Aug, 2011 – Amphibians and Banana Skins Overcome in Fuji

JCL: Sharks vs Adore at Fuji2, 28.08.11
By Anton Lloyd-Williams

Was it Manager Lollback who first called Adore our “perennial banana skin” or did he call them something else? Regardless, the Sharks were still smarting at the memories of our first game of the season some months ago. Full of champions’ pomp and still reeking of champagne, we had sauntered down to Fuji to pick up the scalp of JCL newbies Adore and get our title defence underway. We had quickly imploded with the bat, giving wickets away to anyone who wanted one and had then bowled limply enough to engineer a deserved defeat against an efficient side who relied on doing the basics well without the need for any fireworks. Added to this, a string of cancelled games and another loss had left us in a precarious position in JCL1, making this a “must win game”.

After a lengthy detour around the sights of Fuji city, caused by an overly zealous taxi driver who claimed to know a route that had no traffic lights (or cricket pitch at the end of it) 10 Sharks arrived at a dampish Fuji 2 with enough mental baggage to add to their kit and fine array of new, un-knocked in bats. Captain Pat was already there with his family and had assembled his tent to establish Camp Shark within sniffing distance of the Portaloos. We wasted no time in unpacking the Sharks traveling circus and applying liberal amounts of factor 50 and zinc cream, so liberally in fact, that Chris T and StatNav looked like a mime double act.

Captain Pat assembled the squad and reminded one and all of the need to banish our demons and get on with winning this game. The fielding practice showed that his words had been taken on board and everyone indicated they were more than willing to put themselves on the line for this crucial clash.

In some bizarre manner, Pat actually won the toss and with the morning humidity still thick, invited Adore to bat. Umpires Kei and Satoshi from FFE took up their positions, the noisy Sharks moved into the fielding ring, the Adore openers Yamanouchi and Hashiba trotted out and, under clear skies, it was game on!

Vicky was chosen to open up from the Pavilion end and his very first ball reared up on a perfect line, hit something and swerved away into Rasib’s waiting gloves. All Sharks went up but Umpire Kei was unmoved, perhaps thinking that the ball had shaved an arm. With feathers ruffled, Vicky continued with an over of aggressive, testing deliveries that Yamanouchi did well to survive.

There wasn’t much relief from the other end. Navin bustled in and bowled an intelligent line, drawing the batsmen out and then getting one to dart back in. It was clear to see that the batsmen were having a pretty torrid time settling against Vicky’s pace and Navin’s movement and only edges were producing runs at little more than 2 an over. Added to this, a determination in the field, particularly from Charles, bolting around the field like an amphetamined Jack Russell during a mass breakout at a Guinea Pig show, meant that the pressure building up on the batsmen soon produced results. 

In the 3^rd over Vicky sent an absolute snorter through Yamanouchi’s defences and Rasib did well to avoid the off stump that cartwheeled towards him. Navin then cleaned up new batsman Shoji in the next over with a subtle drifter before Vicky rearranged Hashiba’s middle peg with another brute. 5 overs gone and Adore reeling at 13 for 3. Hayashi and Nakazawa managed to hold out for a while but rode their luck with both bowlers sending the ball past the edge two or three times an over. Sagar switched with Vicky and immediately found a good line and length that had the batsmen in all sorts of bother. Between overs they could do little more than congratulate each other for still being out there and given the quality of the bowling, they had every reason to do so.

With Rasib cutting off anything that came through to him behind the stumps, the runs had long since dried up. The same could not be said of the deeper outfield. The River end boundary was basically a swamp and local flora and fauna fans will be pleased to hear that several species of amphibian including the Kajika Frog (Buergeria Japonica) were seen to be flourishing there in healthy numbers. This meant that boundaries were at a premium; only 2 fours in the entire Adore innings. However, it also made fielding in these areas tricky. Anton sank up to his ankles retrieving a well-struck Nakazawa shot from the deep fine leg area and was lucky that Charles was on hand to complete the return of the ball to the stumps. The fielders were pleased to report that during the extrication process from the goo there was a sighting of the increasingly rare Tago’s Brown Frog (Rana Tagoi Tagoi). Sagar was not be denied his man for long though and sent Nakazawa back to the hutch with a snappily taken caught and bowled just before drinks at 15 overs gone.

Following refreshments, Dave and Pat took up the cause, again giving both batsmen plenty to shake their heads at. Pat soon accounted for Hayashi, clean bowled for a hard earned 16. Tight bowling from Dave, combined with committed fielding from the tireless Tomiyama, kept the scoreboard sleepy. However, given the state of the 2-paced pitch and boundary killing outfield, the Sharks knew it was imperative to roll through the rest of the batting line up without delay.

The opening bowlers returned for their second spells and duly obliged. Navin quickly ruined Sasaki’s woodwork with a clever piece of bowling, drawing the batsman further out towards off peg before sending one straight through the gate. Vicky simply continued where he had left off, bowling with genuine pace, menace and laser-guided accuracy to account for Kurihara (caught brilliantly by Chris T at silly mid off), Mori (bowled) and Tsuchiya (bowled). Hagiwara had shown a gritty resistance with a nice range of tennis strokes but couldn’t resist swatting Nazrul to Charles at point. Adore all out for 92. It was an outstanding performance from the Sharks attack, particularly from Vicky who had his mojo working from ball1. His fivefer was thoroughly deserved and it was only due to the other bowlers snapping up wickets that he didn’t get more. It was also good to see Nazrul pick up his first Sharks wicket as well. The bowlers were well supported by a fielding display that was busy, tight and noisy all in good measure.

Lunch was taken with the Sharks in high spirits but as we all know the Sharks can throw away a match easier than an NHK licence fee reminder. Pat was eager to stress that the job was but half done and on this track, the second half would be no cakewalk.

Dave and Navin opened the Sharks reply, putting caution first and finding their way carefully through the first few overs. Japanese sides are well known for the quality of their fielding andAdore proved to be no exception with several firmly struck shots stopped by well placed fielders and swift closing down. While the bowlers could not offer much as regards pace, they more than made up for this with their relentless accuracy which kept the batsmen honest and the scoreboard frustratingly sluggish. Shimada was bowling a playable line and length but at a speed that seemed disorientatingly slow given his action. Having played himself in Navin got mixed up by Shimada hypnotizer that rapped him on the pads. Umpire Kei duly raised the finger of death.

Charles came in at 3 and plugged away gamely with Dave who was by now beginning to find gaps with the middle of the bat. Both continued to advance the score slowly, getting poor value for good shots from the sticky outfield. Charles held back his usual smash and bash style after twice edging the ball onto his headgear and he was finally undone by a cutter from Tsuchiya that he left alone to complete its path to off stump. After a thorough and lengthy analysis Charles concluded that, given all variables, there was a probability of 1, with standard deviation of 0 and statistical significance of <0.05, that the ball had hit the stumps which was why he was out. 2 wickets down for 29 runs. Not great, but given the circumstances, not bad either.

Pat was next up and the batsmen soon started filling the ground with the lovely sound of cricket ball on sweet spot, Dave in particular cracking some powerful cuts into the outfield. They had to earn their runs though as anything short of the boundary stayed exactly where it fell and the Adore fielders were intent on fighting to the very end. The bowlers too put their backs into it with Tsuchiya finding a good amount of testing swing while Nakazawa got the occasional one to lift alarmingly. Not in the face please!!!

The scoreboard’s sedate progress was punctuated by two whopping Lollback pulls over deep square leg but as the score trickled toward 70 Pat skied a drive into the hands of mid off. Nazrul marched out, full of purpose, intent on troubling the scorers whose senses were now being assailed by Sagar knocking in a new bat with a mallet, a foot from the scorebooks. Dave had other ideas though and called Naz through for a semi-suicidal second run that found the new man short by half a yard. Back under canvas without even facing a ball. Cricket can be cruel, especially when Dave’s playing.

A zinc blanched Thurgate took up the reins and played a classic innings of dot balls and sixes before playing around a Shimada slowie that took his off stump. Vicky joined Dave who rightfully hit the winning runs fending off a face bound lifter from Mori. It was a great innings of patience and skill from Dave who top scored with 43 n.o. on a batting surface that everyone found a challenge. The Sharks won by 5 wickets and within 30 overs, meaning a valuable bonus point.

In this game we banished a fair few demons and gave our League position a boost. Everyone played their part in this victory be it with ball, bat or in the field and it was a satisfied bunch of players that dragged their sunburned and weary bones back off to the station for the long trip home. Appreciation to Adore for a good game played in a good spirit and many thanks to Kei and Satoshi for their umpiring.aracer.mobiраскруткапродвижениекак взломать страницу в одноклассникахаквалоо ценазаказать онлайн кредитную карту в украинеcasino online bet at homedubai chinese escortscasino oyunuCasino tipsэкстримальный туризммикс файт братево