The opposition captain last Sunday, Charlie Campbell, is the author of Herding Cats, a book on the art of cricket club captaincy. This showed in that he won the toss, decided to bat and The Authors raced to their first hundred runs, indeed to all 218 of their runs.

In our last game before the end of July, in a season that started in mid-April, against such a batting line-up, what were the chances that I would take my first wicket of 2019?

Not only did I trap their top scorer, just saying, but one of my daughters was on the boundary with her family, recording on her mobile phone the very over in which this happened (video above). Katie is also the mathematician to whom I was referring in #20.

So far, no video footage has emerged of our champagne moment of the match or of the opposition’s, possibly in our case because Martin Randall was moving at breakneck speed as he took the leading contender for catch of the season. Or perhaps the cameras were averted in case he did break his neck. The catch is discussed in some detail in the match report:

http://www.middletonstoneycc.co.uk/club-news/2019/mscc-vs-the-authors-2019/

Who do you think wrote that? This is where I offer a captaincy tip of my own. Over the years, I have tended to excuse the star performer from further duties, such as collecting the match fee, running the barbecue or writing the match report. After all, modesty would forbid many a reporter from describing their champagne performance in such a way as to justify the award.

In my fiftieth year of cricket captaincy, however, I have changed my mind. People want to talk to those who have played well and what is a better way of ensuring that happens than through assigning the barbecue duties to the leading figures in the match? Who is better placed to produce a prompt report than the person most interested in seeing it on-line?

First, I tested this emerging theory by asking Tim House to run the barbecue after he scored a century. This worked so well in prompting congratulations and conversations that I asked Martin Randall on Sunday to run the barbecue and write about his catch, plus anything else which caught his eye in the match between Middleton Stoney and our celebrated opposition. After all, The Authors are able to celebrate their cricket through their common bond of writing.

One of the opposition, Tom Holland, was tweeting generously during the afternoon. Once others had regained contact with the outside world (wi-fi and mobile reception not being one of our village’s strong points), other tweets followed, including from other distinguished writers, such as Jon Hotten. David Owen and Jonathan Wilson.

Tom Holland suggested the setting of Middleton Park called for a Morse mystery. One of our non-cricket-loving friends in Norfolk retweeted his comment, knowing that I have drafted a country house cricket murder mystery, The Bowler’s End. See what I’m doing there with the title, a hat-trick of puns?

The biggest mystery is why this was such a memorable day when the result was a draw with neither side even close to winning. Both clubs aim for a match that goes to the last over with all results possible. In last week’s Spectator, Tim Rice had written about a tied match between his side, Heartaches CC, and The Authors.

So what was it that elevated a mere draw (The Authors 218-8 declared, MSCC 174-3) into a celebration of cricket? I had wanted it to be a special day for Jim Watson, our Social Secretary, and his family as it was his last appearance before moving to Dorset but The Authors stumped him for a duck. It would have been ideal to have chased their big target with a chance to win in the last over but their bowling and fielding were too good for that. Still, there were surprises: that catch, that wicket, and Stevyn Jackson’s maiden 50 for the club, which was greeted ecstatically by the crowd.

An important lesson, of course, is that it was not all about us. It was their players wandering around the boundary taking photos and taking in the beautiful setting who made such an impact. The shared love of cricket between the two sides was palpable. The tea, made by Patricia Lee, Georgina Lamb and Rona Hickman, was delicious. Overall, it was our opposition’s desire to savour not only the tea but also the cricket and the surroundings which made this a delightful day at Middleton Stoney CC. Seeing our club through their eyes was an inspiration.

Tom Holland said that it was difficult to capture the beauty of our ground in a photo. I think that is because the setting needs action and the engagement of all the senses for a full appreciation. For example, a number of people commented on how quiet the secluded ground is, a silence interrupted only by appeals and crowd reactions. So I must watch and listen to that video again while reflecting on the privilege of playing with and against such cricketers and cricket-lovers, in such a place, in such a spirit.