirate was introduced and was unfortunate not to have a wicket as Trash shelled a strong contender for drop of the season. At one point the chase looked a possibility with Withyham, gaining momentum, needing 110 from the final ten. However, some tight bowling from Trash and Fancy Pants restricted the scoring sufficiently for the Peckers to get over the line. Withyham finishing on a respectable 189 for 5 which gave the peckers a 5th victory of the season.
Despite some tired grunts from Merry and Trash the peckers took in some post game Harvey’s at the Dorset arms, a lovely way to round off another victory. Next week it’s on to Blackheath where another strong eleven will look to keep the Peckers bandwagon rolling.