A STAR FOR ASPINALL AS FONTHILL FALTER

By Sam Peters, ex cricket correspondent Whizzer & Chips

‘TO the victor belong the spoils,’ said New York senator William L Marcy in 1828, referring to the victory of Andrew Jackson in the state elections.

And while technically Fonthill Park Cricket Club were not victorious on the field as they took on the Chairman’s XI in memory of former vice-president Peter Butler, everyone involved in this game, reached the close on Saturday immeasurably richer just for the taking part.

In Bertie Aspinall, we also witnessed the coming of age in cricketing terms of a young man with a very bright future.

Three for 12 from seven fast and nasty overs, including one particularly disgusting thunderbolt which saw the opposition No3 forced to take evasive action, only to tread on his stumps, before a high-octane innings of 73 from 59 almost clinched the home side victory, chasing an unlikely 216 from 35 overs.

Watched by his proud parents Ed and mum Bea, the 16-year-old all-rounder put the A in Aspinall with a superb all-round performance, including a brilliant caught and bowled, before hitting five fours and four sixes in only the second fifty of his fledgling career.

There will be many more.

Aspinall, aided and abetted by some excellent swing bowling from Jonny “finally you can ring my”  Belk, who claimed his first ever wicket for the club in only his 4,211th game of the season, reduced the visitors to 54 for four at one stage.

But a rally by the visitors, led by the Peter Pan of Wiltshire and Dorset Cricket, Michael Rawlinson, and supported by opposition skipper and son of the late Peter, Simon Butler, saw our opponents post a daunting total of 215 for seven from their allotted overs.

Even a stunning catch in the deep from Dan Brickell off an eternally grateful Keith Edwards and a John Salisbury special delivery served cold and slow to a ring rusty Rupert Murray, who craved the need for speed but only got 20 mph dolly drops in return, could not halt the runs.

Salisbury’s dismissal of Murray, an FPCC hall of famer (if there was such a thing), will live long in the memory for all, and may indeed be mentioned again at future gatherings.

On other days, John’s son Rhys would also have been mentioned, but can consider himself very unlucky not to have taken at least a couple of wickets in a very tidy seven over spell.     

When Fonthill came to bat, Finn Edwards relished his tussle with Rawlinson’s fast bowling 9ft 11in son, Peter, not Pan, and impressed with 34 in an excellent opening partnership with Howard “thou  shalt not pass” Smith.

When Edwards was dismissed, it brought Aspinall to the crease, and he wasted little time hitting the accelerator. He also hit the ball, very hard.

Aspinall showed a full range of shots, hooking hard and intentionally in the air off the front foot and driving firmly down the ground.

Such was the joy in watching him bat, the two skippers made an on-the-spot decision to ignore a pre-match agreement that players should retire at 50, to enable the teenage tyro a chance to hit a first ever century.

Sadly, it was not to be. This time. And Aspinall’s departure, well caught in the deep attempting another aerial shot, brought everyone’s fun to end, and saw the steam come hissing out of Fonthill’s tyres as our chase stalled in the face of some excellent bowling from the visitors, not least young Rawlinson in his excellent second spell.

Howard carried his bat for 42 from 96 balls, dealing stoically with Rawlinson’s pace but lacking the pyrotechnics Aspinall brought to the party. To be fair they would have made Coldplay blush.

Defeat by 24 runs was a decent effort, but the day was about so much more than who won on the field.

In the end, this was a wonderful day of cricket played in excellent spirit under perfect skies at our imperfect perfect little ground.

Special mention to Tom Mitchell, who at times reminded us a Jeffrey Dujon and Rod Marsh as Aspinall got the ball whistling past earholes and thudding into the keeper’s gloves at a trajectory rarely reached in these parts.

 Thanks also to our chairman Eric for scoring, Bexi for helping Mark prep the ground on Friday and all those who came down to support and assist the ever helpful Tim Jones behind the bar on a joyous day at FPCC in memory of a great club man.

Whisper it, and there’s a long way to go yet, but we may just have unearthed another on Saturday.

Remember the name. B is for Bertie, A is for Aspinall.

Ends