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Result - Royal Household

Sun Sep 15th Grannies win by 7 runs in 20/20

Match report

It was a cold and windy day, rain was expected and we decided on a 20/20.
The Grannies won the toss and - with our three centurions of the season playing - batted, and on an already wet wicket runs were hard to come by.
John Gibbons, Jay Stockham and Hugo Llewelyn got into double figures, and James Scott hit the shot of the day with a first ball extra cover drive for 4, only to fall without further score.
However, the star turn, as he has been all season, was James Marsh, who batted through the innings for 52*, and no doubt, had it been a 35 or 40 over game, would have carried on for his third Grannies ton of the year.
As the Household came to the crease to chase down the target, so the rains arrived but only lightly at first. Within 2 overs the openers were back in the hutch, both run out! Martin Stringer, nursing healing rib 'fractures' (his diagnosis), got better and better and in his 4th, and last, over justified his captain's faith and took 2 wickets, finishing with 2 for 18. James Caldwell, bowling with little luck and scant support from the umpire, then got their number 3, to finish with an outstanding 1 for 11, and on 32 for 5 the game looked as good as won.
At that point it really began to lash down and on the boundary the Chairman of RHCC could be seen talking quite intently to the umpires, no doubt discussing discontinuance. To the eternal credit of all three of them though the decision reached was to play on, and so we did.
The Household clearly knew they had good batting still to come, and suspected that our 4th and 5th string bowlers might not be up to it, so the game could still be won.
As it turned out numbers 7,8 and 10 scored 17, 18 and 17* respectively, and were equal to the task. Gratifyingly, though, the Grannies lower order bowlers really turned it on too, Gerald Slocock getting 1 for 17 - it was probably his run-up that fooled them, starting, as he did, nearer and nearer to cover with every ball - and Hugo Llewelyn 1 for 26, including the last over, when they needed 18 and got 11.
The sharp-eyed will note that I have referred to only 4 bowlers. The 5th was Dom Fry, who chipped in with the vital wicket of their big hitter in the penultimate over.
A special mention for G. Slocock, who pulled off one excellent reaction catch at mid-wicket and then nearly nabbed the catch of the season, his mighty right hand just failing to hold on to an almighty hit off the meat of the bat.
Finally credit to the whole team for an outstanding fielding display, which included a throw-down of the stumps from an imaginatively positioned short third man by James Marsh - and did I mention we got a THIRD RUN-OUT?
All in all a miraculously good day's cricket culminating in a win by 7 runs.
Many thanks as ever to our hosts for inviting us for a third year and ensuring such a good day was had. Writing afterwards their Chairman said he regarded the fixture now as 'embedded', which is further cause for a warm glow.

Match info

Just a wonderful cricketing experience



Location
Windsor Castle,
Frogmore

How to get there
Go to www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2323904