KMCC vs Pannal C.C. 2nd XI

Pannal struck by KMCC bandwagon

 There was a good crowd in attendance at the KMCG for the visit of Pannal 2nds, though admittedly the majority of the spectators were watching the tennis tournament on the adjacent courts!! On winning the toss, Pannal elected to bat and Paul Goldsmith rolled back the years by steaming down the hill to open the bowling for Kirkby. On another day Goldie would have had several wickets, but a dropped chance off the second ball of the match set the fielding tone for Kirkby. Right from the off, Pannal seemed content to settle for a batting point and judging by the number of catches they put down, Kirkby were happy to let them succeed. Indeed as Fraser spilled his second catch, simultaneously crashing into the square leg umpire, several of his team-mates suggested that he should demand a full refund following his recent laser eye surgery. After 45 painful overs, the Pannal score had reached 122-7 and the large crowd had long since dispersed (strangely enough at about the same time as the tennis tournament ended). Kamstra (31) and Waddington (33*) were the main contributors with the bat and Peter Kirk (3-14) and Rod Pickles (3-25) were the pick of the bowlers. The highlight of the innings from the Kirkby viewpoint was seeing local cricketing legends Rod Pickles and John Nattrass bowling in tandem for the first time ever as Nattrass made his long awaited and much belated Kirkby debut. The realisation of his dream only became a reality for Nattrass after he had scraped through a late fitness test just prior to the start of the game.

 In reply, A Brownlee and Chris "Kiffer" Nattrass put on a solid 42 before Brownlee's dismissal brought Kirkby's "Top Gun" bat, Ken "Brad Pitt" Fielder, the Aussie from Pakenham Upper-Toomuc to the crease. However, before Kenny was able to even think about gunning for the Pannal bowlers he was involved in a dreadful mix-up with Kiffer and was run out by the length of the pitch. At 47-2 the game was not all over. However, in a continuation of his sublime form of recent weeks, Kiffer (62*) together with Fraser saw Kirkby home without further alarm for a comfortable 8 wicket win. Fraser's unbeaten 29 suggested that thoughts of suing his eye surgeon may be a little premature after all !!.