After the last ball heartbreak away to Longdon last week, the Walsall Health team of 10 travelled all the way down to the rolling hills of Gloucestershire to face Bayshill. To almost everyone’s surprise, all elf players managed to get themselves there on time, nearly enough time for a warmup. However, with the temperature up around 30 degrees, it was unanimously decided that such professional behaviour wouldn’t be necessary. With everyone expecting and ready to field first due to the presumption that Bayshill would bat first if they won the toss on such a hot day and stand-in skipper Rich Fell wanting his side to have a bowl, the team were surprised to see the universal signal for batting first to be shown by Trig on his way back from the middle.  

The opening pair for the Health was to be the experienced Mac Perager and Paul Caines, both extremely capable of getting the innings off to a flying start. It was Cainesy who began more positively, punishing the ball to the fence on multiple occasions. Mac started in familiar fashion, nudging the ball around for singles and thrashing the bad ball to the boundary rope when it came. With the game being reduced to 30 overs because of the heat, Mac and Paul found themselves batting for nearly a third of the innings, regularly rotating the strike and seeing off the new ball expertly. Seemingly well set, Paul looked to smash another boundary but found the mid-off fielder who managed to cling on to the ball, removing Caines for 18. Will Tomlinson came in at 3 hoping to support Mac and prevent a typical Elf collapse; however, this looked unlikely as he skied his second ball but luckily it somehow landed in an area where no fielder could get to it. At the other end, wicketkeeper batsman Mac was still ticking along nicely despite the Bayshill bowlers finding some spin and variable bounce. Will couldn’t stay there for very long though, tamely chipping a half volley to mid-wicket for 10.  

Shortly after this wicket, probably the pick of the Bayshill came on and got the ball spinning both ways, soon ripping one through the defences of new man Dave Hill not long after he had found the boundary. The fifth man in was Will Lauchlan who couldn’t keep out a straight delivery by the Bayshill man from the other end. This bowling partnership was putting the Elf under pressure to avoid an irreparable collapse. With wickets falling at the other end, Mac was unphased finding the fence more regularly as he went on and eventually batted his way through to a run-a-ball 50, unfortunately for the Health, having to retire due to Bayshill’s retire at 50 rule. Wyatt Hill and Rich Fell were Will and Mac’s respective replacements, and they looked to solidify the innings and steer the Elf to a respectable total. They set out well, keeping out the good deliveries and finding singles off a slightly looser one. Despite making a good start, Wyatt found himself stumped for 5 by some smart glovework that Mac would be proud of. New to the crease was taxi driver for the day, Dave Stephens. By the time he came in Trig was just beginning to accelerate, meaning Dave could play himself in and build his innings. Due to the wickets falling so regularly, there was still plenty of time in the innings to “bat properly” and not have to rush to reach a defendable score.  

Ignoring some questionable running between the wickets including a couple of, “yes, no, yes, no, no” calls, the partnership grew, pushing Walsall Health up towards the 150 mark. However, similarly to Paul Caines, Trig picked out a fielder just as he got set and looked to go up a gear, out for 18. Josh Butler was thrown up the order into the nosebleed territory of single digits at 9, unfortunately, he couldn’t stick with Dave for very long and was out for nought. In fairness, the advice of the umpire to reverse sweep his first ball probably wasn’t helpful. Next to the crease was the Elf’s Welshman John Preece whose task was to hold up an end so DS could tee off at the other. One part of that plan went well, and JP stood at the other end awaiting DS to dispatch a few boundaries but instead he watched as Dave was clean bowled for 23. Luckily, when the team arrived at Bayshill an 11th player was offered to them by the opposition, so they had another batter to help cross that 150 run landmark. The team watched eagerly to see whether the next Joe Root had been put at number 11, but they had nothing to worry about as he was cleaned up first ball. Typically, when a number 11 gets out the innings is over, but Mac was allowed to come back in after retiring not out so hopes of some more runs were not entirely out of the question, but first Mac had to negotiate a hat-trick ball, which he did with a solid block. However, Mac and JP couldn’t add any more runs as John was bowled by a delivery reminiscent of the late great Shane Warne to Andrew Strauss. The Elf had given themselves 147 runs to defend.  

While the Health probably would’ve taken 147 at the start of the game, the unanimous verdict at teas was that on the Bayshill ground, they were probably a good 10-20 runs short. Even the most modest flicks and pulls were racing to the boundary on a cracked, biscuit coloured outfield that due to the heatwaves, had been scorched and starved of rain. This only pushed Trig further into his Bazball bible of attacking fields. Slips, catchers and players around the bat was the order of the day if the Elf were going to be triumphant, if the bowler could get the line and length ride, the field would be there; anything else and some bowling figures were going to take a pummeling.

If you ever needed a bowler to hit these lines and length from the Elf stable, then DS was just the man. By his own admission, he hasn’t bowled his best this summer, but this spell was a vintage one for Dave. A couple of early boundaries were no bother for him or the team, this was about getting 10 wickets pure and simple and with the last ball of his first over, Dave had his first with the score on just 9, a classic DS line and length ball, finding some nip and most importantly, the bats edge. Mac did the rest with some fine glovework, and Dave didn’t have to wait long for his next. He set himself up for the hat-trick ball when a wild flash from the Bayshill batsman went through to Will T at slip, a good grab with the ball travelling. DS was now on a hat-trick. He couldn’t quite grab it, though as the ball flashed a yard or two wide of gully. Unlucky Dave.

Josh Butler was his opening partner, after the success of spin earlier in the game, it was worth getting it on as early as possible. Josh bowled well to such an attacking field, even pitching in with a maiden but it was a rare blank in the wickets column despite such a good spell. DS grabbed himself a third before the end of the opening bowlers six overs, another player bowled to finish with superb figures of 3-23. A usual 8 over game and he would have been eyeing up a fifer.

At 46-3 the Elf were eyeing up a famous victory but started to hit some resistance in the Bayshill line up. JP and Will Tomlinson were the next two bowlers on and knowing the outfield would support the batsman, the two went after the spinners, in particular JP, who took the punishment to finish his first spell 0-30 off 3 overs. Tommo got a reward in his first over, though, getting a wicket out bowled to get Bayshill 82-4. Trig replaced JP at the other end and after running himself literally into the ground in the field, set off on a bowling spell that Ben Stokes would be proud of filled with grit and energy. He was rewarded early, a wicket in his second over with no advance on the score.

The game was toing and froing, Will Tomlinson got his second, another batsman bowled, and Trig was making chance after chance, but the target was coming into view for Bayshill. A few crunching boundaries through a despairing, spirited field meant they definitely needed the wickets. JP was back in once Will finished up but couldn’t break the deadlock and when Trig got his second, a great second catch of the day for Will T, the game was only going to finish one way and fitting on such a quick outfield it was a 4, but not without drama though, the ball flying agonisingly above the fingertips of Trig for what would have been the most brilliant caught and bowled.

Handshakes at the end and a well earned beer, the Elf had come up short in a close one again, but it had been another that had been played in the right spirits and at no point in the day were the team not smiling and laughing, until they saw on the satnav how long it was going to take to get back up the M5.

Walsall Health are next in action back at Carter Park this coming Sunday. The forecast looks grim, but when has that ever concerned anyone who loves cricket.

Elf batting innings by Will Tomlinson. Elf bowling innings by Will Lauchlan.