‘On Wednesday 24 July, 20 ‘able’ cricketers took to the field at Chester Boughton Hall CC to take part in the Annual CAPP Cricket Game. The annual game had previously been a long-standing fixture until the Covid-19 pandemic, after which time the game went into the long grass. Historically the CAPP (or CAEAAV as it was then) went to battle at the crease against the Eaton Estate XI, hosted in the glorious grounds of Eaton Hall.
The weather was a traditional British Wednesday with plenty of patches of rain and very little sunshine. Nevertheless, the two teams took to the field to play a 16 over per side game. The Fearnall XI took the field and there was a good battle between bat & ball to start, with both openers for the Cheshire XI scoring well. Guest player Gareth Hughes retired not out on 25* whilst his opening partner J Bell fell on 11. G Flanders came in to bat at No. 3 and played some impressive strokes whilst racing to 24 and that combined with a few slightly less text book swipes push the Cheshire XI’s score to 98. The pick of the bowlers for the Fearnall XI were Ollie Dodd & Ben Lamont, along with the stylish leg-spin from Kershaw which showed glimpses of Warne.
In return, captain Fearnall strode out the crease to start the run chase for his team and between him & his partner Kershaw they scored at a quick rate. The Fearnall XI were 50 without loss until ‘golden arm’ Iain Pemberton came to the fore, who managed to remove both opening batters. After which time some tight bowling from the Cheshire XI swung the game back in their favour and the game looked to be all over – that was until Lamont strode to the crease. The calculations were, 6 balls left 19 to tie, 20 to win. After two balls of the final over it was then 4 balls left, 18 to tie, 19 to win and then came an onslaught from Lamont with what you might describe as some ‘cultured’ hockey shots as he went 4,4,4 and 6 to tie the game on the last ball of the game.
An unimaginable, but yet quite fitting, end to the game!
Once everyone’s blood pressure had levelled off, the players and spectators enjoyed some post-match refreshments in the clubhouse. It was great to see a cricket fixture return to the CAPP Calendar and our thanks to Tom Fearnall for organising the game and I am sure many are looking forward to next year already.’