Rivulets of rain snaked down Thameslink windows at Harringay, Hornsey, Alexandra Palace and Bowes Park and was still falling at Palmers Green. Arriving at the Hazelwood Recreation Ground to play a first friendly at Mayfield after a decade of MEIL matches was to see men in whites stood under cover in quiet, reluctant, hesitant clusters. But we were bolstered by news of an improving forecast and took a spontaneous and exquisite risk to make a start in the wet. We won the toss and started bowling in the rain.
Joe Deighan and Sandeep opened against Dave Starck and Asnad Kureishi. Joe bowled a classical brand of seam-up, foiling Starck’s swishing blade when he pitched it just short of a length. Sandeep found his range when he went round the wicket and bowled a delight of an opening spell. But despite our best efforts to keep the ball dry with a cerise cloth, as the ball absorbed moisture Mayfield absorbed our best and profited on anything wide or full.
Fielding wasn’t an easy proposition on a slippery outfield, (though Kieran enjoyed employing the slide) and containment tough. Ganesh, with a Shaun Tait-like action, showed promise and pace in a short spell but struggled to control the ball or find a firm footing at the bowling crease. When the conditions dried out, a mass of flies descended on the ground, surely not a reflection of the entertainment on show.
The arrival of our AK saw off their AK, Aroon deploying the weaponry of a googly to dismiss the talented Asnad Kureishi who clothed a wide one to mid-off. Number three Kazi showed due respect as Paul Davis bowled a quality but wicket less spell. Starck (49) and Kazi fell in quick succession to flighted deliveries from Kieran, their miscued lofted straight drives pouched by Ganesh at long off. The septuagenarian Rahendra ‘Ren’ Bhairo played a blinder, late cuts a feature of a wonderful 36. Zee and K stemmed the flow a bit but, alongside a teenage Bhavin, Mayfield surged past 200 in the last passages of an allotted 30.
Covid-19 denied us a Mayfield tea, one of the best on the MEIL circuit, the 2014 summer of Niron Ramdanie’s jerk chicken and rum and ginger cake a zenith. But the visit to N15 had triggered the taste buds and the memories. Paul and Kieran had made a pre-match visit to a Turkish cafe and picked up a Bulgarian pastry dish of eggs, yoghurt and cheese called Banitsa and a Turkish spinach and cheese spiral-shaped pastry, Ispanakli, respectively. During the tea interval we followed Mutz and Zee to the Palmers Green food emporium that is Yasar Halim. Kieran was as stunned by the panoply of exotic foods as the customers of Yasar Halim may have been by a bespectacled man wearing a woollen cap and white clothing on a Saturday afternoon. The paradox of choice meant he ended with an admittedly delicious and fresh chicken sandwich, an improbably large orange and a small glass bottle of cola. Mutz and Zee excelled with coffee and baklava, which Paul assured me was of a high quality.
By the time the quartet had returned to the Hazelwood, openers Farnham and Amandeep were well under way in the pursuit under far brighter skies. Kureishi was bowling his inswingers and the pair accumulated watchfully in the first ten. The stentorian call came from captain Siddiqui to accelerate and our men responded, playing some fine shots to raise the run rate and our hopes a touch. Once the pair were out for 30 and 40 respectively, Sam’s highest score (I think) for the club showing lots of potential, our chase faltered with a trio of run outs, batsmen perishing pointlessly. Chris Browne deserved some more crease time and hopefully will get that in future Pacific outings. Pacific came up 62 runs short but Joe Deighan cracked, pummeled and marmalised the most sweetly timed straight drive of the day to end our innings with a note of defiance.
