Twenty - Weston Creek Cricket Club

Twenty Seasons Ontogether a number of excellent partnerships by getting ontothe front foot to everything.We were getting very concerned when we had our first pieceof luck. The ball split. We replaced it and had immediatesuccess. However, this ball soon became wet and it too keptvery low. The chances of another ball splitting must havebeen very slim but that's exactly what happened. I didn't haveanother old ball and Ginninderra only had one that was alsosplit. There was no choice, we'd have to use a new ball.Paddy O'Brien (what a lovely man and how sad it is that he'snot with us anymore) and I looked at one another and oureyes carried the same message. Let them take as much shineoff it as they liked but keep it hard. I was very particularabout making it look worn and the batsmen were determinedto make sure it resembled the old ball. At the last momentthey decided it might need some softening. Even at this pointthey let me get away with the deception. I borrowed one oftheir bats, placed the ball on the grass, and hit it a number oftimes. This seemed to satisfy them.Ian Arthur's first ball nearly took the propping batsman's headoff and he took three quick wickets to give us a win by 11runs. Ian finished with the wonderful figures of 26.2 overs, 6-33. Paddy and I gained almost as much pleasure from ourdeception as we did from the win.Yes, the memories are all there and just recalling them hasstirred the spirit. The gear is in the wardrobe and my lovelyStuart Surridge bat just needs a new grip. I'm tempted tomake a comeback with the Veterans. Maybe I won't need toroll up my trouser legs just yet. #39