He wasn't but it's good a line not to use... In truth it was a strange old afternoon.
Our roving reporter was a little late arriving and was confronted by two unexpected things, Fleckney batting AND doing it rather well. Sure the run rate was a little leisurely but the measure of control was somewhat disconcerting.
If the idea of a decent opening partnership was difficult to get your head around the fact it was still going after 30 odd overs with 130 on the board would require a Stephen Hawking prodigy to comprehend.
Now if you looking into the small print of the club constitution you will doubtless discover a couple of clauses that came into play at this point:-
Clause 1 As soon as you post on WhatsApp that things are going well the good luck will cease. Exit Michael Dunkley for a well nurdled 50 odd Clause 2 No batsman shall carry his bat. Therefore with 4 balls to go Andy Holmes managed to get into a mid wicket 'excuse me' with Furbs going for a quick single. The cream of the BBC finishing with 70 which was probably a kind of blessing as the exertions of such a long innings was causing him to pant heavily in a kind of manner which, in another environment, would cause BT to ban him as a nuisance caller
. There was a suspicion that the score would not quite be enough but that didnt stop a concerted Duckhunters fightback that led to The Claw bowling his man first ball, taking one other wicket and somehow failing to take a third despite the ball thudding into the stumps but not dislodging the bails.
At 80 for 5 just after drinks (2 for Yakesh and one for Frank) the game seemed to be in the balance but a further breakthrough didn't come. It wasnt for want of trying but the ball didnt seem to drop right or inside edges missed the stumps. It just felt like a day when it wasnt meant to be but on a lovely afternoon against amiable opponents and months of lockdown and bad news nobody seemed to bother too much. Well, unless you had money on a Duckhunters win of course but if you had such a betting slip it was probably time for your afternoon nap and following therapy anyway.
In memory of Ian Wallace.