Brigands v Strolling Optimists, 30 August 2026
The visitors lived up to their name, sauntering onto Broadhalfpenny Down seemingly carefree that they had arrived without an umpire, scorer (nor even a conventional scorebook!) or a full team – the 11th man arriving half an hour adrift.
So the hosts,accommodating as ever, supplied the missing officials and let the Optimists bat first, hoping they would at least rally to make a good game of an unpromising start.
A limited overs match was agreed and the visitor’s opener D Fox set off rapidly, smiting a six and 3 fours from the first few overs until he was bowled by Richie Hay for 20, the first of the seamer’s brace of castled wickets.
John Brehaut weighed in by trapping lbw the useful looking Mr I’Anson. Jake Peach then ran out the scoreless other opener and when skipper Phil Marsh unwisely took on Lee Gray’s arm and was run out the score was 45 for 5.
The Optimists looked anything but optimistic yet rallied thanks to a decent middle order partnership between J Thorne (35) and F Marsh (11). The stand ended spectacularly when Peach bowled Thorne with the first ball of his over then proceeded to complete a hat-trick that broke the back of the innings: 79 for 8.
The feat also brought up the off-spinner’s 30th wicket, thereby equalling Bernard Marshall’s 1977 clubrecord of 30+ wickets and 300+ runs in a season.
Steve Blackburn polished off the tail via the safe hands of Lee Gray and Dave Streather. And so, the Optimists were all out in 21 overs for a rather pessimistic looking 96.
Given the early start, rapid collapse and fact that the tea urn was still heating up, Brigands batted straight away and flew to their target score inside 16 overs thanks to a strong opening partnership of 88 between Adam Jay (52 not out in 67 balls, with nine fours) and Dave Streather (31 in 41 balls with a six and 4 fours). Skipper Mike Beardall was undefeated on 1 when Adam hit the winning boundary and everyone retired to the marquee for a leisurely feast of the sumptuous fare that Rosie and Mark Flewitt had lovingly prepared. It was fit for a king!
The sun was still high above the beer garden of the Bat & Ball Inn as the rather chastened Optimists trudged back to their cars vowing to come more prepared next time. Optimism can sometimes be a cruel mistress …
Match Report by Graham Peach
Comments