The 1st XI secure the 2nd promotion spot
A man is yet a sentient being, a team has a soul. In adversity, strength
of character brings those of small stature to the epitaph of their enemy.
The threatening rain laden skies from midweek disappeared to reveal a
picture perfect backdrop for the University of Staff’s season
finale. As the sun blazed a trail across the increasingly lush grasses of
Coombe Dingle brained flesh went into battle against eleven heinous foes.
Captain Lack landed the first significant blow of the day; the staff would
be taking to the field first.
Famished by the absence of regular cricket this was not a place for the
faint hearted. Urgency buzzed from mid-wicket to India and back and Barrow
Gurney found the hungry bowling attack too tasty for the dullest of
batting palette. The staff machine was once again roaring. Harvie cranked
through the gears, many would have wilted starved of successful fruits,
Jamie provided a peach. Not all were feasting on the sumptuous opening
spell, as one, nay two catches were dropped by a man so used to shelling
peas. On this occasion Allison’s cutlery, his tools of the trade,
belying his highest of standards. Chances missed, like herons swooping and
sea trout evading there cumbersome beaks. No meal for the young. Fear not
as the Michelin starred Harvie strikes twice more. Imperious.
From the other end there was also elegance. Up the hill, ball released,
Strickland the provider, leg stump clipped. Whoosh. The very next
delivery, with the bowling as tight as Picasso was original, another
wicket fell to caught and bowled. Hat-trick chance, all fielders in,
covering their ears awaiting the sonic boom, the speed fell just short. No
matter; Barrow were 14-5.
A change of bowling at both ends, same again, all relaxed as the sun shone
and more fresh legs were thrown into the melting pot. The crudely barbered
O’Donnell bounding down the hill, pace and power. The ball flying
through the air as though Bell its master was lashing at its back. A few
lusty blows were scant consolation for the opposition as O’Donnell
became frustrated, the legend of Samson and Delilah lives on in Bristol me
thinks. Thought provoking. Patience, hard work and some gentle banter from
his own team-mates prevailed. Sweat came down faster now and soiled the
ground. Not a problem for Kirke who was caressing catches as though they
were his first born.
Throughout the innings Smith was showing his worth in the art of
Wicket-keepery, classy, authoritative and he only dropped one. Standard.
Bowlers were rotated and wickets continued to fall, shared amongst friends
like a box of Thorntons Continental at Christmas. Lack, Bell and Antonio
chipping in to get the job done. A huge plus was the discovery of a new
spin king for consideration in 2011? Calver, 3 off his over, underused.
Barrow Gurney score 95. Attainable.
As incisive as it was beautiful, delighted with their performance the
staff left the field in great spirits. Soon to be dashed by the fare on
offer at lunch. No matter how much you prod those sandwiches, Mr. Smith,
they are still going to be substandard. With the sun disappearing behind
clouds slick tyres proved to be worthless but no time for pit stops in a
game of such gusto.
Calver and Allison opened the batting on a track now resembling the M6 on
a bank holiday weekend. Slow and a general lack of movement made for hard
work in the trenches. On only 32 after 15 overs Calver became
frustrated by a gentleman bowling grenades and chipped the ball into
no-man’s land. Having seen his comrade fall, Allison went in similar
fashion. The battle was on. Captain Kirke went about his business in the
usual fashion, joined at the wicket by Sergeant Smith. Then controversy,
sportsmanship exchanged for gamesmanship as though mother Teresa herself
had donned devils hooves. A huge appeal for caught behind, an LBW decision
given, an angry stand-off and apologies to follow. Smith fell to a
shocker.
DJ and Kirke shored up the batting, the latter despatching to huge sixes
to the boundary. Jamie Harvie continued his devastating knack of taking
wickets by encouraging George to throw his away. He still didn’t get
5 for. No tie from the strike bowler. Shame. Antonio brought out the
windmill, Bell didn’t trouble the scorers and a hastily padded up
Harvie saw us home with the assured DJ.
A fantastic way to see out the promotion winning season. Soured slightly
by a forced Jeremy Kyle style admission from Allison. Her name is Hannah
and he did nothing illegal so lets leave him alone. Dickie and Billy
kindly supplied the celebratory drinks and much merriment was to be
had..
Staff Run Excess to Suppress the Express
UBSCC 279-7 (Calver 85, Lack 79)
Pakistani Express 155 all out (Lack 4-7, Antonio 3-34)
An overcast day at Coombe Dingle saw the Staff inserted against (initially) 8 man Express. Runs were initially hard to come by and openers Sledge and Glutimus Maximus Tattimus Nick BL battled well against the swinging ball until BL finally chased one too many and edged behind. Gradually things became slightly easier but Staff suffered a further setback when Coxy chopped talkative spinner Ahmed onto his stumps just before drinks with the score on 78-2. Skipper Lack signalled his intent 1st ball as he smacked Ahmed over the short cover boundary for 6. The run rate was now rising steeply as both Sledge and Lack found the boundaries regularly until Sledge was well caught trying to clear the ropes at square leg for a well compiled 85. In-form Carlisle provided good support for Tom as he passed his 50 and kept the run rate high until Carlisle fell in the deep for 37 and Lack followed shortly after for an agressive 79. There was time for some lower order biff from Bala and Smithy and also for Belly to be bowled round his legs for a golden quacker before we finished up on 279 – over 200 runs from the last 25 which showed the value of not losing wickets early on.
The Express reply was true to their name as the batsmen went after the bowling as if it were the last 20 overs rather than the 1st, charging down the wicket and smacking across the line. Many a run was scored but wickets fell as Moshin cut to Tom at deep gully and Ali charged Belly before he’d even started his run-up (much as in the previous game) and hit it up in the air to the keeper as the bowler dropped it a bit shorter (much as in the previous game). The agressive Twenty20esque policy was continued down the order as the batsmen rode their luck for a while before Ahmed’s idiosyncratic calling (ie shouting YES very loudly when having no intention of running) confused his own team mate and caused Furqaan to be run out by BL. Carlisle was introduced and struck 1st ball to remove Ahmed with a beautiful in-ducker. Zaheer batted very well for 47, but could find no support as the Express lower order found Tom and Carlisle too hot to handle. The last 5 or 6 wickets fell in a hurry and Express were bowled out for 155 in the 32nd over.
NO NEED TO REPLACE TRIDENT AS M.O.D. USES CRICKET BALL TO OBLITERATE OLD DOWN
O’Donnell 10.3-2-20-5, King 64*
And so, the (in all but name) BDCA 2nd XI Division 2 Title Decider Crunch Match was ours!
The staffies arrived in drips and drabs at Old Downs undulating, bowling-green infringed ground for the biggest game of the season so far! Despite numerous attempts to sabotage our arrival all 11 made it in the end – despite Al forgetting, then remembering, Veronica…
Al won the toss and with bowler friendly overhead conditions took the new nut, though the inadequacies in our arrival and pre match preparation were in full evidence as we began with only 10 on the field as MOD was trapped on a toilet seat! Old down dual-left-hander-opening-pair of Grosvenor and skipper Purchase made a solid start & went on at 2 per over off Matty, 6 per over off drakie for the first 12 overs. MOD’s switch to round the wicket at the behest of Whitters saw Matty get one to swing through the gate of Purchase & they were 50(ish)-1 off 15ish overs. An MOD shooter meant an early end to their Number 3, and the introduction of change bowlers King and Marshall kept things tight. Old Down danger man (or lad!) Dave Dinley was given one and a half extra lives before being removed C&B to Si (a truly awful but brilliant wicket-taking delivery!). Marshie got in on the act and having been going along so assured at approx. 50-0, Old Down had been reduced to approx. 100-5. Tempers were still on edge in the middle & some controversy over a caught behind & the heavy-roller’s petulance towards his own (non-professional-cricketer) Captain didn’t ease the tension, despite the fact that it’d been one hell of an effort by all to turn the match around. The bowling attack was fantastic, as heads could’ve gone down early on as their openers made a solid start. We fought back well and after Si had got rid of Lippiatt with a combination of Beam & Seam, Old Down had only kids to call on. JD & Matty returned to finish them off & (against a season long trend) MOD came up with the wickets, finishing with an awesome 5-fer for a miserly 20 runs. The Down were out for 139 inside 36 overs.
A good start.
With tea not ready for another 40mins we accepted the offer to bat, then tea, then bat again. There was of course little to gain with this approach but it’s a credit to our opening pair for their performance on opening on both occasions. Dinley was banana-ing the ball from one end, but the now warm sun saw no movement at the other. Kirke and Adams moved us on to approx. 20-0 at the break.
Tea was lovely, the heavy-roller and Al kissed and made up, and to eat – there were 3 varieties of pizza and kipling bakewell tarts!
Adams and Kirke continued, and just as Chris found his range, smashing successive fours he went for one too many and was caught at mid-on. King made his way to the middle and was quickly into form. When Kirke was C&B for a patient 26 on came skipper Al, reunited with the glorious Club Salix. One ball and an awful shot later, Al was back on the boundary cursing glorious Club Salix! With the score at 80-3, and Old Down starting to think it could be their day after all, it was vital that the score moved passed 100 and on to make them go quiet again. Leonard batted in the usual style, having big swings and misses at all wide of the stumps. This was immaterial as King had decided to press on himself. For perspective on Si’s destructive batting – Leonard finished 15* having gone in when there were still 60 required. So another +50 for the King & it was done and dusted in the 27th over.
Many hand-shakes & a monster unlimited fines session followed! Very well played to the (thankfully not required) lower middle order of Jonesy, Whitters & Alex G – they fielded like cats with balls of wool – bless ‘em!
So, 4 games to go…& dare I say it, promotion looks hard to miss out on. Wins are still required to cement the league title though. We’re in the driving seat proper now, let’s make sure we continue to press to the finish – starting with Frampton Cotterill next weekend!
Very best of luck with that one chaps & see you all again soon!
Tom Leonard 01/08/2010
SECONDS SQUEAK PAST KNOWLE
UBSCC 2nd XI 150-10 (Kirke 47)
Knowle A 131-10 (Griffin 41)
Coombe looked verdant. The track looked stodgy, and cried out for us to field first. Al lost the toss (again) and we were stuck in against an attack that seemed to range from 13 years old to 16 years old.
And they could bowl. Only George had the patience to wait for the odd bad ball and wallop it (and with one of the boundaries about 300 yards and the grass very long, it took some walloping), and the rest of the top four were guilty of getting themselves out. We should have known that the ball wasn’t coming on and was moving miles off the seam. Alex Goodland joined George at 67-3, and whilst he was struggling to hit the ball, at least this meant he couldn’t hit it to a fielder. Those two put on 47 valuable runs before Alex was out, leaving us 114-4 after 30 and the scene set for a 15-over thrash. This failed miserably, and the last 7 wickets put on 36 in the remaining time.
MOD thought 150 was enough. Al thought we were 50 short. I thought it might be enough, given the problems that we have had ourselves chasing small targets against good bowling attacks.
Knowle opted for caution, reasoning (I guess) that if they batted through they would get the runs. They started very slowly so that after 15 they were 24-2. We then got them to 55-4, but this meant that Edmonds (about 15 years old, 82* last week) and Griffin (much older, always gets runs against us), their two best batsmen, were at the crease, and they proceeded without any problem to 104 before MOD got Edmonds to play on. At this point it was 104-5 off 30, much the same position as us, and the same thing happened. With runs drying up against good bowling on a stodgy wicket the wickets started to come, and once Griffin had his off-bail trimmed by MOD they subsided to 131 all out.
A tight game. They bowled and fielded well, and (generally) so did we. MOD bowled very tightly and got his customary 3, Drakey his customary more than Matty (he also gave away 27 in wides!), and in the end we squeezed past them again. A good win against difficult opposition. In a few years, some of them will be very good cricketers indeed.
Chris Adams – 25/07/2010
LEONARD GOES TO STOKE BIFF-ORD!
Brains – Strickland, Pope
Braun – Leonard, Lack, Antonio
On a surprisingly bright day given all the cloud cover, the saffies arrived at a pleasant, if highly undulating, Stoke Gifford ground for an overdue cricket fixture, given last weeks Coombe Dingle fiasco!
Lack lost the toss, though it didn’t appear to be too bad a one to lose really & we were inserted. Sledge with his pre-innings Lucosade (what an athlete!) and Nick BL (when he eventually found his bat!) went out to face Giffford openers Black(J) and the dangerous looking Lamb. BL and Sledge dug in well, but given the conditions it was no surprise that Lamb in particular was getting the ball to move a long way right-to-left, and with tight, just-short-of-a-length where it might jump & leave you he removed both openers in the first 15 overs with the score 38-2. Skipper Lack’s eye was in almost from the off as he set about finding all corners of the boundary at regular intervals (of his 54 scored, 44 of them were 4′s!). Carlisle was now set also, and when Lack was caught after chasing one too many the score was 102-3 off about 22 overs. Enter Leonard, with some very ‘fat’ batting (source D.Parsons). Between playing & missing, Leonard developed a stand-and-deliver approach with the Gifford change bowling attack. Carlisle was in good touch too and his launching of the spinning Black(M) for a two 6′s forced the bowler to switch to a far tighter, far more effective, medium pace. Leonard put a couple on the roof of some nearby houses on his way to 50 and when Carlisle departed for an excellent 45 the staffies had progressed to 185-4. Bell (loving the short ball) and Leonard (loving it pitched up) continued to pummel the bowling to all parts. With 4 overs to go Leonard slashed at one too many & was bowled by the persistent Black(M) for a career high 87 (the Australians were right![8x4's, 7x6's]). Belly went in the same way & there was time for Jamie to run DJ out and Strickland to put on an impressive 3* before the end at a defendable 255-7 from 45 overs.
Tea was splendid. The highlights being a wide array of quiche, Sledger enjoying his “bore-bon’s”, and a marvelous victoria sponge cake.
Perhaps there was a little bit of thinking that ‘we’ve done enough here’ amongst the staffies as we took to the field, but those thoughts were soon dispatched, as was the ball – bludgeoned to all corners by Gifford openers Stubbs & Black(John) who were more than determined to have a go. Anything ‘up in the slot’ from Jamie was sent to the fence, and the batsmen had only contempt for Joshi at the other end. Jamie got the breakthrough after 7ish overs Gifford were 56-1 (Belly had previously took a blinding catch at slip off Jamie, but unfortunately it was a no-ball!). With the score at (an unsustainable, you’d think) 79-1 after 11 overs, the staffies changed it up in the form of Pope & Strickland. Strickers bamboozled the incumbent Black(John) in his first over (the batsman did get to grips with it after 3/4 overs), and doing his Al Smith impression, Leonard denied Popey a wicket first ball – an ‘in-out’ for the wicket-keeper that should have been taken! This failure simply stoked Popey into bowling tight, tight & tighter still as the Gifford chase was stifled. Wickets came as the runs dried up, Strickers (14-4-45-3) and Pope (13-2-49-2). Amongst a flurry of byes, Bell removed opener Black(John) for an impressive 92, and Gifford were 178-8 with 5 overs to go. Lack came on in the final throws & after making life very uncomfortable for the keeper, cleaned up the No 11′s leg stump and it was game over, Gifford 206a.o. in 42.5overs.
After Gifford went off like a train in the run-chase we did well to keep it together & the two change bowlers were outstanding in wrestling the game back into to the staffies hands. Overall, a solid fielding display (the less said about the wicket keeping the better…fancy another go Sledge?!?).
So, a good win, 26/26 and thanks to Pakistani Express (who knocked over Woodpeckers) we’re back up to 2nd!!! Lets make sure we stay there or above for the next 5 games!!!
Tom Leonard 25/7/2010
Staff rain on St George’s (day) parade
UBSCC : 266-8 (Allison 53, Cox 78)
St George/Roman Glass : 159 all out (O’Donnell 6-21)
MOD sends missiles through batsmen’s defences.
On a day at least 30 degrees warmer than the last time these teams met, Lack won the toss and followed Marshall’s law to bat first on a very dry looking pitch. Sledge followed last week’s ton with a blob as he was strangled down the leg side and very sportingly walked (for which he was, of course, later fined). Fortunately Coxy rediscovered some form and was soon tucking in to some loose stuff from the bowlers, one of whom was clearly not 100% (or maybe even 50%) fit and the other appeared to be digging an enormous trench with his front foot. Coxy and the other Jedward both got half centuries as they compiled a partnership of 142 while St George toiled in the heat. The 2 Nicks continued where these two left off with some good tip and (notwithstanding B-L) run and compiled 81 between them before Wood was bowled giving himself some room for 46, just in time to direct his young lady to the ground. Some more good smiting from Miffy took us to a good total of 266-8.
Tea was fantastic.
In the field Matty O’D, fuelled by that 2nd slice of Victoria Sponge and a rest from his hangover, came steaming in and bowled a filthy 1st ball full bunger that took out the top of M Brown’s off stump. All looked around embarrassed - trying to think of ways in which he might not be out, but unfortunately there were none and he had to go. Matty and Strickers then bowled tightly at the 2 left handers until the required run rate climbed to such an extent that they needed to hit out, and promptly get out. John produced a superb reflex catch to remove Mark Britton, but his brother, John, started to biff it about in his customary fashion – taking a particular liking to my bowling (as per). Coxy was introduced to see if Britton could deal with some slow, non turning, moon balls and after a first ball where he seemed to be bamboozled by just how slow and tossed up it really was, the answer was yes, he could. At the other end Fidkin was providing good support until Lack bowled him 3 times in one over – 2 off no balls before finally finding a legal delivery. Lack tried the leggy for the second time against new batsman Fear (earlier seen producing some amazing flying goalkeeper stops behind the stumps) who proceeded to smash it back over his head for an enormous 6 first ball. Stick to the quick stuff skip. MOD was re-introduced to the attack and immediately removed Britton caught behind for 59 and thus snuffed out any threat to our total. He and Lack quickly mopped up the tail with Matty finishing with a superb 6-21 on his return to the 1st XI fold. Could be some pleasant selectoral headaches for the skippers next week.
|
The 1st XI secure the 2nd promotion spot |
A man is yet a sentient being, a team has a soul. In adversity, strength
of character brings those of small stature to the epitaph of their enemy.
The threatening rain laden skies from midweek disappeared to reveal a
picture perfect backdrop for the University of Staff’s season
finale. As the sun blazed a trail across the increasingly lush grasses of
Coombe Dingle brained flesh went into battle against eleven heinous foes.
Captain Lack landed the first significant blow of the day; the staff would
be taking to the field first.
Famished by the absence of regular cricket this was not a place for the
faint hearted. Urgency buzzed from mid-wicket to India and back and Barrow
Gurney found the hungry bowling attack too tasty for the dullest of
batting palette. The staff machine was once again roaring. Harvie cranked
through the gears, many would have wilted starved of successful fruits,
Jamie provided a peach. Not all were feasting on the sumptuous opening
spell, as one, nay two catches were dropped by a man so used to shelling
peas. On this occasion Allison’s cutlery, his tools of the trade,
belying his highest of standards. Chances missed, like herons swooping and
sea trout evading there cumbersome beaks. No meal for the young. Fear not
as the Michelin starred Harvie strikes twice more. Imperious.
From the other end there was also elegance. Up the hill, ball released,
Strickland the provider, leg stump clipped. Whoosh. The very next
delivery, with the bowling as tight as Picasso was original, another
wicket fell to caught and bowled. Hat-trick chance, all fielders in,
covering their ears awaiting the sonic boom, the speed fell just short. No
matter; Barrow were 14-5.
A change of bowling at both ends, same again, all relaxed as the sun shone
and more fresh legs were thrown into the melting pot. The crudely barbered
O’Donnell bounding down the hill, pace and power. The ball flying
through the air as though Bell its master was lashing at its back. A few
lusty blows were scant consolation for the opposition as O’Donnell
became frustrated, the legend of Samson and Delilah lives on in Bristol me
thinks. Thought provoking. Patience, hard work and some gentle banter from
his own team-mates prevailed. Sweat came down faster now and soiled the
ground. Not a problem for Kirke who was caressing catches as though they
were his first born.
Throughout the innings Smith was showing his worth in the art of
Wicket-keepery, classy, authoritative and he only dropped one. Standard.
Bowlers were rotated and wickets continued to fall, shared amongst friends
like a box of Thorntons Continental at Christmas. Lack, Bell and Antonio
chipping in to get the job done. A huge plus was the discovery of a new
spin king for consideration in 2011? Calver, 3 off his over, underused.
Barrow Gurney score 95. Attainable.
As incisive as it was beautiful, delighted with their performance the
staff left the field in great spirits. Soon to be dashed by the fare on
offer at lunch. No matter how much you prod those sandwiches, Mr. Smith,
they are still going to be substandard. With the sun disappearing behind
clouds slick tyres proved to be worthless but no time for pit stops in a
game of such gusto.
Calver and Allison opened the batting on a track now resembling the M6 on
a bank holiday weekend. Slow and a general lack of movement made for hard
work in the trenches. On only 32 after 15 overs Calver became
frustrated by a gentleman bowling grenades and chipped the ball into
no-man’s land. Having seen his comrade fall, Allison went in similar
fashion. The battle was on. Captain Kirke went about his business in the
usual fashion, joined at the wicket by Sergeant Smith. Then controversy,
sportsmanship exchanged for gamesmanship as though mother Teresa herself
had donned devils hooves. A huge appeal for caught behind, an LBW decision
given, an angry stand-off and apologies to follow. Smith fell to a
shocker.
DJ and Kirke shored up the batting, the latter despatching to huge sixes
to the boundary. Jamie Harvie continued his devastating knack of taking
wickets by encouraging George to throw his away. He still didn’t get
5 for. No tie from the strike bowler. Shame. Antonio brought out the
windmill, Bell didn’t trouble the scorers and a hastily padded up
Harvie saw us home with the assured DJ.
A fantastic way to see out the promotion winning season. Soured slightly
by a forced Jeremy Kyle style admission from Allison. Her name is Hannah
and he did nothing illegal so lets leave him alone. Dickie and Billy
kindly supplied the celebratory drinks and much merriment was to be
had..
An overcast day at Coombe Dingle saw the Staff inserted against (initially) 8 man Express. Runs were initially hard to come by and openers Sledge and Glutimus Maximus Tattimus Nick BL battled well against the swinging ball until BL finally chased one too many and edged behind. Gradually things became slightly easier but Staff suffered a further setback when Coxy chopped talkative spinner Ahmed onto his stumps just before drinks with the score on 78-2. Skipper Lack signalled his intent 1st ball as he smacked Ahmed over the short cover boundary for 6. The run rate was now rising steeply as both Sledge and Lack found the boundaries regularly until Sledge was well caught trying to clear the ropes at square leg for a well compiled 85. In-form Carlisle provided good support for Tom as he passed his 50 and kept the run rate high until Carlisle fell in the deep for 37 and Lack followed shortly after for an agressive 79. There was time for some lower order biff from Bala and Smithy and also for Belly to be bowled round his legs for a golden quacker before we finished up on 279 – over 200 runs from the last 25 which showed the value of not losing wickets early on.
And so, the (in all but name) BDCA 2nd XI Division 2 Title Decider Crunch Match was ours!
The staffies arrived in drips and drabs at Old Downs undulating, bowling-green infringed ground for the biggest game of the season so far! Despite numerous attempts to sabotage our arrival all 11 made it in the end – despite Al forgetting, then remembering, Veronica…
Al won the toss and with bowler friendly overhead conditions took the new nut, though the inadequacies in our arrival and pre match preparation were in full evidence as we began with only 10 on the field as MOD was trapped on a toilet seat! Old down dual-left-hander-opening-pair of Grosvenor and skipper Purchase made a solid start & went on at 2 per over off Matty, 6 per over off drakie for the first 12 overs. MOD’s switch to round the wicket at the behest of Whitters saw Matty get one to swing through the gate of Purchase & they were 50(ish)-1 off 15ish overs. An MOD shooter meant an early end to their Number 3, and the introduction of change bowlers King and Marshall kept things tight. Old Down danger man (or lad!) Dave Dinley was given one and a half extra lives before being removed C&B to Si (a truly awful but brilliant wicket-taking delivery!). Marshie got in on the act and having been going along so assured at approx. 50-0, Old Down had been reduced to approx. 100-5. Tempers were still on edge in the middle & some controversy over a caught behind & the heavy-roller’s petulance towards his own (non-professional-cricketer) Captain didn’t ease the tension, despite the fact that it’d been one hell of an effort by all to turn the match around. The bowling attack was fantastic, as heads could’ve gone down early on as their openers made a solid start. We fought back well and after Si had got rid of Lippiatt with a combination of Beam & Seam, Old Down had only kids to call on. JD & Matty returned to finish them off & (against a season long trend) MOD came up with the wickets, finishing with an awesome 5-fer for a miserly 20 runs. The Down were out for 139 inside 36 overs.
A good start.
With tea not ready for another 40mins we accepted the offer to bat, then tea, then bat again. There was of course little to gain with this approach but it’s a credit to our opening pair for their performance on opening on both occasions. Dinley was banana-ing the ball from one end, but the now warm sun saw no movement at the other. Kirke and Adams moved us on to approx. 20-0 at the break.
Tea was lovely, the heavy-roller and Al kissed and made up, and to eat – there were 3 varieties of pizza and kipling bakewell tarts!
Adams and Kirke continued, and just as Chris found his range, smashing successive fours he went for one too many and was caught at mid-on. King made his way to the middle and was quickly into form. When Kirke was C&B for a patient 26 on came skipper Al, reunited with the glorious Club Salix. One ball and an awful shot later, Al was back on the boundary cursing glorious Club Salix! With the score at 80-3, and Old Down starting to think it could be their day after all, it was vital that the score moved passed 100 and on to make them go quiet again. Leonard batted in the usual style, having big swings and misses at all wide of the stumps. This was immaterial as King had decided to press on himself. For perspective on Si’s destructive batting – Leonard finished 15* having gone in when there were still 60 required. So another +50 for the King & it was done and dusted in the 27th over.
Many hand-shakes & a monster unlimited fines session followed! Very well played to the (thankfully not required) lower middle order of Jonesy, Whitters & Alex G – they fielded like cats with balls of wool – bless ‘em!
So, 4 games to go…& dare I say it, promotion looks hard to miss out on. Wins are still required to cement the league title though. We’re in the driving seat proper now, let’s make sure we continue to press to the finish – starting with Frampton Cotterill next weekend!
Very best of luck with that one chaps & see you all again soon!
Tom Leonard 01/08/2010
UBSCC 2nd XI 150-10 (Kirke 47)
Knowle A 131-10 (Griffin 41)
Coombe looked verdant. The track looked stodgy, and cried out for us to field first. Al lost the toss (again) and we were stuck in against an attack that seemed to range from 13 years old to 16 years old.
And they could bowl. Only George had the patience to wait for the odd bad ball and wallop it (and with one of the boundaries about 300 yards and the grass very long, it took some walloping), and the rest of the top four were guilty of getting themselves out. We should have known that the ball wasn’t coming on and was moving miles off the seam. Alex Goodland joined George at 67-3, and whilst he was struggling to hit the ball, at least this meant he couldn’t hit it to a fielder. Those two put on 47 valuable runs before Alex was out, leaving us 114-4 after 30 and the scene set for a 15-over thrash. This failed miserably, and the last 7 wickets put on 36 in the remaining time.
MOD thought 150 was enough. Al thought we were 50 short. I thought it might be enough, given the problems that we have had ourselves chasing small targets against good bowling attacks.
Knowle opted for caution, reasoning (I guess) that if they batted through they would get the runs. They started very slowly so that after 15 they were 24-2. We then got them to 55-4, but this meant that Edmonds (about 15 years old, 82* last week) and Griffin (much older, always gets runs against us), their two best batsmen, were at the crease, and they proceeded without any problem to 104 before MOD got Edmonds to play on. At this point it was 104-5 off 30, much the same position as us, and the same thing happened. With runs drying up against good bowling on a stodgy wicket the wickets started to come, and once Griffin had his off-bail trimmed by MOD they subsided to 131 all out.
A tight game. They bowled and fielded well, and (generally) so did we. MOD bowled very tightly and got his customary 3, Drakey his customary more than Matty (he also gave away 27 in wides!), and in the end we squeezed past them again. A good win against difficult opposition. In a few years, some of them will be very good cricketers indeed.
Chris Adams – 25/07/2010
Brains – Strickland, Pope
Braun – Leonard, Lack, Antonio
On a surprisingly bright day given all the cloud cover, the saffies arrived at a pleasant, if highly undulating, Stoke Gifford ground for an overdue cricket fixture, given last weeks Coombe Dingle fiasco!
Lack lost the toss, though it didn’t appear to be too bad a one to lose really & we were inserted. Sledge with his pre-innings Lucosade (what an athlete!) and Nick BL (when he eventually found his bat!) went out to face Giffford openers Black(J) and the dangerous looking Lamb. BL and Sledge dug in well, but given the conditions it was no surprise that Lamb in particular was getting the ball to move a long way right-to-left, and with tight, just-short-of-a-length where it might jump & leave you he removed both openers in the first 15 overs with the score 38-2. Skipper Lack’s eye was in almost from the off as he set about finding all corners of the boundary at regular intervals (of his 54 scored, 44 of them were 4′s!). Carlisle was now set also, and when Lack was caught after chasing one too many the score was 102-3 off about 22 overs. Enter Leonard, with some very ‘fat’ batting (source D.Parsons). Between playing & missing, Leonard developed a stand-and-deliver approach with the Gifford change bowling attack. Carlisle was in good touch too and his launching of the spinning Black(M) for a two 6′s forced the bowler to switch to a far tighter, far more effective, medium pace. Leonard put a couple on the roof of some nearby houses on his way to 50 and when Carlisle departed for an excellent 45 the staffies had progressed to 185-4. Bell (loving the short ball) and Leonard (loving it pitched up) continued to pummel the bowling to all parts. With 4 overs to go Leonard slashed at one too many & was bowled by the persistent Black(M) for a career high 87 (the Australians were right![8x4's, 7x6's]). Belly went in the same way & there was time for Jamie to run DJ out and Strickland to put on an impressive 3* before the end at a defendable 255-7 from 45 overs.
Tea was splendid. The highlights being a wide array of quiche, Sledger enjoying his “bore-bon’s”, and a marvelous victoria sponge cake.
Perhaps there was a little bit of thinking that ‘we’ve done enough here’ amongst the staffies as we took to the field, but those thoughts were soon dispatched, as was the ball – bludgeoned to all corners by Gifford openers Stubbs & Black(John) who were more than determined to have a go. Anything ‘up in the slot’ from Jamie was sent to the fence, and the batsmen had only contempt for Joshi at the other end. Jamie got the breakthrough after 7ish overs Gifford were 56-1 (Belly had previously took a blinding catch at slip off Jamie, but unfortunately it was a no-ball!). With the score at (an unsustainable, you’d think) 79-1 after 11 overs, the staffies changed it up in the form of Pope & Strickland. Strickers bamboozled the incumbent Black(John) in his first over (the batsman did get to grips with it after 3/4 overs), and doing his Al Smith impression, Leonard denied Popey a wicket first ball – an ‘in-out’ for the wicket-keeper that should have been taken! This failure simply stoked Popey into bowling tight, tight & tighter still as the Gifford chase was stifled. Wickets came as the runs dried up, Strickers (14-4-45-3) and Pope (13-2-49-2). Amongst a flurry of byes, Bell removed opener Black(John) for an impressive 92, and Gifford were 178-8 with 5 overs to go. Lack came on in the final throws & after making life very uncomfortable for the keeper, cleaned up the No 11′s leg stump and it was game over, Gifford 206a.o. in 42.5overs.
After Gifford went off like a train in the run-chase we did well to keep it together & the two change bowlers were outstanding in wrestling the game back into to the staffies hands. Overall, a solid fielding display (the less said about the wicket keeping the better…fancy another go Sledge?!?).
So, a good win, 26/26 and thanks to Pakistani Express (who knocked over Woodpeckers) we’re back up to 2nd!!! Lets make sure we stay there or above for the next 5 games!!!
Tom Leonard 25/7/2010
SPIN DR JOSHI MAKES BARROW GURN
Cox has the Bat. Guru has the Ball.
Highlights: BAT – Cox 70, Allison 36, Bell 35*, Leonard 35
BALL – Joshi 13-4-26-5, Harvey 11-2-32-2, Strickland 3-0-14-2
A beautiful day out towards the airport was no doubt ruined by the sight of Tom ‘the new bodyshape’ Leonard sunning himself with aplomb as the other 1st XI stragglers arrived at Barrow Gurney for this weeks fixture. Tlack won the toss and with the temperature pushing 90 and a rock hard (though a tad green) pitch, elected to bat. Jonty and the Big Unit made a solid start, both finding their feet with the edge before getting a few crunching hits out of the middle. All was well at 38-0, when John played the ball back of square and the 2 bats set off for the easy single…though why Pete stepped back out of his crease with the ball so nearly in the keepers hands, we’ll never know. 39-1. Cox looked in good touch from the start and quickly took a liking to BG change bowlers Febrey and Gard.
The 1st XI tanning club was now being led by Harvey, Ms Bowler and the assorted Strickland fan club!
Allison, now well in, was in superb nick and 2 glorious drives through cover gave no indication that he was about to be out. 97-2. Skipper Trev came and went with twinkling-toes down the pitch, and had to keep walking back to the pavilion.
A variety of guests had turned up to see the staffies play, Sir Petanques was in fine form and it was especially good to see Matty Thomas. Especially when his nipper cleaned him up with a cricket ball direct to the crown jewels at a range of 2 feet!
Back to the cricket – we had slumped a little, the run rate was good but the wicket rate was getting out of hand with the departure of Captain Kirk for an uncomfortable 1. Given the short straight boundaries 250+ was a must, and at 119-4 would we get them? Cox, well supported by a murderous-to-anything-short-and-wide-Carlisle (25), was in no mood to doubt the total the staffies would build & went sublimely to 50 before being joined by the heavy-roller. Cox fell to heat exhaustion for 70, caught on the boundary for what would’ve been another 6. 196-6. Leonard and Bell then showed how not to play cricket shots correctly with a heave here, an edge there…there were a few nudges for singles too, and it was very effective. A skier from the roller brought in Starkers with 5/6 overs to go…some excellent running between the wickets and 2 crunching 6′s; one from Strickers (not his first one ever!) and one flat-bat from Bell hauled us to a defendable 267-7. Jamie (not Guru) was the bridesmaid. Despite the score, Barrow fielded well, they stuck to task in what must’ve been very harsh conditions!
Tea was good – There was a pork pie worthy of mention and Mr Kipling does make exceedingly good cakes.
With the bowling, basically, and I am not being mean, we had too much for them. A few that beat the bat from Jamie in the first over set the tone, Grove and Curtis opening their accounts with edges past the meat-filled slip-cordon wall. But it was Joshi (with his engineering PhD in ‘flight’ [grown - Chris Bell, I can't believe I just typed that]) from the other end who was quickly into rhythm. A fine nick from Curtis that the roller managed to hold saw the start of it, 15-1. Having been given an extra life by Leonard, Grove gave temporary resistance (20) before being bowled by a quicker one from Guru that kept low. A couple of smart catches (Iain at Sq Leg and a go-go-gadget arm effort from Coxy) and another one bowled saw Guru claim his 5-fer from the top 5 Barrow batsmen. Get in the game dilla…so he did, an LBW & a sharp one hander behind reduced BG to 45-7. A batting point or 2 became the oppos only aim and with some biff from Morrough and A Hood they got one. Strickers straight-as-ever took a C&B at the 2nd attempt and cleaned up Hood leaving Belly to bowl 0.5 overs for 8 runs (?!) and 1 wicket.
A very good win which saw the promotion push back on track!
At the Clyde Coxy undid all his good work earlier in the day by offending women. Guru won the darts. And Al and Tom L got a thrashing at crib.
BALL – Joshi 13-4-26-5, Harvey 11-2-32-2, Strickland 3-0-14-2
The 1st XI tanning club was now being led by Harvey, Ms Bowler and the assorted Strickland fan club!
Allison, now well in, was in superb nick and 2 glorious drives through cover gave no indication that he was about to be out. 97-2. Skipper Trev came and went with twinkling-toes down the pitch, and had to keep walking back to the pavilion.
A variety of guests had turned up to see the staffies play, Sir Petanques was in fine form and it was especially good to see Matty Thomas. Especially when his nipper cleaned him up with a cricket ball direct to the crown jewels at a range of 2 feet!
Back to the cricket – we had slumped a little, the run rate was good but the wicket rate was getting out of hand with the departure of Captain Kirk for an uncomfortable 1. Given the short straight boundaries 250+ was a must, and at 119-4 would we get them? Cox, well supported by a murderous-to-anything-short-and-wide-Carlisle (25), was in no mood to doubt the total the staffies would build & went sublimely to 50 before being joined by the heavy-roller. Cox fell to heat exhaustion for 70, caught on the boundary for what would’ve been another 6. 196-6. Leonard and Bell then showed how not to play cricket shots correctly with a heave here, an edge there…there were a few nudges for singles too, and it was very effective. A skier from the roller brought in Starkers with 5/6 overs to go…some excellent running between the wickets and 2 crunching 6′s; one from Strickers (not his first one ever!) and one flat-bat from Bell hauled us to a defendable 267-7. Jamie (not Guru) was the bridesmaid. Despite the score, Barrow fielded well, they stuck to task in what must’ve been very harsh conditions!
2s Bash Bishop!
Stoke Bishop 2nd XI 102
UBSCC 2nd XI 103-7
On a glorious day at Coombe, Al lost the toss and Stoke Bishop chose to
bat. Little did they know that the wicket was a shocker and that we have
probably the best bowling attack in the league. So, by simply bowling fast
and at the stumps, they were reduced to 34-5 in 15 overs. Well, Matty O’D
bowled fast and straight (9-5-9-3); Drakey gave it some spray (17 wides and
1 no-ball) in between hitting the stumps. SB had a couple of small
partnerships before Marshy wrapped up the tail (4-23).
We started off at a good pace. I was uncharacteristically flamboyant, and
by the time I was well caught behind for 29, me and BL had put on 47 in 10
overs. Nick and Si carried on and took us to 92-1 in 19 before…. the
wheels fell off. SB’s fifth bowler Sira turned out to be the pick of the
bunch, and bowled Nick as he went for a heave. Si (30) chipped a return
catch, DJ failed to trouble the scorer, as did Whitters, as did R. massie
(Esq.), Bala only got 4, and we had crawled from 92-1 to 99-7. Out strode
JD to end this nonsense, carting his first ball to the boundary, and
securing our eighth consecutive win and another 26 points.
For the third consecutive week, we won it in the field in the first innings
by keeping the runs down and bowling really well. Leading to an undefeated half-season.
Finally, a message for Al: Never f*ck with the batting order. Ironically, he’s the one man in this club that will never read this.
UBSCC 2nd XI 103-7
bat. Little did they know that the wicket was a shocker and that we have
probably the best bowling attack in the league. So, by simply bowling fast
and at the stumps, they were reduced to 34-5 in 15 overs. Well, Matty O’D
bowled fast and straight (9-5-9-3); Drakey gave it some spray (17 wides and
1 no-ball) in between hitting the stumps. SB had a couple of small
partnerships before Marshy wrapped up the tail (4-23).
by the time I was well caught behind for 29, me and BL had put on 47 in 10
overs. Nick and Si carried on and took us to 92-1 in 19 before…. the
wheels fell off. SB’s fifth bowler Sira turned out to be the pick of the
bunch, and bowled Nick as he went for a heave. Si (30) chipped a return
catch, DJ failed to trouble the scorer, as did Whitters, as did R. massie
(Esq.), Bala only got 4, and we had crawled from 92-1 to 99-7. Out strode
JD to end this nonsense, carting his first ball to the boundary, and
securing our eighth consecutive win and another 26 points.
by keeping the runs down and bowling really well. Leading to an undefeated half-season.
Coxy Smashes 80 in dispair
Before the game against Carsons & Mangotsfield the talk in the staff camp was how to stop historic run plunderer Glenn Cambridge – and the plan it seems was to prevent him from getting to the crease for 30 odd overs by failing to take any wickets. This plan was executed to perfection as the Carsons openers Pasad and Mealing piled on 132 for the first wicket on a very flat Coombe Dingle track (maybe batting first would have been the better option!). When both fell in quick succession, followed by Phipps, Staff sniffed a way back into the game. However in strode Dymick carrying some sort of railway sleeper which he used to good effect in partnership with Cambridge to smash Carsons to 268-3 – an imposing total.
The staff reply started poorly, losing debutant Jamie Wood caught behind and V/C Allison bowled round his legs by the (compulsory adjective alert) evergreen Graham Knight. A 120 run partnership between Coxy and this week’s guest star, evergreen former skipper Pete Brealey brought the Staff back in with a fighting chance of chasing the total down before Pete was stumped (very honestly given out by debutant Jamie – this will soon be beaten out of him). The momentum was continued against the Carsons armada of medium-slow bowlers but wickets started to fall as Coxy holed out at long on for a fantastic 88 and then a crucial moment as the skipper was run out when the previously custard-armed Phipps propelled one with enough momentum to catch out the glue-running Lack. Carlisle and Miffy (not bowled) chipped in with useful 20s as we kept the required rate at 6-7 an over but in the end we ran out of wickets as the tail yet again failed to wag significantly at 219 with 6 overs still remaining.
A frustrating loss but one that reminds us (should we need reminding) that the division this year is much stronger and that we need to perform to our best every week if we are to achieve our promotion aim.
LONG WINNING STREAK STRETCHES LONG PAST LONG ASHTON
- O’Donnell = Magnificent
- Drake = Wicket Machine
- Batting = well, everything else went well at least…
Highlights -
Ball: Marshall 7-2-26-0, O’Donnell 15-5-38-2, Drake 13-2-41-5, Goodland 4.5-1-10-3 (LACC – M.Channing 7-1-20-3, Branbury 12.1-1-39-3)
Bat: Bala 27 (LACC – Wilson 29, Kershaw 26, Roden 25)
In a low scoring game, of high quality bowling & fielding the Staff held out to extend their winning run!
Al won the toss and given Long Ashtons’ low lying, damp looking pitch and the overcast-with-potential-to-brighten-up conditions decided to bowl. Marshall, the Sultan of Swing, and MOD began, tight from the off as width was (on the whole) denied to the quality opening pair of Wilson and Kershaw. With the introduction of Drake and the score a miserly 64-0 off 22ish overs both openers fell, these were key wickets as despite the low scoring both looked well set & keen to punish anything loose. #3 Bremner and #4 Roden steadied LAshton for a while, but neither looked entirely comfortable at the crease and went – one each to O’D and Drake as the openers had previously….thereafter ummm….the Long Ashton Innings was wrapped up pretty straightforwardly, O’D bowled-out his beautiful 15over spell & was much annoyed that Wicket Machine Drake finished with yet another 5-fer…healthy competition boys!, and Alex ‘Boycott’ Goodland bowled fantastically and bagged 3 himself!
Patience proved key, as the oppo went 64-1,67-2,96-3…124 all out in 39.5 overs.
Tea was like at Coombe Dingle without the fancy colours; Whitters, Al, Leonard & Drake all enjoyed Weight-Watchers-Mini-Chocolate-Rolls.
Only 124 to get boys…
B-L ran himself out, 17-1. Bala blazed a trail of 4′s & 6′s before Adams got a half decent one, 60-2.An ugly shot & the resulting skier did for Bala, 63-3. VC King was in good touch though Al chipped one up for midwicket 83-4. Si played back (again) and was bowled, 88-5. Leonard played a foul shot, edged, gone, 93-6. Drake & Whitters held firm (11 each for them) – Drake played an ugly swipe, 113-7 (Enter Boycott). Whitters went back when forward would’ve been a better choice 119-8 (Enter O’Donnell). LAshton were really up for it by this point of course, though that didn’t stop MOD seeing the funny side when, with only 6 runs required for victory, their wicket keeper commented “Lets not let them back in it guys!”…
Goodland blocked spectacularly finishing 5*, and it was MOD also 5*, with a heave through mid-wicket for 4 that wrapped things up!
We worked hard to get a strangle hold on the game. Long Ashton battled back well & with their tails-up almost did enough to win it themselves. Thankfully, we had enough to (just) edge over the line.
Well played everyone in the field. Some batting practice for us all at nets on Tuesday?!….thought so!
But lets not be too down – WE WON!, and it was great!, and the winning run continues!….one more & it’ll be the half season!
Ps – Not to be ‘schaudenfreude-tastic’ but check out Stothet & Pitt Vs St Mary Redcliffe in 2nd XI Div 1…I particularly enjoy the line “Stothert & Pitt CC – 2nd XI won the toss and decided to bat”.
<http://bdca.play-cricket.com/scoreboard/scorecard.asp?id=10892636>
1st XI fall to first defeat
Another lovely day at Coombe Dingle as we travelled to the back of the complex for a table topping clash against Bristol Indians.
Lack lost the toss and we were asked to bowl. The bowlers extracted a lot from the air and pitch and there were a lot of ‘air’ shots from the batsmen, but the breakthrough was not forthcoming. When bat did connect with ball it had the habit of falling away from fielders or occaisionally, through them, as the fielding was not up to it’s usual standard. Gradually the Indians started to time it nicely after riding through the difficult period. Skipper Lack then entered the fray and started to turn the match back towards the staff with a 5 wicket opening burst, including half-centurion Moon strangled down the legside by Miffy (I believe it is actually the law to describe catches down the legside by the keeper as ‘strangles’, similarly LBWs are always ‘trapped’). A crucial passage of play ensued which more or less decided the game. Indians’ last real batsman Nish joined Sahil at the crease at 111-5 and was immediately dropped off the very unlucky Strickers – absolute dolly. Another catch was not taken soon after and the partnership ended up being 70 runs. Tom returned to bag a marvellous 7-for, but Indians had compiled an imposing 203 all out, probably 50 more than they should have.
Still, having scored 280 the previous week, it was not ungettable and the Gods seemed to be with us when last week’s centurion Sledge was bowled off a no-ball on 0. We were rattling along quite nicely, aided by some big wides from slightly dodgy actioned opening quickie Sumo. Sumo then changed ends and found a better line and Sahil came on the remove Sledge with a beauty. Tom and John carried on in nice style until a rush of blood resulted in John taking a rash single to short mid off and being comfortably run out. Soon after Tom sent a catch to short mid wicket off new bowler Kalpit and we were 94-3 at a good lick – could we maintain the momentum? Er, No. 94-4, 94-5, 96-6 as the not-so powerhouse middle order fell to Kalpit’s changes of pace and yorker length. With the game nearly up, a brief flurry of runs mostly off the edge from Belly took the Staff to another couple of points, but when the end came it was quick and brutal – a hattrick from Kalpit to remove the stoic Nick BL, Jamie and Guru.
A good game played in a ‘competitive’ spirit, but we fell short of our usual standards. Indians are clearly a good side – but not 64 runs better, and we will hope to avenge the defeat back at Coombe in late summer.
STAFF 2NDS PICKLE PUCKLE!
On a glorious, cool-sunny day the uni staff 2nds arrived at Coombe (via some vomiting) for a light net followed by the match against visitors Pucklechurch. Leonard lost the toss after using the wrong coin (source C. Adams) & the staffies went out for some toil in the field…except there wasn’t much toil really, Drake & Billy bowled beautifully in their opening spells & after 15 overs Puckle had gone to only 35-1 ish. Fielding was excellent all round & wickets fell in time, Astin inducing a leg side edge through to the keeper to see off Toghill (203* for him last week!!!). Adams took another blinder at square leg. Mahadik failed to find his rhythm so Massie took on the (literal) up-hill bowling task with some excellent containing of the resilient Frankcom who finished 49*. Drake returned from the top & secured one more precious bowling point with the last ball of the innings. Church did well in getting to a potentially defendable score, but never really ‘had a hit’. Staffies were well pleased & eager to ‘chase it down’!
Tea was Coombe Dingle’s regular variety of fine cuisine, including some bizarre-waste-of-time vegetarian sausage rolls!
Adams & Kirke opened up at 4/5 an over and never looked back. Some crunching square drives(and an extra life) for Adams saw us progress to 86-0 off 17 before Chris was out for an excellent 44. CJ was keen for a bat…but he was out of luck, as Kirke (with the bit between his teeth) pummeled the P’church change bowlers with glorious sweep after classy drive after glorious sweep. It was all over in the 28th, Kirke getting a 4 to win & see us over the 175 mark for that all important extra batting point, and Jonesy getting 15 out of the 89 stand! Commiserations to Bala & Whitters – all padded up with nowhere to go – they were both excellent in the field, (cat like!).Thereafter it was off to the Clyde to watch Rob Green rob England of a win (we all make mistakes, yes, but some of us aren’t professional footballers!)…followed by a mass Tie presentation….followed by some his ‘n’ hers darts for the couple Strickland!
UBSCC sit on top of the table with a win over United Banks
1st XI crash out of cup
The staff cup side was on the wrong end of a bit of a thrashing by Chipping Sodbury – who play 4 divisions above us, and it showed.
Choosing to bowl first the Staff opening attack of Jamie and Matty O’D came under immediate assault from Sodbury openers Rendell and Davis, although Jamie was unlucky that some aerial shots just evaded fielders. Some blistering strokeplay followed and we had conceded about 75 from the first 8 overs. Guru came on and gained a measure of control, bowling Davis with one that turned. Belly followed with sharp catch by Jamie and an LBW to remove Mills and Wake. The run rate started to slow although Rendell was still severe on anything loose although he was dropped off a tricky chance. Just as it seemed we might be chasing something reasonable after CSCC had got to 133 off 18, Rendell took a liking to the returning Harvie and smashed Sodbury to another 43 off the next 2 overs and himself to a splendid 95.
We were never likely to chase 176, especially in the face of a good opening Sodbury attack. Shib hit some good shots but they mostly found fielders, Si hit a couple of nice boundaries and then Belly waved the willow around for some quality top edeges over the slips and fine leg for 22. Nick BL remained calm for some good time in the middle to remain 21 not out. We made it to a credible 102 for 7.
The Pakistani Express failed to reach destination victory
Terrible wet and windy conditions and a wicket with more grass on it than guru’s secret stash, didnt stop the staff from ploughing through the oppo to secure another win for 1st’s!
With 92 chance-a-plenty runs from the skip – who produced a superb captain’s knock to bat nearly all the way through the reduced overs and fall just short of a maiden staff ton - and pretty much bugger all from anybody else save a nice cameo from Matty ‘pining for the Fryup’ O’D we ended up on 148 for 9, which could have been a lot less under the tricky conditions. Certainly a defendable total.
The school boy pack lunch teas, lack of toilet facilities and the 38 over old sodden ball added spark to the staff’s opening attack. Jamie storming down the hill with some ‘express deliveries’! See what i did there! Belly at the other end was bowling into the gale and really intellegently (reading directly from the book of Popey – ‘though shalt float it up there and let the batsmen get themselves out’). He ended up with 6 classy, and well crafted wickets, also having time to take and drop a complete pair of snorters! 82 all out off just 20 overs!
6 wickets from chris, opening spell from jamie and 91 from skip were just a few highlights on what was a rather dull and damp day. Special mention goes to Sledge standing in for the absent Miffy, Campbell and ‘Heavy Roller’ behind the stumps to claim a keeper’s 5-for, 3 sharp catches and 2 run outs. He was not to persuaded that this qualified him for a jug however. Some quality public schoolboy Sledger Sledging was also a delight as he politely asked the batsman whether he felt he would be able to clear Guru on the boundary with his next shot (he couldn’t).
JON ‘SIR FRANCIS’ DRAKE RESCUES UBSCC 2ND XI BY VANQUISHING KNOWLE ‘A’RMADA
Bat: King 48, Mahadik 23* (Knowle A – Godfrey 61)
Ball: Drake 14.5-4-40-7 (Knowle A – Cockram 11.4-1-54-4)
The sun beat down upon us from high overhead at a gloriously turned out Saltford Fairview ground on Saturday the 22nd of May. All were present & correct 40 mins before the scheduled start of play, so we threw the rugby ball around, inspected the rock hard pitch and only began to get into whites after Al had lost the toss & the oppo had decided (unsurprisingly) to bat. But then, another cricket team arrived, and it was clear all was not present & correct. A flurry of phone calls & apologies later & we were in convoy en route to the Winford Village cricket ground 10 miles away (by Bristol Airport)…Al was duly fined for not only losing the toss, but also impersonating another, entirely different, cricket team.
So we arrived as quickly as possible, late, and Al went out to lose another toss, though this time with the right result for us as the oppo seemed willing to chase rather than get first dibs on a rock hard track in the blazing sun! The ground itself was not the biggest, on a hill with the square a flat 22yd x 22yd in the middle, a tree in the outfield & a charming, thoroughly modern clubhouse.
Adams and Kirke made our start though it was soon apparent that the track was not as glorious as the weather. The odd ball skidding-on at ankle height, the next rearing & spitting at the incumbent batter. Adams got a ‘jumper’ which he fended straight up, Si King then ran Captain Kirke out in the next over, 23-2. With Al’s hitting prowess (34) in as little doubt as his ability to hit the ball in the air to fielders, 77-3 followed. Nick B-L looked solid as a rock but got a squirter (insert joke here), held his bat to high & was bowled. With the King reigning supreme and Tom ‘Heavy Roller’ Leonard dropped first ball for 4, runs flowed (as said the ground was small). Si went for 48 to a ball that should’ve been 54*, DJ was in & out. Yusuf helped steady the ship. Leonards filthy hitting (34) was cut short by a filthy half tracker that clipped the off stump. Drake got done by a non-bouncer & the tail was marshaled superbly by an increasingly solid Mahadik who saw us get beyond the psychological 200-mark.
However, 202 all out on a pitch where 230-250 looked competitive…would it be enough?
Tea was (with no exaggeration) the best that even the author has experienced for several seasons.
We took to the field with the sun relentless in it’s shine, Matt O’D and Jon Drake (bar his opening beamer!) keeping them honest. After 10 overs Knowle’s score had reached 34-2 – too much pace from Matty for one, JD LBW in-swing for 2! 3 more went in quick time – the first was a Jon Drake ‘Sally Gunnell’ (ugly little runner) put pay to dangerous opener Griffin; Nick B-L took a tricky catch with the ball coming out of the sun; and a feather to Leonard (who miraculously held the red thing having shelled one previously!) left Knowle teetering at 56-5 off 17 overs. Then began a terrific fightback by Knowle, Sam Cockram (of Indoor Action Cricket fame) steadied them with resolute defense & solid timing whilst big hitting Lee Godfrey got to grips with the staff change bowlers and small cricket ground. Godfrey went to 50 in seemingly no time & when Matt O’D returned only to be smashed for a mammoth 6 straight back over his head a feeling of gloom was overtaking the staff fielders – fortunately a drinks break allowed us to get it together. Adams took a skier to see to Cockram & Matt had Godfrey (for a powerful 61) in front of middle-n-off with the score at 173. Another big hitter, Chris Green, arrived at the crease and bludgeoned 28 from something like 10 balls before sending one ‘up but not out’ & DJ held a spectacular skier! 191-8. JD was back in full flow, and with even skipper Al Brearley holding a catch (which bobbled first, naturally) it was down to the wire…191-9, 12 runs required, 1 wicket required. A few runs and a wide later, JD’s penultimate ball swung in, pitched on a length, straightened & clipped the top of off to seal an incredible escape for the Staff & a fantastic 7-40 for JD himself!
So, a win by 6 runs. With half our games this season ending on knife edges how many kittens will Al have? / how many players will fall to heart-attacks? Spread bet anyone?
Congratulations to all!
Big one next week!
UBSCC 168 all out vs Stoke Gifford 135 all out
An incredible bout of sunshine on the weekend saw the 1st XI graced a pitch and wicket in top condition at coobe dingle. Captain Lack won the toss and with arguably the most destructive batting line up the staff have fielded in some time they started to don the pads. Sledge managed to just reach the crease in time to take first ball and the innings was underway. The track resembled the M1 but in reality the ball was holding up a bit on the pitch and with some good lengths from the opposition bowlers it was difficult to time the ball. This did not hinder the opening pair of Sledger and Allison however, as they proceeded to time the ball beautifully….through the slip cauldron. The scoring rate was slow and the first wicket fell at 60-0 after 17 overs when Allison bored himself into trying to lift the ball over mid-on only to lift the bowlers spirits by missing the straight one, departing for 27. Sledger followed a few overs later with an identical looking shot for 34. Enter our powerful middle order. At this point Id like to tell you how our plethora of ultra talented batmen stroked the ball to all parts, demoralising the bowling side on the way to a hefty score of 250+…. I’d like to tell you this. A spatter of nice looking shots were accompanied by some pretty ordinary ones. Lack, Cambell and Carlisle took a nice stroll to the wicket and back on a fine day troubling the scorers with a solitary boundary 4 between them. At this point Cox and Smith provided some stability, they both looked comfortable at the crease and began the recovery. The nerves of the support (which I should point out was near a capacity crowd tipping double figures) were eased as the score board started ticking again, unfortunately this refuge did not last too long as Cox chopped on for 24 and Smith was bowled for 22. The question now is whether the tail would wag, well to put it simply, no. thanks to some geriatric running we were dismissed for 168. A low score considering the state of the pitch and the batsmen to a man have to hold up their hands.
Considering the mediocre total the team was confident taking the field and looked lively from the start. Harvey opened the bowling with an outstanding spell, that was simply too good for the opposition. The highlight of the three wicket spell was very early on, when a blistering delivery struck top of off sending the off-stump bail to the 30 yard circle. This set the tone for the whole inning. The oppo struggled to come back from being reduced to 24-4 but doggedly hung in and kept the score ticking over at a snails pace, and it was at this speed the game was reduced to as the bowlers manful efforts proved to be unlucky in displacing the middle order and tail. A cultured bowling change saw Carlisle mark out his run up. He went on to immediately provide a necessary injection of pace, taking a wicket with his first delivery. This turned out to be the breaking of the side who then (bar a cameo) began to submit to a talented bowling display and a tireless effort in the field which included a splendid one handed Catch from Sledger wonderfully Silhouetted against a fiery sun. The forlorn inning petered out with the help of some seasoned overs from Pope who picked up a brace of wickets.
The victory was never in doubt as the opposition were dismissed in the 130′s, however this did require some serious graft on a hot day.
Verdict; Unconvincing with bat, consistently excellent with the ball. Bring on next weekend and the chance of redemption
King hits ton – Adams takes stunning catch
UBSCC 2nd XI 291-8 (King 119, Leonard 49, Davis 5-76)
Hambrook 3rd XI 102-10 (Maggs 43)
The seconds recorded their highest score in living memory as they made it three from three. Put in to bat, last week’s hero George “The Captain” Kirke went early, LBW to one which pitched and rolled, but yours truly and Simon “The Vice-Captain” King toddled along nicely at 5 an over to 99, at which point I stuck one down the throat of the sole fielder in the vicinity (for the second time in three weeks). Al came and went in a flurry of sweep shots and grumpinesss, Whitters sacrificed himself after farting around for too long for not enough runs, and all the time Si was looking classy at the other end. Finally, when the Heavy Roller joined him the run rate rose sharply with some lusty blows. Simone reached a lovely century with his only six, and eventually went on to an exhausted 119 from only 107 balls. TL made 49 off only 27 balls (Whitters faced 26 balls for 10), and we ended up 291-8 off our overs. For Hambrook, M Davis took 5-76.
In reply, Hambrook’s opener Maggs batted really well. He spanked the first ball to the cover boundary, and hit every bad ball he faced for four off the middle of the bat. The faster it was bowled, the faster it went to the ropes. Unfortunately for them, the wickets kept falling at the other end. I started the rot with a blinding one-handed catch off Billy, JD bounced some poor child out first ball (no Drakey spray this week) and MOD was generally too quick for them. The wickets were shared around (MOD 5-2-3-3), and once Maggs had gone for 43 that was pretty much it. The fielding was good this week, and even Al took a catch (though he did try hard to drop it).
Chris Adams – 15/05/2010
Woodpeckers come a knocking, but UBSCC in full flight make it 3 in 3!
Woodpeckers XI 93 all out (Lack 5-4 Guru 3-7 Britton 53)
UBSCC 1st XI 94 for 5 ( Allison 40 n.o)
The beautiful pitch at Flax Bourton looked like a track that could go either way, a few early rippers from Carlisle and Guru in warm up lead the decision to feild first.
Jamie and Iain started us off well but their opening left hander Britton was smashing anything straight for 4. Jamie once again prooving he is one of the most unlucky bowlers in the league only claiming one wicket from a very tidy spell. Carlisle bowled some great lines taking a valuable wicket with an outside edge to the bucket handed Coxy in the slips. Britton smashed his way to his half century with relative ease capitalizing on a very small leg side boundary. We soon realised he wasn’t taking well to the ball moving about so the skipper brought himself into the fray with immediate effect – getting a yorker through with his first ball . At the other end Guru was working his usual magic with the spin picking up 3 wickets for 7 choosing to finally catch one, an absolute snorter, off his own bowling. Soon to follow were the wickets of three others, two in two balls again clean bowled by the skip (hat-trick ball was an absolute howler). Guru kindly left the final wicket for a second 5-fer for the skip ending on 5 for 4 runs. 93 all out.
Tea endused some of the best tasting sick burps imaginable!
We then decided to make things much harder than they needed to be chasing down 93 runs: Sledger’s first dismissal came from an outside edge, his second, and coxy’s first, took some doing; Sledger after re-appearing as Ollie ‘brokeback’ Cox’s runner, took a quick single and whilst turning for the second stopped midwicket, reassured that Coxy had already made it back to the crease, only problem being that Coxy, being the injured batsman, had never left his crease in the first place! Sledge was run out! The skipper then decided he too would gift his wicket running a crazy single off a mis-field. Carlisle soon followed with his signature windmill shot, and Al Smith fell fowl to another one through the gate. It was left to the only player left with any brains to finish off an innings fraught with calamity, John.A seeing us home with a solid and vital 40 not out!
Another solid win from the staff, but we need to be sure we don’t get complaicent, long way to go against some much stronger sides I’m sure!
BRISTOL ASIANS KLING-ON IN VAIN AS CAPTAIN KIRKE STEERS UBSCC 2ND XI HOME
Bowling: Strickland 13.4-6-30-5
Batting: Kirke 72*
For the second time already this season, a grim-grey day awaited some cricket! Atop Lees Hill, East Bristol, a green, green, green, green wicket had been prepared for the clash of old foes Bristol Asians and UBSCC 2nd XI.
The conditions did not appear to be conducive for cricket. But the home side were determined to get the game a-go-go. Indeed, this fixture (played 4 times in the last 5 years) has never reached conclusion at the oppo’s ground.
Al won the toss (2/2-potential for a book to run here…) & wanted to have a bat, the other 10 staffies managed to convince the skipper to bowl & we went out to field in the cold, wet, wasteland of a Polish autumn rather than a late English Spring.
Strickland (or was it Starkland?) was on the mark right form the outset, and set about the destruction of the Asians top order. He was ably supported by an uphill-cross-wind stricken JD. Neither bowler were ably supported by Tom “tin-gloves” Leonard who eventually managed to hold one in the 4th over!…this was thankfully irrelevant as the ball kept on crashing the ash! Temporary resistance from Asif Butt and Javed filled time but oppo runs were hard to come by (between overs 10 and 15 they only managed 2 runs total!). After 15 overs they had reached 31-3 (they scored 260-odd last week remember). When Javed was bowled round his legs we thought the end was nigh.
Youngster Khan arrived at the crease with his team a ponderous 67ish-4 but proceeded to get to grips with Paul G & Yousef, fetching everything from off, smashing it ruthlessly to the mid-wicket round to straight boundaries! The Staff change bowlers stuck at it & would have had more reward than the scorebook shows with more effective fielding. But after some lusty blows by the Asians, a couple of quick catches from Nick BL & Tom “human pitch roller (heavy)” Leonard and the innings was wrapped up, Iain bagging his 5-fer. Khan’s bludgeoned 50 had given the Asians a fighting chance with 143 all out on the board, plus the increasing cold & dark & the prospect of further rain.
Tea was ‘different’ to that usually experienced in cricket ground pavillions…but having come in from the cold, hot food was more than welcome!
Of course it didn’t get colder, it got warmer. The dark stayed off. And most fortunately, the rain abated.
The staff innings got off to a solid start, Adams & Kirke having a butchers at the oppo attack (including the feisty Bihal) before finding singles / boundary’s much more regularly. Adams fell for 11 and King took up the cause. His dismissal for only 6 (but 4 of them were absolutely glorious!) left the staff poised at a 47-2 crossroads – would it be last weeks’s struggle to the line all over again? or would it be a relaxing 8 wicket win? Inexplicably, the oppo took both their opening bowlers off. Their replacements were not of the same caliber and Kirke took full advantage (his last 57 runs coming off a mere 39 balls (yes he was helped out more than once by the fielders but who cares!). After an early scare of LBW Al proceeded to smash 35 himself, including a few glorious sweeps of feeble short stuff offered up by the bowlers. A lot of extras helped us out too & the match was finished in the 24th over.
Finally, very well played to Nick B-L & Rob M…as can be the case with relatively simple wins, few get a chance to ‘have a go’…it’ll come though, unfortunately we won’t win as convincingly as this every week!…but we’ll try to make sure we keep winning all the same!…Hambrook up next!
TL
UBSCC 1stXI vs St George
Friday 23rd April was officially St George’s Day – Saturday 8th May was not!
Another damp and cold day saw the away team win the toss and choose to bat. The track looked damp and slow and the outfield looked damp, and slow. The wind assisted, clean shaven, Harvie stormed in for the opening foray posing a number of tantalising questions to the ageing opening pair, who had little to offer in reply. The other ageing opening partner, Belly, pulled out another vintage performance into the wind getting little assistance from the fielders. The screw was very much turned and the breakthrough came with the change of bowling from Carlisle who utilised the scuffed ball to get a belter to swing the other way. Crusading to the crease came the captain who we all knew posed a relative threat. A couple of drop catches here and a few Dolphin fielding efforts there saw him reach a half century in little time – and the damper the ball got the more comfortable he looked. Matty O’D bowled with venom but was guilty of some early season ‘Drakie spray’, captain Lack also borrowed some of ‘Drakie’s spray’ and it seemed the score was getting away from us in the middle of the innings. So in came Guru to introduce some spin to the attack and, two overs in, John took a sitter at point to send the cap back to the dressing room for a well deserved cup of cocoa. Luke B pulled out some great fielding moments despite the sub zero conditions and special mention has to go to Al S who took two catches that John threw into him. Wickets fell in reasonably quick succession with Jamie coming back into the attack finishing the innings off with another great spell. 163-8
Tea was surprisingly good!
Sledge and John batted superbly seeing us through to the first 50 partnership of the season notching a steady but assured 70 odd runs for the first wicket. John then had a Sledge moment knocking one straight to mid-on. Sledger batted brilliantly, never looking like he was going to give away his wicket, unlike lack who, inspired by the T20 decided to try and smash everything for 6 – and got clean bowled (again). New blood Ed Williams then came to crease with a runny nose and a reputation to uphold. He, unlike lack, did manage to smash everything to the boundary – but failed to actually cross it on a number of occasions running more 3′s than he has, and will ever wish, to run in his life. Another 50 partnership saw Sledger notch up a clinical and well deserved 80 runs and Ed W ended up on 42 not out. 165-2
A comfortable win for the Staff but really we should have taken the chances we had in the field. I am convinced when we come up against a stronger team we will rue the chances missed. It was cold I know!
UBSCC 1stXI vs Bohemians
The promise of rain didn’t dampen the mood for the Staff this week with a pitch looking damp and variable we chose to bowl first. (I use the royal we here – needless to say Marshie would have chosen to bat!). Matty O’D and Jamie peppered the opening batsmen with some quality fast bowling – using the pitch to their advantage. Jamie knocking the off stump out of the ground and Matty O’D collecting a couple of scalps plumb in front and one off the gloves into gully. A couple of dogged defensive batsmen saw off the main brunt of Belly’s solid 10 overs placing the bat in front of anything that was going to hit the stumps and leaving anything else. And with Marshie at the other end seeing off the ‘big hitter’ with a cut to point we were well and truly into the tail end with only 50 odd runs on the board. The spin twins Guru and Coxy saw off the rest of the batting with some great flight and variation – great news too that Guru is with us for the rest of the season!
So with only 74 on the board and the rain starting to dribble down Sledge and John strode straight back out to bat, new jumpers aglow, for 25 mins before tea getting us off to a great start with 30 odd on the board. After a great tea sledge fell victim to the pitch with a plumb delivery keeping very low and straight. Then Captain came in and smashed it about a bit getting out to a Carlisle esq swipe – and dirtying his jumper! Coxy saw off his first two balls with fours and John A stalwart as ever stayed in throughout to see the innings off in style – 75 for 2.
A fantastic start to the season with some great bowling and fielding with only a couple of drop catches (from chamois smithy) allowing the us to finish early enough to see Leonard smash the 2′s to victory back at the club!
2nd XI vs Winterbourne ‘A’
This match report is long, feel free to skip to the last paragraph if necessary.
And so it came to pass that the start of the new season was upon us.
Not exactly a gloriously sunny day at Coombe Dingle, as much as an overcast-threatening-grey sort of afternoon awaited us. Captain Albert duly won the toss & announced we would take to the field!
The faces of the 2010 2nd XI, some old (Billy, Rob) some new (Hoff, Iain), some too fat to bowl (Tom L, Al) were filled with expectation and belief, not least the belief that Veronica looked absolutely resplendent in her new red UBSCC coat!
After about 10 overs or so of toe-crunching inswing / leg side wides / decapitation attempts from John D it was Strickland from the other end who removed 3 batsman in quick succession leaving the oppo something like 32-3 after 12 overs. Winterbourne opener Adie T and No 5 Chris P then dug right in & a lot of huffing & puffing & beating of bats & 2′s & 4′s here & there occurred. The partnership was eventually broken by none other than ‘Billy-Joe’ Cotton, who after his first 3 overs (which were plundered) found his range & bowled another 9 overs for a measly 18 runs. Elder statesman Massie chipped in, clean bowling some young upstart who had the cheek not to use his bat! The quicks then returned for a final stint more wickets tumbled though we couldn’t quite force the ‘all-out’ upon them, not least because of wiley-fox Adie T who carried his bat, controlled Winterbourne’s innings & progressed them to a respectable 183-9.
Tea was moderate.
Captain Kirke and Chris A (with new glasses!) strode confidently out to the middle & got the 2nds innings off to a flyer, Kirke especially go to grips with the bowling crashing a couple of 4′s through cover & playing a number of other excellent shots for no runs too. Kirke fell, but there was no stopping Adams & VC King and the hundred came up in the 18th over or so. Winterbourne’s change bowlers Tavenear & (another ‘Captain’) Cook then looked to wrestle the game out of the Staffs hands…102-1 became 102-5. Leonard & Drake then shared a steadying partnership of 38runs & some lusty hitting before JD was out caught. Strickland fell pronto in a ‘tricky not to give out’ LBW decision. And in came Massie. With only 40-odd runs required from near-on 18 overs, the game slowed…a partnership was built. a partnership of singles…one or 2 per over. This left Cook et al v.frustrated & thankfully he was all but out of overs! Massie nut-megged a straight one & lost his castle, Billy & Leonard then went on some the singles steal…12 were acquired from one over alone, with only 17 required for victory Billy was caught in the armpit of a crumpled Winterbourne fielder.
18 required for victory. 1 wicket remaining.
After a couple of 4′s, Johnno was on strike for a potential full over…first ball beat the bat. Johnno smashed the second ball through mid-wicket for a single getting Leonard back on strike. 4. dot. 6.
We won & there was much rejoicing!
UBSCC 49 vs 48 Green Lamp Guardians
A superb bowling and fielding performance atoned for a shocking batting display as we won this extremely low scoring encounter. Faced with a host of slow bowlers, the Staff batsmen kept going for the big straight hits and getting run out or caught. The more this happened, the more we attempted the big hits – it’s like one of them vicious cycles you know. We ended up with 59 – surely not enough?
Fortunately the GLG batsmen weren’t very good. After a solidish start in the first skin they struggled to hit the right areas and we fielded very well with numerous direct hit run outs and some good catching apart from one dolly by the skipper elect. They needed 21 from the final skin and Sledge, Tom Leonard and myself set it up for Lack to bowl with too much pace for the oppo and leave them well short. Phew -got away with it!
Next week we are at 8pm again vs Sparkship. Let me know if you can play.
STATS
Ed Calver : Batting 14, Bowling -5, Overall +9
Tom Leonard : +8, -9, -1
Tom Lack : +6, -7, -1
Matt Crossman : +13, -10, +3
Chris Bell : +8, -12, -4
Dave Ingram : +10, -5, +5
Skin 1 : UBSCC 22, GLG 25 (Leonard & Sledge)
Skin 2 : UBSCC 19, GLG 13 (Lack & Crossman)
Skin 3 : UBSCC 18, GLG 10 (Bell & Ingram)
We lost a nailbiter by 1 run this week against unbeaten leaders Fluffy Ducks. Needing just 7 from the final over we were looking good until Al got a thin edge on one to the keeper and we couldn’t quite manage it. Earlier we had 2 good skins with a brand new swinging ball, but one attrotious skin where we let Ducks’ Neil Robson run riot. In reply we had a good 1st skin but struggled in the 2nd against their best bowlers.
Next week we are at the later time of 8pm vs Green Lamp Guardians. Let me know if you want to play in that one.
STATS
John Allison : Batting +14, Bowling -39, Overall -25
Tom Lack : +27, -1, +26
Alex Smith : +14, -26, -12
Billy Cotton : +4, -12, -8
Chris Bell : +24, +2, +26
Al Brearley : +3, -11, -8
Skin 1 : Ducks 13, UBSCC 41 (Lack & Allison)
Skin 2 : Ducks 69, UBSCC 18 (Cotton & Smith)
Skin 3 : Ducks 5, UBSCC 27 (Bell & Brearley)
UBSCC 114 v 57 Civil Service
A really pleasant win for the staff against a very civil, Civil Service Team. But there are no prizes for etiquette in this league and if our opening bowling could speak for itself, it would be expletive followed by straight bowled expletive! Jamie and Tom ripped through the opening pair with Tom ending up in negative bowling figures (record)? George followed up with some great movement, and virginal (not vaginal) Pete Brealey took to the indoor discipline like a new born to nipple! Belly and Sledger both bowled well and we ended up with a nice low total to chase.
Still gleaming from the previous weeks successful pairing ‘dynamic duo’ Sledge and George opened up the account with great discipline. Lots of simple twos and threes to set us up nicely – 32 Skin. Jamie and Tom then continued to flow despite a few dodgy run outs, Tom hitting the only 7 of the game – 36 Skin. Then came the real class, Left hand Right hand, age defying, Belly and Brealey came in to give what can only be described as an exhibition of finesse, subtlety and guile. Knocking ones and twos all around the park to frustrate the oppo who, by now, were fighting a loosing battle. Pete looked like he had it in him to smash one for 7 but couldn’t quite finish it off, (Our hearts go out to Jules who has informed us that this is common practice since the baby!) – 46 Skin.
Convincing Win and a great show of batting and bowling from all.
Quick reminder to everyone we are entering two teams into the indoor tournament on the 20th November Friday night. So far we have 8 players so please send your availability to me for this.
If anyone is interested in getting some T-shirts done it might be fun?
Skin 1: UBSCC 32 v 14 Civil Service
Skin 2: UBSCC 36 v 19 Civil Service
Skin 3: UBSCC 46 v 24 Civil Service
Sledger: Batting +22, Bowling -11 = +11
Geroge Kirke: Batting +10, Bowling -12 = -2
Tom Lack: Batting +22, Bowling +6 (yes that’s +6) = +28
Jamie Harvey : Batting +14, Bowling -6 = +8
Chris Bell: Batting +29, Bowling -17 = +12
Pete Brealey (v): Batting +17, Bowling -17 = 0
UBSCC 115 vs 91 Green Lamp Guardians
We won last week’s game against Sparkship 115-91. Sledger and George got us off to a great start with 48 off the first skin and then we had 2 more solid efforts of 33 and 34 to give a competitive 115. Sparkship were a lot better than last season and batted pretty well, but the total proved beyond them as we bowled and fielded pretty well (apart from me dropping a catch and then monging an attempted run out in the opposite direction to the stumps).
Ed Calver : Batting +29, Bowling -20, Overall +9
George Kirke : +19, -19, 0
Alex Smith : +22, -17, +5
Mike Marshall : +11, -10, +1
Al Brearley : +13, -12, +1
Chris Bell : +21, -13, +8
UBSCC 88 vs 89 Green Lamp Guardians
Apologies for the approximation of the match report – The barmaid told us ‘printers broken innit’!
Well with the winter setting in John and Al.B got us off to a bleak start of 17 for the first skin. John got a ‘pearler’ first up which he couldn’t quite block out! Mattie and Billy then set about settling the middle order up with a solid 23 (approx) skin hitting some lovely 1′s and 2′s. Then Sledge and I polished off the innings with a few 7′s and a couple of dodgy run outs ending up the innings on a defendable 89 runs.
We then took to the field – bowling was good on occasions with Billy, Al and Sledger hitting the right spots. Although Matty and John both fielded well, we couldn’t keep the catches in this week, and we were guilty of letting too many balls hit the side netting when a body in front for the team would have been the better option.
Despite this we managed to get them scrambling for a single off the last ball and I think we may have even won the last two skins? Some positives to take out of the game for sure but we need to not let our heads go down when balls are dropped or the batsmen hit runs. It only takes a couple of silly run outs in the heat of the moment to get us right back in it.
Never mind, a close game but there is plenty more cricket to be played and plenty more pints to be had!
On this note we are looking to get a couple of teams into the Friday night indoor tournament on the 20th November – Would be great if we can get 12 lads down there (that’s 2 teams of 6, Sledge) we will no doubt meet each other in the final and cricket will, once again, be the winner!
Please email me your availability for the 20th Nov – only a £5 each for the whole evening and the bar will be open all night.
Good times
UBSCC 55 (that is not a typo) v 79 Fluffy Ducks
Oh Deary me! The Dream is well and truly over. Not to worry – there were some solid performances from…. …. the Fluffy Ducks.
Tom.L and Joe opened up the account with a glorious 20 runs of which 15 were scored from wides! Followed by Si ‘back ache’ King (v) and Jamie who, as a skin, played the best out of both teams winning their cut 29 – 17. Which left Al and Guru to polish off the best of the opposition bowlers for a massive 6 runs (total). In fairness, Guru’s indoor vaginity* was met with some spotty, hormonal, loopy leg spin, which has seen a number of us seasoned pro’s pants down in the past.
Then followed the bowling – With no Si King (previous reference to back ache noted) stand in organiser/onlooker Tom Lack was drafted in from his pint of draft to field – to no avail. Far too many wides given away and despite some outstanding catches from Jamie and Tom.L the last skin started their innings on the same total we accumulated. Leaving them the task of staying in for the duration to win – which they duly did!
Skin 1: UBSCC 20 v 31 Fluffy Ducks
Skin 2: UBSCC 29 v 17 Fluffy Ducks
Skin 3: UBSCC 6 v 31 Fluffy Ducks
Tom Leonard: Batting +15, Bowling -11 = +4
Joe Beames: Batting +5, Bowling -1 = +4
Si King (v): Batting +18, Bowling DNB, = Back Ache (recommended acupuncture)
Jamie Harvey : Batting +11, Bowling -13 = -2
Al Smith: Batting +5, Bowling -28 = -23 (record?)
Guru (v): Batting +1, Bowling -4 = -3
Next week 9pm start against Green Lamp Guardians – don’t ask? Email me your availability’s please x x x
UBSCC 95 v 98 Tin Man Terriers
We put in a pretty poor performance on Weds against a side containing two 12 year olds. Batting got off to a good start with Ed and Campbell compiling 40 although there was some confusion caused by the previously unknown beamer rule enforced by the umpire. Billy and Tom got a solid 27 and then me and Al got 28, but it should have been more.
We started the bowlign very well with Tom terrorising the 12 year old (actually he was probably more like 9) to go for -4. We then got a touch complacent and some wides and general slackness allowed them to escape to get 25 from the skin. In the middle skin, competition organiser Leigh Iles dominated the bowling and used all his experience and knowledge of the rules to good effect. We did drop some catches and miss run outs though, and gave too many wides away again. The last pair only needed 26 to win and reigned themselves in to nudge and nurdle themselves home, although Campbell fell foul of another hitherto unknown Mankad rule from the umpire. We had enough opportunities to win the game and we would have done easily if the fielding display had been up to the usual standard.
Next week it’s old rivals the Fluffy Ducks, again at 7pm
Skin 1 : UBSCC 40 v 25 TMT
Skin 2 : UBSCC 27 v 45 TMT
Skin 3 : UBSCC 28 v 28 TMT
Ed Calver : Batting +15, Bowling -17, Overall -2
Andy Campbell : +25, -12, +13
Tom Leonard : +20, -7, +13
Billy Cotton : +7, -12, -5
Al Brearley : +15, -24, -9
Chris Bell : +13, -26, -13
First win of the season against our old rivals from Coalpit Heath.
I say rivals, but I don’t think we’d ever beaten them in a game of cricket – until now! Some quality fielding and sharp fast bowling from Beamo and Tom restricted the Pit to only 84 and we got off to a great start with Sledger and John making 37 in the first skin. Tom and Joe made a decent 29 which was good after 2 wickets off the first 2 balls, which just left me and Alex to bore the oppo into submission with a ‘professional’ tip and run finish. The fielding was the difference though as they missed many a catch and run out opportunity. Next week it’s Tin Man Terriers, again at 7pm.
Who’s up for that one? Email me to let me know
STATS
Skin 1 : Pit 27, UBSCC 37 (Sledge and John)
Skin 2 : Pit 35, UBSCC 29 (Tom and Joe)
Skin 3 : Pit 22, UBSCC 31 (Me and Alex)
John Allison : Bowling -13, Batting +20, Overall +7
Ed Calver : -20, +17, -3
Tom Lack : -14, +17, +3
Joe Beames : -1, +12, +11
Chris Bell : -12, +17, +5
Alex Smith : -24, +14, -10
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at 8:43 am
[...] Results [...]
By: UBSCC 88 vs 89 Green Lamp Guardians « U B S C C on October 15, 2009
at 7:13 am
[...] Results [...]
By: UBSCC 55 (that is not a typo) v 79 Fluffy Ducks « U B S C C on October 7, 2009
at 10:03 pm
[...] Results [...]
By: UBSCC 95 v 98 Tin Man Terriers « U B S C C on October 2, 2009
at 8:04 am
[...] Results [...]
By: Down the Pit 84 v 97 UBSCC « U B S C C on September 24, 2009
at 9:04 am