Carib Beer XI vs St Martin-in-the-Fields,

Regents Park, Tuesday 4th June 2024

The portents for the second game of the season were not good. Caribs reached a new low in team recruitment, struggling to raise even half a team. The Carib weather forecast was for a drizzly and chilly evening. And that was not even issued from Canary Wharf, with its historic Carib form as a contrarian weather indicator for the matches. The official Carib Captain Haigh had to pull out last minute, following a reckless foot injury, so Carib Weave as official Vice, was presented with the news on arrival and complained that he had little time to prepare himself mentally for the task ahead. Carib Haigh tried to acquit himself by taking on the scoring for the match, but the excitement over the appearance of a new smartphone app to replace paper scoring even dulled attention from the relief for team mates of that job being taken care of. At least all three kit bags turned up, amazingly.

With the combination of low numbers and stragglers – stragglers too for St Martin’s, to be fair – play only got under way at 18:30. Though by then the light drizzle had stopped. The usual Carib-toss-avoidance technique of low numbers meant that Caribs batted first. Caribs Moss and Bowen opened up, and taking Swanand’s advice to new ringer, Kumal, literally, they treated it like an old-fashioned Test, not a T20. However, up against St Martin’s best bowlers, Ramesh and Henry, it was hard going. With gloves, leg byes and wides to punctuate the dot balls and wickets, the Caribs were 6 for 3 in the 5th over, as Kunal followed the early departures of the openers.

As the lions in the zoo at the far end began roaring, Swanand strode out to the wicket. And here the fortunes turned. After a customary, “show the maker’s name” shot, followed by a warm up single, Swanand broke into his stride with 3 fours in successive balls. Soon after, Ringer Neethu at the other end took inspiration and struck a fine four to mid-wicket himself.

As St Martin’s kept changing round the bowling, the line became a little more erratic, and the extras started mounting. Meanwhile, Swanand continued with his flourishing strikes, in a languid style reminiscent of some of the great West Indian innings of yesteryear. He finished with a six, pulled just in front of square, retiring after just 14 balls. As Swanand left the wicket, the score had moved on to 50 in the 9th over.

Being so few in number, Caribs Moss Bowen and Weave could all have second bites at the cherry and go in for a second innings. This time, with dogged determination and a focus on running every single available, Carib Moss reached 15 until he was run out going for a second to an extraordinary return from Henry from the far boundary, hitting one stump directly. Not much you can do about that. Ringer Neethu came back for a second innings too, and added a very useful 16, including running himself out sacrificially on the last ball. The outfield was faster than the damp and lush green conditions had led us to believe, but we felt that we had a defendable total in 112 for 9 at 20 overs.

The scorebook even agreed with the on-field use of the app with 112 for 9, though there were some details in allocations of runs.

Doubts were raised about Carib prospects as soon as St Martin’s opened, when Henry hit a fine six in the very first over. But things quickly swung back as Neethu, at the other end, bowled Henry out in the next over. In contrast to the death-or-glory nature of the Carib innings, the St Martin’s innings proceeded steadily. Runs accumulated, but punctuated by regular wickets. At 56 for 3 after 10 overs, however, it was looking promising for St Martin’s. The Caribs, despite missing some of the big beasts in the bowling attack, generally bowled tightly and kept the runs down – and crucially, the extras down. Carib spectators were treated to the rare spectacle of Carib Bowen turning his arm over. The rate was slowing, and with the score at 80 for 4 after 16 overs, St Martin’s were starting to get anxious. One of the noteworthy incidents was a drop from what would have been an excellent overhead caught-and-bowled by Ringer Kunal.

After a valiant and steadying captain’s innings from Matt, 25 not out from 22 balls, higher up the order, there was a little commotion on the fall of the 5th wicket. To get the St Martin’s run rate back on track, Matt looked to subvert the usual convention of letting everyone bat first before not out batters return. With customary pedantry from Scorer Haigh looking to lodge an official complaint with the match referee, Captain Matt withdrew and the innings was able to proceed. Swanand saved up his pace for the final over, bowling out of the dark trees at the zoo end in the gloom of a late, overcast evening, which saw the Caribs home with a creditable 15 run victory over a warm and spirited St Martin’s side. The use of the app had been intermittent in the St Martin’s innings and Matt couldn’t report a score, so there is no telling if it was exactly 15 runs, but that is what is in the scorebook.

Carib Beer XI Win by 15 Runs

Scorecard