Quokkas Forge East - Part 1

Llubljana CC 133 (Oman 49, Eve 25, Egg 2-31, Evil Dave 1-9)

Quokkas CC 127 (Hairdresser 41, PJ 13)

“What happens on tour stays on tour”, or so the old adage goes, though if that were really the case, this would be a very short match report.

And so it came to pass that The Quokkas bravely ventured Stanstead airport and EasyJet catering to arrive in Llubljana with no knowledge of what was happening (Gav excepted, perhaps) and only Skips dubious songbook for comfort.

Passing over the hazy details of the first night in town, aside from some of the best pizza this glutton has come across in a long time, The Quokkas survived and made their way to the beautiful country setting of Valburga for their first match against Llubljana CC.

Like all Quokka matches, some bad signs soon arose, though this time it was before the other team had arrived.  The Llubljana pitch seemed to have been acquired at a sale, as it had 50% of its width missing though twice as bouncy, which was quite a worry considering our usual accuracy and the supposed pace of the opposition.

Being sent in to field, The Quokkas started well with The Attack continuing on from where he left off the week before, holding the batsman and the scoreboard up.  PJ did a fine job in his new role with the new ball too, and was unlucky with a couple of chances.

The ground was also proving to be something of a cabbage patch, with anything not hit over the top halting suddenly in the field.  LCC would do well to buy a ride on mower as they really should have put on a score to match the dramatic mountains in view from the middle.

With the LCC openers showing no sign of budging, Skip brought himself on, only to surprise everyone with the bounce in the pitch when one sprung up, catching the top of the bat and smashing into the batsmans face.  It was not the ideal way to get rid of an opener, though he was very sporting about it.

The bowling rotations continued with the change of batsman and after quickly discovering that Smithers was something of a Harmison on tour, the Hairdressers brother was soon brought on to bring some rather impressive left-arm swing like nothing the Quokkas had seen since the previous evening.

Once the LCC batsman had adjusted to the pace and straightish lines of the Quokka bowlers though, the Skip had no choice but to release this years danger man: The Egg.

The opposition had no answers to our big-chinned marvel and smelling the fear they were sweating, the field soon began chirping louder than newborn chicks. We were joined by Dave the Trumpeter, a mate of Slicks who plays in the Slovenian Orchestra (as you do), who greeted the incoming batsman with the last post.

Egg (aka. widow-maker) soon had the breakthrough too, taking out one of the openers for 49 (thanks to a brilliant catch from the Skip) and their other run-scorer thanks to a quick effort from the Hairdresser.

After a refreshing lunch of more pizza and some dashing about trying to prize helmets away from the opposition, the Quokkas were ready, or so we thought.

Under the grill for the first time, The Mantis fell to a golden, prompting the Rev to turn to the boundary and announce that the team was far.  Or something similar, it was hard to hear over the deathly silence that had overcome those on the boundary.

The Rage came in and saw off the remainder of the over before the LCC quick took himself off for a spell, and then went on to forge a very Rev-ish partnership, putting on less than a run an over.  The Rev eventually saw mist though and tried a pull-shot to the inevitable result, bringing Skip to the crease.

Not wanting to break his record, the Skip then ran out the Rage, before getting himself caught on the boundary.

Thankfully, the other danger man of the year, the Hairdresser, was already at the crease and started to build a formidable counter-attack with the Attack and then PJ.  I believe Slick had a bat in there somewhere too.

PJ, who seems increasingly determined to take a trophy home this year, kept the scoreboard ticking over as he and the Hairdresser rotated strike with quick running and the occasional boundary.

After the scoreboard sat on 46-6 for sometime, things were looking sharp until PJ was bowled, leaving it looking shaky on 81. Admirably though, the remaining batsman kept having a go, but it wasnt to be and The Quokkas came up 6 runs short.

Still, it was a very enjoyable game against arguably the most sporting team the Quokkas have encountered.

tag: match maker