Tour 2000 - Kingskerswell Sunday 2nd July
Oldbury 206-7. N.Hopkins 102no. J.Russell 46. B.Gazard 29. P.Edwards 4-72. M.King 3-78
Kingskerswell 178 all out. N.Taylor 91. C.Johnson 4-22. B.Gazard 3-17.
Oldbury won by 28 runs.
Inspired by Jan's striptease in the car on the way to the ground, how could Oldbury fail to record their first tour victory? Well it was very close in the end!
Nigel Hopkins head seemed thicker than the cloud above when he forgot to call when the Kingskerswell skipper tossed the coin and also forgot the match ball. Was this a sign of a repeat performance of the Tipton game? It looked it when fellow opener Jon Dyke fell in the first over. Batting was as sticky as Mike Knapp's underpants as Russell and Hopkins 'edged' the score onwards against difficult bowling. Russell purred to 46 as he used enough lives for a season, but then realised a jug was nearing - and he wanted to see Gerald Porter live up to his words of the previous day.
Bob Gazard hit a swift 29 in 28 minutes maintaining the momentum, but still in a supporting role to Hopkins who finally found the middle of the bat and stormed to a brilliant first tour century, retiring to preserve his averages on 102 not out. Porter unfortunately failed to listen to his own advice and a typical mini-collapse followed. The biggest cheer of the day was for Ivor Stafford playing in his first game for years, and scoring a superb single with the shot of the day (was it his first score of the day though?). Oldbury's innings closed on 206-7. Kingskerswell's Pete Edwards deserves a special mention to bowling throughout the innings as a fast bowler, finishing a marathon spell of 4-72 off 24 overs.
The movement in the air and off the wicket was still there when Gazard and Knapp opened the bowling. Kingskerwell's front line batsmen struggled to cope with Gazard's line and length and Bob took three big wickets in the early overs, with Kingskerswell struggling on 21-3. Taylor steadied the innings and some less tidy bowling and fielding saw Kingskerswell grow in confidence. At 160-5, the confidence and lager was sweating out of Oldbury, and a certain win was turning into a draw or even a possible loss. Enter Colin Johnson benefiting from being tucked up in bed early the night before by that pen-happy fine-taker Malcolm Lyndon. Colin's inviting style of bowling sucked the Kingskerswell's batsmen into a false sense of security, and Taylor finally succumbed just as he sensed a sniff of victory - a fine innings of 91. The Kingskerswell tail had learned well from Oldbury's earlier exploits and assisted Johnson to a fine haul of 4-22 off four overs. This was a timed game, though, and Oldbury were running out of the final 20 overs. Excitement mounted as it came to the last over, the pressure on Kiel Preston-Allen to deliver that final wicket-taking ball - but more pressure on the final Kinskerswell pair. Kiel stood up to the challenge admirably, just as he had with the infamous Martin the night before, and Gerald Porter caught the final man with his second catch of the day with just 3 balls to spare.
A very good ending to a very good tour - and yes, it was our first tour win.
And if you read this, a very big thank you to our hosts. Great tea and BBQ.