Galactic Greetings Earthlets! From the heart of the Galaxy it is I, Tharg the Mighty, who has travelled many light years to bring you this week’s match report. Engage your circuits and prepare for sensory overload…
In Megacity One surrounded by the barren wastelands of the Accursed Land we were visited by the crew of the H.M.S. Somerset from the Royal Navy of Megacity Two on a tour of our polluted waters. These galactic sailors had the temerity to challenge the local lawmakers of this Ville, the Darjeeling chapter of the Judges (enforcers of the cricketing law in a lawless place).
Led by Chief Judge Turner, the Darjeeling Judges were well prepared for the day. According to the scorer droids this meant most had hangovers the size of a Rigellian Pachyderm and the vile moods to match. The Darjeeling innings started with Thrillpower at maximum setting with Judges Rees and De Boinville taking a harsh toll on the sailors who clearly regretted their decision to allow Chief Judge Turner to invoke Darjeeling Rule 1 (Darjeeling shall bat first). But as all citizens of Megacity One know, a Judge’s word is THE LAW and the sailors had no choice but to comply or face a lengthy sentence as Judge Brown’s personal underwear fitter & repairer (a fate no sane citizen would wish to endure). The ball flew to all parts of the ground and Judge de Bonneville retired first on a blistering 51 (8 x 4’s and 1 x 6). Judge Rees retired soon after with an equally enterprising 52 (7 x 4 and 1 x 6) and the score was 111 after but 7 overs! Our latest Judge to join the squad, Judge Blikkies come in at Number 3 and played respectably until shown the way to the change room, given out LBW for 6 (with 1 x 4). The bowler was nearly as surprised at the decision as Judge Blikkies. Not for nothing do they call me Tharg the Trigger Finger…
Judges Brown and Houghton coming in at 4 and 5 were distraught that Darjeeling Rule 2 (Judges Brown and Houghton shall open the batting) was not invoked and proceeding to nurdle around in a Tavare-esque style compiling 12 (2 x 4’s) and 19 (2 x 4’s) respectively. Judge Weir then came in and hit a well timed 26 Not out (3 x 4’s and a wholly run 5!) and Judge Neal (the Silent Assassin) added 6 Not Out (1 x 4). Fortunately the H.M.S. Somerset bowlers were contributing to the scoreboard even faster than our Judges best efforts and by the end of the game Extras was highest score on 69 and the total was 241 after 20 overs.
The H.M.S. Somerset innings had a slow start and a rather bizarre run out put a smile on even the toughest Judge’s dial (Judge Houghton lurking at short fine leg had decided to only throw with his left arm to make things more interesting). Judge Gully decided to lighten things up even more by bowling a few full tosses which were duly dispatched for four before bowling the other opener. Judge Gully ended with figures of 4 overs (1 Maiden) 1 for 25. The other opening bowler was Judge Brown who bowled two tight overs taking 0 for 4. It would seem that it was not only the H.M.S. Somerset bowlers but also their scorer droids who had their circuits fried by the heat of Megacity One. Judge Brown was recorded for posterity in the score tech log as “Wanker!!”. This unwise act of imprudence has been recorded in Judge Brown’s personal tech log and the scorer droids home locations have been duly noted for when the next Betelgeussian Invasion Armada reaches this lowly planet.
Then Chief Judge Turner had a sudden attack of brain freeze (probably due to injuries suffered in the 2013 Battle of Sharjah) and threw the ball to Judge de Boinville who gave a spectacular display of pure bowling drekk – 0 for 39 off a very painful two overs (but they felt a lot longer)! Truly we had not seen this much pure filth since Judge Houghton and Brown’s recounting of their previous night’s encounter with the mutant womenfolk of Barnasti and Rock Bottom. This gave a kick start to the H.M.S. Somerset numbers 3 and 4 who both made well played 40’s. Judge Neal (1 for 17 off 2 overs), Judge Houghton (0 for 18 off 2 overs), Judge Blikkies (0 for 10 off 2 overs) and Judge Weir (0 for 16 off 2 overs) all played their part in recovering from the de Boinville implosion.
Chief Judge Turner in desperation finally bought himself on. He bowled with a mixture of guile and sneakiness and apart from fluffing the easiest Caught and Bowled chance this Millennium, did an admirable job taking 4 wickets for 22 runs off 4 overs. Fortunately our camera droid was on hand to capture Chief Judge Turner’s expression when he dropped his catch…
After that the power of the Judges was just too much and the sailors ended up on 159 for 7 off their 20 overs. A win for the Darjeeling Judges of 82 runs.
The sailors introduced us to their strange Megacity Two customs which included the awarding of a Dick of the Match. They gave their Dick of the Match to their opening batsman who was ingloriously run out for zero and who had also decided to wear a thigh guard as a stomach protector. Darjeeling had a long, deliberate voting process and Judge Rees was adjudged the Darjeeling Dick of the Match. And so it came to pass that a challenge was held as to who was the Dick of the Galaxy. A Rigellian Hotshot down-down race was held, which Judge Rees won in spectacular fashion (not a bad performance for an Earthlet) and the sailors were suitably humiliated again by the power of the Judges.
After seeing the sailors safely off to their transporter, the Judges retired to the Arabian Ranches Golf Club for further imbibing of Rigellian Hotshots and a discussion on the relative merits of using the Lawgiver pistol or the CA Plus 8000 bat from AJ Sports as crowd control tools for Sharjah games.
Farewell until next week (when the rematch takes place in Sharjah), or as we aliens say, Splundig vur Thrigg!
THARG THE MIGHTY