Woodham Mortimer. Woodham Mortimer.
Match Report Date 27/04/2025 Oppo Woodham Mortimer (a) Type 40 Overs Report by Dale Vince The O’s set their sights again, on deepest darkest Essex, this time at Woodham Mortimer CC, near Maldon which many O’s fans have no fond memories of. A shock defeat in the first round of the FA Cup to Maldon & Tiptree in 2021 which ledto Carl Fletcher’s inevitable sacking. His time in post, lasting just about as long as Captain Jack! His day will come, though, but to have any hope of earning the honour of captaincy again, he needs to improve his punctuality. After a few too many sherbets in Woodford the night before, he was 20 minutes late to the agreed pick-up location in Tesco car park, Leytonstone, despite living the closest to the agreed meet location out of Hayes, Daji and Buck! Onto the game itself, the O’s were buoyed by the return of skipper Ian Richardson, his 500th wicket looming, could this be the day?! The sun was beaming and the O’s batted first in this 40 over game. Opening for the O’s was Stef Minkey and Liam Mulholland, who got us underway on a steady footing facing some tough bowling on a surface that kept low. Stef departed for 8, and Vince entered the crease. Over a decade since the Mulholland brothers last partnered each other for the O’s, they established a solid partnership, reaching a century before Vince was caught for 33. The O’s 105-2. Nigel and Andy, quickly followed with the O’s now 124-4. In came John Hayes, hoping to beat his duck last week and record score of 1 for the club. After a shaky start, he hit two virtually identical shots, one careering for 4 and other only going long enough for 2 runs. Had the boundary not been in the next county, he would almost certainly have hit two consecutive boundaries. Alas, Liam was next to go, bowled for 39, Buck entered the field of play and swiftly left it, golden duck. The O’s had collapsed. Hiscock came in to shore up the O’s, a tough spell of bowling from John Rogers and Tripathi limited the O’s run scoring and Matt fell for a duck from a good delivery which looked to swing. I think they call it, a bad leave. Daji came in looking to be aggressive but cautious as the O’s still had some overs to play with. A change of bowler saw Hayes bowled for 7. Skipper Ian Richardson kept himself at the crease for a reasonable time, but Daji was where the runs were coming from with Ritzy eventually departing for a 12 ball duck. Daji hit some impressive shots, but the most impressive was the 6 out of the ground and into the road before being bowled on the penultimate ball and Danny Whittam having only faced 1 ball. The O’s finished on 158. With lunch successfully quashed, it was the O’s turn to bowl. Opening the bowling was overseas player Daji, with Hiscock bowling from the opposite end for the early spell of Woodham Mortimer’s innings. Woodham Mortimer started steadily, Hiscock had a chance of an early wicket as the batsmen went for a big shot. Skipper, Ritzy, immediately cried ‘Feliiiiiiixxxxxxxx’ to come in from the boundary and make the catch, unfortunately, he dropped it. A few moments later, an almost identical shot was played. This time, Hiscock, politely pleads with the Kiwi, ‘Felix please’ he shouts, and it worked. Woodham Mortimer 25-1. Bala was joined by Ali at the crease, who could only put on a score of 2 having been caught by Vince. Two wickets for Hiscock and Woodham Mortimer 45-2. In came number 4, Pearson who put on an impressive partnership with Bala, the next wicket fell at 120, Ritzy’s 500th, and the 4th shortly after with the O’s Woodham Mortimer now 120-4 after a daisy cutter of a delivery from Liam Mulholland that caught that batsmen out as he departed for a golden duck. Bala retired on 50 which was a relief to the O’s. Ritzy was after his 501st wicket after the taste of the 500th, there's still life in the old boy! With Woodham Mortimer chasing the win, they were going for big shots and Ritzy was tempting them in with his bowling prowess. Wilkes has gone for a 4 leg side, in similar fashion to our very own Hayes but has picked out Hiscock who takes a lovely catch which seals half a century +1 of wickets for the skipper. What a moment. Unfortunately, we lost the ball thanks to some huge sixes from tailender Nawaz and the O’s eventually fell to a 5 wicket loss. It wasn’t to be for the O’s, and the inquest shortly began post-match. But news of a surprise BBQ put on by our hosts soon perked the O’s up and the team soaked in the remaining Sunday sun with a few beers and chat of the O’s chances of promotion, politics of the day, Jack Baker Merry’s Whatsappcontacts, John Hayes’ attendance at Lord John Cryer’s wedding and what the O’s can do put things right next week. Next game: Sunday 4th May - Great Canfield 2pm
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© Dave Revell