Ashford CCAshford CC vs Frimley Green Cricket ClubFGCC

The opposition won the toss and chose to bat, though their delayed arrival pushed the start to 1pm even though the toss was done at 12:15pm with an intention to start at 12:30pm. We began well: a maiden first over and a wicket for Naren in the second. But dropped catches and some very generous (read biased) umpiring towards the batting side let their innings gather momentum.

Ritesh struck twice, though even his clean nick-to-keeper dismissal sparked an odd scene: their players loudly berating their own leg umpire for giving it out. Looks like their club had a secret pact of not giving such outs. We kept our composure through all this and carried on without arguing. Wickets from Anuj and Swaroop followed, and at 180/6 after 30 overs we were well in control. But the last 10 overs were expensive, and they surged to 285, with us taking eight wickets overall.

After Tea, the chase began later than planned, and the opposition’s long field setups and slow over rate didn’t help. Early wickets fell in a strange pattern with Amit, Pinang and Ankur caught at mid-off by the same bowler-fielder combination.

A steady partnership between Swaroop and Anuj revived the innings, both reaching the mid-40s before Anuj nicked to the keeper and walked off himself before the umpire even lifted his finger. It was the kind of sportsmanship the match badly needed.

Our skipper joined Swaroop and immediately accelerated, and soon the opposition were visibly rattled - arguing over wides, no-balls, and even among themselves for loose fielding. Match was getting more and more delayed because of this and our warnings of losing daylight was not being heeded. With Manoj and Swaroop at the crease, the momentum had swung sharply our way. Boundaries flowed, the target shrank, and with under 60 needed in eight overs, victory was just few overs away.

Then came the flashpoint: a chest-high full toss given as no-ball. Their captain sprinted in from the boundary, their entire team surrounded the umpire, and shouting followed, including F-words by the opposition players. One of their own fielders admitted it was a no-ball, only to be dismissed by their skipper as “too young to judge.” We tried to reason it out with them but they were in no mood to listen and threatened to stop playing altogether. We were also fed up with their constant bickering and it wasn’t fun playing anymore with them. Manoj and Swaroop called off the game and started to walk away. But then their skipper had a change of mind and asked them to stay back and continue the game.

After a long, draining delay, and some discussions between the captains, Manoj and Swaroop reluctantly agreed to continue, but by then the light had faded and the enjoyment had evaporated. Manoj and Swaroop tried to resume, but the ball was barely visible. With the atmosphere soured and daylight gone, we called the game off.

Swaroop was on 70 and lost on the opportunity to have his second century of the season. Manoj was also just 4 runs away from his half century. And the team possibly lost a memorable win. Unfortunate, but the way the opposition behaved, and due to loss of daylight, there was no point in continuing with the game. The game was abandoned and the day ended on a sore point.