With showers, strong winds and pathetic temperatures, the prospect of no cricket hangs over us once again. The forecast is not as bad as last week but another rash of postponements still looks the likely outcome.
What else can we do but select the teams and prepare ourselves as if though it is going to be 25 degrees and sunny?
First XI v Redlynch and Hale
The First XI, still unbeaten and still without a game, travel to Redlynch trying once again to play their first game in County 2. Alex goes with the same team that didn’t play last week, with Hugh Croft, Tom Barnes and Fawad Amin, still unavailable.
It’s difficult to say how we will get on because we haven’t played any games. We also know very little about Redlynch and Hale who haven’t played yet either. One positive is that we have at least trained a bit. This means most players should know which way up to hold the bat.
What we do know about the opposition is that Redlynch is a village and civil parish 6.5 miles southeast of Salisbury. The parish includes the villages of Morgan’s Vale and Woodfalls, the village of Lover and the hamlet of Bohemia, where they still drown witches to this very day.
Hale is a small village and civil parish in Hampshire, England. It lies on the border of the New Forest, overlooking the valley of the River Avon. The village is about 3.5 miles north-east of the town of Fordingbridge, and about 8 miles south of the city of Salisbury. It is currently 13 centigrade and raining with a steady 30 mph south westerly wind and humidity of 73%. Perfect weather for cricket.
Second XI v Bentworth
The Second XI are hoping beyond hope, that they will be entertaining Bentworth at Oakley Park on Saturday. In a bid to ‘get the game on’, many of the players stayed behind last night to pin down a cover on the square. This might save the fixture, but probably won’t.
This is because there is a good chance it might empty itself onto the square when we try to remove it. In truth, this might well be the tensest and thrilling event of the day. Jack makes three changes, with Kalum Sapumanage not available and the Rabley boys going down to the Third XI. Nelly Warner, Noah Beckell and audacious all-rounder, Bob Lethaby (that’s me that is) come in. Bob will tell you his selection is on merit, but the truth is, he can’t travel to away games. This is because his dog might run away, get nicked, or massacre a rabbit in front of a traumatised child.
Not a lot is known about Bentworth. They used to have a Kiwi chap (who was brilliant), another who hit sixes with a bat made of gaffer tape, and a keeper old enough to be Scotty’s grandad. That was a few years back now, so they may have made changes since then.
I don’t know much else about Bentworth except there used to be three pubs there called The Sun, The Moon, and The Star (see if you can work out the theme). The Sun used to be a fantastic pub featuring live music seemingly on all the time, with jamming nights on Sundays. Both Paul Heaton (Housemartins/Beautiful South) and Steve Brookes (from the original line up of The Jam) have played there. So have I, knocking out some absolute bangers on the triangle whilst drunk.
However, I heard that someone who didn’t like live music moved in next door to the pub and it shut. I believe it open again for quiet people who don’t like music. The other two pubs are, I believe, long gone.
Third XI v Aldershot V
The Third XI are pretending that they are going to Aldershot for an away fixture. However, it is more likely they will be at Oakley, helping the second team wreck the square after being called off.
Once again, Dan has a good little team to choose from. He will continue to have that luxury until the weather dries up and no one is available. That’s if the weather ever does dry up in this sensational Greenland summer we are experiencing. It’s just not funny anymore.
On Sunday, we are supposed to be hosting Wherwell. However, news coming into me from reliable sources, is that the game is now off. This is due to understandable player apathy and a pathetic forecast featuring everything not conducive to cricket.
Staying positive is not easy right now but we must try to laugh in the face of abject misery. On we travel (or perhaps not) if the Oakley bus will start after weeks of being dormant.
Hey ho, let’s go!
