Twenty - Weston Creek Cricket Club

Weston Creek, Cricket Clubrecall the derisive laughter of my wife and children when Ibroke the news to them that evening.And so it was that on the afternoon of Saturday, 4 November,1987, I found myself at Majura Oval, leading a team, few ofwhom I had ever seen before, against the Ainslie Club sidethat had swept all before it in the one day Competition for acouple of years.My captaining career began promisingly when I won the toss."We'll field," I announced confidently. The decision waspremature. When I rounded up my team to give them a peptalk I found that we had only eight players present. Worsestill, all three recognised bowlers were missing.As we took the field, I approached Shane Baker, who hadbeen selected as a spinner. "You're opening," I said, trying tosound authoritative."But I'm a spinner," he replied."Try to spin them a bit fast," I ventured.As Shane bravely completed the first over, most of thedeliveries landing on the concrete strip, I contemplated withhorror bowling the next over myself. Fortunately as thisbizarre possibility loomed before me, the first of the missingbowlers, Mark Feeley, arrived. Over the next half a dozenovers the remaining bowlers fronted up. In the circumstanceswe did quite well in restricting them to 183.The earlier averted disaster then ensued. I batted number 5,strolling to the crease with the score at 3-5. Before Ireceived my first ball it was 4-5. I carefully took guard asBrett Hannam glided in to bowl.42