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June England is at
peace and all is right with the world! In the shadow
of Cholmondeley Castle, on the ancient turf that
has seen so much of the history of the venerable
game, at a time of day when the sun was gently sinking
behind the Bickerton hills and the cool westerly
wind was dying, on a ground that was voted the most
beautiful in all Cheshire, the annual cricket match,
for the 'Day' trophy, took place between Table and
41.
Such was the tension, such was
the passion that over thirty men turned out to see
fair play and honour done. 41 won the toss and elected
to bat. The opening pair, giant like, strode to
the crease and within five overs had knocked 50.
Ten more overs followed and by the end 41 were a
magnificent 109 for 5.
Table were in, a slow start but
then their confidence seemed bolstered as John Arthen
dropped the simplest of catches! At 65 for 7, chairman
of Table Mike 'Ratty' Ratcliffe was next in, the
long walk out to the crease gave him time to take
in the cunning lie of the 41 field, calling for
"middle and off" from his partner Ratty
took guard, his one good eye glinting in the last
rays of the evening sunshine, Tim Everson, bowling
from the castle end, started his run, his medium
paced attack had kept Table in check for most of
the innings. Ratty, his one eye locked on the ball
swung his bat, the ball passed both Ratty and his
bat before going on to demolish his wicket, Ratty
was left with that long walk back to the pavilion,
his duck seemed to take what little steam remained
out of Table who after their allotted 15 overs were
held to 77 for 9, the honours going to 41.
There was food and ale aplenty
in the clubhouse, trophies were presented and speeches
made. The raffle was drawn and more ale consumed
before the contented teams started to drift homeward.
Such memorable evenings are few and far between;
they must be cherished and reminisced over until
they are locked in the folklore of Tabling for ever!
Click
here for the pictures
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