Report by Olly Rex:
2014 saw the long awaited return of the charity six-aside tournament to the Romsey cricketing calendar. Andy Owen had originally organised a few back in the noughties, when once a year a bunch of cricketers of various levels of ability would descend on Fitz, smack a few balls to the boundary, drink some beer, eat some burgers, have a great time and, most importantly, raise money for a great cause in the process. When his daughter Catherine decided to organise an event as the Extended Project she was undertaking at school it seemed only logical to revive the six aside tournament which had enjoyed such a good run under the watch of her dad. Unfortunately, the day it was originally organised on, Monday August 25, was just about the worst of the summer, and it seemed for a moment that disaster had struck and that the great idea would end up as nothing more than that. Luckily all was not lost: Remnants and the CB XI agreed to cancel the friendly fixture they had organised for the following Sunday, allowing the tournament to go ahead in its place.
This time the weather was no problem at all, as those who turned up enjoyed a day full of sunshine and pleasantly devoid of any disruptive showers. After most people had helped themselves to one of Rog Shelley's tasty breakfast rolls it was time for the cricket to get underway. Seven teams had made it, including Andy Owen's not-so-imaginatively named Romnants, and Richard Rex's even-less-imaginatively named The Rexes, made up entirely of him and his sons (who, funnily enough, had first been introduced to the joys of Remnants cricket in the 2006 edition of Andy's tournament as part of Rob Harvey's Windsor Road team).
The rules for the matches were fairly straightforward: innings would consist of five overs, one bowled by each member of the fielding team excluding the 'keeper; fours would score 6 runs, sixes would score 10; and, most worryingly, no-balls and wides would cost the bowler 4 runs and be re-bowled. In order to give everyone a go there was also a requirement that no-one could open in two consecutive games, something that would prove important later on.
Group A consisted of Romnants, The Rexes, St Radegund and the CB XI. The first four games in the group followed an eerily similar pattern, as both Romnants and The Rexes dismissed their opposition for around 50 and chased their targets with minimal fuss. For Romnants Dave Clark, Arnie Garside and Mihir bowled very tightly, backed up well by the evergreen Malcolm Creek who, at 69, remained lightning quick behind the stumps. Rexes Max and Henry both bowled beautifully, while Seb hit a beautiful cover drive that led many to speculate that he might be the best batsman in the family.
This all meant that the last two games in the group were both deciders of a kind, as Romnants and the Rexes battled it out to top the group while the CB XI and St Radegund had a winner-takes-all encounter where the loser would exit the tournament. The Rexes lost the toss against Romnants, and consequently they had to set a target for the first time in the tournament. Good bowling from the likes of Arnie Garside and Mihir Chandraker prevented them from getting out of reach, and they finished on 72 off 5 overs. Richard Rex bowled a beautiful first over, in which he conceded only 4 runs (all from a single wide), and from there the Rexes never looked back, holding on to win by 10 runs. In the other game the CB XI had a horror show with the bat against St Radegund, and it was only thanks to a last wicket partnership 24 that they managed to make their way to 36. The St Radegund chase started poorly, an exceptional over from "Dave F." leaving them reeling at 1-1, but some good hitting from Jack Anderson saw them home comfortably in the end.
Group B started off in explosive fashion, with A. Khan of Borough Green smashing 51 to reach the first retirement of the tournament, including one huge six that ended up somewhere on Oxford Road. This allowed them to set NCI an imposing 110 to win, and though some big hits from Young (49*) got them close, they eventually and somewhat inevitably fell short. This meant that NCI vs. Coton was a must-win for the former, but Coton openers "Bobby" and Sharma made light work of the target of 57 they set. This meant that the winner of the final game between Borough Green and Coton would go straight into the semi-finals, whereas the loser would face an eliminator against St Radegund. Borough Green would have been disappointed to only set Coton 60 to win, especially when Sharma smacked 8 off the first two balls of the chase. At this stage, however, everyone realised that Sharma wasn't supposed to be opening this time, and so the innings restarted. This time instead of being a healthy 8/0 off two balls Coton were a problematic 3/1 off the first over, and good death bowling from George Talbot meant that Borough Green prevailed in a tense finish by 3 runs.
The eliminator between the St Rad and Coton started with a bang, as boundaries were scored off three of the first four deliveries. Two run outs and some tight bowling, though, saw Coton fight their way back into the match, eventually restricting Radegund to 53. Sharma, back opening again, struck 43* to see Coton home and take them into the semis.
The semi-finals came next, with Romnants taking on Borough Green first. Borough Green had been the best batting side in the tournament thus far, but two wickets for Dave Norman threatened to derail their innings. Shawali led the recovery with some massive hits, though, and the 94 they set was likely to prove a tough chase for Romnants. Dave Norman, despite being hampered by a recurring knee injury, played the innings of the tournament as he smashed 52*, but after his retirement Romnants lost momentum and once again the death bowling of Talbot ushered in another Borough Green victory.
In the other match Coton faced the Rexes, who lost the toss and batted first. Their innings only included three boundaries, one of which was an enormous hit by Ferdi which destroyed someone's garden shelf, but energetic running between the wickets, particularly by Max, gave them a decent total of 77. Wickets for Henry and Ferdi allowed them to get on top, but the entry of Sharma gave Coton a chance. He struck some good blows in the penultimate over, leaving them with an unlikely 28 to win off the last 6 balls. Olly's first two balls went for just one, and the game seemed all but won. Sharma, though, had other ideas, smashing the next three balls to - or over - the boundary, leaving Coton with 5 to win off the last ball. Sharma middled another, but a great high -pressure stop by Henry on the boundary kept them to two and secured the match. Geoff Hales observed afterwards that a Sharma drive which had crashed into the non-striker rather than continuing on to the boundary was the difference in the end.
The Final was thus Borough Green vs. the Rexes. The Rexes bowled first, once again opening with patriarch Richard, who had conceded only one boundary in four games so far. It did not go so well this time, though, as the Borough Green openers took him on. He did claim a deserved wicket, but at the end of the first over the batting side were sitting pretty on 28/1. A fantastic over from Max, however, along with a barely credible boundary catch from Ferdi, brought the Rexes right back into the game. The last 11 balls of the innings went for just 17, and with Borough Green finishing on 75 the game was very much in the balance. Ferdi then hit three boundaries in the first over of the chase to put the Rexes on top, but some good bowling meant that when he retired for a fantastic 50* there was still work to do, especially with the so-far miserly Talbot set to bowl the final over in diminishing light. Luckily Olly located the middle of the bat at the right time, and together with Richard he guided The Rexes home with two balls to spare. Either of the two finalists would have been worthy winners, and it was a great match with which to end a great tournament.
After Richard Rex was presented with the trophy was the much-anticipated raffle. With some great prizes on offer it was a brilliant way to end the day, and most people went home with prizes of one kind or another. Thanks also went out to a number of other people who had been vital to the success of the whole thing, including Rog Shelley, who manned the barbecue, Dave Norman, who provided the ground, Dave Green and Geoff Hales, helped with scoring and umpiring respectively and of course Catherine's parents Andy and Denise. Most importantly over GBP 700 was raised for the Fen Edge Association For The Learning Disabled and The British Heart Foundation, the charities Catherine had chosen to support.