Now you might think that ECCC were an eclectic band of brothers unified by the single purpose of bringing home victory at the Rec. Or just a bunch of blokes with nothing better to do on a Saturday afternoon!! Whatever you think, the sight of eleven chaps, plus supporters, enjoying a beer after the game, celebrating tales of derring do and expanding the reality of their own team performance, would tell you these boys have come a long way in the last couple of months.
At Lords you have a team of highly trained ground staff, state of the art covers, hover suction machines and excellent drainage systems. At ECCC on Friday night we had a whole bunch of plastic sheets, some bricks and a few blokes cradling a beer, determined to get the game on.
Most of Saturday morning was spent watching the rain fall and scanning 5 different types of weather forecasts to see if we could find one we liked. In the end after many phone calls, we decided that Alex’s meteorological skills and Pat’s Norwegian satellites told us to crack on with the game, and so West Mersea were invited and Brommers began his quest to break the record for the fastest tea ever made.
Once West Mersea arrived a long drawn out game of will we, won’t we, began. Top league rep and WM captain Graham Pryke brought with him a bunch of 1st teamers who ‘were only here for the beer’. Hmmm. Suspicions aroused. One particular chap clearly with an unhealthy gym addiction, stood out like a bulging muscle, surely he wouldn’t be playing………..
And so to the game……..Mr Pryke persuaded the skipper that now the rain had finally stopped and with a narrow window of opportunity, we would play a T20 match starting at 2pm….game on, and well done to all that made it possible.
Bowling first, ECC were soon caught in the headlights of ‘Adonis’ striding to the crease. Our wicket keeper Pat had the red eyed stare and glare of a man that had either spent the previous evening downing whiskey or who was very perturbed by the situation. Said ‘bulging muscle’ made his first mistake……taking Brommers for 8 from the first over. There would be no way back.
Brommers accounted for Proven (3) and Young (2) in quick succession, including a smart catch by Russ and the plumbest LBW you have ever seen (and loudest shout). A good catch by Tom put young Harry on the board and we were rolling, however our Nemesis Wilkin had reached 21 and the game still had the potential to run away from us quicker than Jack at full pace!!
Then came probably the Champagne moment. Like any good skipper Daryl had been teaching Brommers some new deliveries in the nets, and he chose this moment to unleash it in a match. It is difficult to know what any other ‘paid’ player would have made of the now, written into history, ‘Ooogly Googly’. However, this one failed the test, Brommers let go a tight leg stump special and Wilkins was bowled off the pads and is probably still wondering what the hell happened…maybe one day Brommers will sit down with him and explain. Excellent figures from Harry (1-23) and Brommers (3-16), they ripped the heart out of the WM batting and did their jobs well.
Pryce (21n.o.) and Goodwin (19 n.o.) attempted to keep the score going but were unable to pierce the boundary at regular intervals, as good fielding and bowling restricted them. We were unable to take another wicket, the highlight was Russ’s 1 over for 1 run with interesting contributions from Alex, Doylie and Bootster. At the end of 20 overs West Mersea finished 90-4 and ECCC were reasonably satisfied that this was a gettable total.
But…it was clear our gym bunny friend was not finished yet, the game was about to get interesting, rather too interesting.
Tom, promoted to open, failed to trouble the scorers, there is debate as to whether it was first or second ball, but it wasn’t many. 1 wicket down. Wilkin by now was tearing in from the football stand end (yes, he opened the bowling as well). Doylie joined Pat, and both were out for 6 to similar deliveries they didn’t really look like playing, quickly followed by Jon (2). We were now officially in trouble. Brommers went out and immediately thick edged a 4 off the fast bowler. Brommers went for 11 and we had Daryl and Willy at the crease. The run rate had now risen to just under 8 an over. Could these boys get us out of a hole bigger than the famed Calcutta black one. Once Wilkin (4-11) was seen off the runs began to flow, just when we needed it Daryl started to launch, a couple of good overs and we were back in the hunt. Willy nudged and nurdled away intelligently and you could see our version of Tango and Cash (Ed: more like Morecambe and Wise) were getting things under control. On the side lines Brommers was by now more nervous than a mouse in a cattery.
Another couple of 6’s from Daryl (35 n.o.) and a wonderful cover drive from Willy (10 n.o.) brought victory and relief to the ECCC masses, as we ran out winners by 5 wickets, earning, hopefully, 17 points in the process. This was a challenging game, where the team showed resilience, character and fight. So maybe, they are just a bit more than 11 blokes on a Saturday……
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