The Bastion Dover Cricket Ground
Dover
Liventia
Dover
Liventia
Dear Mr Ashford,
Firstly may I say how grateful I am for your letters to me whilst I was in prison and throughout the period of my trial, which thankfully has come to an end, and resulted in my release. May I also say with much sincerity how sorry I am that you yourself have now come under suspicion of tax dodging, something which I know our current government does not look lightly upon, which may go someway to explain why you now find yourself in a prison cell. However, whilst I was released free of charge, I do not think that you will necessarily be so lucky. Anyway, I feel that I, as head coach, must return the favour, and inform you, as chairman of the board and head selector, of the team’s progress at the world championships, whilst you have no access to TV, radio, wi-fi or phone.
Our first Super Eights match took place today, against Barunia. We batted first, and for the first time in a long time both of our openers failed to make a big score, Foster hitting 12 off 10, and Wright 8 off 7. Fedman did manage to get the ball rolling with his 27 off 22, but the middle order failed; Mann, Bright and Green only scoring 28 between them. Fortunately the second half of our innings was saved, as Danny Day managed to farm the strike, and hit a maiden T20I fifty off 45 balls, supported by Dresford’s 9 off 10. Overall we managed to score 137 for 6, which was simply not enough against a good Barunia side on a decent batting pitch. I think some changes need to be made to the batting, and I was thinking specifically of Thomas Mann, who has not made a good impression on the last few games as I would have liked to him to have done.
Anyway, Levesford and Tomlinson set about defending a relatively low total, and did well to begin with, restricting them to 20-3 from the first 4 overs. Levesford struck twice in the first over, and Tomlinson took another. However, a bowling change (Sadie for Levesford) brought immediate results, although not in the way I or Captain Wright would have wanted. Sadie conceded 15 off his first over to let Barunia shoot to 35 for 3 off 5, up with the rate. Green came on for Tomlinson and did his best to stem the flow, conceding 6 off his first over. Sadie improved with his second, giving just 3 singles away, but Green then gave away another 9. That took the score to 53 for 3 off 8, meaning it was anyone’s game. Until Sadie bowled his third. The Barunians bludgeoned 23 off the over, moving along to 76 off 9, well over the required rate. Dresford was brought on to try and slow them down, and he bowled a cracking off break with his first ball to remove the batsman, but still gave away 8 runs. At the halfway stage they were 84 for 4, above the rate, but with a possibility of being bowled out. Sadie was removed from the attack with the hope that he would not have to bowl again, as we would have bowled them out, and Green brought back on. 10 off the over. Dresford again and another 10 off the over. The Barunian then needed just 34 from 8 overs, and with 6 wickets in hand. Green bowled his final over, and kept a tight line, restricting them to just 3. Dresford bowled his third and gave away only 4. 111 for 4 from 14, 27 needed from 6. At that point Levesford was brought back on and bowled a 7 run over, before Dresford bowled his last and gave away just 2 runs, but crucially took a wicket. 120 for 5 from 16, 18 required from 4. Tomlinson returned to the attack and gave away 6 runs, before Levesford bowled his final over and conceded two fours off the first two balls. However, he then took two in two, to reduce them to 134 for 8 from 18, 4 needed from 2. However, Sadie had to bowl one of those two overs, so we needed Tomlinson to take two wickets from his last over. He gave away two singles, before taking his second wicket, meaning that we needed 1 wicket to win, and they 2 runs. However, the new batsman edged his first ball for four, so we lost by one wicket. However, I think we bowled well apart from Sadie, so if I replace him and Mann, we should fare well for the next two games against Apox, who we gave beaten before, and Darmen.
Good luck explaining your way out of those missing 6 million fensters.
Yours Sincerely,
Lucas Jamieson
P.S. A full scorecard can be found overleaf.
Scorecard
Democratic States of Fenbar Innings
Name Runs Balls 4s 6s
Foster 12 10 1 0
Wright 8 7 1 0
Fedman 27 22 3 0
Mann 9 8 1 0
Bright 10 9 1 0
Green 9 9 0 0
Day 50 45 5 1 (not out)
Dresford 9 10 0 0 (not out)
Extras: 3 (2 leg byes, 1 bye)
Total: 137 for 6 (20 overs)
Did not bat: Levesford, Sadie, Tomlinson
Barunia Innings
Name Overs Maidens Runs Wickets
Levesford 4 0 25 4
Tomlinson 3.5 0 22 2
Sadie 3 0 41 0
Green 4 0 28 1
Dresford 4 0 24 2
Total: 140 for 9 (18.5 overs)
Barunia won by 1 wicket.
