Game 2 - Illingworth (away)

The ICC made the trip to Illingworth in confident mood of notching their first victory of the 2007 campaign. There were slight changes to the make-up of the team with the return of Alex Bailey (the ICC blogger would like to take this opportunity to thank all the staff at the BRI for the miracles they performed in getting Bails wrist right for game 2) from injury and ‘the Sniper’ (Ritchie Rhodes) becoming available after returning from a recent mission. Rich was looking in fantastic shape and a little lighter, he puts this down to a hard rugby season and a bit of pre-match closet wrestling the night before a game! The unlucky two to miss out were Lager and Andy Rhodes, Lager twisted his ankle whilst playing five-a-side football. We wish him a speedy recovery as Dan is struggling to conduct the warm-ups without his expertise on stretches and strains.

Uncharacteristically the Skipper lost the toss and the ICC were put into bat. The new opening partnership of Bailey and Walker started to gel immediately as both looked solid. The two were running well and punishing any loose deliveries and got the innings of to a good start as the ICC were on 80 for 0 after 25 overs. The platform seemed to be set for the innings to be accelerated, however both openers were dismisssed in a short space of time. Dan reaching for a wide one which seemed to get big on him and nicking it to the keeper and soon followed Bails who drove in the air to mid-on who took a smart catch. The Hustler and Santy steadied the ship briefly until Santy missed a slower ball and was adjudged to be lbw. Déjà vu was setting in from last week and wickets fell at a steady rate, Guppy misjudging a slower ball after playing some nice shots through the covers, Wheels dismissed after attempting a risky single and Cocky tamely chipping up to square leg. The lower order also failed to impress and the ICC ended up on a mediocre score of 163, considering the start the openers had given us. The only exception was the Hustler who adapted to the game conditions by running quick singles and putting the bad balls away. Aspecial mention for the Illingworth tea ladies who put on a great spread (juicy melons always a great addition to any tea or closet wrestling match). Think they must have had prior warning that some of our players need beefing gup!

Although the total was poor, it was defendable if the ICC managed to take early wickets. The ICC openers bowled well with Dicky extracting bounce from the pitch and Macca putting the ball in consistent areas. This pressure tolled as both openers were bowled playing some rather loose shots, one for Dicky and one for Macca. The two Illingworth danger men were in now and the ICC attack was continuing to frustrate and strangle the opposition. In this period, we missed a run-out and a couple of catches – these would be proved to be costly as the game progressed. Dicky’s first spell was capped off with a wicket, as their number three edged to Santy who held well behind the stumps, Illingworth struggling on 34-3. However a game winning partnership was about to occur as the Illingworth’s four and five put on nearly a hundred to settle their run chase down. Guppy tried different bowlers including Cocky, Jayesy, Dan and himself but this failed to break the deadlock. The deadlock was finally broken through a run-out and then Dicky came back to dismiss ‘Bob the Builder’ (Can you bat, no you can’t!). However it was all a little late as Illingworth knocked the winning runs off with four overs to spare.

It was a very disappointing and frustrating result for the ICC players who know they can perform better, however there were some positives which can be built upon for the next few games. A special note for Dicky who bowled superbly with excellent figures of 3-33 of 17 overs, well bowled pal!