vs Cambridge Assessment

A few early rain showers on arrival at St Catz did little to dampen the spirits of Team Zoots, still enjoying the high that only a two match unbeaten streak can bring. News of the solid all-round performance against the physicists the week prior had spread like wildfire across Cambridgeshire, and our opposition were looking more than a little nervous before play*. In a cunning piece of psychological warfare we stepped up the intimidation with a superlative display of pre-match overthrow practise right outside the opposition dressing rooms. Suitably prepared, the Zoots won the toss and elected to field, another cunning decision that only increased the confusion and dismay in the opposition camp*. The opposition Captain (Thwaites) was joined by his Deputy (Linsden) at the crease. Matt ‘Skippy’ Chandler prepared to open the attack. The tension was palpable. A hushed silence fell.

What unfolded was an unprecedented game of cat and mouse that will be told and retold over the days, if not weeks to come*. Captain Thwaites and Deputy Linsden took a solid and traditional if somewhat dry approach to batting, namely scoring freely and not getting out. “Where’s the fun in that?” you rightly ask. Skippy Chandler countered with a good line and length and was unlucky not to remove Captain Thwaites with his bamboozling trademark slower ball. At the other end, Paul ‘Killiver’ Gilliver had the captain and his deputy swinging and missing courtesy of impressive late swing and deceptive pace, but to no avail. The invigilators’ score ticked ominously upwards, reaching 52 for no loss from 7 overs.

The first bowling change brought in The Surajitator who agitated the openers with sharp pace and well-concealed variation. At the other end, Silence of the Lamb, helped by an inspired leg side fielding change by Captain Snickers and an athletic forward diving catch by Gravy Train ‘Beef’ Grady, secured the valuable scalp of Deputy Linsden, who had scored an impressive 59. Captain Snickers sensed fear in the opposition, now floundering at 1 for 97 from 13, and in a decisive move brought himself and Benny 'Ball' Jarrett into the bowling attack. This proved to be yet another outstanding piece of captaincy as the new batsman edged a deceptive ball from the skipper and fell to a sharp catch by Benny Ball in the gully. The depth of bowling in the Zoots line-up no doubt surprised the opposition as the on-loan Dave ‘on-loan’ Sloan was brought into the attack. On-loan Sloan delivered a couple of tidy overs to close out the innings, frustrating Captain Thwaites and leaving Zoots with an eminently gettable 155 for victory.

Captain Snickers, always one step ahead of the opposition, sent in the opening pair of Butterfingers Rutter and the Gravy Train ‘Beef’ Grady, a move that perplexed the opposition who were expecting the now infamous Bambi/Bollywood opening pair. The move paid off. Rutterfingers and the Grady Train stormed to a well-executed 26 before Rutterfingers, adhering to the team strategy, sacrificed his wicket on 8, allowing the ferocious Bambi to take to the now demoralised opening bowlers*. Meanwhile, at the other end, Beef Grady played with characteristic flair, pulling and hooking his way to a quick-fire 17, before making way for Bollywood Kumar.

There is little doubt that in the years ahead, commentators and analysts looking back on this match will agree that this was the turning point in the game. At 2 for 36 off 6 overs, and requiring only a further 119 for victory, the Zoots were in the driving seat and the opposition were in disarray*. Unfortunately, the batting never quite settled under fairly relentless pressure from an accurate bowling attack. Bambi was out on 10 to a classic caught behind, and not long after Cap’n Snickers was also out caught for 6. Bollywood Kumar showed his usual tenacity to reach 28 including four stylish boundaries. On-loan Sloan (9), Silence (16) and Benny Ball (12) made modest contributions but never quite settled at the crease. Killiver Gilliver and Skippy Chandler saw out the remaining overs, each scoring a determined 3 not out, and taking the Zoots' total to a respectable 9 for 121 from 20 overs.

So, despite a dogged, fighting performance we fell some way short of the 155 required for victory, but nonetheless it was a solid team effort by the Zoots against last year's champions.

* This account may bear only passing resemblance to actual events

VS Cavendish Labs

A winning start to the season!!!! Believe it or Not!!!

The Zoots fresh from their victory over the MCC were ready to take to the hallowed grounds of Churchill college to take on the might of the Cavendish labs. After a couple days of worrying about the weather the Zoots turned up to a lovely day in the making. The Zoots were put in to bat and late- comers were given the honour of opening the batting. Cometh the hour cometh the heroes and cometh a little late come the openers.

In walked in Simon 'Bambi on ice' Martin and Tarun 'Bollywood' Kumar to face the music.The testing opening spell from Matt, an out and out fast bowler for the Cavs, had Bambi bouncing around the crease to protect himself. But a steady flow of boundaries from both ends had the Zoots going at around 8 runs an over in the first four. Introduction of spin was welcomed with a big six to cow corner by Mr Bolywood. The first wicket fell when Bambi was bowled by spinner Dave on thirty  two and the highlight of the innings was a beautiful straight drive over the bowlers head for four that brought the Zoots and the Cavs to their feet. In walked in Noel 'Butter oops Rutterfingers' and the steady flow of runs continued with lots of quick well judged singles. Aiming to increase the run rate Rutter was stumped of the bowling of Ned for 4. Stephen 'Gravy train' Grady was next up and the quick running continued. (INSERT ADVICE FOR ALL BATSMAN : No and go sound the same). Bollywood was the next to fall trying to protect his stumps from a ricochet of his bat and thus ended his innings of 80. The batsman ended up giving himself out and later finding out that a double hit is not out. (INSERT SECOND PIECE OF ADVICE FOR ALL CRICKETERS : Know the rules)
Alex Snickers Eggeman, our captain courageous was in next, to try and quicken the scoring and thats just what they did. A flurry of boundaries of the bat of the Gravy train(particulary a classy drive through the covers) had the Cavendish bowling completely demoralized. The Zoots had set a demanding target of 164 and were all ready to put pressure on the Cav batting.

It was a final hurrah for the highly succesful opening bowling pair for both the Zoots and Coton CC, Ullasa 'Lurch' Kodandaramaiah and Matt 'Skippie' Chandler. The pair bowled a demanding and accurate line and length and were amply backed in the field. Skippie got the first breakthrough with Jackson being caught by Bambi his first of three catches in the game each more impressive than the next. Constant pressure from the opening pair had the Cavs against the ropes and led to the introduction of Anthony 'Silence of the' Lamb. This left armer with a great delivery that comes into the bowler had the Cavs in all sorts of trouble. Ben 'Bennyball' Jarret bowled some leg spin a la Warnie from the other end. Anthony castled three of the Cav batsman while Bennyball took three more to leave the Cavs in tatters. Fading light and a lethal ball from our own Hannibal lecter had the Cavs request a change in pace. Some fabulous keeping by Matt Brookes who couldnt really see the ball and thus just got body and soul behind it and some fine efforts in the deep by Pierre 'Le SWATTEUR' Burdayet kept the pressure on the Cavs. At this point the Cavs were 8 down for 68. Rutter bowled tidily from one end while at the other Bollywood was taken to the cleaners by Dave who top scored for the Cavs with a well made 33. The Zoots won the game by 59 runs as the Cavs finished their innings on a 105 for eight.

A team performance by one and all had the Zoots come across the line in fine fashion.

vs Mixed Cambridge Conservationists

(Contributed by Benjamin Jarrett)

The start of a new cricket season. The smell of freshly cut grass and the gleaming red leather of a new cricket ball prefaced our first match of 2013 - a friendly with the MCC (no, not those). The fog of the morning drifted off during the day leaving a beautiful, if somewhat chilly, evening ahead.

The Zoots went into bat first on a very green, slingy pitch with little bounce to begin with. Simon and Ullasa opened the batting against Will whose balls were full and quick. Simon showed some promising strokes, but also the stumps; bowled in the first over. Ben came in at three and got in the swing of defending early on, seeing off the rest of the over. Ullasa at the other end scored freely on the leg side with some booming pull shots, whilst Ben saw out Will's final over. A pull gone awry, Ullasa was caught plumb LBW for 14, bringing on Anthony who quickened the scoring even more. He hastened to 25 and then retired. Acting Captain Matt came to the fray just in time to see the frustrated Ben charge down a nicely floated leggy, only to miss it by a foot and get stumped.

The cricket debutante Pierre came one starting a period of quick scoring a hard-run singles. Unfortunately, one wasn't run as hard as the rest with Pierre run out soon after joining Matt at the crease. Surjit and Paul in the lower order had excellent strike rates, hitting fours at times that demoralised the fielders. Special mention to the bludgeoning exploits of Will, whose 21 pushed our total towards the highly competitive 123 all out after 13.4 overs.

The sun was falling and the temperature dropped as the Zoots made their way onto the field; some shivering in overcoats, others basking in a lovely evening after so many rubbish ones. Crosby and George opened the batting for the MCC and proved a formidable opening pair, knocking up 26 and 24 respectively. The quick bowling from Matt (2-0-21-0) and Ullasa kept them at bay for some time, but embracing the pace, runs were scored consistently. Ullasa displayed his worth with excellent figures of 2-0-4-0, frustrating the batting team.

With the Zoot surfeit of medium-pacers Surjit (2-0-9-1) and Anthony (2-0-17-0) joined the fray, bowling quickly and always making the batsman earn their runs. Ben (2-0-14-1) came on for one over to loop up some leg breaks, changing the pace and increasing the over rate. By this time the runs had slowed through economical bowling and excellent fielding from all, including sprawling dives from wicket-keeper Mike to prevent byes. Simon (2-0-10-0) and Will (1-0-14-1) came on late - displaying out depth in bowling attack - to slow the play and mop up the tail. Paul had the huge responsibility to bowl the last over, and did so responsible and with menace. It's hard not to be afraid of bowling who warrants a four man slip cordon!

Excellent bowling and fielding stemmed the blistering start MCC made to their innings, leading to a victory by 19 runs.

Zootallurgy CC: 123-10

MCC CC: 104-