Played on Thursday 25th July 2019 at Chester Road, Kidderminster.
Horn and Trumpet v The Dog at Harvington
It was a pleasure to see these two pub teams in a final: Horn and Trumpet, in their first season in the Wilden League, and The Dog, a perennial underachiever (the proverbial Under Dog, you might say). The game was on the main square at Chester Road, which was much appreciated by the combatants.
The Dog skipper, Andy Mayall, won the toss and batted. Progress was steady, at best, hampered by the regular loss of wickets. Opener, Parsons, the first to go in the 3rd over and the other opener departed to a sharp Connor Franklin slip catch in the 4th. H&T bowler H. Arnold got a case of the yips, bowling 6 wides in one over. The Dog’s Sam Taylor started to hit out and the total reached 60 for 5 at the halfway stage, but Taylor was out early in the seventh over and runs were hard to find again. Sam Pountney came on in the 8th and donated another 7 wides. Connor Franklin’s first ball was a full toss which was edged onto his stumps by the other Parsons for a well-made 17. Play was delayed when Clarke pulled a fetlock and called for a runner, only to be out 2 balls later. The innings stuttered to 81 for 8 at the close.
The warm day had developed into the sort of summer evening when a thunderstorm wouldn’t be unexpected. Umpires Allen and Burkes encouraged a fast turnaround and Horn & Trumpet batted as if they expected rain at any minute. Alfie Mayall was the fastest bowler on show this evening, but this just meant that the ball raced faster off the bat to the boundary. Skipper Andy dropped a catch at deep gully off Alfie; a costly miss as Pountney took 21 off the first over. The ball followed the skipper in the field and he dropped another as runs continued to flow until Alfie, fielding on the boundary, took a smart catch above his head to dismiss Sam Woodhouse. But the game was already gone. Franklin perished going for a big smear to finish it but Pountney saw it through in the 8th over and was awarded Man of the Match for his unbeaten knock.
Report by Mark Hall
