Registered Members: 15 Unactivated Members: 0 Newest Member: Andy
Match Report - MCC V Strasbourg (14/06/2008)
Montbard won the toss and elected to bat. I know that one of these days I’m going to be able to report that we did magnificently but this isn’t it. All out (nine wickets) for 79 after 20.3 overs doesn’t make for grand reading. Only our first four batsmen made any kind of show with Tony B leading the charge with 27, David D getting 15, Andy W 12 and Abhishek 10. Extras added another 10 which tells all about the demise of the rest. Star of Strasbourg’s bowling was without doubt Nemo who collected 4 wickets in four overs whilst giving away only 16 runs. He says that he was more surprised then anybody as this is the first time he’s collected such figures.
Tea then was somewhat earlier then originally previewed but none the worse for that. Thanks to all the folk who made such great contributions to the tea table – the cakes and sandwiches went down a treat and Foxy enjoyed lots of sausages too. We definitely maintained our record of the best teas in France.
Montbard’s score was a pitifully low one to defend but very quickly Strasbourg were struggling after losing three wickets with only eleven on the board. Could an improbable victory be had? Our bowlers certainly thought so with all holding great lines and making the visitors fight for every run. Andy returned three wickets for 10 runs (6 overs), David D got 2 whilst conceding just one more run (also 6 overs), Tony didn’t get a wicket but they scored only 12 off his 5 overs and Abhi generated a real head of steam off a very short run-up, so much so that Strasbourg only had to touch one of his deliveries every so often to be assured of a boundary. Generally excellent fielding added to Strasbourg’s struggle but a career high 40 not out by John M saw them home in the 29th over of their innings. He was ably supported for quite awhile by Declan who, I believe, also scored a career high with 12. If only Montbard had managed to score 10 more runs……………
Dinner that evening at l’Ecu saw a larger then normal turn out by Montbard players and this was really great. Strasbourg are our oldest rivals and, as Nemo said, they enjoy playing here more then any other fixture. I’m sure the dinners together help.
Once again my thanks to all who chipped in to help especially those who turned up early for pitch repairs and setting up and those who supplied the tea goodies. Thanks also to those players who turned up to help swell numbers (Chris, David and Steve) as without them it would have been very embarrassing. Hope they enjoyed the outing too.
Next match in 2 weeks time (June 28) against a newly formed team from Macon.
