Quokkas C.C.

Quokkas annus horribulus continues

June 16, 2008 on 9:21 pm | In Post Match Report |

Salix CC 152 def Quokkas CC 98 (Mantis 30, Trent 16, Gav 3/24, Jason 2/12)

For those of you waiting for a lift on the Quokka bus to victory, keep your thumb out or get a train, as this bus is still in the mire.

Returning to the Glaxo grounds of West London, the site of some great Quokka victories of previous years, the mighty men in marsupial-adorned shirts weren’t able to live up to previous standards and dropped a game that was there for the taking.

With Skip winning the toss and sending in the Salix lads, the Quokkas were quietly confident in their spin-friendly attack on the very green wicket.

Some (now) customary changes from the Skip also saw the Mantis given duties with the gloves, while the Hairdresser was given a chance to show his bowling figures in Eastern Europe could be emulated in Britain.

The chances had good foundation, as the Attack took wickets in the first and third overs (no fielders needed, straight through the gate, thank-you) and Skip provided a road-block to all runs.

The introduction of Nige and the Hairdresser saw a couple of runs tick on the board as Salix began chancing their arm, though it wasn’t to last, with the loss of another 4 wickets to this bowling pair.

The Knock was soon brought on to resume his antagonisation of the Salix batsman, but they picked his googly early and had a few lucky breaks in-between. Jason wasn’t so easy to beat though, picking up 2 late wickets.

Although The Terrible picked up a late wicket, The Quokkas still weren’t able to bowl-out Salix, despite some steady bowling and possibly their best effort in the field yet. Great catches were held by the Rage, Rev and The Terrible (with a great pirouette).

From this point on, though, things started to go very wrong. The Rev, facing first ball, went for a golden (playing a shot that could only be classified as ‘retarded’) before the Rage and the Skip followed for low scores despite seeming quite ‘in’.

The Hairdresser came in to introduce his now-customary middle-order resistance, though the loss of the Mantis (who hit a scarily-powerful 30) and The Attack meant that a lot of runs were needed with not much in the way of overs or wickets remaining.

A lesson in patient batting and shot-picking was provided by Nige, though even he eventually fell (to a beauty) before the bottom-order succumbed after some quick fireworks by Trent, who debuted with possibly the fastest 16 ever.

The end of the game proved to be quite soul-crushing for The Quokkas, who were used to marking a ‘w’ next to this fixture and now seem to be as far from victory as they ever have been. Still, these marsupial-icon-wearing lads have always been fans of defying fate and the season is only half way there.

Stay tuned.