After some administrative stuff-ups, the usual Romsey convoys headed south-west, across the M11, to the mythical village of Longstowe. Everyone found the town okay, but some of us couldn't find the ground and had to resort to asking a group of ``You're not from 'round 'ere''-style locals for help. One of them -- I kid you not -- was holding a dog turd in his hand, and so it's perhaps surprising that their directions were both clear and accurate. Once located, the ground revealed itself to be a little pastoral idyll, surrounded by sheep and horse paddocks (cf. the herds of cows at Newton), as well as bordering a rather nice old church.
All very nice, but it seemed pretty clear a pretty view was all we'd get today, as there'd been steady rain all morning, The weather certainly played a role in proceedings -- it went from warm and humid, to miserable and cold, to drizzle, and then finally to a gloriously sunny evening -- but somehow we got an interrupted game.
Longstowe won the toss, and batted, which was a mistake -- whereas they had to field when the ground (and hence the ball) was rather wet, we bowled in humid conditions that saw the ball swinging all over the place. Andy Owen (0/22) and Daniel Mortlock (1/26) were tight without making the most of the conditions; and so the bowling duties were handed over to Rog Shelley (3/44) and Neal Baker (3/55) who, between them, got rid of the middle order before the 100 was up. By the end of the innings Longstowe were reduced to trying to bat out their overs, at least their number 10 got the hump and clubbed 20 off the last over of the innings in most impressive fashion, taking his team to an almost respectible 146. This wasn't just our bowlers' doing, either -- the whole side fielded well, with just the one dropped catch and maybe half a dozen runs given away (although several of those were the result of ex-Longstowe player Rod Dennis kicking the ball over the boundary at one point, and so we must consider the possibility that we've allowed an enemy agent into our XI).
Tea was perfectly timed to coincide with the worst of the rain, but had little else to recommend it. If there'd been any sweetc*** in evidence it would have been a 5/10; if the baguettes used for the cheese sandwiches hadn't been evidence it would have been a 5/10; as it was, these small mercies made it a solid 6/10.
Full of plain ham sandwiches, Tony Desimone (37) and Phil Bradford (44) set about making light work of the Longstowe total. The better of the opening bowlers conceded only 15 or so off seven overs, keeping Tony tied down, even if he rarely looked like taking a wicket. Things weren't so rosy at the other end, though, Phil going on something of a rampage, hitting 20 off one over and landing one shot on the distant clubhouse roof. By the time he was out we'd scored 61 in less than 10 overs, the required run rate was down below three, and the match was effectively over. Rich Savage (38*) and Tony then settled down to perfect their cuts and pulls and despite two late wickets, the winning runs were hit with 12 overs to spare.
A fairly comfortable victory in the end, and again a match in played in good spirit, but no real indicator of whether we'll be able to match it with the current league leaders (Elmdon and Cokenach) in the race for promotion.