Somerset Stragglers 22 August 2024

Captain Colin Allen

Lost by 60 runs

Somerset Stragglers 304 for 3 dec 

SOA 244 all out (Alex Wildman 89, Sam Florey 80)

And so on a very wet morning, the remaining tour party survivors headed over from a lovely stay in Lynmouth over to Taunton, with our star 'keeper Wildman travelling down from home to join us. Miraculously we arrived to find a dry ground, but unfortunately three groups had different start times - SOA, SS and the groundstaff.

With that sorted, Stragglers batted first. With the start delayed half-an-hour by rain, it soon became obvious that the SOA players left for this last match of the tour had nearly run out of energy. Runs came fast and furious from the opposition, despite the admirable efforts from a ten-over medium-pace spell from Mr Crouch, who was just grateful not to be keeping. The luck went with the batters on this occasion, but despite a gutsy fielding performance from SOA, Stragglers declared at 304-3 after 36 overs.

Tea was still half-an-hour away, so a solid start was needed. Both openers looked secure and scored at a good rate, before Shiraz Husain fell just before the break. Alex Wildman made the long trip down worthwhile with an aggressive 89. However, tiredness appeared to affect many of our other quality batsmen, with only Sam Florey able to get another high score, being last man out with a brilliant 80 with our score on 244.

It was a good effort against a very strong opposition. Everyone made it home safely and so ended a marvellous tour. Thanks to Bish and to everyone involved in the organising of it. Bring on next year!