Report by Daniel Mortlock:
The arrival of FAS was headline news in Fladbury - although not the top story, the September issue of the village's Keeping In Touch newsletter leading off with several pieces about the opportunities for eating, worshipping and walking before finally getting to the cricketing news. (We at least trumped recycling.)
It turns out FAS was part of The Fladbury Cricket Festival, following in the footsteps of Warwick CC's third team and a side from Pebble Mill that may (or may not) have included some ex-BBC journalists. The preview for our game was a bit more detailed, noting that we are "the only touring team not to have cancelled this year" and giving a brief history: "Originally a club designed to have father and son playing in the same team, the model has largely changed over the years. Some of their members are easily recognizable by their striped blazers and brightly coloured hooped caps - fashion items not usually much in evidence in Fladbury."
With that sort of build-up we had no choice but to perform, lest we disappoint the local spectators, both of whom had settled into their seats as we headed out to field (wearing our caps with pride - but having resisted the temptation of fielding in our blazers). We certainly started well enough, as in the first over Joe White lured one of the Fladbury openers into a wild swipe that he edged straight to Jim Streeter at first slip - only for 'keeper Dave Kittow to dive across him and complete a spectacular catch. Then in the second over their number 3 fell into the fairly obvious "trap" of pulling a short ball from Zoe Dare straight to boundary fielder Daniel Mortlock . . .
. . . who promptly shelled the simplest of catches. This ushered in a horror fielding sequence that included more dropped catches that became increasingly simpler - all of which which were trumped by Ben Kittow, who made a fantastic diving stop but then somehow managed to flick the ball over the sightscreen for four. Fortunately, our bowlers responded to these team-level betrayals by upping their game, and by the time Joe (2/18) and Zoe (3/31) had finished their spells and Hal Dare (1/17) had induced a rather sympthetic LBW decision, Fladbury were seemingly sunk on 62/6 at what would ordinarily have been drinks.
But their lower order knuckled down, more than doubling their total in the second half of the innings for the loss of just one more wicket (taken by Daniel, 1/22). Not that we lacked for chances, with some seemingly straighter LBW appeals declined and the ball repeatedly shaving the stumps or the outside edge without making the necessary contact. Still, while some more wickets would have been nice, a target of 126 to win didn't seem too daunting (and it seems our opponents agreed, their batting performance being reviewed as "lacklustre" in the October edition of Keeping In Touch).
That sense was reinforced by captain Jim Streeter, who hit a seemingly effortless 45 off 58 balls, caressing the ball to all parts of the ground. By the time he, with able support from Dave Kittow (23 off 26 balls), had led us to 78/2 we surely had the game won. And even a mini-collapse of 3/11 only had the effect of giving brew-master Rob Harvey the chance for a rare middle order outing. Just how rare was evidenced by the fact that, having clubbed his way to 11* (off 23 balls), rumours started flying around that this was Rob's highest FAS score - although it was quickly established that he'd made a match-winning 20* against the Adastrians back in 2009. Still, with 12 runs still needed Rob had a chance to go past that mark - although it soon became clear that mere survival was his primary goal, as he turned down yet another second run on the grounds that he was "fucked" (thus showing that "when I call, you run" doesn't always hold at Fladbury). That left Daniel (27* off 37 balls) free to dispatch a few half-trackers, thus completing the chase with the best part of 10 overs to spare.
That, of course, meant more time at the pub - albeit not the traditional trip to The Anchor (as one of the Fladbury players has been barred), but further on to the much superior Chequers, where Hal showed he can hold his drink much better than his catches.