Penn Street vs Great Missenden Pelicans CC

Penn Street CC 211-7 (J. Shuttle 42)

beat

Great Missenden Pelicans CC 210 ao

by 3 Wickets

This was the first time that Penn Street and Great Missenden Pelicans faced each other since 1993, so it was only fitting that PSCC celebrated their return to the land beyond the Nags Head by welcoming two debutants in David Wood and Joe Shuttle . Boasting a team that captain Alistair Cossins described as batter-heavy, it was only fitting that he would win the toss and insert the opposition. 

With only two recognised ‘fit’ bowlers, Jeremy Knox and Vish Goundar were tasked with getting Penn Street underway. Faced with the unknowns of an uncovered wicket with variable bounce off the pitch, it was a surprise to everyone when David Wood, playing only his second game in 5 years, decided he would stand up to both bowlers. He showcased an array of excellent takes and stops that Sam Martin would have been impressed by, if not threatening the latter’s crown as the only ‘proper’ keeper in the club. Nonetheless, the Pelicans got off to a flyer, racing to 101-1 after 13 overs. Vish got the only wicket to fall when he finally worked out that the slower you ball, the more accurate it becomes! 

It was at this moment that Knoxy was introduced to his dreaded four-letter word … SPIN. A short-pitched ball from Vish was pulled away to fine leg. Spiralling in the wind, it was clear that this ball would bounce and deviate left. Knoxy ran towards the ball. Blissfully unaware of Josh Tollerfield’s cries of “SPIN, SPIN, SPIN”, he kept on running, watching the ball bounce and spin left towards where he had just stood, racing away for four. Frustrated, Knoxy ran in even harder next over, only to see the ball disappear to cow corner for four. By this point you could hear the steam coming out of Knoxy’s ears and his next ball crashed into the middle stump. And all that frustration was released in a cry of anguish, not to be confused with a war cry, Knoxy was congratulated. This started a collapse from 101-1 to 112-5 in 3 overs, Vish finishing with figures of 2-51 from 8 overs, just outdone by Knoxy’s 3-48. 

After this sudden collapse, Josh was introduced into the attack. Eager to impress his girlfriend watching from the sidelines, he produced 3 overs for 7 runs, including one wicket -  A wicket described by the batting captain as “the best ball [he] has ever been bowled”. At the other end there was a welcome return for Ajith Pillai, who bowled with great control, continually hitting the same spot over and over again. It only became a problem when the batter became left-handed! Eventually his accuracy paid off, with Josh taking a catch at midwicket, diving away to his right in a fashion that would have seen him receive all 10s had he been in the Olympics! This left the Pelicans reeling at 120-7. 

After Josh’s 3 overs, Steve Smith was next to bowl. He struckin his first over with a simple caught behind chance nestling in David’s gloves, reward for all his hard work behind the stumps and giving the bowler figures of 1-28 off 4. Jack Mendy, appearing for the second time in as many weeks, was keen not to participate in any way, but when asked to bowlwas chomping at the bit. Rolling in off a few paces, the batters could hardly score a run off him. Until, that is, he was launched for the biggest six off the day, into a nearby field. It was at this point that Jack picked up his bowling marker, re-marked his run up, and started to steam in, trying to break the stumps in half, eventually succeeding in hitting them in his final over. 

Last to bowl was the skip himself. After discovering a newfound love for bowling last week, he was keen to reward his fantasy owners with some points. Hopping in to bowl some off spin, he took the Pelicans’ last wicket when the score was on 210 and the batter decided enough was enough and fell into his wicket, a rare case of hit wicket. This prompted the tea interval, which did not disappoint. An array of homemade curries, poppadoms, topped off with pizza, doughnuts and even some fruit! It was enjoyed by everyone and a highlight of the day.

Someone too busy raving about the tea was Joe, who was oblivious to his captain’s point that he would be opening the Penn Street innings. After quickly padding up, he and Rob Sutherland headed out to chase 210 to win. Knowing they would have 20 overs from 5:35 to complete the chase, these two set about chipping away at the total, amassing a 63-run partnership through a combination of Rob Sutherland’s cut shot and Joe Shuttle’s flick off his legs. They complemented each other beautifully, until Rob was given out LBW. This brought Chris Russell to the crease, averaging 207 this season. He and Joe scored quickly, until Joe was finally caught for 42, an excellent debut knock. David was next to the middle, but he was unfortunate to be bowled 3rd ball.  Chris quickly followed, and Penn Street were now teetering at 83-4. 

Josh and Alistair were now at the crease, Josh scoring quickly while the skip settled in. Keen to add more fantasy points to his owners. Josh had other ideas, missing a straight ball. His sister said that she was impressed that he was keeping his cool when he got out this year, a difference from previous years! Ajith joined the skip, finding the middle of his bat early on, including some big hits into the trees and racing to 29 before he also was out. The partnership between Al and Ajith had reached 50 in a decent time. 

Despite being fully aware since 2009 that changing the batting order would incur the scorer's wrath, Steve made a team-focused decision to drop himself down, and it earned him a stare for two from scorer Tilly (and an accompanying scowl from senior scorer Ray). It turns out that how to score is not the only thing Tilly has learnt from Cally! However, Steve’s decision meant that Vish was next in. He was clearly determined to finish the game quickly, the equation being 54 runs from 54 balls at this point. Spectators could feel the wind of Vish’s bat every time he failed to connect with the ball. Unfortunately for the Pelicans, he connected with the ball a few times, taking the game away from them.  There was still time for Alistair to get out, leaving Knoxy to see the team home to a 3-wicket win.

An excellent game all round, with lots of smiles and laughs. And a thoroughly enjoyable opposition who we look forward to playing again next year! As for Knoxy, well he is still trying to find the definition of ‘spin’!

PSCC: Joe Shuttle, Rob Sutherland, Chris Russell, David Wood (WK), Josh Tollerfield, Alistair Cossins (C), Ajith Pillai, Vishal Goundar, Jeremy Knox, Steve Smith, Jack Mendy. Scorer: Tilly Cossins