Oh dear oh dear, Twenty20 used to be our game. Last summer we turned up confidently and brushed all aside (well most). Sport is a cruel mistress and another low scoring encounter between the Cavaliers and Blackpool EVH last night has led me to sulk for most of today. The less said about the game the better. Defending only 63 is never going to be easy, but we made a good stab of it, with EVH needing to get into the last 5 overs before passing the finishing post. Batting cost us again, me included getting out to the same shot for the 3rd time in a row!
However we pull our socks up, dig in and go again next week. Keep watching for news of Snape's dramatic transfer back to the Cavaliers next week and leading the charge to a first 2020 victory...
Wednesday 30 May 2007
Monday 28 May 2007
Weekend Aches
No time to rest in the life of a Wyre cricketer, two more matches this weekend and 2020 again on Tuesday! Saturday's league game against Baxi was one which we entered knowing we hadn't beaten them for a few years and that if we would have to play well against one of our title challengers last season. Baxi batted first and produced another test match performance, getting 104/7 off their 45 overs. I managed to drop another catch (that's 4 in the last 3 games now...) to keep my confidence high, haha! Alcock took the initiative and scored 62 to get us on the way and Amos and Gregson brought us home with only 1 wicket down. A good and suprisingly straightforward win but Baxi have been hit with the loss of 2 of their top players transferring to other teams.
Sunday brought a morning of work for me, Slime making at Thornton Little Theatre meaning I had to miss the first hour. Luckily rain delayed the start so when I arrived only 10 overs of our Stuart Cup Quarter Final had been played, with Cartwright and Alcock getting us to 70/0. A mini collapse managed to get me into bat quickly and I soon departed LBW for 0 given by Snape umpiring, how kind of him and I was sure it was going down leg! But with Andy knocking the ball around with ease past the mouthy Blackpool youngsters he carried his bat to score 85* and get us to 138/8. After all their talk in the field, could the Blackpool youngsters walk the walk? Well since Scott took 3 wickets in the first over, the answer was no! Bowled out for 40 and Wyre progress to the semi finals. A positive weekend ended with a few lemonades in the public houses of Poulton and thoughts of a possible end of season Spanish cricket tour...
Just the one rest day for the Wyre professionals, 2020 on Tuesday against Environmental Health who beat us a few times last year. After our dreadful performance last week things can only get better, can't they?!
Sunday brought a morning of work for me, Slime making at Thornton Little Theatre meaning I had to miss the first hour. Luckily rain delayed the start so when I arrived only 10 overs of our Stuart Cup Quarter Final had been played, with Cartwright and Alcock getting us to 70/0. A mini collapse managed to get me into bat quickly and I soon departed LBW for 0 given by Snape umpiring, how kind of him and I was sure it was going down leg! But with Andy knocking the ball around with ease past the mouthy Blackpool youngsters he carried his bat to score 85* and get us to 138/8. After all their talk in the field, could the Blackpool youngsters walk the walk? Well since Scott took 3 wickets in the first over, the answer was no! Bowled out for 40 and Wyre progress to the semi finals. A positive weekend ended with a few lemonades in the public houses of Poulton and thoughts of a possible end of season Spanish cricket tour...
Just the one rest day for the Wyre professionals, 2020 on Tuesday against Environmental Health who beat us a few times last year. After our dreadful performance last week things can only get better, can't they?!
Friday 25 May 2007
Twenty20 Thrashing
Being Captain of a Twenty20 team who had a successful 2006 campaign, I had high hopes for our first game in the new Fylde Twenty20 League, especially as our previous 2 games had been rained off and so the troops were hungry for a match. I won the toss, chose to bat on the Cottam Hall pitch as the skies were grey and I wanted to make the most of the light. However, batting at number 5 I was in after only 7 balls with the score at 1-3! An unenviable position one might think, however I changed my mindset from 2020 mode to Test Match mode and decided to enjoy the task of having to perform under pressure. Henry's Marauders opening bowlers had ripped through our top order and so Dave Lever and I steeled ourself to see their 8 overs off and try and graft a score of 50+ by any means. We were hanging in under a bowling barrage and with only 1 over of their 2nd opening bowler remaining, Dave was squared up by a short one and caught at slip. Stu Smith came in (after having a quick hide since he gave Amos out LBW which didn't go down too well) and I was confident we could get a competitive total. On came the change bowlers and I quickly tickled a ball behind my legs and was called through by Stu for a single... then promptly sent back when half way down the pitch as the wicketkeeper had stopped it, as opposed to Stu's initial reaction and I was run out. Bugger. Apologies offered by Stu, "I don't mind so long as you get to 25..." which he made a fine effort of doing as wicket continued to fall. Scott looked confident and 2020 debutants James Trippier and Rob Gregson had a good go in very tough conditions. The youngsters were showing Michael Vaughan esque technique, but the innings was brough to an end with Stu on 10 as he was hit in the unmentionables and run out by Tillotson as he was being aided by members of the opposition. How sporting!
Change of innings and a tricky task to win defending only 37. Whenever a poor performance has happened, or the opponents have knockled you over quickly, you must believe you can do the same to them. Having confidence in our bowling options I thought the task was tough but doable, especially so after Scott and I had reduced them to 0-2 after 2 overs. On came Stu, recovered after the low blow to bowl fast and fiery, downwind. Some great tight, quick, swinging bowling prouced a few chances. Catches were there but not held and Tim Chronell and Billy Rowe dug in under the barage from Scott and Stu and got them past the line after 10.2 overs. We made a game of it but if we had 20-30 more runs it may have been possible. With the top 4 qualifying for the finals day and 9 more matches to go, all is not lost, bring them on!
Scorecard: http://wyre.play-cricket.com/scoreboard/scorecard.asp?id=10392379
Change of innings and a tricky task to win defending only 37. Whenever a poor performance has happened, or the opponents have knockled you over quickly, you must believe you can do the same to them. Having confidence in our bowling options I thought the task was tough but doable, especially so after Scott and I had reduced them to 0-2 after 2 overs. On came Stu, recovered after the low blow to bowl fast and fiery, downwind. Some great tight, quick, swinging bowling prouced a few chances. Catches were there but not held and Tim Chronell and Billy Rowe dug in under the barage from Scott and Stu and got them past the line after 10.2 overs. We made a game of it but if we had 20-30 more runs it may have been possible. With the top 4 qualifying for the finals day and 9 more matches to go, all is not lost, bring them on!
Scorecard: http://wyre.play-cricket.com/scoreboard/scorecard.asp?id=10392379
Sunday 20 May 2007
Windy Win
Yesterday saw us win again in the League after the draw last week frustrated our early season campaign. Thankfully we didn't have to phone the Met Office every 2 minutes like last weekend as the skies were bright, but instead we had to contend with what felt like playing in a wind tunnel! With Steve and I opening the bowling, guess who got the use of the extra 20mph breeze...? However with some "Glenn McGrath like accuracy" we ground down the Comrades openers until they produced a few aerial chances in frustration and I managed to add another 4 wickets to my haul so far. Polishing them off was a bit harder as I proceded to drop 2 catches (I obviously want to hinder Steve and Greggy's amount of wickets!), one a forward dive which I should have held and the other a skier straight into the sun which, whilst being blinded, I should have held. Can you see a pattern apearing? Not good for the clubs catching champion of 2005, that's 3 drops in 3 games! Still we finished them of for 59 and set about chasing it down whilst keeping an eye on the FA Cup final which was on in the Pavillion.
Amos fell to an excellent diving slip catch and at 0/1 without our top batter Alcock, nerves may have started to jingle. However with 2020 openers Andy and Moyesie at the crease, we felt confident of scoring quickly. Andy was caressing the ball around the slow field well until getting run out after 2 or 3 comedy run out chances had earlier been missed. Moyes and Abbott came and went leaving us 4 down for 35. Thankfully with extra time looming in the FA Cup, Greggy strode into bat and knocked a quick 29 with the skipper to finish it off, getting us to 61/4.
Good to get back to winning ways especially with only 10 men. Another big weekend coming with a crunch league game against Baxi followed by the Stuart Cup quarter final against Blackpool IV and with a Twnety 20 League match on thursday life is becoming that of a professional!
Amos fell to an excellent diving slip catch and at 0/1 without our top batter Alcock, nerves may have started to jingle. However with 2020 openers Andy and Moyesie at the crease, we felt confident of scoring quickly. Andy was caressing the ball around the slow field well until getting run out after 2 or 3 comedy run out chances had earlier been missed. Moyes and Abbott came and went leaving us 4 down for 35. Thankfully with extra time looming in the FA Cup, Greggy strode into bat and knocked a quick 29 with the skipper to finish it off, getting us to 61/4.
Good to get back to winning ways especially with only 10 men. Another big weekend coming with a crunch league game against Baxi followed by the Stuart Cup quarter final against Blackpool IV and with a Twnety 20 League match on thursday life is becoming that of a professional!
Wednesday 16 May 2007
Double match weekend
A tough schedule last weekend with matches on both days. Funnily enough both against St Annes IV, in the League on Saturday at home and in the Stuart Trophy on Sunday away.
A frustrating match in the League at the freshly rolled and mown but still comedy Cottam Hall pitch. Asked to bat first the openers dug in to some accurate bowling, with Mike as usual showing the way and scoring quickly. However it wasn't as easy for the rest of the top order, and with Greggy unable to see it was once again down to the middle order to produce some runs after Mike fell at 48/1. Lots of quick singles frustrated the opposition, and with a blind Greggy the only batsman keen to hang around and keep the scoreboard ticking as he ran out of partners, Wyre could amass a below par total of 128. Tea time came and thoughts turned to forming a plan to ensure the low total could be defended. However we needn't had worried as no sooner had we started bowling that we seemed to travel in time and start playing in a pre-war test Match, with a run rate hovering around 1 per over!! With the opposition reluctant to go for the win it turned to us to go for wickets and take the game by the scruff of the neck, but they just wouldn't budge. By the time we had got into the middle order, the last hour had been called and Mike had turned to bowling spin again. (How long is Snape on holiday for?!) The overs ticked by and the batsmen continued to block and leave. But with St Annes having batted for around 2 hours trying to draw, wickets started to fall and they were 7 down for just under 100. 2 overs to go and 3 wickets needed for another win from the brink, more plays and misses, a cheeky stumping, slow change overs by the batsmen, "Come and play the game boys!", but this week it wasn't to be and the draw was claimed. Frustration.
Thankfully we had a chance to play again the next day and luckily the weather held to allow us to play on the main ground at St Annes, such a treat! With Alcock on the motorway, 10 Wyre players took to the pitch, including youngsters Robert Gregson and James Trippier, along with debutant Stephen Taylor. Scott and I opened the bowling in the limited 25 overs match against batsmen who hadn;t appeared the day before... and being able to trust the pitch I managed to get 3 of the top 4 in my 5 over spell, not too shabby. However Mackenzie had made his mark, blasting a 50 and getting St Annes to 100 in quick time. Alcock arrived and the skipper came on to bowl with him, more excellent fielding with 5 more catches to add to the 6 the previous day, meant that we had come back strongly and restricted St Annes to a mere 138/8 when a much higher total looked on the cards. Tea was skipped as the skies darkened, the rains were coming, quick batting was needed. Stephen "swashbuckling" Taylor was sent in to open the innings with Alcock and face the top St Annes bowlers. Once again we needn't have worried, but for a different reason this time as Mike and Stephen flayed the ball to all corners of the ground and ran lot of quick singles to reach the victory target with both unbeaten on 73 and 49 respectively. What a comeback and what a satisfying performance after the previous days exertions. Job done.
A frustrating match in the League at the freshly rolled and mown but still comedy Cottam Hall pitch. Asked to bat first the openers dug in to some accurate bowling, with Mike as usual showing the way and scoring quickly. However it wasn't as easy for the rest of the top order, and with Greggy unable to see it was once again down to the middle order to produce some runs after Mike fell at 48/1. Lots of quick singles frustrated the opposition, and with a blind Greggy the only batsman keen to hang around and keep the scoreboard ticking as he ran out of partners, Wyre could amass a below par total of 128. Tea time came and thoughts turned to forming a plan to ensure the low total could be defended. However we needn't had worried as no sooner had we started bowling that we seemed to travel in time and start playing in a pre-war test Match, with a run rate hovering around 1 per over!! With the opposition reluctant to go for the win it turned to us to go for wickets and take the game by the scruff of the neck, but they just wouldn't budge. By the time we had got into the middle order, the last hour had been called and Mike had turned to bowling spin again. (How long is Snape on holiday for?!) The overs ticked by and the batsmen continued to block and leave. But with St Annes having batted for around 2 hours trying to draw, wickets started to fall and they were 7 down for just under 100. 2 overs to go and 3 wickets needed for another win from the brink, more plays and misses, a cheeky stumping, slow change overs by the batsmen, "Come and play the game boys!", but this week it wasn't to be and the draw was claimed. Frustration.
Thankfully we had a chance to play again the next day and luckily the weather held to allow us to play on the main ground at St Annes, such a treat! With Alcock on the motorway, 10 Wyre players took to the pitch, including youngsters Robert Gregson and James Trippier, along with debutant Stephen Taylor. Scott and I opened the bowling in the limited 25 overs match against batsmen who hadn;t appeared the day before... and being able to trust the pitch I managed to get 3 of the top 4 in my 5 over spell, not too shabby. However Mackenzie had made his mark, blasting a 50 and getting St Annes to 100 in quick time. Alcock arrived and the skipper came on to bowl with him, more excellent fielding with 5 more catches to add to the 6 the previous day, meant that we had come back strongly and restricted St Annes to a mere 138/8 when a much higher total looked on the cards. Tea was skipped as the skies darkened, the rains were coming, quick batting was needed. Stephen "swashbuckling" Taylor was sent in to open the innings with Alcock and face the top St Annes bowlers. Once again we needn't have worried, but for a different reason this time as Mike and Stephen flayed the ball to all corners of the ground and ran lot of quick singles to reach the victory target with both unbeaten on 73 and 49 respectively. What a comeback and what a satisfying performance after the previous days exertions. Job done.
Sunday 6 May 2007
FCL Match 3 v Anchorsholme
A sunny day greeted us at the Stanley Park Model Village pitch to take on the highly experienced Anchorsholme. Another successful toss call by the Captain meant we took the decision to bat first and try to post a good total. With the Anchorsholme slow bowlers looking to take advantage of another less than 100% pitch, the decision may have started to look shaky when Alcock went for another score in the 20's and Gregson for a duck, not good! Thankfully Amos dug in and scored a battling 50 and the middle order once again fired some quickfire runs to get the team to 182/7 declared.
With over 2 hours to bowl at the opposition confidence was high. However seasoned campaigners know of the defensive qualities of the Anchorholme batsmen. Even so early wickets once again flowed with the variable bounce of the pitch helping to reduce them to 9/5. Allan Hardisty was welcomed to the crease with a guard of honour, how international! But soon returned to the sidelines! Then came the defensive qualities which we had been expecting. Bouncers, Yorkers, wide ones, low ones, all came and were suitably left or blocked. Frustrations were growing as the last hour was called with 5 wickets still needed. A change of tactics was required and cometh the day, cometh the Amos! A couple of wickets with some change in pace meant that Alcock and Gregson followed suit and started to bowl some spin. Occasional spinning beamers were produced and despatched for 4 but it did the trick and soon the last pair were in and had 15 minutes to survive and claim a battling draw. The clock was ticking and tension was growing. The Captain brought himself back on and was suitably frustrated when the batsman declined to be bowled out! But with 5 minutes remaining Gregson got one through Archer's defences and claimed the points.
Another good win to keep the good start to the season going, but a valuable lesson in the tactics required to maximise the team's chances of victory.
With over 2 hours to bowl at the opposition confidence was high. However seasoned campaigners know of the defensive qualities of the Anchorholme batsmen. Even so early wickets once again flowed with the variable bounce of the pitch helping to reduce them to 9/5. Allan Hardisty was welcomed to the crease with a guard of honour, how international! But soon returned to the sidelines! Then came the defensive qualities which we had been expecting. Bouncers, Yorkers, wide ones, low ones, all came and were suitably left or blocked. Frustrations were growing as the last hour was called with 5 wickets still needed. A change of tactics was required and cometh the day, cometh the Amos! A couple of wickets with some change in pace meant that Alcock and Gregson followed suit and started to bowl some spin. Occasional spinning beamers were produced and despatched for 4 but it did the trick and soon the last pair were in and had 15 minutes to survive and claim a battling draw. The clock was ticking and tension was growing. The Captain brought himself back on and was suitably frustrated when the batsman declined to be bowled out! But with 5 minutes remaining Gregson got one through Archer's defences and claimed the points.
Another good win to keep the good start to the season going, but a valuable lesson in the tactics required to maximise the team's chances of victory.
Tuesday 1 May 2007
Match 2 v Buxtons
Our home debut brought no respite as another of the big hitting teams visited Cottam Hall. As expected, eyebrows were raised when everyone saw the state of the pitch. Thankfully Steve won the toss and elected to field (no brainer!) Also thankfully I decided to bowl well this week and took advantage of the sideways movement and the Buxtons batsmens' desire to swing at the ball, thus producing a couple of high shots for Lever and Gregson to pounce on. The Capatain joined in as ever and with Alcock and Snape only needing to bowl an over each to end the innings, we had bowled out one of the top teams for only 55. (Crippling half of them in the process by the way they walked off the pitch!)
However Wyre don't like to make things easy and as soon as the friendly banter between Mike and the slips had begun, he was walking back with a duck. That's 2 ducks in the last 3 innings, not the form of the FCL's top batsman...! Greggy soon followed but Amos and Moyes dug in before Abbott was required to batter a quickfire 30* and end the match.
Overall a very satisfying day to take 4 wickets against a good team and to get the season off to a good start with a win and a draw against two of our title challengers. Next week, our annual trip to Steve's favourite pitch in the league at Anchorsholme!
However Wyre don't like to make things easy and as soon as the friendly banter between Mike and the slips had begun, he was walking back with a duck. That's 2 ducks in the last 3 innings, not the form of the FCL's top batsman...! Greggy soon followed but Amos and Moyes dug in before Abbott was required to batter a quickfire 30* and end the match.
Overall a very satisfying day to take 4 wickets against a good team and to get the season off to a good start with a win and a draw against two of our title challengers. Next week, our annual trip to Steve's favourite pitch in the league at Anchorsholme!
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