The thwack of leather on willow and the cries of ‘howzat’ could be heard on a gloriously warm and sunny day at the historic ground and home of Royal Navy Cricket, at Burnaby Road, Portsmouth. A total of four closely fought matches in a T20 tournament between Eastern Region, Fleet Air Arm and Royal Marine CC were played over a two day period.
In the first match, Eastern were put into bat by the FAA, scoring 137 for 8, ETME ‘Viv Richards’ making a notable 39. This was then followed by tight bowling and fielding by Eastern and the FAA couldn’t quite catch their total, scoring 130 for 8 with AET Ben Johnson making 35.
In the second match against the RMCC, Eastern were put into bat, making 159 for 7 and again ETME ‘Viv Richard’ being their leading scorer on 56. This was then followed by a very strong performance by Mne Marks (66 not out) and Mne Taylor (51 not out) who made 153 for 2 in 15 overs.
The next day on another gloriously warm and sunny morning, the RMCC were put into bat by the FAA who scored a modest 135 for 7, the highest scorer for the RMCC being CS1 John who scored 62.
The FAA then fought hard against determined RMCC bowling and fielding, grasping victory in the 18th over with 1 wicket to spare.
This then left the scorers with the headache of calculating the run-rate to determine who would be in the final of this closely competed competition and after careful deliberation the final would be a replay of the FAA vs RMCC.
The FAA won the toss and elected to bat on a bright sunny afternoon with a quick outfield.
RMCC had an excellent start with an early and clean wicket of AET Johnson for 1. Carefully placing their field to accurate bowling, the FAA had to work hard for every run. Then a quick stumping put the FAA on 8 for 2 off 2 overs; the RMCC tails were up.
The wicket of AET Frost fell to a terrific high catch by CS1 John at long off; the FAA were now 15 for 3 off 4 overs and struggling.
Undeterred, the FAA buckled down and took their runs where they could, losing another wicket at 47 for 4, then there was a careless run-out at 69 off 11 overs. The fall of the 5th wicket was for 91 in the 14th over AET Ivy who scored a tenacious 13.
The score slowly crept up to 112, when POACMN Woolnough was bowled by Mne Marks; this was a tightly fought game and the FAA settled on an end total of 135 for 6 off 20 overs.
The RMCC started with confidence until LCpl Hewitt drove the ball firmly into the hands AET Anderson at long cover. A second wicket fell at 23, with Mne Marks being caught behind for 3; very much game on.
The FAA then had a bit of a wobble with loose bowling giving too many extras and allowing the RMCC to accelerate to 94 off 10 overs then Mne Taylor was caught in cow corner for 32; but the damage was done and the RMCC were on the path to a victory. CH1 John was then out LBW by CPOAET Stokeld for 38. In his enthusiasm to reach the end total quickly, Mne Horne was stumped for 10.
RMCC cruised to victory in the 18th over, winning by 5 wickets with the final batters in play being Cpl Streather (20 not out) and ASgt Parsons (7 not out).
