William Shakespeare the poet Vs. Wing Commander William Shakespeare, the forgotten Worcestershire CC opener. A crossover you never knew you needed.

Top of the league, both teams were

A win today, we would prefer.

A 2-pint limit, on a Friday night

Ali had 12, that’s not alright.

 

The covers had failed, an almighty leak

Starting on time, looked fairly bleak.

A good toss to lose, the enemy to bat

Jimmy to open, and that was that.

 

A quiet first 20, the run rate slow

Right on the wet patch, the ball stayed low.

Sunny’s economy, brilliant as ever

Satro the wizard, his bowling so clever.

 

Drops were aplenty, Wylie’s a dolly

Calls from the side, ‘Was that Colly?’.

Ali and Robbie, doing the same

Some awful calling, but who was to blame?

 

The bowlers tiring, with not long to go

Their opening bat, he put on a show

But 7 wickets down, it was time for tea

Hitting 170, that was the key.

 

Harry and Dom, out they went

And back they came, with no such dent.

Robbie and Ali, amends they could make

Not this time, for goodness sake.

 

Satro was happy, was cruising along

When all of a sudden, was hindered by Tong.

Duckworth Lewis, that fabled foe

Satro now gone, oh what a big blow.

 

Max and Jimmy, we were half way there

The only instruction, ‘Stay as a pair’.

A chip to mid-off, Max you’re a clown

80 to win, but 6 wickets down.

 

Wylie now there, with a point to prove

Along with Jimmy, who was well in his groove.

His 50 now up, and the win in sight

Looks like 170, was 30 too light.

 

Top of the league, we’re one point clear

A thrilling win, now time for a beer.

7 games done; it’s gone so quick

Who’s at the top, it’s Hampton Wick.

 

Player Ratings

Harry Copeland – 0 from 6 balls. 4/10

Lost the toss. Which was probably a good thing because you would have had to have been the Oracle to have known what the best thing to do was after the rain leaks.

Dom Jones – 4 from 17 balls. 5/10

Finally, after about 6 slip fielders before him, we finally caught something at first slip. Never seen someone triggered, LBW, so quickly in my life despite the ball hitting the middle of his bat.

Robbie Oliver – 5 from 5 balls. 3/10

Pulled rank on Ali when calling for a high catch, only for them both to run into each other and drop it. For the ‘Half glass full’ crowd, he did at least save the boundary.

Satro Rambaran – 47 from 68 balls. 1-24 from 9 overs. 7/10

Offered to pay Nick £100 if he didn’t speak for 25 minutes, it was truly the most peaceful 24 minutes in Wick history before he failed. Quoted as saying that Wylie is one of his favourite players at the club. The bar has been set low it seems.

Ali Higginson – 2 from 15 balls. 3/10

Only just faced more balls than Friday night pints consumed. Allowed himself to be pushed out the way by Robbie when calling for a catch, however, had a decent direct hit run out to make up for it.

James Caldwell – 70 from 88 balls. 1-20 from 8 overs. 9/10

Bowling figure on their own were enough to get a good score but to stabilise a sinking ship and hit a faultless 70 to win the match was incredible to watch. Lost a point due to the fact he’s seeing his girlfriend next Saturday.

Max Germain – 1 from 11 balls. 3/10

Pretty unnoticeable contribution. Somewhat reliable with the gloves in what was some grotesque keeping conditions. Should have used a bit more brain with the bat.

Jack Wylie – 16 from 38 balls. 1-42 from 7 overs. 6/10

One day the focal of Wylie’s segment will be on his cricket ability instead of his antics on the field. But another amusing send-off having been sledged by the opposition balcony. Was the other half of the match winning partnership with Jimmy at the end.

Nick Browning – 2 from 4 balls. 0-44 from 8 overs. 4/10

Failed to stay quiet for 25 minutes. Good opening spell of bowling with one expensive over at the end, ruining a good bowling performance.

Graeme Tong – DNB. 1-19 from 4 overs. 4/10

I needed a scapegoat and a good elder always volunteers. Took weather advice from the crowd and erected a DLS scoreboard, inadvertently causing Satro to hole out in an attempt to pick up the rate before the rain came. The rain never came.

Sunny Patel – DNB. 1-14 from 9 overs. 6/10

Very very tidy spell of bowling with the most economical figures of the season