Div 2 Round 11: Aliens vs Alna
When: 22 July
Where: Drammen
Aliens Cricket Club 174/3 (27.5 ov)
Alna Cricket Club Alna 173/8 (30.0 ov)
Aliens Cricket Club - Won by 7 wickets
When you are sat in a teammate’s car on a Saturday morning with the rain smashing against the wind screen, it is perfectly natural to question the merits of playing cricket in Norway. It is equally easy to ask “why do I bother?” when your teammate has been dispatched for the second six in an over because of a rank half-tracker - and then have the temerity to question why his fellow fielders are so quiet. Despondency bubbles over when you are forced to stomp around in the Rommen undergrowth, searching for the ball with helpful instructions like “it’s next to the tree”, after the opposition had smashed another maximum over the netting. However, the Alien’s victory over Alna at Drammen was a timely reminder why we love to play this infuriating game.
Alna were steady if unspectacular with the bat and their inability to get Chris H was both a sign of solid bowling and their lack of comfort against the spinning ball. Captain Dennis continued to show his tremendous leadership attributes by sharing the new ball despite a broken thumb (do not tell his mum!). In previous games the change bowlers have come under immediate pressure but against Alna they turned the screw, albeit with a few blips on the way. Benan started strongly before bowling his full array of Benans. The leg-side Benan. The over compensated, other side of the wicket Benan. The big Benan followed by a Hindi tirade Benan. He, at least, did not ask why the field was so quiet. Devraj showed remarkable accuracy with the ball for a man who had spent much of the night working and had built up for the game by running to McDonalds to empty his guts and then refilling his stomach with America’s finest fare.
There was only one wicket down at the halfway stage, although the run rate was certainly in an acceptable range from an Aliens point of view and this pressure tolled in the second part of the innings. Mitch and Marcus, with a combined lung age of 211, got the ball moving around and the latter was played with the reverence normally reserved for the Pope. Both ended up with wickets - Mitch taking three scalps from six overs, and Marcus the one before he was taken off in sympathy for the Alna batters. Sensing the Alna batsmen were more comfortable with pace on the ball, Captain Dennis persevered with his spinners and Shanta showed wonderful control to pick up three wickets including an excellent caught and bowled.
In the field, the Aliens backed up their bowlers with one of the most complete fielding displays of the season. No clangers and plenty of effort. Peter showed his eagerness early on with a full length dive which would have earned his place in the pages of Wisden had he taken it, his only reward, though, were encouraging words, such as “you would have caught that ten years ago,” and a cracking bruise. In pursuit of his first catch in a competitive game of cricket in twenty years, Peter then desperately scrambled towards a lofted ball, only to be close-lined to the ground by his captain, who took the catch. It should be noted the captain’s clearly brittle bones have been packaged in a lovely soft, jelly like material - making the collision painless for both. Evolution is a wonderful thing. The final ball of the Alna innings was what can only be described as, ‘a moment of cricket history’. In the desperate search for more runs, the Alna batsman played a pull shot (a poorly executed swipe) full of venom (ball looped innocuously to midwicket), Peter sprinted from the boundary (jogged a few steps) to slide forward and pouch the ball millimetres from the ground (bent his knees, maybe).
The Alien’s target of 174 was one that was perfectly gettable but required sensible batting. After the early loss of Marcus, Dennis walked to the crease to join Simon and the two steadily accumulated runs, keeping the run rate in check, and slowly sucking the life out of the fielding side. The two looked largely untroubled as they built a century stand, although an Indian lady in Asker felt a strange sense of betrayal when Dennis was wrapped on his damaged hand. They also survived one of the most remarkable overs of slow bowling of the season, with the bowler producing six actual moon balls that threatened to never return to earth’s gravitational pull. Is it a compliment to say he showed remarkable skill to bowl with so much height on the ball between the wickets? Dennis smashed the only six of the game before falling two short of his half century and although he missed out on his landmark, his team mates applauded him heartily as left the playing area, appreciative of the tremendous sacrifice he had shown for his team. Simon coupled great technique and concentration to anchor the innings and deservedly brought up his fifty, seeing the Aliens home with the help of swift contributions from Shanta and Mitch.
The team sheet was missing some of the big guns but it was a day where togetherness and teamwork won out, leaving the watching public (of which there were none) to ask; Damon who? Can you remember that Scottish guy’s name? Do we need more than two Aussies per game?
The triumphant troop made their way to the Golden Arches for the meal of Champions and to give Devraj the opportunity to unblock the toilet.
