Eastcote CC, Saturday 16 September 2023.

Eastcote CC 80-0 (7.2 overs) beat St Anne’s Allstars 76 all out (24.5 overs) by 10 wickets (and also won the T20 beer match which followed).

Allstars Debuts: Nathaniel Hill, Guna Subramani.

Report by Sheahan Arnott – Photos by Nic Knight and Amit Deverathippa

As you can gather from the scorecard, this was not a very good day at the office for the Allstars. However, in an effort to take something from the game, here are 5 things I thought were good about the day on reflection…

The venue. The ground couldn’t be more beautiful. Built in what was once a stately home, the ground and the clubrooms were a postcard-picture of English cricket. The weather was beautiful, they supplied an umpire and scorer who were both very welcoming, and the pitch/outfield played (mostly) pretty well.

The bar. The barman – one of the players from their First XI team – was very welcoming. The drinks were cheap and I suspect the afternoon tea would have been solid. 

We welcomed two new Allstars. Keen cricketer Nathaniel Hill has joined our number in recent weeks, and he notched the highest score of his fledgling career so far in the “official” game. Across both innings, he outscored a couple of seasoned stalwarts and was tireless with his efforts in the field. Guna Subramani is our newest Banbury boy and played with the same attacking flair that we’ve come to expect from our Northern contingent. He bowled very tidily in the T20 as well.

Someone had clearly shoved a cricket bat through the drywall in our changing room. Not sure who, or why, but it’s always funny to see that it’s happened. We all have days like that sometimes.

The pub we went to after the match had a lovely beer garden. On reflection, we should have spent the afternoon there instead of chasing leather!

My Allstars season has come to an end, and many of you will know that outside of cricket, I write and podcast about American Football, so as my sporting calendar ticks over from one helmeted sport to another, and my life begins its next chapter, I leave you with (some of) Grantland Rice’s immortal Football Alumnus:

But one day, when across the Field of Fame the goal seemed dim,

The wise old coach, Experience, came up and spoke to him.

“And, kid, cut out this fancy stuff – go in there, low and hard;

“Oh Boy,” he said, “the main point now before you win your bout

Is keep on bucking Failure till you’ve worn the piker out!”

Just keep your eye upon the ball and plug on, yard by yard,

And more than all, when you are thrown or tumbled with a crack,

Don’t sit there whining-hustle up and keep on coming back;

“Keep coming back with all you’ve got, without an alibi,

If Competition trips you up or lands upon your eye,

Until at last above the din you hear this sentence spilled:

‘We might as well let this bird through before we all get killed.’

“You’ll find the road is long and rough, with soft spots far apart,

Where only those can make the grade who have the Uphill Heart.

And when they stop you with a thud or halt you with a crack,

Let Courage call the signals as you keep on coming back.

“Keep coming back, and though the world may romp across your spine,

Let every game’s end find you still upon the battling line;

For when the One Great Scorer comes to mark against your name,

He writes – not that you won or lost – but how you played the Game.