I’ve never played cricket, or even been to Holland, but an away day at Tillingham comes pretty close to it. It isn’t exactly what you’d call ‘mid Essex’. In fact, it’s bloody miles away.
Tillingham, also known as ‘West Holland’
But it is picturesque, with a pretty 14th century church. The drive out also introduced our Aussie Cadman to the beauties of rural England, with hedgerows, meadows and winding country roads rather than the bleak ‘paddocks’ he’s used to.
Having lost the toss and been inserted, Matt Chalk and Cadman Turner opened, but neither lasted too long. Frost and Southwell then came together for a promising stand.
Southwell was aggressive, taking the attack to Tillingham but having pushed the field back, tried one shot too many and holed out for 37. Frost was caught playing a similarly loose shot.
And that was pretty much the story of the innings. Irresponsible batting and loose attacking shots saw us fall from 52-2 to 99 all out. The number of batsman who threw their wickets away was inexcusable, and there was a clear lack of cognition and application. I was left not out at the end, after a dour attempt to post a defendable total.
Tillingham’s bowling was average. Credit is due for bowling straight enough to allow us to get ourselves out. But they were not particularly penetrative, and simply allowed us to press the self destruct button.
We left ourselves a lot to do with the ball. Northfield and Attwell started well, but as last week it was the change pairing of Arain and Hartley who piled on the pressure. Arain was again a menace across 2 spells, pitching the ball up and swinging it to take 4-19.
Meanwhile, the first proper sunshine of the cricket season was too much for the forearms of a number of Springfield’s fielders, who quickly started to resemble lobsters.
Springfield’s slip cordon readies themselves
But Tillingham’s batsmen showed the application we did not. There was a brief wobble with under 10 runs needed, as Powell and Arain took 3 quick wickets. Powell was on a hatrick, only for myself to put down a relatively simple chance at slip.
But it was too little too late anyway. We lost the game with the bat, and although we bowled well, we needed to take wickets earlier than we did. Having said that, we were probably only 20 runs off what we needed in order for the bowlers to spare the blushes of the batsmen.
Man of the Match
Mr Hartley was once again very economical, and looks to be a key piece of our bowling attack. Powell also nearly stole the show with 2 late wickets. But MoM has to go to Arain. Another 4 wickets, and always looking dangerous, it’s a shame his efforts were in vain.
Dick of the Day
This is slightly contentious. Ovel made a very strong claim for DoD by asking if Cadman counted as an overseas player. Yes, he does because he comes from Australia.
But popular consensus was that I was again DoD for dropping a hatrick catch. DoD isn’t meant to punish bad cricket – it’s about being a melt, not being rubbish. Dropping a catch on a hatrick is rubbish, but it does also make me a bit if a melt.
Taking Off the Shine 