Leamington CC v Birmingham League Vets 28/07/23

Leamington CC pulled off one of the giant killing results of the season as their invitation XI disposed of the mighty Birmingham League Vets by 5 wickets in a thrilling and well attended match at Arlington Avenue in memory of one of the League’s finest, Rob Grant, on the advent of his 58th birthday.

Invited to bat first by Leamington skipper NMK Smith in testing conditions, the Birmingham Leaguers got off to a stodgy start as opener IWE Stokes decided from the very first ball that a crisis was already looming and dropped anchor in a manner rarely seen since Chris Tavare batted two sessions for 32 at Lords in 1980.

Whilst Stokes survived the peppering from Leamington pacer KA Arnold, a limping Aamir Faroque, playing after extensive physio treatment to sort out his stiff back, succumbed to a barrage of short-pitched deliveries, only able to fend off a searing bumper with a mistimed pull to square leg.

Arnold’s reputation precedes him and it was obvious to all onlookers that he’d developed a quite remarkable ‘much slower ball’ since his halcyon years of the 90s where he tormented many an outside edge with a leg-cutter and many more minds with a cutting remark. Conversely, Neil Smith, a former England off-spinner, seems to have abandoned his craft and spent the last 30 years in the gym to build his frame up to becoming a ‘traditional English seamer!’

There’s an old adage in cricket that players mature like a fine wine and this particular crop had an average age of 61.

However, as any good sommelier will advise you there’s also a fine line between a vintage at its best and one that’s become corked, and as Stokes ground his way to yet more red ink, so his batting companions fell by the wayside as they failed to answer the calls of the quick runs.

The great Moseley opener is said to enjoy a flutter on the horses- well if his nags run like his batting partners then the bankruptcy courts await him.

With Mark Mansell (hamstring) and Dan Dalton (calf muscle) falling to the self-inflicted Stokes’ sword of speculative singles, so Jonty Wright joined the opener at the crease for a brief moment where we witnessed 34,000 Birmingham League runs batting together in partnership as the two leading run scorers in the League’s history shared one last stand together.

Alas it was but for a fleeting moment; the number stayed roughly around the 34,000 mark as Wright’s powerful frame unleashed some vicious pulls, only to pick out the one man in the opposition capable of getting around the boundary to catch at midwicket.

With ‘Little Ted’ retiring at 40 (off approximately 521 balls) a late rally from the youngsters ‘Big Ted’ Bayliss and Will Mottram, after Ali Babar had rebuilt the innings with an eye-catching run-an-over 3, saw the Vets post 130 off their allotted overs, a disappointing total and one that left their skipper scratching his head over the balance of their powerhouse batting order.

As the Birmingham League strode out to take the field, H Turner and Aamir Faroque formed an opening spinning attack rarely seen at any level since the days of Erapaldi Prasanna and Bagwat Chandrasekhar.

H’s initial choice of ends was reversed with the comment “You can’t expect me to bowl into that fucking gale at the age of fucking 77….”, yet despite the arduous conditions the great Moseley mystery spinner (it’s a mystery if he ever turned one….) returned admirable figures of 1-21 off his determined opening spell.

The pain-racked figure of off-spinner Faroque, grimacing through his back spasm, at the top end also thrived as the wicket deteriorated, taking 2-31 as he demonstrated every weapon in his craftsman’s tookit, even getting one to deviate off straight at one point, despite the obvious crushing mental pressure of knowing he had to be back in Brum ‘to sort Snobs out’ by 7.30pm.

As the 5th Test continued at the Oval on the big screen, one fact became obvious to all watchers; that England had certainly drawn the short straw in the test match wicketkeeping department as, out in the chaotic middle of Leamington, Godfrey Lamb treated us to a display behind the stumps that left all wondering just why Jonny Bairstow is continually selected for England ahead of the brilliant Kidder keeper, despite a mild question mark in the tabloid press about Lamb being ‘the future of the game’

With the match in the balance, Connor Grant rather fittingly came to the crease and destroyed all vestiges of the popularlist Grant family batting legacy, as his powerful strokeplay simply destroyed the leg heavy Leaguers attack.

Rob would have been disappointed with such flagrant disregard for stereotype (but might just have been absolutely thrilled to watch the skill of his lad!).

Despite Will Mottram snaring a couple of wickets at the end, Grant’s 40* off 16 balls was enough to take the Leamingtonians home against the halt and (very) lame of the Vets, and as stumps were drawn, hands were shaken and no doubt a few tears shed, the teams retired to the bar to reflect upon a great day shared.

The Serious Bit:

Rob Grant often peddled the myth cricket was no more than a tedium that prefaced a pint and a yarn, so to see the evening function go well into the night would have meant the world to him.

Stories and memories littered the Leam Pav like confetti and careers became embellished, yarns became distorted and reminiscences became dubious, but all within the boundaries of a huge love of the game and of Granty in particular.

To see so many legends of the league both on and off the pitch was quite incredible. The names who attended were remarkable- from Nick Archer and David Banks to Brian Mills, Geoff Tedstone, Graham Plimmer and many others. At one point it was observed that one group of ex-players chatting together had 50,000 BDCL runs between the five of them.

Special thanks must go to Clive Antrobus, Steve Grant, Brian Mills, Neil Smith, Gordon Lord and the extended Grant family for hosting a day so special to so many, and all involved trust that this game and day went someway to celebrating Rob’s life and to achieve some form of closure.

As we get older, rivalries, opinions and incidents from ‘back in the day’ matter not- for we are all part of each other’s lives, inexorably bonded by a shared experience of the greatest league in England at its pomp, and in particular on this day, the camaraderie of one man- our mate, friend and most respected of foes, Rob Grant.