Penn Street vs Soho Cricket Collective CC

Penn Street CC 227-4 declared (E. Hulme 66, P. Jupp 57*)

beat

Soho Cricket Collective CC 140ao (Nakul 54; J. Sempill 4-38)

by 87 runs

 Saturday 10^th May saw old friends Soho Cricket Collective visit Penn Street for the first time this season. These games are always an excellent example of exciting cricket played in exactly the right spirit and this game was no exception. They are also a rare opportunity to see a timed match at Penn Street, adding a different complexion to the game from the usual 40 over thrash.

 PSCC skipper Pete Jupp elected to bat on a pitch which, although having its first outing of the season, was already dry and cracking due to the unusually warm spring. It was clear from the first over that the bounce was somewhat erratic and Steve Smith needed all of his skill and experience to negotiate a testing opening over, his captain watching from the other end with at least one eyebrow raised. The pair survived until the fourth over, when Smith was eventually undone by a ball from Richardson.

 Ben ‘Strangler’ Marlow was next to the crease, and quickly underway with a beautifully timed boundary off his first ball. Both batters soon had the measure of the bowling, combining solid defence with lusty blows, scoring at well over five an over. It is fair to say that both teams would agree that there was a touch of good fortune about the way that the partnership ended, the Strangler himself being strangled by a ball from Woodhouse which shot past him at ankle height.

 Every club side appreciates loyalty and PSCC would have been very glad to see Ed Hulme walking to the crease, having eschewed the chance to spend his birthday in the bosom of his family in favour of a spot in their middle order. After he had faced about three balls one of the fielders exclaimed ‘Ooh, this guy can bat!’ – and bat he did, caressing his way to an almost faultless fifty, always willing to use his feet against the bowling and with a ready eye for a quick single (helpful when batting with Jupp Snr). Having passed his birthday half-century it was then something of a surprise when he walked past a delivery from March – the ball again keeping low – and was smartly stumped by SCC’s veteran keeper Kamran.

Speaking of fifties, the remaining half of Sam Martin then entered for a brief stay, during which the Secretary, who was umpiring, asked if he had intended to lose the fifty percent which knew how to hold a bat. Penn Street’s own ‘Fiddy’ then gave way to Dave Jones. Jones had apparently spent most of the week campaigning to open the batting and took his demotion to number six out on the bowlers, smiting a four and a six in his first five balls.

Whilst all of this was going on, Jupp was still nurdling away at the other end, taking a leisurely 129 ball route to adding yet another fifty to his impressive PSCC CV. There were as ever a lot of singles, but also one huge six into the pub and a three which had him yelling ‘I love batting with you’ at Jones. The Welshman, meanwhile, was a man in a hurry and had thrashed his way to 39 from a mere 23 balls when the declaration came with the score on 227.

With a decent total on the board, captain Jupp could afford to be aggressive with his field placings. As a result, Dave Adams and Jonny Barnett found themselves bowling to an unusually large number of slips and gullies, with James Sempill tasked with repeating his heroics of the previous week under the helmet at short leg.

Given such riches, it was no surprise that the two bowlers decided to…ignore them completely. Adams produced a peach of an in-ducker to bowl Dan Woodhouse. Malik, having hit Barnett for three fours through the largely deserted leg side, then top-edged a pull straight back to the bowler and stood for several moments looking entirely bemused by it. When the same bowler then produced a lovely inswinger to the left-handed Harry Burton SCC were in trouble at 22-3.

Huge credit must go to Nakul and to Tom Price for the way that they set about rebuilding the SCC innings. The former was particularly harsh on anything off line, depositing Sempill (who had replaced Adams at the Pub End) back over his head for a huge six and also helping himself to the generous buffet offered by the Secretary, who was now on at the Wood End. Price’s dogged defence was the perfect foil to this and the pair added a relatively trouble-free 62 to the total before Price lost concentration and was effectively bored out by the Secretary.

Unfortunately for SCC, Price’s wicket provoked a bit of a collapse. Kamran was swiftly LBW to Sempill and Nakul, having brought up a fine fifty, was surprised by a straight one from Sam Saunders and bowled.

At this point Adams was brought back into the attack, this time bowling leg spin. His first delivery got more turn than is seen in an entire season from the Secretary and bowled Dan March, leaving SCC at 109-7.

If ever there was a man for a rearguard action, it is Jonty Savitt. What the SCC legend may lack in mobility nowadays is more than made up for by an excellent eye for the ball and the deadest of dead bats. It was of no concern to him that Adams is Penn Street’s most threatening strike bowler, or Saunders their most Australian. Every delivery was either left, patted nonchalantly back, or sent whizzing through the infield towards the boundary. Joining him in the act of resistance was Alex Todd, a man who always plays the game with a smile on his face and the sense that he doesn’t quite know how good he is at it. The pair so blunted the PSCC attack that Saunders was replaced by Sempill at the Wood End. Todd was surprised by the fact that the dark haired, bearded school teacher at the far end was bowling somewhat slower and actually at the stumps, and proceeded to scoop the ball into the waiting hands of Jupp at short leg.

After that the end came swiftly for SCC. Captain Jeremy Todd lasted three balls before becoming Sempill’s third victim of the day, and the game ended when Phil Richardson, having just got off the mark with a boundary, was bowled by the next ball.

A win for Penn Street that looks a little more comfortable on paper than it looked on the field, some excellent performances on both sides, and without doubt a great advert for village cricket.

PSCC: Steve Smith, Pete Jupp (c), Ben Marlow, Ed Hulme, Sam Martin (wk), Dave Jones, James Sempill, Dave Adams, Sam Saunders, Jonny Barnett, The Secretary. Scorer: Cally Sutherland