'THE FERRET'
Just a quick note to relay an alarming incident at last night's net.
Due to the lack of Strollers (a mere three) a tall individual waiting to net after us asked if he could warm up with a bit of bowling. No problem. After all, there were only two very tired bowlers and Johnny Reidy throwing the bat around with an action more often used by a Georgian peasant scything this year's harvest. Anyway, Johnny waited nervously at the crease, beads of sweat dripping off his nose as the mystery bowler pawed at the ground 40 yards away. He came roaring in and hurled down a delivery that made Morgan 'The Magician' McNeil look pedestrian. Just after the ball hit the net behind the wicket John played his shot - a plodding forward defensive effort. To say he was beaten for pace is an understatement. It was debatable whether he was late on that delivery or early on the next. Anyway, the next delivery from the Demon bowler saw Reidy take a guard one foot outside of leg. I swore I saw his eyes close behind those smoked glass specs as he twirled the bat (horizontally) and his body (precariously) in a 360 degree arc in a vain attempt to make contact with the ball which, of course, was had shattered all his stumps a full two seconds previously. John was so shaken by the experience that he retired soon after to change his underpants. He claimed he had to stop because his glasses were all steamed up in a fashion not seen since he had inadvertantly stumbled across a copy of 'Statistics Today' in a dentist's waiting room. I would also like to take this opportunity to ask for all Strollers to desist from calling John 'Ferret' for the obvious reason that he comes in after the rabbits.
The Comma