Hot off the press.......................

Sway's very own Jon Grasham enjoyed the most dramatic, nerve racking and ultimately successful day of his cricket career as the Royal Navy defeated both the RAF and the Army to lift the Inter Services T20 Cup at Lords.

In the first of the three games the Army comprehensively beat the RAF and there was little indication of the dramatic events to follow. In the next game, the Navy played the RAF. The RAF batted well and knocking runs off most of the Navy bowlers with even big Grash not immune from some big hitting treatment (see video!). The RAF scored 138 off their 20 overs. In reply the Navy appeared to be cruising, aided by a superb knock by Batley, however, a sudden flurry of wickets set up a dramatic finish. With 2 balls to go, the Navy needed  2 runs to win - then the number 10 was clean bowled. Enter Jon Grasham, the Navy number 11 - one ball to face needing 2 runs to win. The excitement and tension was palpable as the bowler steamed in......and Grash swung and lofted the ball down to 3rd man for a boundary to spark wild celebrations. The climax was summed up by a well lubricated young RAF officer to said: "The army ****ed us, now this guy come in, closes is eyes, swings the bat and gets a thick edge for four!"

This set up a winner takes all match against the Army. The Army batted first but some excellent bowling and fielding by the Navy restricted the Army to just 116. They managed to dismiss the hugely destructive West Indian Russell Emmanuel relatively cheaply and Grasham picked up 2 wickets, both in the same over. The first was a clean bowled, the second the finest bit of cricket of the day. Steaming in, Grash bowled a quick delivery that found the edge and was taken in an amazing Collingwood-style diving catch by the awesome Navy keeper - skipper Tim Burt.

In reply the Navy batsmen really struggled against some superbly tight Army bowling; especially David Wade. With 6 overs to go the Navy were seemingly out of it - needing 10.5 per over. The game was so over that family Marshall left the ground only to receive a text from Mr Lee 30 minutes later to say that I would regret leaving early. Amazingly the Navy recovered with some big hitting and won the game with a single ball to spare - bugger!

YouTube Videos

Grash hit for 4!!

 

Amazing catch by Burt off Grasham!

 

Clean bowled by Grasham!

 

Grash hits winning runs off last ball!

 

Grash hit for 6 into the mound stand!