Chantilly Match Report
The pedigree of our visitors was unknown to most of us, but Adrian our webmaster had done his research and had delved into the Accies CC web-site to uncover some rather impressive statistics.
Their players and umpire took the slow train from Paris and Adrian and I welcomed them at Chantilly station with the fleet of CCC courtesy cars (Karen in a Multipla). Adrian quickly began to put faces to names he had seen on the web site.
These mostly youthful faces followed their braveheart kilted talisman, Dundas, and it felt like they were on a mission to re-live the Battle of Stirling Bridge and rescue some pride after 2 defeats to Standard on the previous Friday and Saturday.
Recognising that some of their infantry were a little weary from the night before, we took the tourist route to the ground over the cobbles in front of the château hoping to shake their confidence, but no such luck.
Andy Dodson and Rob tossed and the Accies chose to bat first. Metronome Matt and the more and more precise Patrick Clarke opened the bowling and kept the runs down to below 4 an over at the fall of the first wicket, Dowers holing out to Nick Sansbury off Gillett with the score on 18.
Andrew and Murray (were they to be followed in the order by Rafa and Nadal?) set about the Stirling Bridge re-make in fine style, racking up the runs. In an attempt to stem the tartan tide, Rob switched Nick Jones to wicketkeeper and brought Homer into the attack. The Andrew and Murray partnership had reached 109 when the left-armers from Denzil prompted Murray to loop one to Kerkhoven, our Dutch Master - 127 for 2 after 19 overs.
The kilted warrior, Dundas, had slipped into whites and then slipped up by presenting a catch to captain Oakley slain for nought off Charlie Hedley's bowling.
Scorer Sue had adopted other roles on the day, not only was she responsible for the mess tent putting on a fabulous spread at tea, but she took on the role of front line nurse by administering to Matt Gillett. In a valiant attempt to stem the marauding Macs, he dived for a catch shortly after the drinks break. Matt had invested in some new whites, which perfectly matched the colour of his face as he lay in agony with (it turned out) a dislocated shoulder and a broken collar bone!
All these military parallels have to stop, because the match was played in a fantastic friendly spirit throughout, epitomised by the sporting gesture of their captain Dodson to run himself out. He played a handsome drive - his partner ran the comfortable 2, and Dodson managed 3 and a half before Jones removed the bails.
With 3 catches and a run out this gives the impression of another tight fielding display, but impressions can be deceptive, and we lost count of the chances spilled in the bright September sunshine. The best fielding came from our bare-foot sub, Alastair Clarke whose athletic efforts were enough to save plenty of runs, but not most of the skin on his thigh as the grass burns bear witness.
The powerful Andrew retired on 62 not out, and Carrick and Andar scored freely on their way to 55 and 50 not out respectively, making way for Creati and Mackay to round off the record total off 272 for 4 off 35 overs.
Tea was taken and thoroughly enjoyed, after the riddle of knowing whether the setting on the stove "0" stood for ON, OFF or 0 had been solved and the Chantilly openers strode out to the middle.
Sansbury started solidly and Kerkhoven was quickly off the mark and into his stride. In an attempt to force the run rate up towards the target of a-lot-more-than-quite-a-lot-an-over.
Michael's lofted push was caught and Oakley replaced him. Fine stroke play ensued and Rob reached 40 in what seemed to be the blink of an eye. A pull square on the leg side found the fielder who snuck out from behind the umpire to take the catch. Sansbury was the next to go, unlucky on 13.
Nick Jones and Nick Shepherd (replacing Gillett) both moved into second gear, but the clutch of the accies fielders soon stalled the middle order.
Enter Powell. His first knock for months made it seem like he had never been away. Some solid defense and some fine blows helped us towards a respectable total. Partnered briefly by Homer and then by Patrick Clarke, Adrian provided some stubborn resistance. Patrick, benefiting from a mulligan, having been bowled first ball, removed the shades, saw the light and the ball well enough to race to 17 before being bowled again. Powell nearly carried his bat but failed to clear the field with a drive and went for a stoic 16.
Simon Hedley was caught and bowled off Carrick and made way for son Charlie to join debutant Nicolas Pellecer at the crease. All those Friday evening net sessions had worked as Nico prodded and pushed his first ever runs in a competitive match, remaining not out for 3 as Charlie lost his wicket with the total on 140 an over short of our allotted 35.
Our injury list has grown, but so has our experience. The last home fixture of the 2008 season saw more and more players come to the fore, and everyone, players, wives, children and pets helped to round off the evening in fine style with the now customary photographs, beers, speeches and presentations. Rob handed over a commemorative bat and the Accies returned the favour by giving each of us a cricket cap carrying their club logo.
They came, they saw, they conquered, and such a great bunch of people will be more than welcome to come back.
Nick Shepherd, Chantilly CC