40 over game
VCC win by 81 runs; 250 for 8
SCC 169 all out

Some time after the match, this report has been put off by me, Yuri, your humble comrade commissar Premier. Partially down to my work intensity and impending twins but also to my head straightening out the events of the match. There is no doubt that the VCC won fair and square. That kind of a margin is by no means an accident and by an examination of the figures the splendid knock of 101 that Atif Iqbal produced was stupendous. But in flashback I think we dropped a dozen catches. Two by me but many of us produced fantastic drops. Odd as we were so tight up until now.

Anyhow, here is a slightly cut price match report from a very tired Premier. Tiredness that cannot be visited upon our captain of the day, comrade commissar Marx. We were into the field first at the most beautiful cricket ground at Culford School cricket pitch in Suffolk. The weather was a mix of sunshine and cloud plus one or two brief spells of spittle. I always love that thatched pavilion.

Trickski swizzleoff and myself chucked a splendid load of overs first. The openers for VCC being Iqbal and Savitt, better known to ourselves as comrade commissar Jontin. At this point I will state only fact. there was disquiet at the delivery of over energetic bouncers at a Sunday match. Their presence disquieted Savitt and an abrupt change in pace in the following over presented a catch to Busteroff off myself. But the whole effect was disquieting across the afternoon to some degree greater or small.

Iqbal was glorious and batted in nicely. Winn replaced Savitt but was LBW from Trickski. There was a call for LBW against Iqbal which was questionably not given, but the question is always asked fairly for one team and unfairly for the other and normally in equal measure.

Oppo Stocko was caught behind off ChipMunkski for 17 then a lull as Iqbal carried on. captain Marx owned Patel for 28 then his son Busteroff saw Yorke caught behind for 10. A retirement for Iqbal at 101. One cannot be more grateful for a sportsmanlike withdrawal from the field!! Top marks though, Iqbal.

Soldya dispatched Cobra caught behind and then bowled Ewing. Good bowling comrade commissar. Then the last wicket was Williams caught Soldya off comrade Yankeroff, aka Hirst. The VCC total now 250 with 101 from one man.

The detail hidden in the brevity is the catching which was shocking. I can say that so boldly as I dropped two. The first was a hopeless back track off one of my own balls, backing up I was aware of impending stumps and my anus. Got fingers but dropped. The second a fast bounce out at middle on. Crap. And sadly I was not alone and many of us rejected the nasty all rather than hold onto it. Ah well.

OUR INNINGS
And so to bat and all we have before us is a miserly 250. Openers were comrade commissar captain Marx and son, Busteroff. We were off and our captains stoical style provided Buster with a familiar foil. There work fended off opening bowlers Flew and Bear and brought in Wynn and Hitu. The former taking Busteroff for 40 caught. Sewelski in and then run out off Hitu. The decision was questioned but accepted with stiffened Candour and before bedtime, all were friends. A bit.

Now the younger Marx, Trickski comes in. This then edged the score along to 117 with Trickski scoring 38 until caught off Hitu. The opening now filled by Robski whose improving scores have been a splendid source of reassurance. An always welcome double figure of 14 from Robski was terminated from a stumping off Cobra. Brandonovski was determined to bed in with Dorothy the dotter specialist and in surprise produced a boundary four. But Cobra twirled a twizzler and he was caught Atif for 4.

Yankeroff and ChipMunkski were in and out all too soon all off Cobra. And Captain Marx was taken off York for 43. Soldya produced a couple of boundary 4s and will be dreaming of those for some time and watched Ilyeva and myself come in and out, my trailing back foot again providing a bouncing obstacle for the ball to hit the stumps. That was our lot, all out.

So comrades, what do we draw from this. Firstly, face the pain and write the match report very soon after so that the memory is clearer and less glib. Secondly, more field practice again. Thirdly, let us retain the desire to have fun first and foremost and stick the Sunday ethic. But apart from that, let us not forget that we did score 169 which is not rubbish and that if we had held some of those catches, we may have had a significantly better result.

Onwards comrades to Somerset. That game looks like it will be a superb SCC outing. We shall be ardently SCC in makeup and consequently perhaps, more fragile. But let us redouble our efforts, brush up our banter and break out the beers and schnapps!

Do Svidaniya comrades! Yuri