Walsall Health CC 211-7 (40 overs) beat Old Moseley Fitmen 159-9 (40 overs) by 52 runs

First of all, before we start, the oppo are calling this a losing draw. A LOSING DRAW? This ain’t the Specsavers County Championship mate, this is the equivalent of the Benson and Hedges Cup; you don’t get the runs, you lose! Nearly choked on my Steak & Ale pie when I heard.

ANYWAY…

The Elf were at home for the third fixture in a row but this week it was back at Rushall to face annual July opponents Old Moseley Fitmen.

Rob Hewlitt won the toss and chose to bat first with only 7 fitmen at the ground. Fortunately for the visitors they were soon up to the full 11 with last year’s nemesis ‘Mo’ who scored 134 out of 181 to steer them to a victory, arrived after only 1 over had been bowled.

Gort & Chuck opened for the Elf but Gort was bowled by a bloke playing in black tracksuit bottoms for 8. Alex Nunns was out to bat at three but his innings was short lived when he played on for a solitary run and the Elf were 30-2 after ten overs.
Rob Hewlitt joined Chuck who was going along nicely and the Elf’s skipper elevated the run rate somewhat has he crashed five boundaries on his way to a well made 34 before spooning a catch off Caesar. The damage was done after a 70 run partnership between the skipper and the overseas player Chuck.

The Elf’s middle order was made up of teenage sensations and regular Love Island watchers Dan Dunn & Dan Armstrong.
Dunn unfortunately was ran out by Chuck for 2 after he made 30 last Sunday but Armstrong was certainly racing ahead with his run rate with a few lusty blows to get the score back on track.

Chuck reached his fifty and Dan Armstrong was looking in good touch before he was bowled for a very well made 42, his highest score for the Elf.

Rich Fell was next in but both he and Chuck were out, Chuck out LBW (AGAIN) for the inning’s top score of 73.

With five a bit overs to go Tom Davies and Chris Hall entered the fray at 182-7 and looked to accelerate proceedings. Both men from the Black Country managed to do so, Davies nudged his way to 9 not out by the end but Chally struck a few boundaries including a monster 6 over square leg to bring up the Elf’s 200. Eventually they set a target of 212 for the fitmen to win.

Teas were superb (see tea review).

The second innings began with teenagers Dunn & Armstrong opening up the defence, both of these youths bowled expertly well against ‘Mo’ and their opening spell going for 21 runs off the first eight overs.

It wasn’t until the first change that we saw some wickets. Nicka Dunn replaced Armstrong at the ‘zip line end’ and bowled opener Green for 9. Nicka also picked up the second wicket of Sharif (who didn’t like it) LBW.

A decent partnership between Frost and Mo seemed to be tipped the balance back to the away side until overseas player Ian Chuck was brought on at 2nd change after Chall’s thankless task up the travelator  came to a sudden end.
Chuck got Frost caught and bowled and the Elf seemed to be in good spirits. Nicka picked up his third when he sent Kestin’s bails flying.
Then the key wicket was taken; Mo on 49 looking to get the runs on his own and bring back bad memories of last year’s run chase chipped Chuckie to Chall at mid on who certainly wasn’t going to drop another one after he dropped Mo off his own bowling earlier in the afternoon.
Chuck got Raj next ball and the Fitmen looked down and out at 90odd for six.
Jonny Preece got Houlgate caught in the deep (a tidy catch from Nunns) and then Tom Davies on full janitor duties dismissed Bal & Nutt but the last wicket didn’t come their way, Caesar and Tasker batted nicely and almost put on a last wicket stand of fifty to see the Elf win by 52 runs in the end.

Two away fixtures in two weeks for the Elf as they travel to Lichfield Nomads to hopefully exert revenge from their loss in June.
Drinks review

Chilled squash kept in the fridge. George on full 12th man duties handing out cups at the first drinks break. 8/10

Tea review

Gail delivered again. A wonderful spread, ham & mustard sandwiches, cheese & pickle sandwiches on both white and brown bread, superb.

OLIVES….need I say more? Samosas, superb cakes, sausage rolls. It was all there, nothing more you could have asked for on that buffet. The opposition even brought their own pies and served a few up during the Elf’s innings. 10/10.

Love Island update

The teenage contingent provided the update this week. Something about a ‘re-coupling’ on Friday and also some lads who were kicked out are now back in? Theo is a snake and on Monday the lads shaved each other’s genitalia. Village.

Shower Club

Always decent showers at Rushall, right temprature to sooth the aching bodies. Tom Davies devastated to find out he’d left his ‘Lemon & Oak’ shower gel at Aldridge last week which will mean a trip out this week to get some new stuff. 7/10

Tales from the travelator

Dan Dunn bowled exceptionally well running up the hill but Chally took a bit of tap, his seven overs going for 39 runs not quite monkey territory but not far off. Chuck picked up a three-for and JP got one too so the wickets evenly shared out. Chall was especially annoyed as he’d been training all week on the treadmill set at the highest incline to no avail. Altitude training it is next week.

Written by Tom Davies 

Batting		Runs
Gorton, A	b Tasker	8
Chuck, I	lwb Caesar	73
Nunns, A	b Raj	1
Hewlitt, R	c ? b Caesar	34
Dunn, D	run out (by Chuck “surprise surprise”)	2
Armstrong, D	b Caesar	42
Fell, R	b Caesar	7
Hall, C	not out	19
Davies, T	not out	9
Dunn, A	dnb
Preece, J	dnb
Extras		16
Walsall Health		195

Bowling	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets
Armstrong, D	4	0	10	0
Dunn, D	4	0	11	0
Dunn, A	8	3	22	3
Hall, C	7	1	39	0
Chuck, I	3	0	9	3
Davies, T	8	2	25	2
Preece, J	5	0	25	2
Fell, R	1	0	9	0