Sport is about moments. Hell, life is about moments. All we have is a string of moments to be in, look forward to or look back on. But some moments are bigger than others, more important, more intense, and thats where sport comes in, sport at its best creates those moments, like excelsior away for acc4.

We fielded first and gave away 173 runs in many different ways, bowling wides the main one, letting potential catches hit our right eye another, nevertheless having been 100-2 after 15 overs 173 a.o. actually gave cause for a happy lunch.

And then we faced their amazing opening bowler, bert fell first ball, dick has a great piece of wood as we all know but didn't manage to touch anything with it as a ball played on off his pads (no more soccer in the winter for you dick). Robert, frank and osman fell cheaply although osman did see one or two boundaries. Dunc and nagesh came in after the openers were replaced and looked like real cricketers, screaming cutshots from the ozzie and blazing coverdrives from the indian, both managed however to get caught and we were at 80-7.

Enter Richard Wolfe and the Gimp (Joost Bakker ed.). They had been looking forward to that moment with trepidation, because the moment was laden with some weight indeed. We dont necassarily crave those moments where the whole game rests on your shoulders, you mostly look forward and shudder, not knowing if you can live up to the moment, especially if its not just one moment of truth but 96 runs worth of moments that is required.

Now as we all know the first ball is an important moment, and excelsior made the mistake of bowling a full toss to ex-baseballplayer richard who was mentally rehearsing forward defensive, forward defensive and then smacked it to the square boundary, after that moment you could see him relax, oh well, never mind the forward defensive he seemed to think. And he was carrying dicks wood that was in need of some use...The next over he hit four fours, the Gimp fell after scoring a few, two more wickets required and 50 odd needed. Tim lewis with a faint black right eye comes in and hits his perfunctory 4 off his first ball... another moment... they bring on their sublime
openers... its all or nothing, tim falls, skipper mike walsh comes in. We are 9 down. Their best bowlers are on. We need 40 odd. An edge, a wide, passing airplanes pause in the air as everyone looks down through their windows to see and feel the tenseness of the moment... a single and then a smack and caught at longon. Cheers, happiness and disbelief at the stretched arm indicating a noball quickly make the moment a complex one. The game that was won was not won, its still on, full on.

30 odd required an lbw shout is turned down, of course it would have hit the stumps, but it could be argued that it pitched outside leg, in fact in the heated moment that again could sway everyones day another way it needs to be argued that it indeed pitched outside leg, even though umpires shouldn't have to argue... but it was all in the moment what can you do... richard and mike survive their starbowlers spell, he is bowled out, they are back to first change, will richard maintain his composure, he answers later he just tried to think of the next moment and nothing else, the next ball, the next second... When you keep your consciousness small and focussed you free up the body to.... hit a six, hit a four and then gloriously for someone who has never scored a fifty in his entire career he wins the game and reaches his maiden fifty on the same ball. Fifty precise not out.  Planes decided to fly on as teammates swarmed on to the field A moment indeed...