The Somerset Tour

It is often argued that if Carpe Vinum CC were able to field their best possible eleven players then they would actually be a remarkably potent side. While this has never happened, the tour to Somerset might well be remembered as the occasion when the reverse happened and arguably the weakest ever Carpe side pulled on the burgundy cap.

After the heroic exploits of last year, when the famous trophy was finally seized from Kingsdon CC’s grasp, expectations on retaining said trophy were understandably low. However, thunderous rain on the day of the match threatened to render the contest unplayable and was met with a mixture of frustration and relief by Carpe players eager for a game but not eager to lose. After a few hours of skygazing, the weather and pitch were deemed good enough to play on and Carpe took to the field in high spirits.

As has happened already once or twice this season, Carpe were short of a player or two, but a new resident of the village soon joined their team, a player with whom it could be argued, the team and the village would have been better off without.

On a damp and sodden pitch, Carpe’s bowlers got to work, probing for weaknesses against the opening batsmen. The first wicket soon brought a second and spirits started to brighten with the sky overhead.

However, the remaining opener and his new colleague dug in with the bat, scampering through the puddles for singles or punching the ball through the inevitable gaps in Carpe’s field. Even when another wicket fell, the opener remained limpet-like with the next batsman. The score was starting to clamber ominously high as captain Chris Strong gave almost every man an over or two, with James Hewitt and Sam Phelps enjoying good spells. A couple of quick wickets fell before the end, one a sterling run out, but the crowd were devastated when, after being given the last over to bowl, local favourite Ed Thomson had to endure Carpe’s replacement fielder putting down a catch that even he could have taken. Ultimately, Kingdson’s score left Carpe a total of 164 to chase down for victory.

Joe Hare and Charles Whitting strode out to the crease, but Kingsdon’s wily spinners ensured the scoring was slow and before long both batsmen found themselves back in the hutch. It was left to Henry Fellows to lead the charge, taking an age to get off the mark but keeping the scoreboard on the move constantly after that.

In this endeavour he was ably assisted by the likes of Alex Keith, Phelps and Strong, each of whom hung around long enough to score some runs of their own before being undone in single figures.

Kingsdon’s bowlers were doing well to constrict Carpe’s score, but they were undone by the weather. No sooner had Strong dragged himself back to the pavilion than the rain, which had been steadily getting heavier, turned monsoonal.

As the wicket’s puddles grew ever deeper, the match was abandoned as a draw (much to Kingsdon’s disappointment and the bemusement of Mssrs Duckworth and Lewis). Carpe’s ragtag band had retained the trophy under the most unlikely of circumstances and celebrations went on long into the night and featured an impromptu game of water polo.

The next day, full of glory and bacon sandwiches, the team headed to face Chitterne CC, a team that they had yet to beat. Bolstered by the arrival of Jimmy Greene and a runner he had brought with him called Walker, Carpe took to the field with a full contingent of players. Or they would have done, had Hare not somehow injured himself jumping for a ball in practice.

And they got off to a good start too, with Sanjay Bremakumar striking early to give Walker the runner a catching opportunity that was taken with exemplary skill. After that, however, the batsmen thrived, using the slope and the short boundaries to their advantage and making the most of a series of dropped catches in the field.

The next wicket came in extraordinary circumstances, as a delivery from Fellows was judged as too high by the batsman. He ducked, but the ball sailed over his head and clattered into the stumps. When Greene took a fine catch off his own bowling, the chance to take the game by the jugular was there. But a powerful 46 from a fellow called Knyvett took the game away from Carpe and saw Chitterne end with a score 161 for 5, although Phelps could once again be pleased with the two wickets he took late on in the innings.

With Hare and Whitting once again opening the batting, Fellows was drafted in as a runner. This role did not last long, as Hare was clean bowled for 2. Fellows stuck around to bat a bit himself, before falling the same way to the same bowler. When Whitting was dismissed lbw, the teams took tea.

After the early loss of wickets, it fell to Greene and Walker the runner to steady the ship and get the scoreline moving. However, it was in fact Alex Keith who threatened the Chitterne score the most effectively, clubbing and cudgelling the ball all over the field after Greene had been given out lbw. However, Keith's swashbuckling innings was cut short 16 runs short of a half century and the Carpe tail was exposed. Phelps was run out after a typically enthusiastic display, while Walker, who had battled manfully for longer than anyone, was eventually stumped in bizarre circumstances.

The end was in sight, as Bremakumar was also stumped and Hewitt was expertly caught off his first ball. Thomson and Strong were the only batsmen left to chase down the remaining runs and although Thomson stuck around and scored some runs, he too was eventually caught and sent back to the shady boundary, leaving Carpe to once again rue another defeat at the hands of these retired military men.