2009

Eymet v Bordeaux 14th June 2009 at Eymet
Report by Tim Smith

I understand it has been many a year, dear reader, since Eymet last beat Bordeaux and, after the first match of the season, there was every indication that this trend was set to continue. However, However, this time there was something different in the air as the youthful Bordeaux team arrived. Was it the smell of a local Frenchman (barbecuing his ventrêche)? Was it Alan’s new aftershave? Or was it - could it possibly have been – the sense that things were set to turn?

Captain David Horlock won the toss and elected to bat. Against a fast and accurate opening Bordeaux attack, he and Simon Palmer played with great flair until, with 76 on the board, David was bowled having made a tidy 30 runs. Next man in was Sam Harrell who quickly got into his stride and was looking set for a big innings until he decided to swap his lucky cap for a helmet. Within two balls, he was following David back into the clubhouse. Mike Stratford and Bill Rhodes both showed some resistance lower down the order with Bill being the man left ‘not out’ at the end of the innings.

But what about Simon Palmer I hear you ask? As Eymet wickets came and went, as the promise of partnerships blossomed and withered, Simon had been going after the Bordeaux attack like a Canadian trapper in a pack of seal cubs. When the dust had settled, Simon emerged with a truly memorable 122 runs against his name. Well-done Simon!

So Eymet posted a respectable 202 for 6 after their allotted 40 overs but, as we know, Bordeaux are a good side and this was well within their capabilities.

From the very start of their innings, Bordeaux were well up with the target run rate and, at 66-0 and with both batsmen beginning to hit the ball well, there was a sense that Bordeaux were once again going to thwart Eymet’s ambitions. However, in the 14th over, with the ball seemingly on its way to yet another boundary, Tim Smith decided that it was his turn to contribute something towards the Eymet effort. Like a cross between a spawning salmon and Darcy Bussell’s equally talented but alarmingly ugly older sister, Tim dived low to his left to hold on to a catch that seemed to surprise everyone, not least himself.

Bordeaux have some good top-order batsman and the scoreboard continued to hurry along at a worrying rate. However, cometh the hour, cometh the man, and that man was Terry Bishop. His deceptively relaxed bowling style completely bamboozled Bordeaux’s top batsman who suddenly found himself standing in a shower of bails with the score on 110.

Excellent bowling spells from Messrs Morgan (8-0-37-3) and Palmer (8-0-40-3) tore the heart out of the Bordeaux middle order and they toppled from 171 for 3 to 187 for 8. Special mention should go to Tom Hinds for a superb pick up and return to Simon Palmer to run out Bordeaux’s number 7. However, thanks to an excellent innings from Bordeaux’s Vasey, the run rate was still there or thereabouts and with one over to go, the situation could not have been more finely balanced. With no wickets in hand, Bordeaux had to get 11 for victory. Destiny tends to find its own heroes and villains in these situations and, on this occasion, its gnarled finger was (with a little help from the captain) pointed at Martin Smith to bowl the last over. And this he did with ice-cold water in his veins as Bordeaux managed only 2 off this over and victory was finally and gloriously Eymet’s by a margin of only 8.

“Catches win Matches” is an old cricketing saying and one which, on this occasion, warrants a mention in closing. During the course of the Eymet innings, Bordeaux put down at least 8 catchable chances, including one given by Simon early on in his innings. If only half of these had been taken the result would have been very different. Let this not diminish the Eymet effort however. Thanks to Simon’s wonderful innings, David’s shrewd captaincy in the field and a real sense of grit and determination throughout the team, Eymet deservedly won through against tough opposition.

Our thanks as ever to the kind sponsorship of L’épicerie Anglaise.

Statistics Corner

Batting Averages (Top 6)

Coombe: 4 matches, 2 innings, 4 runs, 2 not outs, highest 4, average (infinity)
Jones: 3-2-110-0-110-55.0
Palmer: 5-5-209-1-122-52.3
Horlock: 5-4-111-0-48-27.8
Hinds: 4-4-54-2-31-27.0
Swift: 4-3-49-1-25-24.5

Bowling (Top 6)

Palmer: 16 overs, 2 maidens, 53 runs, 3.3 runs / over, 6 wickets, average 8.8
Horlock: 2-0-9-4.5-1-9
Morgan: 26-2-90-3.5-7-12.9
Hinds: 3-0-13-4.3-1-13
Jones: 14-2-71-5.1-4-17.8
Coombe: 29-2-96-3.3-3-32