Things can only get better

Posted by John Winn

For the small crowd gathered to see a forty over friendly at New Rover yesterday with Olicanians the visitors, the first sound of summer proved not to be bat on ball but ball on stumps as the Olicanians'opening bat was bowled by the first ball of the season. The game having started a few minutes before its appointed time of one o'clock the unfortunate batsman was actually on his way back to the pavilion at 12:59 which somehow seemed to make it an even more disappointing beginning to his 2011 campaign. To his credit he could see the funny side of things and his only complaint was that the borrowed bat he used appeared not to be the regulation width.
Not surprisingly for a match played so early in April the wicket had more than a greenish tinge and the outfield was slow. The stiffish breeze had just enough bite in it to remind spectators that it is spring rather than summer and New Rover's numbers were made up by a young lad in jeans who during the early overs fielded as fine leg at both ends. On being questioned he revealed that he was the scorer and thus his attire was excusable. By the time I left after 15 overs he had demonstrated enough expertise to be promoted to deep extra cover. At this point Olicanians had recovered from their bad start to reach forty for two with an lbw decison accounting for the second wicket. Alas the victim did not share the opening batsman's sense of humour, making it very clear that he did not agree with the umpire's decision.
Lots of possibilities for the professional cricket watcher this week with the forecast suggesting a renewal of the dry weather on Wednesday. A further piece of good news is that second eleven and minor county fixtures are restored to Playfair following complaints about their omission from the 2010 edition.The sad news is that second eleven fixtures take up significantly less space than when they were last published two years ago.