Witham Friary v London Saints, 21 July 2024
Witham Friary 212–9 Nanton 2-23,G.Dowson 2-39,O.Griffiths 2-45,Rogers 2-47
London Saints 198-8 G.Dowson 44no, H.Dowson 32,J.Mousley 26, McIntyre 22
The hilarious tale of Where’s Jon wearing three loosely fitting boxes in the final over at Batcombe was still the main topic of discussion when we arrived at Witham Friary for the second tour game. When Lana was reminded that Jon had borrowed her cricket trousers for his stay at the crease, her immediate response was “I’ll wear shorts”.
And so started another day at the beautiful Somerset setting that we have become so used to. John Griffiths didn’t seem too familiar with the car park though as he scraped his motor on one of the boulders and the Dowsons also managed to open a door onto one.
The arrival of brothers Henry and George, plus their fellow London Saint and Saints supporting mate Jonny Mousley, was much needed as it strengthened our line-up ahead of a tough game. After DT lost the toss, George opened the bowling with Oliver Griffiths and we started well. Ollie soon bowled our longstanding opponent, former Lib Dem MP and ex-government minister David Heath to leave them reeling (might be pushing it there) at 11-1.
In addition to our brothers and the Griffiths father/son combo, there were three generations of Heaths in the Witham side and two Wottons, making this a real family occasion. There were more family connections on the boundary edge too, with Speedtwin watching his daughter Lana alongside the Dowsons’ grandmother – some of you may remember her tea saving efforts at Batcombe last year. She and her friend (a Saints fan who first went to The Dell in 1943) told me how much they enjoy our match reports.
A wicket from George was soon celebrated but this only brought the big-hitting Pritchard to the crease. He immediately found the boundary with alarming regularity and soon retired at 51 having hit a number of sixes (three of them off me). He did give one chance and here lies a story of despair and, ultimately, redemption.
I heard that young Ollie had disrespectfully criticised Terry Trevis for a misfield at Batcombe, so when a four whistled through him a day later, some eyebrows were raised. He then dropped Pritchard – albeit from a steepling effort on the boundary – before he’d really got going. To make matters worse, Ollie later spilt an easy one at mid-on. The team’s encouragement for the youngster finally paid off when a third chance off me went in the air and Griffiths junior took a fine catch. The hush in the air as the ball went up was quite something but the relief was worth it!
Before this catch, I’d managed some redemption of my own by quickly bowling their number five, who had smashed an unbeaten half century for Batcombe yesterday against us. We kept chipping away and, with Henry bowling two fine and at times unplayable spells of pace and swing, Witham didn’t put on quite as many runs as feared.
Back to our fielding. Dave Thomas is an absolute legend and has single-handedly run this club for as long as most people can remember. However, with everything going on as skipper, he isn’t always on the ball. A chance went up at mid-off and normally the shout of “catch it” gets the relevant fielder’s attention. Dave had earlier mentioned his sight problems but I’m not sure this explained why he was looking in the other direction for what seemed like an age; he has form for this. A few roars of “Dave” got his mind belatedly on the job but the chance went down anyway.
More laughter ensued after George had showed great sportsmanship to their 12-year-old by bowling spin to him. Imagine his shock, and everyone else’s glee, when the cheeky lad charged him and smashed him straight to Dave Nanton at mid-on. With a bruised left hand from the day before, Oneliner couldn’t take the catch and a single was taken, only for the other batter to hit one straight to him next ball with the same result. I don’t think the nickname of Onehander will stick but he did have the consolation of a couple of wickets.
I returned Oliver’s earlier favour by managing to break into a run and take a skied catch and Pete Berkeley also rolled back the years by running out the pesky 12-year-old. As we chastised him for his ruthlessness, he reminded us that it was revenge for being bowled by an 11-year-old the day before.
This brought the retired Pritchard back to the crease for just one ball and, expecting it to sail over the boundary again, we were delighted to see George clean bowl him. Keeping Witham to 212-9 off 35 overs was a creditable effort from LSCC and we headed to the village hall for tea, which included some rather nice mini-scones.
John Griffiths has been in very good form with the bat this season but he unfortunately experienced a golden duck in the first over. Mike McIntyre and Pete started rebuilding with a few careful nudges and prods before Pete was caught. Then we started to see some fireworks, first from Jonny and, once Mike had departed for a solid 22 having seemingly been bowled by himself, his replacement Henry. Each hit a couple of maximums and brought us back into genuine contention.
George joined the fray when Jonny went for one hit too many before his brother had his first experience of the dreaded Witham bounce and was cleaned out by a grubber. His bad luck was noted over a beer later but he was reminded by his brother and mate that he was, after all, bowled by a 12-year-old.
I gave George a bit of support for a while, although my time at the crease was massively lengthened by an undone shoelace, then a broken bat – only noticed when an opponent pointed to a huge crack at the end I wasn’t examining – and finally a thigh pad that had slipped lower than one of Where’s Jon’s boxes. After the latter, umpire Pete commented that he has waited less time for his wife to get ready!
George hit a couple of sixes of his own and, with two overs to go, we needed 26 to win and the Witham fielders were feeling a bit nervous. It wasn’t to be though and we ended on 198-8. A marvellous day out and a competitive game of cricket played in a good spirit.
Champagne moment
The contenders included George being charged by a 12-year-old, Henry being bowled by him, DT’s comedy fielding and George dismissing the returning Pritchard. However, I’m giving it to Oliver. Missed chances can prey on your mind but he put all this behind him to take an excellent catch and that took some bottle.
Player of the match
Statistically this should go to George Dowson, with 2 for 39 and a top score of 44 not out. Controversially though, I’m going to go for his brother Henry. His bowling was outstanding and, rather like Mark Wood on day two of the West Indies Test, it was incredible that he went wicketless. Backed up by 32 quick runs before a very unlucky dismissal and he just wins out in the latest round of brotherly competition.
Witham Friary
Gibson c Mousley b G. Dowson 7
D.Heath b O. Griffiths 0
Wild retired 52
Pritchard b G. Dowson 51
Cooper b Rogers 3
J. Wotton lbw b Nanton 18
T. Heath c O.Griffiths b Rogers 6
S. Heath c Rogers b O. Griffiths 4
Ashdown c Mousley b Nanton 29
Scott not out 14
W. Wotton run out (Berkeley) 2
Extras 26
Total 212-9 off 35 overs
G. Dowson 7-2-39-2
O. Griffiths 6-1-45-2
H. Dowson 7-1-25-0
Rogers 7-1-47-2
Nanton 5-0-23-2
Thomas 3-0-22-0
London Saints
McIntyre b Scott 22
J. Griffiths b S. Heath 0
P. Berkeley c ? b Ben 5
J. Mousley b Scott 26
H. Dowson b W. Wotton 32
G. Dowson not out 44
Rogers c ? b Jules 11
Nanton b Jules 1
Thomas c. ? b Keinan 0
O. Griffiths not out 3
Lana dnb
Extras 54
Total 198-8 off 35 overs
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