A damn close run thing - Cincers fall at the last hurdle in thrilling finish to 2009 tour

Whoever said it was easy.
Cincers looked like a deflated balloon at the end of this thrilling duel in the sun.
Day Two of the tour, and this time, Cincers had only a short drive from Cartaxo to the ground.
Still not on time. Big Jim was greeted by one of our opposition - Prebensen, an Indian side from a local factory - with a unique welcome. 'Hello. You are very late.'
The toss again went Cincers' way but this time, the Skip put in the opposition in - mindful of the batting performance the day before and of the night on the tiles in Cartaxo the night before.
That included Big Jim failing to gain access to the one and only nightclub, much to the disgust of veteran clubber JP.
'He who hesitates is lost,' the Vice-Skip observed of Jim's halting attempt to gain entry.
And so the cricket.
Max and Sledger opened up for Cincers, with Jim clearly bruised from his club rebuff.
Sledger took an early wicket before Lord Rashbrooke got in on the act by bowling the opposition skipper and the number four.
But at the other end, opener Amrit began smashing his way to a formidable 80.
In the field, Cincers had a so-so game, with the odd chance going down or - in the case of one skier that landed near the Skipper - not being chased in the first place.
When he came on, Big Jim bagged two - including the key wicket of Amrit off a smart catch by keeper Jack.
This being Portugal, there was the odd language difficulty.
In particular, the Skip's frenzied 'on the boundary, please!' was clearly not in the team phrase book as one of his floaters disappeared for a six over someone's head.
(You know who you are. Please now hang it in shame.)
But Jack took a brilliant stumping off the Skip who got another one bowled.
The Chairman came on to take a wicket in his second over to leave the oppo all out for a formidable 210 off 37 overs.
Jim had 2 for 43 off 8, Max 2 for 34 off 8, Frank 2 for 42 off 8 while Tim had one for 42 off 4, with his wicket coming off his very first ball.
The Skip took 2, for 41 off 5 while the Chairman had one for 1.1 overs.
The Meerkat, formerly known as Rockie, left the fielding lamenting that he hadn't had a bowl.
His time was yet to come.
Tea/lunch was, if anything, even better than Day One with a Portuguese fish pie by Mrs Buccimazza and far too much good stuff to go with it.
When Cincers replied, it was a case of oh so near.
Selfish went - for him - early again after getting unluckily caught down the legside for 17.
But Test Match, wounded by his duck the day before, turned on the skill to hit a superb 69.
He was ably supported by the Vice-Skip who took the odd blow but racked up 26 before getting bowled.
Dan holed out for one but enter the Meerkat to give more than valuable support.
Just when it looked as though Test Match would be there till the end, he was caught behind.
Tragically, there followed two run-outs and just a single from Big Jim, leaving the Meerkat and Max to take us right to the wire.
Three balls to go and four needed. Oh dear, Max holes out after a brave 17.
The Skip comes in.
Four off two. The Meerkat hits the penultimate ball for a scrambled couple.
Two off one for victory. One for a tie.
Cruel game, this.
For probably the first time in his cricketing life, the Meerkat goes back to one and...is bowled!
Cincers lose by one run off the last ball.
Pandemonium as the oppo go wild. Cincers look devastated. We were.
But well played to the Meerkat for a thrilling 33 that took us so close.
Still, beer in the pavilion, a presentation - of a Warsop Stebbing new ball to the victorious opposition skip - and farewell thanks to Sandy and Fatima Buccimazza for hosting us.
The traditional end-of-tour dinner in the Cartaxo hotel featured tour awards, with special citations to Dan for his battling performance on Day One, and for Big Jim for his bowling.
Test Match and the Meerkat were suitably toasted for Day Two's tremendous batting performance but Man of the Tour award went to Max for a fine opening burst and fine all-round effort.
Pass the port.
* Picture caption 1: Big Jim pretends the Albergaria scoreboard is a nightclub bar after being refused entry the night before
* Picture caption 2: 'Does anyone know where the cricket pitch is?' Our dynamic minibus team of Test March and the Meerkat grimace, sorry, grin for the camera.