There is a horrible case of deja-vu beginning to appear in the season for the 2's this year. At Eastbourne on Saturday, it was a matter of 4 runs that separated 2 teams in a keenly fought game. Recent weeks have been a little hard to take as a run of losses have not matched the efforts and talents at the disposal of the mighty scooby doos.

Matchday started with a fairly casual warm-up (well, the 20 minutes of it that i was there for) and this was probably because of another stinking hot day for Sussex. Despite the lack of water recently, it was a fairly green track at the Saffrons that the 'bourne skipper chose to bat first on. This was unsurprising given the weather and the lack of wickets in the 2's locker recently.

To the game, Sharpeedo opened up for us and the left-hander offered up a chance to J-lo first ball, but the ball was dropped as he was probably still asleep after a week on cricket tour. The first wicket came soon after, with a great low-down catch from Flappers who donned the gloves after Reynolds had used his elbow to fend a bouncer the week before! Not long after, the wicket of the dangerous skipper came as the 2's got [a wicket]. At 40-odd for 2, the boys saw an oppurtunity to move through a weakened oppo. However, this didn’t come as some [censored], good shots and wayward bowling conspired to let the total get to 200 when the 3rd wicket came. Their batsman rode their luck in the last few overs as the start of the bad fortune really materialised with slip drives and further [censored]! 251-4 afer 49 was a par score for 'bourne, but we felt confident of reaching the target with a good batting line-up and 52 overs to get the runs.

Tea was [eaten]. It was [pleasant enough], like some [censored] from the [censored] as they are sometimes known.

The 2nd innings opened up with Luke and Matthew Pinsent. A few good shots got us off to a good start, but muscles biffed one to short cover and a fine catch was taken. Rip van Winkel came in next and was gone first ball to a [potentially harsh] lbw as he headed back to the rather musty changing rooms! Flappers (minus Milly this week, boo!) came in fresh from a 100 for MCC and showed some lovely leg-side shots exploiting the shorter football ground side of the wicket. Luke was castled which brought Bubble to the wicket and then proceeded a good partnership of great shot making and accumulating. At about 140-3 with 24 overs to go, the 2's were in buoyant mood confident of a win. However, Mike got an lbw that [was given out]. A well made 80, but needed to be a match winning three-figures. Wickets fell as Richard "tour lothario" Dexter went cheaply and Bubble fell for about 40. Jack Parsnip volleyed a full-toss to mid-wicket... not much to say on that from him or me to be honest. Skip and HP came together and nudged, swept and took us over the 200 mark. Another lbw saw the back of Reynolds as the veteran Smith took another wicket. At 247-8, we looked good with Mike English playing straight and Sharpey marshalling the strike well. [The next wicket fell] [when] Sharpey got caught on the pads. Scribenator 2.0 played out a few balls, but then played a wafty drive to a wide delivery that he missed. Having made sure of a return to the crease, the number 11 moved out to do a bit of gardening to which the keeper decided to remove the bails. This was after he had first dropped the ball and then held it in his gloves for a few seconds. The umpire raised his finger and the game was over much to the consternation of the batsman. The oppo skipper shrugged his shoulders and just played dumb on the rules of etiquette and sportsmanship. Other 'bourne players offered their interpretation of the rules, but there was no concealing of the disappointment in the result, the [censored] and the spirit of the game.

Reflection - Karma may or may not exist, but I do hope that these things even themselves out as the 2's fought hard to secure a much needed win. St. James' next week... bring it on God, Buddha, Jebus or whoever - 30 points please.