It was the first game of the 99/00 Season, and as was tradition at that time 1st to 3rd Grade were to play a Saturday-Sunday game. A relatively warm day meant that when we lost the toss on the shade-less Dalton Park West, we were put into the field. The Butchers toiled hard on somewhat of a road; the snoozing game of Western Suburbs meant that they could take advantage late in the day, post a score that our guys knew deep down were never going to get. In fact having to come back the next day might mean we will be staving off an outright!
One man had taken it upon himself to bat for the longest possible period he could. He knew that this may not necessarily win us the game, but it certainly meant we wouldn't have to bat again.
Peter Shepherd played an innings that I have never seen him play. Gone were the early charges, the batting left-handed, the batting without gloves or pads. Here was a man determined to make the most of a flat deck.
And the runs came, the boundaries trickled rather than flowed, but the Butchers were witnessing what could be achieved when you put such a high price on your wicket. When things appeared to be 'safe' Peter set about having some fun, and cracked a few more boundaries. However he was tragically dismissed for what we all believe to be 98 late in the afternoon. Being the incoming batsmen, I said to Pete on the way past, "Well done mate, but you don't want to know how many you were".
What followed was a comical tantrum that would go down in Butcher folklore. Peter hurled his bat into the creek adjacent to DPW, followed by his hat, and then put it upon the players around him why he was not informed he was on 98? Fortunately I wasn't out in the middle at the time and didn't have to answer his rant.
But as it was the book was taken away, checked and re-re-checked and low and behold, Peter had passed the 100 mark, finishing with what I believe was 104. Once again proving the worth of being a tidy scorekeep! And so ends the tale of the Hundred that wasn't, but was!
The # in the title of this article in
no way represents the ranking of the 50 Greatest Moments - it merely
represents the order in which the article was submitted.
This article has been viewed 488 times!
