Willkommen zurück...... Miele

I love the fixture with Miele, mainly because it's a great opportunity to dust off the war time stereotypes about the Germans. To be fair, they rarely field any Krauts  Germans, as they are far too serious to play such a frivolous game as cricket. So the days of  playing against a Teutonic XI of blond & blue eyed youth, have long gone; mind you we are always wary of any Italian or Japanese allies who may turn up to assist their quest for world domination in the white handkerchief goods market.....

Kommander Baz conquered the toss, and issued orders for us to bat first. He swapped his usual cap for a natty orange one-no doubt trying to go undercover with the Dutch look- as if that would fool us !

 

Tim & Dave  looked relaxed despite the recent trauma of that run out. Dave decided strike deprivation would be the best option, and accelerated to 14 whilst Tim stood and observed, until Dave failed to pick the U boat ball from Barry. This brought in Sir Francis, who was under pressure after his disgraceful performance against FCC. More used to fighting the Spanish, this was an unfamiliar foe for the Sea Lord, but he stepped up in style and blitzed an unbeaten 25. Tim was shot down for 23, and the skipper swaggered in, scratched around for a bit (too long in some people's view) before being put out of his misery by the Swiss "neutral" umpire. Said umpire fell cheaply, as did Thompy, so it was left to Wicksy to give a masterclass in stroke play as he raced to 32; obviously living off PoW rations of just half a grain of rice and a cup of water suits him perfectly. 128 was only a par score for the wicket, and we did look short on bowlers....in fact we were short of a bowler who failed to turn up- DAN (note to self- check on possible German ancestors).

Jonny & Templedoom bowled tidily, keeping the run rate down nicely, and Doom actually bagged 3 wickets......somehow.  Thompy even took a good catch, which we now know was an aberration, and everything seemed under control, with the only excitement being when Rickart Schmidt from credit control broke his bat in half for not obeying orders. Lucy demonstrated great fielding skills on the boundary, Josh didn't (must remember to check who coaches him... ), and Angus tried to repeat his tactic of bowling out of the sun, but the Germans have come across this tactic before and both pilots bats survived the uber overs with ease.

Herr Turncoat Thompy bowled possibly the worst spell ever witnessed in peacetime, with at least 5 leg side deliveries per over, and his loyalties will be seriously questioned, when he returns from his holiday in Berlin, as he put Miele back on track for an unlikely Endsieg *. There's a suspicion that he's after an exclusive contract with Miele to install their washing machines in Didcot; if this turns out to be true, then we'll need to invest in a decent hoover to pick up what's left of him- post interrogation............................................

Chuchillian speeches from Jonny, and a good over each from Dave & Howard ensured the game wouldn't go to penalties, and another epic victory can be written into the history books. VM day was celebrated long into the night in the pub. Rule Britannia !

* Adolf used 'Endsieg' in his book "Mein Kampf & other animals" to mean final victory