Win v Crabree Dads

Team: Andy, Don, Graeme, Neil, Simon and John Ca

Tuesday night’s final game had a distinct end of term feel about it. As we were already champions, Crabtree were more interested in giving everyone a game than trying to win. Instead of tossing, we agreed to let them bowl. Andy and Don opened and when the first over only had 5 scored off it, any chance of a record score looked slim. However the next few overs saw them pepper the back wall and they soon both retired posting over 25, in the 4th over, against some fairly terrible bowling. The heavy scoring continued with Neil and Graeme going well and then Neil also retired on 25. We finally lost our first wicket with the total already north of 100 with Graeme doing his usual of hitting a fine shot straight back to the bowler off the side wall. I then followed almost immediately for another duck. John Ca and Andy then continued to push the score along well finishing on a useful 182, but we really did have a chance of scoring over 200.

Crabtree were never ever in with a shout, even if their first pair did last the first 4 overs. This was remarkable given the amount of playing and missing and edges just falling out of reach. John Ca picked up the first wicket and a runout followed but somehow Paul Arnerich continued to hang around and he nearly made a quite underserved 25. Their final three wickets all fell courtesy of Neil’s bowling and Graeme’s catching. Given our lacking of bowling, Don had taken the keeper’s gloves and we saw what a brilliant out-fielder Graeme could be. Both his catches deserved catch of the season. They were taken single handed, above his head with both feet off the ground, fielding at the short mid off position. The second was possibly the best given that the ferocity of the drive. Crabtree were all out for 90 odd, leaving us undefeated in the league this season.

Win over Frogmore sees Colts crowned champions again

We completed our penultimate game with a win by over 70 runs; our biggest margin of victory this season. This saw us crowned champions again for the third year running, as the nearest team to us in the league has already lost two games.

I lost the toss again and we were inserted. Graeme and I opened and made a solid and fast scoring start, reaching 60 in the 4th over. Graeme in particular pushed the pace at the start hitting two lovely consecutive 6s, before succumbing for 19 to a “not quite Shoaib” slower ball. It is interesting that this was the first time this season that we had played with anything like a new ball, so we were surprised by the steep bounce achieved by a couple of their quicker bowlers, but equally the ball sped faster from the bat.
Neil came in and continued the good work and I retired on 25 quickly followed by Neil. John Co and Trevor then tried to keep up with the rate, but Trevor was then bowled by a rather useful inswinger. John Co demonstrated his “electric “running ability which makes him look like he is running on one of those moving pavements, but sadly with the motion in reverse. So, there was no chance of him making his ground as he hit a useful extra cover drive straight back to the bowler via the wall. This left me to return with nearly three overs to go. John Ca and I were rather cautious initially then we got our running going and finally destroyed their ‘best bowler’ who returned in the final over. This did not start well with an over pitched delivery being smashed back down the pitch for 6. This led to two of their players being put on the back wall, but still the runs came easily and the final over went for 24, leaving us with an excellent total of 161 and me just reaching 50.

In reply Frogmore started reasonably but never looked like keeping up with the run rate. They survived the first three overs but then a direct hit runout saw the wickets start to fall. John Ca bowled the other opener and Graeme added another with a lightening leg side stumping off John Co. After 6 overs, they were struggling at 60 odd for 3. This got worse when I took a wicket with my first ball, a marvellous diving catch at slip by Trevor taking the ball off the netting. Then Graeme quickly atoned for a drop off Neil by taking another a few balls later, leaving Frogmore out of it on 70 odd for 5. The last man then played and missed for two overs and so I, in an attempt to finish the game, for the first time ever, I threw the ball to Trevor. He produced a couple of useful leg spun donkey drops, but we finally completed our win in that over with another run out. Frogmore were all out for 80 odd leaving us Champions again.

Win v Flamstead on Thurs 1 Dec 2100

Another comfortable win last night by 2 wickets with nearly 2 overs to spare, chasing a total of only 99, as I again managed to win the spin the phone decision! It was a good bowling performance to restrict Flamstead to only 99.

I open the bowling and following on from the last game got my length and line right. As ever the ball bounced disconcertingly at times, and twice this did for the Flamstead batsman, making three with an excellent stumping by Graeme. Along with a run out, after 8 overs they were in real trouble at 44 for 4. The final pair stuck around with Neil taking the final wicket in the final over, with another good stumping by Graeme.

Our opening pair Graeme and Andy gave us a very solid start, taking us to nearly 50 before Graeme retired posting an excellent 26. Andy was then joined by Neil who rather quickly ran out Andy in sight of his 25. Only a couple of overs later I departed to another runout and then almost immediately, Neil was bowled. It was almost déjà vu from last match. However were with 30 of their total and Tim and John Ca, steadily knocked of the runs without any further alarms.

Win v Tottenhoe Thurs 24 November 2000

Team: Graeme, John Ca, Andy, Kevin, Tim S and Simon

We all but crushed the only other unbeaten team with a team of 5 and a half players, given that Kevin could hardly breath due to a cold. That was aside from from three deliveries in our innings when we all too nearly came off the rails.

For the first time in 4 games I won the toss and decided to bowl. Also for the first time this season, we produced a quality bowling performance. John Ca and I opened the bowling and in the first over they were 4 for 1 and by the end of the 6th they were only 40 odd for 3. On a cold night the were heaters on and this aided John’s rather useful inswingers and also for the first time this season, I managed to bowl consistently. Kevin and Tim then kept things tight, with Tim taking the 4th wicket courtesy of a fantastic stumping from Graeme. We took the 5th wicket with two overs still to go via a runout, but we could not quite finish them off, leaving them at a rather poor 92 for 5.

Tottenhoe were not level top for nothing and bowling is their main strength. However, Tim and Andy got us off to a fantastic start with 50 off the first four overs. Then Andy was fantastically runout at the bowlers end backing up just too far. Graeme came in and carried on the good work. However, the start of the 6th over very nearly saw us fall apart. Tim had just retired having reached 25, when first Graeme fell runout. He hit a fine drive to extra cover that would have been four ourdoors but indoors he ended up neatly hitting it straight back to the bowlers stumps via the side wall. I then faced my first delivery and according to my team mates received a rather useful inswinging yorker that I missed! Enter Kevin who also managed to miss his first ball and was bowled. So that left us tottering at 64 for 4, having lost 3 in 3 for no runs. However, John Ca batted very calmly given all the balls remaining along with Tim to see us home without any further problems.

Thurs 17 November 2100 v Final CC

Team: John Co, Don, Trevor, Tim M, Mike and Simon

Win v Long Marsden Thurs 10 November 2100

Team: Neil, Trevor, Simon, Mike, Tim S, Don

Excellent win last night to avenge our defeat to Long Marsden in the Cup, although they pushed us all the way. I lost the toss again and we were inserted. Mike and Tim S opened up and had good start getting to 25 off the first two overs, but then Mike tried an inelegant stroke a rather wide delivery and was stumped. Enter Don who with Tim really pushed the score along with some tremendous drives and pulls to the far wall. This took us to 60 odd after 4 overs, when Tim retired. Enter Neil who was in fine form again and we pushed the score on further still getting to 80 after first 6 overs, so we were looking for a big total. Unfortunately we then had one of typical collapses, with Don out on 19 having looked good, then I followed an over later caught off the roof, then Trevor, in his first game of the season, went first ball going for a single to which Neil never quite reacted. So we now 90 for 4 and Tim returned to join Neil. We then saw a great stand pushing the score to 140 when Neil perished, leaving Tim to see out the final over, however, another run out saw the innings draw to a close with 4 balls to spare on 147. Not bad, but we should have made 160+.

Mike and I opened up and for the first time this season our bowling started to look reasonable. With a target of over 12 an over, then score after the first two overs was less than 12 and Tim held a great catch off the roof to remove one of the openers to put them under pressure from the start. By the end of the first 6 overs, they had one other openers retired on 25, but they were only 50 odd, with the required run rate up to 15. We was some excellent cricket from both sides as they kept close to the run rate with some fine batting but against some accurate bowling and some fine stops from straight drives down the pitch. However the tough run rate just became too much and the wickets fell through run outs and catches. As they ran to the final over, their opener had returned and they needed an almost impossible 33 off the last over, which Tim drew quickly to a close by working their opener, leaving them finally on 114 all out.

Win v Outlaws Thurs 3 November 2100

Team: Kevin, John Co, John Ca, Graeme, Simon, Tim S

We had another good win last night against the Outlaws, even with an under 35 in their team. We lost the toss and were inserted. Tim S and I opened and quickly the red mist descended. Tim charged their off-spinner (one of his HCC first team mates) 2nd ball and departed stumped. I then ran out Graeme all within the first over. However, Kevin and I then started to right the ship, with both us reaching 25. The two Johns then pushed on gradually until an outstanding catch off a smashed drive, low and to the right of silly mid off, removed Mr Cowan. John Ca and I then took the score up to over 100 when John reached 25 too. We had a bit of collapse over the last three overs and were finally all out in with one ball to go at 136.

Outlaws had a reasonable start as again our bowling failed to inspire. Tim bowled a tight first over before succumbing to a couple of wides, then I followed with a much less accurate over. With things not looking good, the one constant aspect of our performance this season, namely our fielding, saved us again. I removed their first opener with a direct hit under-arm throw, which was quickly followed by another from John Ca. Another run out kept the pressure on them and started to push down their scoring rate, particularly after their 2nd opener retired on 25. John Co got our first bowling wicket late on, but they were still in the hunt with two wickets remaining. They only required 40 off the last three overs, but then Graeme performed a smart stumping to get rid of their slowest scoring batsman to bring back their opener (not what the doctor ordered). Kevin was now feeling the pressure and duly delivered with a couple of wides, but again our fielding came good with two smart run outs to finish the game off with an over to spare with Outlaws 20 odd short.

Win v Redbourn Thurs 20 October 2000

Team: John Call, Don, Andy, Mike, Graeme and Simon

We had a comfortable win against the old rivals last night that was far easier than I was expecting, given my original availability problems. We won the toss and thinking we were a little short of bowling I decided to let them set us a total. We had new boy Graeme in the team last night (HCC first team keeper), so I initially threw him the gloves and between Andy and Don let them volunteer for the other three overs. However, having seen Don's first few practice deliveries, I quickly asked Graeme to show me what he could do: one delivery was enough to offer the gloves to Don.

However, whilst we had an excellent steady start with John and Graeme opening the bowling, it was our fielding that cut Redbourn off at the knees. We ran out there first 4 batsman, 3 of these with direct hits (Andy, Graeme and Simon), leaving them at 39 for 4 after 4 overs. From this point the final pair dared only run 3 singles in the last 6 overs, duing which time Mike and I gifted them more runs in wides than they scored off the bat. Mike finally cleared up the tail with two wickets bowling them out for 98 of the penultimate delivery.

Graeme and Andy opened the innings and started rather slowly and, like Redbourn, seemed somewhat afraid of running between the wickets. Graeme, who was clearly trying to dredge his memory for what he could remember of the indoor game, struck the ball rather too well scoring of nearly all deliveries but the ball reached the fielders too quickly. So after the third over when Andy perished trying to run only our 2nd single, we had only 11 on the board. However, from the 5th over Don rather hogged the strike and within three overs was back in the pen retired on 27. Graeme and I then pushed on with Graeme unfurling two great shots for 8 and 6 to retire on 26. I was out trying to force a 6 to win the game and left Mike and John to complete the game at the beginning of the 11th over.

Win - Tues 18 October 2100 v Bamville

Team: John Cwn, Neil, Tim S, Kevin, Andy & myself

We finally got our season back on the right track last night with an easy win over Bamville. It was a first class batting performance (for the majority) but our bowling again had room for improvement.

We lost the toss and were asked to bat. Andy and Tim opened and set off at a tremendous pace with 21 coming off the first over and 19 off the second. By the fourth over Tim had already retired, followed quickly by Andy. We then had a minor wobble in mid order as first I was run our first ball, neatly dissecting the on-side wall and presenting the ball straight back to the bowlers stumps. Neil then played on for 9. There was then another quick tempo partnership between Kevin and John Cwn both of whom made 25. Tim and Andy return and carried on where they left off and I think for the first time we had a situation where Andy had to retire for the second time having made another 25, totalling a chanceless 50. Kevin returned for the last over and was in inches of scoring an 8, when he was pouched one handed against the back wall by a fantastic diving catch. Our final total of 189 for 3 was I believe our second highest to date.

Bamville, whilst batting well, were never really in the hunt and we were perhaps a little too relaxed. However wickets fell regularly for them, with several good run outs and one good catch at gully from Kevin off Neil (having dropped one earlier in the same position). We finally bowled them out in the last over of their innings for around 140 to complete the win.

Lost!: Tues 11 October 2000 v Long M: Libera me, Domine, de morte aeterna

Deliver me, O Lord, from eternal death......................

Team: Tim S, John Cwn John Cal, And, Kevin and Simon

Well, I thought a requiem mass (Faure's if you are interested) would be an appropriate response to our game last night. We lost in the first round of the cup to Long Marsden, a newcomer to the league.

They score 136 for 3 to which we must have contributed 50 in extras with some very 'first-game-of-the-season' bowling. We then started poorly losing Andy early on but Tim S started striking the ball well partnered by me and we took the score up to 80 odd and were back on target. Tim then retired on 25. Then we lost three quick wickets all going for big hits down the ground. That left Tim and I again to try and complete the job which we were still on target to do. However we pushed too hard and I was run out, leaving Tim on his own. We got to 120 with 2 overs still to go and it still looked on. Then Tim sadly played on, to put an end to our sorry performance.