The return of recreational cricket didn’t go quite according to plan for Broadstone player Richard Poole, who may have written himself into the cricketing annals by bagging two first-ball ducks and then getting out a third time – all to the same bowler in the space of less than half-an-hour !
It happened when Broadstone played Bournemouth’s ECB Southern Premier League side in a relaxed 40-over match at Delph Woods, the object of which was to give all the players some meaningful practice before some competitive late season matches get under way this weekend.
Poole, a 43-year old schoolteacher who normally skippers Broadstone’s second team, was feeling quite pleased with himself after taking a wicket and snapping up two fine slip catches before Bournemouth were bowled out for 238.
But when Poole (left) opened the Broadstone innings, it all went terribly wrong – a triple catastrophe occurred in a very short space of time !
Thirty or more yards away, ball in hand at the opposite end, was left-arm seamer Simon Woodruff, a regular in Dorset’s Minor Counties Championship side last season.
Poole takes up the story.
“I took a middle-stump guard. I thought his first ball was going to be his worst ball – after all Simon, like me, had been in lockdown for almost three months and may be hadn’t practised much.
“I thought the ball was going outside off, played a bit of a drive, but when it swung back into me I found I’d left social distancing between my bat and pad and was castled. I was gutted but it was a great ball.”
As it was a friendly match with middle practice the main objective, Bournemouth skipper Luke Matthews, who made an unbeaten fifty during the afternoon session, offered Poole the chance to remain at the crease.
Yorker
“I politely declined, but kept my pads on and not too long after accepted the invitation to come in again at five – with my opening partner Simon Leadbetter still at the other end.
“Problem was Woodruff was still bowling and into his third or fourth over by now.
“I was conscious he might well bowl me another in-swinger, so I made sure I had all my stumps covered.
“He bowled me an in-swinging yorker, which I think just clipped off-stump. It didn’t make much of a noise, so I wasn’t quite sure what had happened.
“I turned round and there was a momentary silence all around Delph Woods as no one predicted I’d get out first ball a second time.
“There was a lot of laughter, but no one else in the pavilion was padded up, so I stayed in and got a thin inside edge to get off the mark – at the third attempt - raising my bat to acknowledge the applause.
“I lasted another over, got another run to get back down at the other end and Simon, still bowling, got me a third time, when I nicked one behind.”
Broadstone were eventually bowled out for 138 with Woodruff’s five-fer return including Poole three times. Left-arm spinner Robert Pack took four wickets.
Poole, to be fair, is no mug with the bat, having scored close on 2,000 runs for Broadstone. But when he goes to the crease on Saturday, he’ll be looking to improve this season’s average of 0.66 ….
It happened when Broadstone played Bournemouth’s ECB Southern Premier League side in a relaxed 40-over match at Delph Woods, the object of which was to give all the players some meaningful practice before some competitive late season matches get under way this weekend.
Poole, a 43-year old schoolteacher who normally skippers Broadstone’s second team, was feeling quite pleased with himself after taking a wicket and snapping up two fine slip catches before Bournemouth were bowled out for 238.
But when Poole (left) opened the Broadstone innings, it all went terribly wrong – a triple catastrophe occurred in a very short space of time !
Thirty or more yards away, ball in hand at the opposite end, was left-arm seamer Simon Woodruff, a regular in Dorset’s Minor Counties Championship side last season.
Poole takes up the story.
“I took a middle-stump guard. I thought his first ball was going to be his worst ball – after all Simon, like me, had been in lockdown for almost three months and may be hadn’t practised much.
“I thought the ball was going outside off, played a bit of a drive, but when it swung back into me I found I’d left social distancing between my bat and pad and was castled. I was gutted but it was a great ball.”
As it was a friendly match with middle practice the main objective, Bournemouth skipper Luke Matthews, who made an unbeaten fifty during the afternoon session, offered Poole the chance to remain at the crease.
Yorker
“I politely declined, but kept my pads on and not too long after accepted the invitation to come in again at five – with my opening partner Simon Leadbetter still at the other end.
“Problem was Woodruff was still bowling and into his third or fourth over by now.
“I was conscious he might well bowl me another in-swinger, so I made sure I had all my stumps covered.
“He bowled me an in-swinging yorker, which I think just clipped off-stump. It didn’t make much of a noise, so I wasn’t quite sure what had happened.
“I turned round and there was a momentary silence all around Delph Woods as no one predicted I’d get out first ball a second time.
“There was a lot of laughter, but no one else in the pavilion was padded up, so I stayed in and got a thin inside edge to get off the mark – at the third attempt - raising my bat to acknowledge the applause.
“I lasted another over, got another run to get back down at the other end and Simon, still bowling, got me a third time, when I nicked one behind.”
Broadstone were eventually bowled out for 138 with Woodruff’s five-fer return including Poole three times. Left-arm spinner Robert Pack took four wickets.
Poole, to be fair, is no mug with the bat, having scored close on 2,000 runs for Broadstone. But when he goes to the crease on Saturday, he’ll be looking to improve this season’s average of 0.66 ….
Bournemouth left-armer Simon Woodruff, who twice dismissed Broadstone's Richard Poole 'first ball' and then got him again a third time ! James Robinson photo.
