Radyr vs Tondu Second XI
Going into this game, Dai Rees was given the captaincy late on, giving him the opportunity to change Tondu’s fortunes in the league. Rees was Montgomery, Radyr would be his Battle of El Alamein surely. Sadly this was where the comparisons were to end. Monty was known to study his surroundings, conditions and the shipping forecasts. He was a keen advocate of listening to his generals and heeding their advice. Today’s skipper had a ‘different’ approach.
A green wicket with lots of patches of grass, overcast conditions, damp in patches but dry underneath and a forecast of it brightening up later………..all the key components pointed towards one thing……..bowl. In fact, ten of the eleven Tondu players agreed with that thought as did the hosts and even their skipper’s cat, Simon. Today was to be ‘Opposite’s Day’ for Dai Rees. As soon as the coin landed in his favour, he yelled ‘BAT!’ like it was some form of Tourette’s. When Rees was trudging back to the pavilion after being trapped LBW, there must have been some doubts about his choices that day rushing through his mind as he glanced at the scoreboard reading 12-4. Thankfully for Tondu, Mr Dependable, Richard Ready was on his way to the crease. Partnered by Ryan Owen, Tondu began to repair the early damage done by the accurate Radyr bowling. Owen gifted his wicket, teeing up an easy catch with the score now looking a lot healthier. Callum Smeaton and Ieuan Parsons stuck around for brief periods before it was left Clive Holmes to show the youngsters how it’s done. Holmes ended 17 not out and proved the perfect side-kick for the impressive 42 not out Richard Ready contributed. Tondu scraped to a disappointing 113-8 from their 45 overs.
By the time the Tondu innings had ended, the grey cloud had disappeared and all that could be seen was blue sky. As the sun beat down on the pitch, Radyr enjoyed a half-time sandwich. Dan Thomas and Ryan Owen opened the bowling for the visitors, knowing they would have to replicate the accurate bowling of their hosts if they stood any chance of getting a result today. Owen in particular bowled a fantastic spell, as with much of his season, he really didn’t get the wickets his bowling deserved. Often bowling deliveries that were too good for the batsmen to get out to. Bowling 7 overs for 17 runs, all that was missing was the wickets. Meanwhile Thomas struggled and proclaimed to the ground how much he hates cricket as he walked back down to the boundary. Take that cricket. Ellis Major was brought into the attack and started to find the accuracy to make scoring runs difficult.
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Major finally struck dislodging the Radyr opener, Howard Stone, for 29 runs. Richard Ready took over bowling duties from Major with Tondu really made their hosts work for their runs. Bouncing back from the horror of dropping a catch for only the second time in his career, Ready soon took a scalp with Rees taking the catch. With Ready bowling an economical spell partnered at the other end by Clive Holmes who again bowled 7 overs for very little, with a wicket thrown in for good measure. Radyr reached their target with 10 overs to spare with opener, Peter Clegg, finishing on 58 not out. Defeats are becoming a reoccurring bad dream for Tondu at the moment and they have a huge end to the season to ensure they remain in the division next season.
Tondu 113-8 (45 overs)
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Richard Ready 42*
I Llewellyn 3-22
Radyr 116-3 (35.1 overs)
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Peter Clegg 58*
Richard Ready 1-18