League Week 5 - 25 May 2013

[vj]

4's team to play away vs. Hawick & Wilton on Saturday (25/05).

Team in no particular order -

Alex McGill
Chris West
Darryn Kidd
Graham Watson
Gurdit Singh
Hardeep Singh
Ian Shiels
Mark Adamson
Rob Hayward
Sunny Verma
Vijay Kumar

Please reach Murrayfield Hotel by 10.45, we need to leave by 11am.

up the Mufs!

[wheels]

ALWAYS LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE OF FIFE

Loveable boy-captain Neil Yelland maintained his 100% record as MUFS skipper as he masterminded a comprehensive 170 run win over Dunfermline at McKane Park, in the heart of Nelly's spiritual home: the Kingdom of Fife.

The day got off to a promising start when our crack team of navigators successfully located the Forth Road Bridge, and subsequently Dunfermline, allowing us a full hour to undertake our familiar pre-match routine of stretches, touch rugby and fielding drills (not to be confused with “smoking and sleeping”).

After winning the toss at the second attempt (the first was thwarted when the home skipper decided to catch the coin rather than allowing it to land on the pitch), Captain Doggers sensibly chose to bat – partly because the dry, grassy pitch looked certain to spin as the match went on, and partly because our hosts only had nine players at the time.

Farooq and Adnan made serene progress to 31 for 0 after 10 overs, before Adnan made the surprise discovery – again – that the batting crease can be found at ground level, not six inches above it. As a result of his floating bat, and Azeem's direct hit, he was run out for 16.

Asif was equally surprised to find out that if a batsman misses a straight full toss, he is fairly likely to be given out LBW. So it proved, as the Spaceman made his disgruntled way back to the pavilion without scoring, trapped in front by Amir.

Everyone's favourite rhyming batting combo, Luke and Farooq, added 35 for the third wicket before Farooq danced down the pitch to Azeem, forgot to dance back again, and was stumped by keeper Lee for 34. This brought in-form Madhu to the crease, and we sat back to enjoy a rare display of what Geoffrey Boycott would call “proper batteeeeeeeeeng”, as Luke and Madhu took the score to 111 for 3 with a combination of sensible shot selection, good running and the occasional lusty blow.

Madhu eventually fell lbw for 26, surprised by a straight one from Shahzad in an over that had already contained four big hairy wides. But Jasir and Luke produced another handy partnership, adding 31 for the fifth wicket before Shahzad had Jaz caught for 9 off a shortish ball that seemed to hold up in the pitch (or at least, that was Jasir's excuse, and given his fine batting form and magnificent, gravity-defying hair, I'm not going to dispute it).

The home side quickly regretted taking the wicket as the Beast strode to the crease and punished a series of full and wide deliveries, swatting them away dismissively with his mighty new blade. Even the departure of Luke, one short of what would have been a deserved half-century, failed to arrest the momentum, with Fin playing shots all round the wicket before being run out – for the 283rd time in his short career – for 12.

The Beast clobbered his way to 46 before he attempted to hit the ball into his back garden in Kirkcaldy, missed, and gave Shahzad his third wicket. But a breezy 9 from Taz and an enterprising 11* from Captain Yelly helped the score to 245, before an impressive piece of fancy footwork and self-yorking from Tom (0, obviously) ensured that we enjoyed a slightly early tea – and a very fine tea it was too.

Suitably refuelled, Captain Doggers had more than a hint of Alexander the Great about him as he strode on to the battlefield – a proud image that was only slightly compromised when he realised he'd forgotten the ball. But he quickly reasserted his strqategic credentials by making the bold move to open with spin, a tactic that bore fruit with the sixth ball of the innings as Asif bowled Shahzad with a sharply turning beauty.

At the other end, Taz (0-15) bowled with pace and skill, and was unlucky not to pick up a wicket. Beasty (2-12) replaced him and opened with successive wicket maidens, scattering the stumps of Lee and Azeem just as he'd scattered the fielders when batting. The second dismissal in particular was a fast bowler's dream: middle and leg stumps left standing, with the bail still in place, and the off stump nowhere to be seen.

With the excellent Asif (8-3-15-2) also picking up the wicket of opener Amir, bowled for 11, the home side were reduced to 32 for 4 and the game appeared to be up. A mini-revival, largely thanks to the free-scoring home skipper Sharif, was arrested when Tom took a leaf out of Richie's book and cunningly decided to test out the middle of the pitch. As a result, “Monty” Singh was plumb LBW for 12 to a ball that hit him on the foot just as it was about to bounce for the second time, and Tom was justly praised by his team-mates for his brilliantly executed tactical plan. Or something like that.

Buoyed by his good fortune, Tom suddenly began to resemble a spin bowler, removing Rasheed and Hussain for ducks on his way to figures of 3-25. A stubborn 8th wicket partnership was ended by a smart run out from Luke, capping a MUFS fielding performance that was as good as we've seen all season. Departing batsman Gibson certainly appreciated it – he made a point of congratulating the fielders for their quick thinking, before leaving the field with characteristic grace and good humour.

Farooq (1-6) and Asif – those inseparable chums, who are fast becoming the MUFS equivalent of Asterix and Obelix – then combined to take the 9th and final wicket, with Asif claiming the catch to give MUFS victory, in what was by now glorious sunshine, by 170 runs with over 20 overs to spare.

Well done to Nelly Yelly for an assured display of captaincy (fmisplaced balls excepted), to the MUFS for a fine all-round team display to which all 11 players contributed, and most of all to the absent Batman, who had a better excuse than most for missing the game: he is now the extremely proud husband to Addy. Very many congratulations both.

Next up, we face Holy Cross at Leith Academy on Saturday. Let's see if we can give our absent skipper a further wedding present with another 20 points. It's cheaper than buying them a carriage clock or sandwich toaster, and so much more personal.