Determined not to let this game turn into a day / nighter, Captain Tom Lonnen has decreed that both teams will bowl ten consecutive overs from each end. That, he says, will shave at least an hour off the playing time.

Lonnen predicts how the coin will fall and Ploughmans CC elect to bat first, Fred Gumpert and Angus Osborne to open. Two sub fielders are deployed, and we are underway.

It’s a bright start from the openers, under brilliant sunshine and a gentle breeze the ground is dry and hard, with plenty of bobbles in it to wrong foot the fielder. Gumpert and Osborne play some lovely shots, and their left hand right hand combination is working well and they’re batting as a true partnership. Fred offers up a couple of chances from miscued shots, but he rides his luck. The Strollers may not be the most athletic of fielding sides, but boy, there are several arms in the field that send the ball back to the stumps with impressive speed and accuracy. The batters aren’t finding the rope as regularly as they might like, and they are wary of running the extra one on those throws we’ve seen. Still, there are clipping along at a good rate.

Bowling 10 overs from each end, with the umpires changing position every two, is a perfectly simple concept, yet strangely confusing for umpires, batters and fielders alike. It’s a reminder of how well we are attuned to the rhythm of cricket. There is a lovely beat to six balls / change of end, and the language that goes with it; “two to come…round we go…bowler’s name?...one more before drinks…” I know in Australia they used to bowl 8 ball overs, but I don’t know why. And I overheard someone talking about a format of the game with just five balls in a ‘set’, but that sounds ridiculous so they must have been lying. Or French.

This 10 over novelty appears to have set a strange symmetry in motion, at drinks, the scoreboard shows 20 overs, 100 runs, 0 wickets. It’s pleasant reading.

Battle resumes and not before long the skipper signals to the middle with a gesture that everyone understands as ‘push it now, let loose’.
They’ve run hard between the wickets all day, but now Gumpert and Osborne really crank it up, putting pressure on the field and squeezing out every run. They’ve upped it to 7, 8 an over before Fred is caught for a magnificent 92 off 101 balls including 10 fours. He walks off to a richly deserved standing ovation, the flourish of his bat and beaming smile to acknowledge his half century showed that he enjoyed scoring it as much as we did watching it.

Whisper it, but Fred Gumpert is back.

Michael Ainslie and Hussain Selmi tried to score quickly in the last overs remaining, and special mention here to George Dunn, stepping in at short notice, he played a cracking shot to the boundary, as part of his 6 off 4 balls. But the final applause must go to Angus Osborne, and a majestic, elegant 111* off 107 deliveries. He’d given everything and it showed, after all, between them he and Fred had faced almost 35 of the 40 overs.

The skipper had wanted 240 minimum, so wasn’t too disappointed with the total, but, that symmetry again, 240 to win, 6 an over, a run a ball…we certainly knew what our job was. We couldn’t afford slip ups or wastage.

Greeney and Jamshaid open the bowling. Pimlico Strollers got off to a hesitant start, but weren’t afraid to swing the bat. There are a couple of think edges which pass agonizingly close to the fielder, but there are very good shots too, perfectly bisecting two fielders, and making you think for just a moment, are we fielding a man down today?

After 8 overs with the score at 58 without loss, Captain Tom has seen enough and brings himself into the attack. He immediately stems the flow of runs, but we can’t make the breakthrough so desperately needed.

Everyone is focussed and switched on, Jon Ryves raw dogs it, refusing to wear a hat and preferring to stare into the blazing sun. There is no lack of effort, but even the most dependable fielders see the ball go to ground. A high swirling one is uncharacteristically spilled. The ball bursts through the hands of gully, a c & b on any other occasion is just a dot in the scorebook today.

It's the 15th over when Hussain Selmi at cover dives low to his left at a crisply struck drive, it’s a fabulous grab and an all important first wicket. Two overs later and Tom Lonnen strikes again. It’s the other opener this time, the dangerous left hander. We’ve had our chances and put him down, but this time he’s skewed it, top edge in the air. Michael Ainslie, as cool as the other side of the pillow, steps under it and makes no mistake.

They are 2 down for 122. They’ve got the upper hand for sure, but the door is slightly ajar. Lewys Evans comes on to bowl and does so magnificently, claiming a delicious wicket just after drinks, the ball taking the middle and off bail and nothing else.

Angus, doubly impressive behind the stumps after his red inker, takes a catch off the bowling of Callum Daley. Qammar, who has run in hard all day, and thrown himself at everything in the field despite only finishing work at 4am, takes a catch at mid-off, but with 5 wickets down and 4 overs remaining, Pimlico Strollers seal the victory.

Cricket is a great game for reminding you that cliches are cliches because they are true. Ploughmans had their chances but didn’t seize them. A very good, and vociferous appeal was turned down. It was a great team effort, and the captain rallied the troops at drinks, there was always enough happening to believe that a turnaround was possible, but ultimately Ploughmans was beaten fair and square by a good side, and left to ponder “if only…”

Still, we saw some great batting displays, it was a beautiful day and by bowling ten from each end we were in time to go and cheer on the rest of the Plough to victory on the Nursery ground.

Match report from Damon Greeney