The Gentlemen of the George

Richard "Duke" Stewkesbury led the Club Captain's Select XI to a resounding victory against the Gentlemen of the George, and at the same time ensuring Bill Trevett is still the only Triangle captain to lose this fixture (though Graham Elenor has tied one game). After losing the toss, the George chose to bat, while Stewkesbury countered this unprecedented move by opening with the fearsome new-ball pairing of Dave Males and Chairman Conrad Cole.

Cole bowled with a very stylised action, while wearing the obligatory shades, keeping a tight line in his 3 over spell and also picking up the wicket of Camofage (sic). Toiling up the hill was Males, whose right arm loop foiled the number three bat in the Hawaiian shirt, unluckily picking out the Club Captain who held onto the catch despite his team's expectations.

First change bowlers Gates and Baxter were also successful, with a fiery spell from the outgoing reverend which included two beamers and a stern warning from umpire Tombs. Baxter rolled back the years to take the catch of the day, a smart one-handed diving effort off his own bowling before being replaced. The Duke spun his magic, and at times the ball, in a compact 2 overs as Dave Males returned the compliment to hold an easy catch at mid-on.

Keith Brown got into the spirit of proceedings with a miserly 2 over spell which yielded 2 wickets, before the slip hauled him off to replace him with the dependably expensive Tom Cole. It was during these overs that Triangle's fielding reached its zenith, as a top edge from Sicknote's half-tracker saw Brown and Scott Males converge on the ball, collide and the ball was knocked free of Scott's grasp.

Trevett's mix of outrageous spin and some medium pace sent two more of the George's batsmen to the pavilion before the part-time spin of Scott and Tony Morris claimed the final three wickets. The sycophantic Tombs denied Morris a third when he called a no-ball for "chucking" as Baxter held onto a fine slip catch off Jeff Daniels, the George Inn's landlord.

After a brief tea and beer break, Bunter sent out the right-left combination of all-rounder Scott Males and perennial number eleven Morris to chase down the target of 104. A few lusty blows off the first 3 overs saw the pair put on 23 for the first wicket until Males was bowled off his pads, bringing the captain into the middle. M'Lady shared a brief stand with Morris, until lazy running between the wickets led to the skipper's untimely demise. Morris was then shortly asked to retire, and made way for the free-swinging Tom Cole and Keith Brown, who both neared 20 too quickly for the skipper's liking and were called back to the pavilion as Stewkes felt the need to make a game of it.

Gates came to the middle batting left-handed and after hitting two neat boundaries some players on the sidelines suggested he may be better off playing that way in the future. Club Chairman Conrad Cole was making hard work of the George's bowling at the other end, but saved himself the ignominy of receiving the slow hand clap for his poor scoring rate by hitting a crisp on drive, that proved too quick for the chasing fieldsman. The big man had the honour of knocking off the winning run as the Gentleman of the George were routed and Stewkesbury had his precious win.

(Batsman's names as recorded by R. Stewkesbury)

Econ.

4.00

3.33

1.50

5.00

4.50

3.00

2.67

8.33

4.00

2.50

Econ.

13.00

8.50

4.76

11.00

13.00

10.00

8.00

5.00