Match Report - Gordon Potts Memorial 2012
Sunday 1st
July 2012 saw the fifth playing of the Annual Gordon Potts Memorial
cricket match at Forfarshire CC.
The recent weather had
put the game in some doubt, but thankfully the sun was shining as the
players gathered and the ground was declared playable. The players
largely comprise a selection of the veteran Forfarshire players who
played cricket with and were friends of Gordon – along with some of
his ex football team mates from Broughty United FC. It is fair to say
that these days the hairlines are receding, the bellies are expanding
and the fitness levels are questionable among the
participants.....but we are still all willing to don the whites....or
blues or greens.....to remember our friend.
The normal format was
observed which sees a team of Dundee FC supporters (The Dees)
competing against a team of Dundee United FC supporters (The Arabs)
in a standard 20/20 cricket match. As usual the Dees were
skippered by Bryce and The Arabs by Chic - and they leisurely
strolled out to the middle to toss up, still with civvies on and a
lager in hand of course. The Arabs took first use of a damp and green
strip.
The team line ups had
seen numerous injury problems in recent weeks and the Arabs were
minus Gus for the first time in this series of matches. Commenting on
Gus’ absence skipper Chic said, “To be honest I was quite pleased
when he broke his leg, he gives us nothing on the pitch and even less
off the pitch”. Unfortunately injury also forced the call off of
the Fonz who was due to debut for the Tangerines and return to the
ground for the first time since 1993. Thankfully he came along and
watched and it was great to see him back at Forthill. The Dees were minus
Drummy (knee) - and Big Scott (thigh) failed a very late fitness
test. Bryce commented, “We will definitely miss Scotty, he is our
Bob Willis, our main strike bowler, our talisman - and this could be
crucial. I am gutted for the big fella.”
The Dees had a pre
match dilemma when they realised that they did not have a wicket
keeper in the ranks and it was left to Bryce to delegate the position
to Baz. This proved to be a costly error as it quickly became
apparent when the action started that Baz was not a natural glove
man! Indeed he had all the mobility of a deck chair. This lead to an
early succession of byes, which carried on until the tenth over when
he was replaced by the more effective Cheese. In spite of Baz’s
best efforts, the Arabs still got off to a slow start and on debut
Tucker was finding the striking of a cricket ball a bit of a
challenge - and it was only when Ted came to the wicket that the runs
started to flow. Teddy adopted his standard batting style of either a
firm block or a hefty swish and he actually managed to swish a few
and to the surprise of everyone reached 25 runs at which point he
retired.
Wickets were falling at
regular intervals and runs were slow in coming and if it hadn’t
been for Baz’s byes this could have been a record low score. One
particular highlight came when Bryce ran out young Jack with a direct
hit from cover which truly rolled back the years..... However, Cully
batting on his own wicket played some fine shots and also retired on
25 - and the coming to the crease of Chic and Howie saw a late flurry
of runs and somehow the Arabs finally managed to cobble together a
competitive 119 for 8. It was considered by the Blue Noses that the
young scorers were perhaps a couple of Arabs on the fiddle.....
The batting order on
these occasions is decided by the drawing of numbers out of a hat and
Duke was unlucky to draw number 11 and was sadly not required for the
Tannadice men. He was seen to be crying behind the pavilion when he
did not get a bat. The Dees bowlers all
did OK - and overall the skipper was happy with the effort and
ordered everyone to have another beer. The rainclouds were
gathering as the second half began and the Dees made a slow start
against some good bowling. Ian unfortunately didn’t trouble the
scorers and it became apparent that the game was swinging towards the
Arabs. Nobby (in fetching green shorts) bowled a maiden to Deano and
the pressure started to build – and the rain came on.
Desperate to atone for
his wicket keeping debacle, Baz made a quick 25 and retired whilst
young Christian was also batting well. Clark ticked things along with
Christian and they were scoring at the required 8 an over and a tight
finish was in prospect – and the rain went off again. The Arabs had a chance
to swing the game back in their favour when Christian lofted a shot
in the direction of Nobby and he started to move into position to
take the catch. However he then somehow took on the look of a chubby
Bambi on ice as his legs started to go in different directions and he
then ended up on his ample backside........... with the ball now
descending towards him. He never got his hands near the ball, indeed
the ball very nearly ended up in a very sore place, but thankfully
for him it thudded into the turf instead. The whole ground collapsed
in laughter at one of the funniest sights ever witnessed by man...
Christian unfortunately
got out soon after this escapade and skipper Bryce came in; and with
two overs left 16 runs were needed. Bryce joined the fray having
cleared the viewing area with his latest pumping escapade - which
clearly also physically effected Carol and Betty who were actually
sitting outside some ten to fifteen metres away.
Ted bowled the second
last over to Clark and he came down the wicket and to his disbelief
he missed the ball by a vast distance and was stumped. He walked off
scratching his head and made an immediate call to Specsavers to set
up an urgent appointment......and sat in the dressing room head in
hands contemplating hanging up his bat there and then. However, his
career was temporarily saved when it later transpired that Ted had
switched the match ball for a “wind ball” ........which explained
why the ball had behaved so strangely. Some would call that
cheating.......but on a day like this it was seen as simply a good
laugh!
Bryce was joined by
James who blocked the first ball and as he tried to run a single Duke
sprung like a caged tiger from his wicket keeping spot. Duke then
kicked the ball towards the other end and unbelievably it hit the
stumps directly and James was run out. To be fair, James wasn’t
running all that quickly - but it was still a stellar piece of
fielding. Bryce was joined by
last man Conny and going into the last over eight runs were still
needed with Howie bowling. Howie bowled a tight line and this meant
that by the time we got to the last ball the Dees needed four to win
– three to tie.
Bryce was facing and
managed to connect well and the ball raced towards the fine leg
boundary where Nobby (still nursing a sprung rib, sore buttocks and
even sorer pride) was positioned. One run was completed and a second
run was well underway when he collected the ball and fired it in,
Conny burst every blood vessel and even threw his bat in a vain
attempt to complete a third run but he failed to make his ground and
the Arabs were victorious by one run.
In spite of the Arabs
cheating by using a dodgy ball and fiddling the scores – the Dees
took the defeat well and United Newco were declared the victors. It
is possible that we will need to repair the trophy and amend the
engraving in the coming years depending on Neil Doncaster’s
findings. The main thing was it
that we managed to complete a great game of cricket - and for the
second year running the game went down to the last ball.
The players adjourned
to the bar and as well as some liquid refreshment awaited delivery of
the much anticipated curry - and forked out apparently huge money to
the Curry Convenor for some grub. It finally arrived and the lucky
ones (after waiting in a queue longer than Space Mountain) got a
saucer full of rice, a mouthful of chicken and a whiff of a pakora in
exchange for their hard earned cash. Seconds were unavailable. The
Curry Convenor later announced that next year he would revert to
being a Sandwich Convenor and the Rossie Priory Catering Company will
be employed.
Thanks go to everyone
for again supporting the day and a great time was had by all. The
keener members of the drinking fraternity made their way on to Coke
Floats and then ended up in the Fort Bar which seemed a good idea at
the time...........but was not such a good idea on Monday morning.
Chic collected the
trophy gleefully and Nobby once again collected the Champagne Moment
prize for his comedy gold catching effort.
Everyone (and
especially absent friends) would have appreciated that moment in
particular.
Here’s to next year.