Eastons CC. Eastons CC.
Match Report Date 19/04/26 Oppo Eastons (a) Type 35 Overs Report by Ollie 'Bucket Hands' Buck As the days grew longer, and the sun shone brighter, this meant only one thing… the cricket season has returned. It has been a busy off season for The O’s, firstly with the recruitment team working overdrive to secure some new talent to join the roster. Head selector’s key requirements were: “It would be nice if they could bat and bowl a bit, but most importantly, can they drive?”. Well, unfortunately none of the new recruits can drive, but hopefully they can play a bit… time will tell. Secondly, Chief Financial officer Ollie Buck had secured primary sponsors for LOSCC this season, with Masala India, Leyton’s finest, family ran Tiffin establishment backed the O’s financially, knowing they were aligning with Leyton based excellence and supremacy (Oh how Buck had sold them a dream). As Buck handed over the funds to the club’s board, skipper Ian Richardson could be seen stuffing the wads of cash deep in the depths of his cricket bag… “Yeah, I’ll definitely make sure this makes it’s way to the treasurer son”. He could be later seen ordering a new top of the range bat & excitedly messaging his wife Faye to start looking at cruises… totally unrelated we’re sure. After the skipper had finished counting his cash, he headed out to the crease for the crucial toss, and whilst season’s may change, the skipper’s luck does not and he loses the toss (he hasn’t won one still for over a year). Eastons elected to bat first, so The O’s headed out to field, full of confidence. Opening the bowling for The O’s was their first signing, Pratham Batia who pulled on his orange tinted specs and took hold of the new ball. “Trust me skip, our scout says he can do it all”. Pratham looked tidy, with last year’s POTS opening from the other end. The O’s started off tightly, limiting Eastons to only 70 runs, and taking one wicket from Hayes by the time drinks rolled round. As Orient were taking on their half time fluids, Bhatia admitted to his teammates “that’s the first time I’ve ever bowled in an actual game!”… not bad considering, but there were going to be some discussions with the scouting network. Easton’s came back out to crack on after drinks, and crack on they did. With Easton’s notorious R.E.G coming to the crease, and captain and newly appointed vice captain Jake Baker-Merry coming on to bowl, The O’s were to put the sword by our old foe Reg (still vying for revenge following Felix Daji’s send off the season before) who came on to score 6s after 6s over the top of Richardson’s and Baker-Merry’s head and over the conifers in the next village to drag their score up to 224 and set a tricky total for The O’s to chase. Putting the 2nd half of the innings behind them, The O’s head in for what is, one of undoubtably the best Cricket Teas in the Essex region. Homemade pasties and towering Victoria Sponges as far as the eye could see… thank god Richardson did lose that toss. Tea however was tough for some members of The O’s squad, most notably Alan Syrett who was beamoning the absence of his tea boy Felix who was as back on Australian soil. He had a little pop at the recruiters for not factoring in tea making skills into the list of attributes. As The O’s headed out to bat, bellies full of pastries and cake, and that showed with both opening bats Sandeep and Stef losing their wickets within the first few overs. But in the face of adversity, up stepped the one shouldered Paul Elby to drag Orient into the game with a fine 52, and complimented by a tidy 37 from the skipper Ritzy who said “fuck it, I’m 60 now and ain’t gone long left.., I’m playing myself higher up the order this season”. However unfortunately, there wasn’t enough in The O’s batting line up to get anywhere close to the total that Reg had basically set one handed in the final 5 overs, and the O’s lost by 97 runs. “Don’t worry lads, that’s just our warm up game, let’s get into the pub and forget about it” said Ritzy, and proudly led the boys to a pub that was very firmly shut. If that isn’t symbolic of our start to the season then I don’t know what is! The O’s did find a watering hole… back in the pub right next to the cricket green that they should have gone to in the first place! LOSCC selectors, scouts, financial officers and all players chimed in on what we needed to turn things around, and Ansaar helpfully chimed in with another promise of his long awaited catering to fuel the boys in future games… let’s see if any of their plans or promises will come to fruition! Up The O’s.
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© Dave Revell