Barmy Army v Bunburys Photo © Barmy Army

The final game of the Bunbury's season saw them travel to Twickenham to take on the might of England's greatest and most vocal supporters, the Barmy Army. A sunny Sunday afternoon attracted a sizeable crowd, who enjoyed a fun family atmosphere on the Green. A few lucky punters also took advantage of Barry Dennis's presence, betting on the number of runs the Bunbury's would amass against their hosts!

It was evident early on that this match could have been a spread-better's dream! Openers John Rice and Adam Hollioake took little time in acclimatising to the medium pace bowling, and were 92 without loss after 10 overs. Hollioake was bowled soon after though by Meathead, for a swift 64 that had included three huge sixes (more than one boundary had threatened to smash the windows of a passing 281 bus!).

And the home support went wild when Rice holed out to the safe hands of Big John at square leg! Occasional spinner "Pies" then entered the attack for the Barmy Army. A certain degree of control looked to be being gained… until Ali Brown came to the wicket. Passing pedestrians were forced to dive for cover, as Brown explosively flailed the Army's attack to all parts of the ground. At one point he appeared to be deliberately aiming his sixes for the sponsored cars of his county colleagues!!

83 year old Jack Hyams Photo © Barmy Army

83 year old Jack Hyams, marshalling the Barmy boys for the day, stuck with his plan of bowling Pies, and it duly paid off. With regular breakthroughs, the rookie tweaker ended with the creditable figures of 4-81.

With Frazer Hines now at the crease, the Army sensed that the rabbit hunting season had finally begun, and crowded the batsman with their field. Not to be left out, Hines' non-striking partner Rudolph Walker also wanted a piece of the action, and sauntered up to field at silly mid on!

By the time Phil Simmons reverse swept Chaz for four in the final over, the Barmy Army were certainly in need of a little liquid refreshment; the Bunbury's closing their innings on 289 for 10.

The highlight of the tea interval was undoubtedly the appearance of youngsters fighting bravely against leukaemia, who posed for photographs with all the players.

After the break, the first ball produced an immediate breakthrough for the Bunbury's. PC Ali, based at the Twickenham constabulary, had strolled up to the crease, pausing only to handcuff Syd Lawrence. After much fumbling, Lawrence was finally released, and spurred on by the Army's chants of "You're Ainsley Harriot and you know you are", promptly had Ali caught behind!

Captain Hyams led from the front; this veteran cricketer with more than 112,000 runs already to his name was determined to fight the Barmy cause with all his might, and saw off the bowling of Lawrence and Simmons. By the time he departed for 33 in the 17th over, the Barmy's were progressing nicely towards their sizeable target.

However, the guile and loop of the renowned spin twins Rudolph Walker and Adam Hollioake wreaked havoc in the hosts' middle order. 67-2 mutated into 89-8 in a devastating five over spell! Barmy Army wickets were now tumbling thick and fast, but they were greatly assisted by having 19 batsmen in their ranks. At one stage, even the scorers were losing count of how many players were stumbling out of the bar and up to the wicket!

Middle order stalwart Boz grasped his opportunity and set about the bowling of Ian Ward and Andy Jacobs. Assisted by the scampering of the Army `keeper Lovell at the other end, Boz pushed the total onto 214-13, when he departed for the day's highest score of 70. Paul "Leafy" Burnham promptly started where his colleague left off, and struck a brisk 33.

Unfortunately, sober batting replacements were now becoming harder to recruit, and few could cope with the pace of the returned Syd Lawrence were they able to actually make it to the crease!

In the end the Bunbury's were the victors by 18 runs, but more importantly over £1600 had been raised for the Leukaemia Research Fund. And as the sun set on another Bunbury season, the Barmy Army promised to swell their ranks Down Under in the winter, to ensure an even lengthier batting tail next season!

© Barmy Army