FCC v British Airways
By Fulmer CC | September 24, 2011
Fulmer 172 for 9
British Airways 228 for 9
FCC lost by 56 runs
Having worked for BA for 32 years and during this time played both football and cricket for them, this was always going to be a strange experience for yours truly.
BA won the toss and had no hesitation in electing to bat. Ali (8 overs, 2-43) opened the bowling with great pace and the increased accuracy he has been able to develop this season.
A special mention of his sportsmanship when he appeared to take a catch very low to the ground which saw the batsmen walk to the pavilion, Ali to his great credit said it had hit the ground and called him back — well done Ali, if only everyone followed your example!
Will, at the other end for the first time this season, had a tough time in finding both length and accuracy and was taken out of the attack after a couple of overs.
Zeeshan (7 overs, 3-32) took over and was soon amongst the wickets. At this early stage there was little sign of what tactics BA would employ. This soon changed with the arrival of their skipper who from ball one tried to hit the cover off the ball!
This he proceeded to do, thankfully, briefly. There was, however, little respite as his approach seemed to light the blue touch paper for every batsmen who followed!
Up until the drinks interval BA were rattling along at 6 an over. Sanity was somewhat restored over the next ten overs or so when Mark (8 overs, 1-24 ) and Del (8 overs, 2-40) restored some level of control. A dropped catch at long off by the usually reliable Ali only served to re-open the floodgates and some spectacular hitting from the lower order took a heavy toll on both Prash (4 overs, 1-41 ) and Jules (3 overs, 1-22 ).
Even the number 11 batsmen called on to face just one ball, proceeded to drive it straight down the ground for 4. So a challenging but not insurmountable score of 228-9 was reached.
Prash and Ian started brightly enough but Ian (19) was out first to a low catch at mid wicket. Prash (17) soon followed, playing a shot on the leg side he will want to forget which spooned up to the wicket keeper.
Further shocks followed with Zeeshan going cheaply and Mark getting a first baller! Tony (15) hung around for a while before edging to slip and Will (16) played some promising shots in his brief spell at the crease.
It was left to Nige (yes we can) to put some respectibilty to the score and he continued to do so in the accomplished style he has shown all season and carried his bat for 65. Fulmer eventually reached 172-9 without at any stage seriously threatening the target.
Hindsight (that wonderful science) will tell you that our fielding especially did not stand up well to the onslaught, with some general sloppiness which resulted in our opponents scoring more than they probably should.
They were clearly the better side on the day and thoroughly deserved their victory, and their style of batting (for the neutral) was certainly entertaining – well done BA!
