The end of the season only a few weeks away and 18 members wanted to be selected for this friendly at the Hirschanger causing a mini crisis in the selection committee. It was a warm late summer day, scattered clouds and temperatures around 20°C.
Captain Sarma won the toss and chose to bat sending out Soundararajan and Weston to open for MCC.The first three overs were tight, wides scoring most but unfortunately Soundararajan could not repeat his staying powers of last week and he joined the duck race after facing 14 balls. Weston though was scoring freely and hammering the boundaries although he chose the right fielder to send the catches to in cow corner. O’Connor stayed long enough to kill off any hopes he had of retaining the duck award this season and actually put on 42 with Weston for the third wicket. He was replaced by Bhalerao who once again looked very classy but went for nine runs, the first of three catches by Johnson. Nevertheless, the fourth wicket partnership was 47 runs when Carrie became Johnson’s second catch to be replaced by Blades. The fifth wicket partnership was 58 when Weston was bowled in the 24th over having scored 103 which included 8 fours and 6 sixes. Hobbs of Prague infamy joined Blades and they made another 40 runs before Hobbs went for 12 in the 30th and final over becoming Johnson’s third victim. MCC were 214 for 6 after the 30 overs and retired for yet another splendid tea provided by Carrie and Dr Franz Spiess who arrived for his annual visit in his usual way like a hurricane, but bearing loads of cakes and buns, hung around like a tornado and then left us thinking “see you next year”.
Ferguson and Sarma opened the bowling for MCC and bowled three overs each before being replaced by Sestan and Sir Ian Finch of Karlsruhe and Oktoberfest ticket fame. They also bowled three overs as did Weston. Hobbs and Blades bowled two each Carrie one over and Soundararajan 0.5 overs. The MICs batting was surprisingly weak as can be seen by MCC using nine bowlers but the MCC fielding was superb, following on from last week and six very good catches, three of them quite outstanding by Ferguson, Soundararajan and Weston, were taken. Although the first wicket fell with the score on 64, thereafter it went very pear shaped and they were all out for 123 runs, 26 of them being extras. In fact the last six wickets fell for only one run, that being a wide from Blades.
Sojundararajan, 0, LBW, 0.5 overs, 0 mdns, 0 runs, 2 wkts, 1 catch
Weston, 103, bowled, 3 overs, 0 mdns, 23 runs, 1 wkt, 2 catches
O’Connor, 2, bowled,
Bhalerao, 9, caught,
Carrie, 19, caught, 1 over, 1mdn, 0 runs, 1 wkt, 1 catch
Blades, 20*, 2 overs, 1 mdn, 1 run, 3 wkts
Hobbs, 12, caught, 2 overs, 0 mdns, 23 runs, 0 wkts
Sarma, 0*, 3 overs, 0 mdns, 17 runs, 0 wkts,
Sestan, DNB, 3 overs, 0 mdns, 20 runs, 1 wkt
Ferguson, DNB, 3 overs, 0 mdns, 9 runs, 0 wkts, 2 catches
Finch, DNB, 3 overs, 0 mdns, 29 runs, 2 wkts.
MCC, 214 – 6, beat MICs, 123 -10 by 91 runs
MCC MOM Weston.