Ah Bobby Gentry, where are you now?
It was the third of June another sleepy kind of summer`s day
They were putting out the boundary flags ready for the start of play
And it was sometime after noon when Ravi came demanding the team sheet
So I gave it to him saying bet you`ll like it out there in this heat
Then everybody stood and cheered aloud for Aussie Andy Wembridge
`cos he brought along the teas and loaded all the beers in the fridge
Nuremberg won the toss and chose to bat against an MCC team we considered in with a good chance of getting the first league victory of the season. A rather surprised Barrett opened the bowling but had a break after his second over. Waqas Khan, his opening Partner, was also taken off after three overs making way for Altmann and Deverill to lead the attack. They both bowled their full complements straight through and bowled extremely well so that at 20 overs Nuremberg were 66 for three down, all three to Deverill. During their spell keeper Butt had a touch of sunstroke and left the field for some 35 minutes, during which time Barrett took over the gloves. Altmann had bowled superbly for the past several games, throttling the run rate but not getting wickets as a reward. After completing his spell Altmann took over the gloves from Barrett – three different keepers on one match must be some kind of record. Ayub and Qureshi now took over the attack and bowled three tight overs but then Nuremberg got their measure and the run-rate soared and, at the end of the 28th over, the score was 123 for four down. Barrett was brought back on and was tonked in the first over but then took two wickets in the second of his new spell. Waqas Khan also came back to replace Barrett and also took two in one over leaving Colling to take their tenth in the 40th over.
During the innings a couple of spectators from Liverpool drifted in to watch, as usual amazed that there was cricket to be seen in Munich. The fellow had cycled from Liverpool and his girl-friend Emma had flown over to be with him for a few days. You could tell he was a biker by his absolutely massive thighs
After teas provided for both teams by Wembridge, the colourful Australian was rewarded by opening the batting with Aneesh Kotru. They scored quite freely until Kotru skied one with the score on 31 to be replaced by Khan Mahmud. Nine runs later Wembridge hammered one straight to the fielder just forward of point and went back for some more tea. Altmann replaced him and there was a useful partnership of 21 for the third wicket before Khan Mahmud also skied one to be replaced by Qureshi who practised one shot for ten balls before finally connecting and being caught for a duck after skying one to deep long off. Deverill too played in a similar manner although he was very controlled until he hit long and hard to be caught at long on for a duck. So, after 19 overs, MCC were 66 for five down, all five out to shots that could (should?) have been played differently. Altmann who had been a model of restraint was the next to go, also caught for 11 after facing 30 balls. Ayub went for 3 with no increase to the total but was bowled rather than caught trying to go big. Seven runs later Colling had a similar fate, also bowled and 11 runs later Butt was out caught. It was left to Barrett and Khan Waqas to try to bat out the overs sensibly which they did, putting on 21 runs for the tenth, Barrett falling on the very last ball of the 40th over.
Kotru, 6, caught,
Wembridge, 21, caught, 1 catch
Khan Mahmud, 8, caught, 2 catches
+3 Altmann, 11, caught, 8 overs, 2 mdns, 30 runs, 0 wkts, 1 catch
Qureshi, 0, caught, 6 overs, 0 mdns, 1 wkt, 31 runs
Deverill, 0, caught, 8 overs, 2 mdns, 21 runs, 3 wkts
*Ayub, 3, bowled, 4 overs, 1 mdn, 29 runs, 0 wkts, 2 catches
+1 Butt, 6, caught,
Colling, 4, bowled, 4 overs, 0 mdns, 23 runs, 1 wkt
+2 Barrett, 9, caught, 6 overs, 0 mdns, 29 runs, 2 wkts, 2 catches
Khan Waqas, 6*, 5 overs, 0 mdns, 19 runs, 2 wkts
MCC, 123 – 10 in 40 overs, lost to Nuremberg, 185 – 9 in 40 overs by 62 runs
MCC MOM: Barrett.
