Midweek Results
08/09/2011
The Saturday As beat Ashley Res 1-0.
07/09/2011
The Suburbans drew 1-1 with Ridings High.
06/09/2011
The Saturday Bs lost 0-1 against Clifton Rocket Res.
04/09/2011
A match report has emerged from the haze that was the Cricket Team’s trip to Buckfastleigh. DCi reports thus:
Skipper for the day DC1 turns up for the match to find thatthe opposition have poisoned his team with real ale the night before. They weregiven Gaol Ale and Yellowhammer apparently. Jeff slept in a church porch.Wayner was in a state of disorientation, unsure about what he could rememberand what he had merely imagined. Arran was reading the same page of the SundayMirror for at least 45 minutes. Nelly required an extended effort ofmouth-to-mouth resuscitation to get him on his legs. Stroddy looked more orless with it, as did his mate Ben. Our team of 8 was made up by Ollie, whomight have been Stroddy’s sister’s boyfriend. Or something.
Gorgeous spot though. High up on the fringes of Dartmoor,panorama of hills and fields and trees and not many buildings. Weather forecastwas mostly dire, so we got underway in a 30-over, 8 a side contest on time at2pm. Lost toss and batted.
DC1 and Jeff made a steady start against some tidy andlively bowling. DC1 is still muttering darkly about the keeper coming up to thewicket while the ball was in the air to stump him for 7. These guys want to win,innit. Jeff got a few away before they had him (caught for 15) soon after DC1,leaving Nelly and Stroddy as two new batsmen at the crease.
Nelly and Stroddy both showed great concentration and disciplineagainst some challenging bowling, resisting any temptation to swing at thequick balls whistling past their noses. We saw a proper partnership for the 3rdwicket, with the pair managing the strike to great effect. Nelly showed somereal class, in particular his back foot cover drives. When Stroddy’s determinedinnings was brought to an end (caught for 22), Wayner chipped in with a useful11 (controversial LBW, aren’t they all?) before it was Arran’s turn to keep upthe good work, which at this stage meant staying away from the strike andallowing Nelly to deal with business.
Over the course of the Cowboys innings the glorious view wasgradually disappearing in the mist and rain creeping in from Dartmoor, and wewent straight out to field, defending a respectable 152 – thanks to a wicked 75from Nelly and sensible batting in difficult conditions by his partners.
It was steady drizzle as Arran opened our bowling, offeringa couple of looseners before settling on a difficult full length outside offstump and making scoring difficult. Wayner had the other end, showing hiscustomary accuracy and removing one of their openers.
DC1 bowled 2 miserly overs, with support from Ben at theother end, and some solid commitment in the field, notably some super fieldingfrom Stroddy at cover point, ensured that Buckfastleigh were well behind theasking rate when the torrential rain forced us from the field after 3 balls ofthe 13th over.
We must have dossed around the pavilion watching the rainfor the best part of an hour before it lightened a bit and eased enough for usto go back out for a contrived finish – Buckfastleigh given a target of 77 off15 overs, or 19 runs from 15 balls. The creases at both ends were slick andslippery and very wet, making a run-up impossible for bowlers. Running betweenthe wickets was a bit Laurel and Hardy, but Buckfastleigh got home with a ballto spare – thanks to an umpire who mistakenly signalled a hideous cow-cornerheave 4 as a 6.
Buckfastleigh played some sharp cricket, and we did well topost such a competitive target. Maximum respect to Nelly for a genuinely fineknock, scoring very nearly half our total with some glorious cricket shots.Hopefully he’s going to score a lot more runs for us in the leagues in future.Buckfastleigh only play friendlies, and they’re interested in coming up to Bristol orhosting us back there. Either way, we should try and repeat this fixture next year.