CGJ vs Morgan Sindall Construction, 13th July, 2016

Still riding the wave of our victorious draw with Balfour Beatty at Old Silhillians a couple of weeks before, we had a tactical change of venue and made our way to Dorridge Cricket Club for our most-anticipated meeting with Morgan Sindall.

Dorridge is always a popular venue because of the close proximity of the bar to the waiting area, assisting with the refreshment of the two teams. Unfortunately, CGJ’s proposed method of gaining advantage was foiled by the Morgan Sindall team abstaining from even a drop of the amber nectar before the match.

The double sided coin was tossed, CGJ lost again, and Morgan Sindall opened the batting.

It was quite a nervous start for CGJ, as the arrival of certain members of the team were delayed, so they started the match with their ribs showing and filled out nicely by the 9th over. Whilst most of us played football with a “rush” goalie as children, this is the first time I’ve seen a cricket played with a “rush” fielder!

Alex Whitelaw and James Lawley in particular put in a fearsome display of batting.

Good shows also from Brian Wiley, Rishi Patel and Andy Webb, amongst a host of other talented players, who between them showed Coles Grant & Jones that they were a force to be reckoned with.

They managed to knock two balls into the status of “lost and never to be seen again” and in total managed to score a total of 160 runs.

Following a short interlude the CGJ team took up the batting putting the young guns in to bat first.

Will Briscoe and Phil Davies took to the crease with high hopes, sadly they were bowled out rather quickly by the skills of the Morgan Sindall bowlers, leaving Charlie Briscoe and Alister Coles to pick up where they left off.

Charlie eventually handed over to Ashley Jones and Alister to his dad, Craig. By the end of the twenty overs, the remaining members of the CGJ team had manged to clock up 142 runs, and graciously conceded defeat.

Both the victorious and the defeated retired to the Pavilion for some much needed refreshment from the bar & a fantastic curry.

We trust that all the Morgan Sindall team enjoyed the night; well done to them on the 18 runs that scored their victory – we’ll meet again next year and settle the score. Really….