The Twelfth Man 2020

Houghton Main at Lord’s. Photo courtesy of Sarah Williams 22 23 in two balls, aided by two brilliant catch- es under pressure by Steve Honeyman that saw Egerton come up just short on 148. By now we dared to dream of a return to Lord’s but a long trip to Astwood Bank of the Worcestershire Premier League stood in our way. This game took a completely different path after we again lost early wickets. Wicketkeeper Simon Ward dug in with the aid of Yousaf Re- hman. After Rehman went, Ward went through the gears on an excellent bat- ting surface to bring up his second cen- tury of the tournament, his second 50 coming from just 32 balls. Callum Hon- eyman added a run-a-ball 31 to push Houghton Main up to an imposing 232. The hosts lost an early wicket, bring- ing danger man, Tom Underhill to the crease who struck the ball as well as an- yone seen in club cricket. As long as he was there the home side were favour- ites. The game changed after Callum Honeyman got under his skin following an altercation. Attempting to hit a slog sweep into Birmingham city centre, Un- derhill was caught in the deep off a top edge for 83. Sam Thomas added 60 with some hitting at the death but the rate kept increasing as Imran Khan’s yorkers proved difficult to get away. The Ast- wood Bank innings closed on 211/9, the first time we hadn’t bowled a side out in the competition, but the 21-run victory saw Houghton Main return to Lord’s. A long fund-raising campaign got under- way straightaway as the sponsorship of previous years wasn’t available. Due to generous contributions from players, lo- cal businesses and the local community we raised the necessary funds to make our Lord’s dream a reality. The lead-up to the final saw lots of media attention from Look North, BBC Radio Sheffield and the Barnsley Chronicle to name but a few. Our social media also got a lot of attention, mostly positive. We intended to travel to London the day before the game and the South Yorkshire Senior Cricket League committee were very accommodating in allowing us to do so. The players’ bus departed in high spirits on the Saturday morning with a further supporters’ coach travelling on Sunday morning. A nervy afternoon in London on the Saturday included a sneak peek inside the ground, before a meal and early nights all round. Sunday morning saw a team breakfast in the lovely Dan- ubius Hotel just across the road from the famous ground. We arrived at the ground around 10am for briefings, in- terviews and official photography be- fore taking our place in the away chang- ing room. Warm-ups were done on a dewy outfield, showing the toss would be key. Our opposition, Reed from the Hert- fordshire Premier League, had survived a scare against newcomers Sarisbury Athletic in the semi-final to make their third trip to Lord’s of the decade, win- ning the tournament in 2012 and 2017. So we knew we’d be up against tough and experienced opposition. Unfor- tunately, we lost the toss and as play got underway around 12pm we were inserted to bat. Things started well with Simon Ward hitting the first ball of the game for a boundary and we made 10 in the first over. The majority of the rest of the early runs came from wides as the ball was talking early on. Frustration led to Ward lobbing a drive to extra cover before captain Michael Brown was ad- judged caught behind off the flap of his pad. Yousaf Rehman was bowled sec- ond ball and, to keep the theme going, Houghton Main were struggling early on at 35 for 3. Callum Honeyman joined Ian Si- mon shortly before the moment that changed the mood of the day and took the wind out of the Houghton Main side. Attempting to pull a back of a length de- livery, Ian Simon top edged the ball into his eye socket, a truly awful sound was heard around the ground on impact and Ian was left in agony in the middle of the wicket. Quick thinking from the last man out, Yousaf Rehman, a doctor, saw first aid administered quickly. Ian was taken to hospital shortly afterwards for treat- ment. Imran Khan joined Honeyman and lived dangerously as he chanced his way to 37 before being caught in the deep to make it 89 for 4 (essentially 5). Biswick Kapala and Honeyman again threatened to take the game away be- fore Kapala went for 33. 141 for 4 be- came 146 for 8 as Steve Honeyman joined his son at the crease, a great sto- ry for the grandkids no doubt. The fa- ther and son combination added 14 to take the total to a below par 160 on an increasingly flat wicket. A delightful tea was had at the midway point, with a fully stocked drinks fridge and multiple choices for each course, so even Simon Ward couldn’t finish it all. The second half got underway with Houghton Main needing early wickets to stand a chance, and that’s what we got. Imran Khan had Richard Wharton very generously adjudged LBW, offer- “ By now we dared to dream of a return to Lord’s but a long trip to Astwood Bank of the Worcestershire Premier League stood in our way.