Refreshers Norfolk Tour, May 2023
Is there anywhere better to be than north Norfolk in the late spring?
No.
In case there was any doubt, no fewer than THIRTEEN Refreshers assembled more or less on time at Holkham Hall on Saturday 27 May to take on the local side. The pitch was green. Very green. Unsurprisingly, Cannon lost the toss (at some point his ‘tails never fails’ mantra will have to be doubted) and the Refreshers were inserted. Debutant Bryant accompanied non-debutant Stewart to the crease, the latter lasting only a short time. The conditions were, to say the least, tricky for batting, and Bryant’s sensible, patient 61 anchored the innings as around him Refreshers fell regularly, Jory and McAloon each resisting for a time. We finished the innings on 167 from our 40.
Holkham made a fast start, dealing with Fletcher’s away swing competently and racing to 50 off ten overs. Cannon and McAloon pulled things back, taking wickets and restricting scoring, to finish with two and three respectively. Club captain Mohindru then tightened the noose and, with wickets falling regularly, suddenly the total looked a challenge. Sure enough, with four needed to win, and a couple of overs left, the last man was bowled and the Refreshers had won a game that had ebbed and flowed from the off. We repaired to the Saunders residence for barbecued meats and delicious salads as the light (and temperature) faded.
Sunday morning broke and Refreshers arriving early at Aylsham were greeted with a potent bloody mary mixed by Cannon the Younger, leader of the Sugar Beet Gang. A manufactured toss meant the Refreshers batting first again, the 1912 cup glinting mischievously from the scorer’s table. The second bloody mary had done its work on Cannon the Elder, his arithmetic deserting him as he offered the Gang two Refreshers on the basis that they had ten, we had thirteen and such a transfer would make it 12 a side. He remained unaware of his foolishness for some time, racking his addled brain for the twelfth Refresher to fill in on the scorecard, until the penny finally dropped.
In the meantime, Sachin showed no such difficulty, setting about the Gang bowling with studied aggression, unfurling an increasingly magnificent array of shots and appearing to be playing on a different surface to any other Refresher (bar the skipper, Mohindru, who played a very attractive supporting role of 44 in a stand of 120). Sachin was finally out for 140, surely one of the best of all Refreshers innings, and the team finished on a solid 240 from their 40 overs.
As usual, the Sugar Beet Gang had some very good batsmen, and went rollicking along at almost ten an over for the first seven or eight overs, making the Refreshers total feel a bit light. Cannon snared the Aussie opener with a well-disguised moon-ball (which looked for all the world to be an accidental full-toss) and Jory bowled straight and well for very few runs from the Town end. At twenty overs the Gang were at 125, ahead of the rate. More excellent bowling from Mohindru and particularly Spinks restricted scoring and procured a series of wickets, including Cannon the Younger, playing (and missing) a wild flail moments after saying, loudly, to his partner that all they needed to do was patiently accumulate with no real rush. The ebb became a flow; Refreshers were on top; the home side needed eighty from the last ten. Runs came, the irrepressible Willatt (a temporary Gang member for the day) larruping the ball to all corners, and with two overs to go they needed 14, Willatt and the mythical Tom Ash at the crease. Ash was (at least) six cans of lager to the good and played without fear, lashing the ball to the rope off Cannon Senior, and with one to bowl there were eight needed to win. The wily skipper Mohindru knew what to do, removed Willatt, and prevented Bennett from hitting the necessary boundary from the last ball. The Refreshers had won a fabulous contest, and took the 1912 Cup back to London for the year. We celebrated, as Sachin had foretold, with pizza to wash down a glorious victory.
