Hello again friends, it's been a long close season but winter nets have been in full swing and the 2008 FCL season is only a few weeks away. I am now on the FCL committee as Fixtures and Press sec and am running the new FCL website where you can keep track of all the league action: www.fyldecricketleague.piczo.com
Our first game takes us to Anchorsholme on the 19th which will be no doubt another fine game on what promises to be another keenly contested season. there have been a few departures from and a few new signings into the Wyre ranks, but I will tell you more as players make their debuts. Back to getting the new bat knocked in...
Saturday 5 April 2008
Friday 28 December 2007
2007 Season review
Dear reader, you must be wondering why there have been no postings for quite a while. Well the end of the 2007 season was so traumatic that only after months of medical care am I able to talk about the events that unfolded in September!!!
First let's wrap up the Twenty20 season. After gloriously qualifying for the Finals Day in the dark we eagerly anticipated the semi final against Rushale. Turning up at Thornton Cleveleys CC, who had kindly loaned us their ground for the day, we were greeted by drizzle. This seemed to encapsulate the entire summer which had been a washout. However with no 1st team games left, the groundsman was happy for us to play the tournament and so at 11am we started proceedings. I lost the toss (as usual) and we were asked to bat first. How would our fragile batting order cope with the potential onslaught off the Fleetwood Express of Sam Bury? Quite well actually with 3 players reaching the 25* retirement mark and we were happily scoring at a respectable run rate for a change. With the middle order ordered to get in and get out to enable the retired batsmen to get back in, all was going to plan, the middle order promptly hit out and with only the last pair at the crease it looked like our top order would be firing on all cylinders again. However our last pair couldn't get out, even when standing aside from the wicket! So our final total of 120/7, whilst being respectable in the context of our season, felt short in the context of the match situation.
Rushale started batting well with all rounder Sam Bury reaching the retirement mark, but then our bowling and fielding reached new heights, ripping through the Rushale order, clean bowling, direct hit run outs, one handed diving catches the lot! We were cruising to victory and even though Sam had returned to the crease we only required one more wicket with 4 overs to go. But Sam was grinding away and opportunities were missed meaning we entere the final over with only 2 runs required for Rushale to snatch victory. It took them 3 balls to do it and since the scoreboard had been kept incorrectly confusion reigned at the end but a thrilling game came to an end and we were agonisingly short. Both teams were applauded off the field and we received many kind comments from the other two teams and spectators that we had performed well and were unlucky not to win the match.
Whilst we had lost at the one stage where you never really want to, I am pleased that having dragged ourselves into the Finals Day we showed that we could perform well. Here's the scorecard link and an amusing photo of a sign Stu found!
As for the first team the end of season was even more spectacular. After the Blackpool draw we went to Fleetwood on a gloriously sunny day for once and managed to win, then pooped round to catch the end of Thornton v St Annes where Thornton could only draw, meaning the title race was back in our hands. We had a double header that weekend playing Baxi at Fleetwood's main ground, who had kindly offered us their pitch to use as Baxi's ground was unavailable. However the skies were ominous and we set to trying to bowl them out. I was in the zone getting their opener out cheaply and then producing 3 more clear catch chances which were put down, very annoying! But then the heavens opened and ended the contest. So a rain draw meant we had to go to Preston on the final weekend of the season and win to take the title. Anything less and Thornton could claim it with a win at home to Comrades.
As with the end of season match last year at Preston we arrived at a humid ground. Preston IV were put into bat and I managed to take the early wicket of Jonty Mcdonald again like last year. This set me on the road to taking my first 5 wicket haul of the year (the target I set myself at the start if the match to get 30 wickets in the season). All was going well and we reduced Preston to 81/9. However their number 10 proceeded to smash us to all parts in the final 15 overs amassing 70 not out and setting a total of 149 all out, hmmm.... Our batsmen set about the run chase well, with good contributions from the top order getting us to 125/4, but then on came Jonty who proceeded to bowl rather quickly and rip out our middle order. I managed to face 4 balls which I didn't really see before being bowled by the fifth even though I tried to close the angle by coming down the pitch. Scott and Snape put on a valiant last wicket stand but we came up 13 agonising runs short. Thornton had won against Comrades and so snatched the title at the death.
However in the aftermath of the match, it turned out that two of the Preston team were 1st teamers from the Northern League. This fact changed the complexion of our game, and even though people may say we should have won anyway, the fact that Preston chose to try and hide the first team bowler and batter by bringing them into the game late shows what poor sports they were being. Coincidentally these two players were brothers and it had the feel of a family day out jolly for them, with their family watching from the side and haveing an end of season knock about in a lower league to massage their egos. This totally ruined what had been a fanastic battle for the FCL all season. It was decided to lodge a complaint about their use of illegal players, which came out in our favour and we were handed the points and thus the title. Hilariously Preston had tried to claim the batsmen Pip McDonald was in fact Pete Mcdonald, a totally ficticious person!! They should have got their lies worked out before meeting with the FCl committee... Whilst nobody wants to in this way, we felt cheated having done nothing wrong. Thornton were obviously upset but should direct their annoyance with Preston for cheating. The aftermath has been rather messy with lots of chat on our websote guestbook and Thornton have left for another division. They actually applied for this other league in June so it is a shame they never intended to stay.
So the 2007 season ended on a strange note. However personally I am happy we got to the 2020 Finals Day and that I took 30 wickets. Next season 35 and a better batting average! It looks like the FCL are also going to implement some rule changes so the nonsense of illegal players can be stamped out and hopefully the 2008 season will be just as competitive, but far more sporting. Here's to next summer, hopefully a sunny one!
First let's wrap up the Twenty20 season. After gloriously qualifying for the Finals Day in the dark we eagerly anticipated the semi final against Rushale. Turning up at Thornton Cleveleys CC, who had kindly loaned us their ground for the day, we were greeted by drizzle. This seemed to encapsulate the entire summer which had been a washout. However with no 1st team games left, the groundsman was happy for us to play the tournament and so at 11am we started proceedings. I lost the toss (as usual) and we were asked to bat first. How would our fragile batting order cope with the potential onslaught off the Fleetwood Express of Sam Bury? Quite well actually with 3 players reaching the 25* retirement mark and we were happily scoring at a respectable run rate for a change. With the middle order ordered to get in and get out to enable the retired batsmen to get back in, all was going to plan, the middle order promptly hit out and with only the last pair at the crease it looked like our top order would be firing on all cylinders again. However our last pair couldn't get out, even when standing aside from the wicket! So our final total of 120/7, whilst being respectable in the context of our season, felt short in the context of the match situation.
Rushale started batting well with all rounder Sam Bury reaching the retirement mark, but then our bowling and fielding reached new heights, ripping through the Rushale order, clean bowling, direct hit run outs, one handed diving catches the lot! We were cruising to victory and even though Sam had returned to the crease we only required one more wicket with 4 overs to go. But Sam was grinding away and opportunities were missed meaning we entere the final over with only 2 runs required for Rushale to snatch victory. It took them 3 balls to do it and since the scoreboard had been kept incorrectly confusion reigned at the end but a thrilling game came to an end and we were agonisingly short. Both teams were applauded off the field and we received many kind comments from the other two teams and spectators that we had performed well and were unlucky not to win the match.
Whilst we had lost at the one stage where you never really want to, I am pleased that having dragged ourselves into the Finals Day we showed that we could perform well. Here's the scorecard link and an amusing photo of a sign Stu found!As for the first team the end of season was even more spectacular. After the Blackpool draw we went to Fleetwood on a gloriously sunny day for once and managed to win, then pooped round to catch the end of Thornton v St Annes where Thornton could only draw, meaning the title race was back in our hands. We had a double header that weekend playing Baxi at Fleetwood's main ground, who had kindly offered us their pitch to use as Baxi's ground was unavailable. However the skies were ominous and we set to trying to bowl them out. I was in the zone getting their opener out cheaply and then producing 3 more clear catch chances which were put down, very annoying! But then the heavens opened and ended the contest. So a rain draw meant we had to go to Preston on the final weekend of the season and win to take the title. Anything less and Thornton could claim it with a win at home to Comrades.
As with the end of season match last year at Preston we arrived at a humid ground. Preston IV were put into bat and I managed to take the early wicket of Jonty Mcdonald again like last year. This set me on the road to taking my first 5 wicket haul of the year (the target I set myself at the start if the match to get 30 wickets in the season). All was going well and we reduced Preston to 81/9. However their number 10 proceeded to smash us to all parts in the final 15 overs amassing 70 not out and setting a total of 149 all out, hmmm.... Our batsmen set about the run chase well, with good contributions from the top order getting us to 125/4, but then on came Jonty who proceeded to bowl rather quickly and rip out our middle order. I managed to face 4 balls which I didn't really see before being bowled by the fifth even though I tried to close the angle by coming down the pitch. Scott and Snape put on a valiant last wicket stand but we came up 13 agonising runs short. Thornton had won against Comrades and so snatched the title at the death.
However in the aftermath of the match, it turned out that two of the Preston team were 1st teamers from the Northern League. This fact changed the complexion of our game, and even though people may say we should have won anyway, the fact that Preston chose to try and hide the first team bowler and batter by bringing them into the game late shows what poor sports they were being. Coincidentally these two players were brothers and it had the feel of a family day out jolly for them, with their family watching from the side and haveing an end of season knock about in a lower league to massage their egos. This totally ruined what had been a fanastic battle for the FCL all season. It was decided to lodge a complaint about their use of illegal players, which came out in our favour and we were handed the points and thus the title. Hilariously Preston had tried to claim the batsmen Pip McDonald was in fact Pete Mcdonald, a totally ficticious person!! They should have got their lies worked out before meeting with the FCl committee... Whilst nobody wants to in this way, we felt cheated having done nothing wrong. Thornton were obviously upset but should direct their annoyance with Preston for cheating. The aftermath has been rather messy with lots of chat on our websote guestbook and Thornton have left for another division. They actually applied for this other league in June so it is a shame they never intended to stay.
So the 2007 season ended on a strange note. However personally I am happy we got to the 2020 Finals Day and that I took 30 wickets. Next season 35 and a better batting average! It looks like the FCL are also going to implement some rule changes so the nonsense of illegal players can be stamped out and hopefully the 2008 season will be just as competitive, but far more sporting. Here's to next summer, hopefully a sunny one!
Thursday 30 August 2007
Twenty20 season salvaged
Our last few games in the innaugural Fylde Twenty20 League had us up against the wall but with qualification in our hands. If we could win 2 out of 3 we would get to Finals Day and that's eactly what we did.
A long delayed match last Wednesday v Blackpool EVH at home led to a comfortable win to get us on track. The next day we were away to hard hitting Jolly Boys. Cue late arrivals by the opposition, another lost toss, grumblings from my team which raised my temper and sluggish fielding to compound my mood. However in the match reduced to 16 overs played on an astroturf wicket, we kept them to 96, a good total but one we knoew was below par for thier big hitters. Chasing was going to be hard but the plans had been laid the night before to bat aggressively. The new opening pair of Crabtree and Hindle did the same, with Kenny getting out to another good catch, but the following batsmen failed to bat with enough purpose to leave the lower order chasing 3/4 an over, as opposed to 5/6 an over. Going in in the last few overs needing 10 an over the writing was on the wall. However we manegd to get up to 90 and record an honourable defeat. However I wasn't amused by the comments by the top order of thinking they'd batted brilliantly when clearly it was too slow by allegedly better batsmen. The debate continued to the pub where we agreed to disagree!!
Anyway all that meant that last night's game against Warbreck was winner takes all, to claim the last qualification spot. Winning a toss an electing to bowl to keep the team happy all was looking good. We were bowling and fielding well on a quick outfield and in sunshine, what more could we ask for. Tough umpiring early on helped the bowlers to tighten their lines and we manegd to keep Warbreck under 100 off their alloted 20 overs.
At the change of innings the clouds started to come over and the light disappeared rapidly. The openers set about the task fantastically, running singles and extras off wides and byes. Sloppy bowling meant lots of chuntering at the umpires, however if they can't bowl to the rules they have little to complain about and the disrespect shown to 2 of our umpires was not well received. We were cruising at 6 an over, well above the 4.5 an over rate required but it was getting rapidly dark and under any normal circumstances the game would have been called off as a tie. However since a tie would knock Warbreck out, they wanted to carry on and my batsmen were happy to continue. Conditions were certainly dangerous when I got into bat at about 8:15 after their quick bowler was brought back on with the clear intention of injuring somebody and had taken a few more wickets. Poor sportsmanship by some of the non regular Warbeck Hill team clearly being shown. Needing 15 to win Stu and I continued in the dark, literally seeing the ball for a fraction of a second in the sightscreen, but that was just enough to flick the ball around and reach the target. Helped by the fact the fieders had zero idea where the ball was going! So a heroic win was claimed and a place in the semi final on Sunday, where we will hope to perform and do some damage as the darkhorses of the Fylde Twenty20 League...
A long delayed match last Wednesday v Blackpool EVH at home led to a comfortable win to get us on track. The next day we were away to hard hitting Jolly Boys. Cue late arrivals by the opposition, another lost toss, grumblings from my team which raised my temper and sluggish fielding to compound my mood. However in the match reduced to 16 overs played on an astroturf wicket, we kept them to 96, a good total but one we knoew was below par for thier big hitters. Chasing was going to be hard but the plans had been laid the night before to bat aggressively. The new opening pair of Crabtree and Hindle did the same, with Kenny getting out to another good catch, but the following batsmen failed to bat with enough purpose to leave the lower order chasing 3/4 an over, as opposed to 5/6 an over. Going in in the last few overs needing 10 an over the writing was on the wall. However we manegd to get up to 90 and record an honourable defeat. However I wasn't amused by the comments by the top order of thinking they'd batted brilliantly when clearly it was too slow by allegedly better batsmen. The debate continued to the pub where we agreed to disagree!!
Anyway all that meant that last night's game against Warbreck was winner takes all, to claim the last qualification spot. Winning a toss an electing to bowl to keep the team happy all was looking good. We were bowling and fielding well on a quick outfield and in sunshine, what more could we ask for. Tough umpiring early on helped the bowlers to tighten their lines and we manegd to keep Warbreck under 100 off their alloted 20 overs.
At the change of innings the clouds started to come over and the light disappeared rapidly. The openers set about the task fantastically, running singles and extras off wides and byes. Sloppy bowling meant lots of chuntering at the umpires, however if they can't bowl to the rules they have little to complain about and the disrespect shown to 2 of our umpires was not well received. We were cruising at 6 an over, well above the 4.5 an over rate required but it was getting rapidly dark and under any normal circumstances the game would have been called off as a tie. However since a tie would knock Warbreck out, they wanted to carry on and my batsmen were happy to continue. Conditions were certainly dangerous when I got into bat at about 8:15 after their quick bowler was brought back on with the clear intention of injuring somebody and had taken a few more wickets. Poor sportsmanship by some of the non regular Warbeck Hill team clearly being shown. Needing 15 to win Stu and I continued in the dark, literally seeing the ball for a fraction of a second in the sightscreen, but that was just enough to flick the ball around and reach the target. Helped by the fact the fieders had zero idea where the ball was going! So a heroic win was claimed and a place in the semi final on Sunday, where we will hope to perform and do some damage as the darkhorses of the Fylde Twenty20 League...
August FCL update
The British summer has really kicked in over the past few weeks meaning we have only played 3 1st team matches this month! However they were games all against top of the league rivals and certainly played in competitive spirit.
Firstly we played Thornton at home in the league. Smarting after our Stuart Cup Final defeat we were keen to put right our mistake in the league. Put in to bat on a soggy pitch and under grey skies the omens weren't too good. A good start for Thornton before the first rain shower and we came off at 28-3, not good, Thornton eager to get back on the pitch. Rawcliffe and Amos battled in the next session of play getting us to 71-5 before another shower halted proceedings, Thornton not so keen to get back on this time! However we got back on to complete our 45 overs, with myself and Crabtree combining to reach the 100 runs mark to claim a second bonus point. Shame we got out in the last over slashing to give Thornton an extra bonus point, how crucial that becomes at the end of the season remains to be seen. After tea we were looking to get into them, and Captain Rawcliffe certainly did, destroying them along with Snape to reduce them to 11-7. Many long faces and grumblings coming from the sidelines and deep psychological scars inflicted! In the end we bowled them out for 26 for an amazing win again against our closest title rivals, taking 17 points to their 2.
More rain meant our next game was a few weeks later in the Wareing Cup, a semi final against St Annes which had already been abandoned the previous week with us on 12-3! turning up expecting a bowl off, we were informed the game was on and was to be reduved to 30 overs. A worrying slip from my first ball bowled looked ominous but we manged to bowl well and restrict their total to 109. However the talk of the first innings was the unfortunate incident involving local youths, a horn and an irate mother... We set about the task confidently, but soon were behind the run rate on a sluggish pitch and also the openers hadn't blasted away as we had hoped. With the middle order battling away it was looking close. I managed to get in to bat with 6 an over needed and was promtly run out by Amos withoiut facing a ball!! A demoralising loss leaving us only with the league to focus on.
Last weekend we faced Blackpool at home, our last league game in a rain ravaged month. Bowling first we felt confident, after restricting them to 75 off the first half of the overs, however soon Harrison had reached 50 off the change bowlers and started bashing away to reach a century in another 5 or 6 overs, including 6's, 4's and dropped catches, the Captain was not amused. Facing a massive total of 219 to win, orders were given to go for the draw. With their star player Harrison now bowling quiclly on the always amusing Cottam pitch, we lost early wickets and werelooking shaky. But the last hour call soon came and we survived 41 overs to salvage a draw, on a day when Thornton drew at Preston III, so no ground gained or lost in the title race.
Firstly we played Thornton at home in the league. Smarting after our Stuart Cup Final defeat we were keen to put right our mistake in the league. Put in to bat on a soggy pitch and under grey skies the omens weren't too good. A good start for Thornton before the first rain shower and we came off at 28-3, not good, Thornton eager to get back on the pitch. Rawcliffe and Amos battled in the next session of play getting us to 71-5 before another shower halted proceedings, Thornton not so keen to get back on this time! However we got back on to complete our 45 overs, with myself and Crabtree combining to reach the 100 runs mark to claim a second bonus point. Shame we got out in the last over slashing to give Thornton an extra bonus point, how crucial that becomes at the end of the season remains to be seen. After tea we were looking to get into them, and Captain Rawcliffe certainly did, destroying them along with Snape to reduce them to 11-7. Many long faces and grumblings coming from the sidelines and deep psychological scars inflicted! In the end we bowled them out for 26 for an amazing win again against our closest title rivals, taking 17 points to their 2.
More rain meant our next game was a few weeks later in the Wareing Cup, a semi final against St Annes which had already been abandoned the previous week with us on 12-3! turning up expecting a bowl off, we were informed the game was on and was to be reduved to 30 overs. A worrying slip from my first ball bowled looked ominous but we manged to bowl well and restrict their total to 109. However the talk of the first innings was the unfortunate incident involving local youths, a horn and an irate mother... We set about the task confidently, but soon were behind the run rate on a sluggish pitch and also the openers hadn't blasted away as we had hoped. With the middle order battling away it was looking close. I managed to get in to bat with 6 an over needed and was promtly run out by Amos withoiut facing a ball!! A demoralising loss leaving us only with the league to focus on.
Last weekend we faced Blackpool at home, our last league game in a rain ravaged month. Bowling first we felt confident, after restricting them to 75 off the first half of the overs, however soon Harrison had reached 50 off the change bowlers and started bashing away to reach a century in another 5 or 6 overs, including 6's, 4's and dropped catches, the Captain was not amused. Facing a massive total of 219 to win, orders were given to go for the draw. With their star player Harrison now bowling quiclly on the always amusing Cottam pitch, we lost early wickets and werelooking shaky. But the last hour call soon came and we survived 41 overs to salvage a draw, on a day when Thornton drew at Preston III, so no ground gained or lost in the title race.
Sunday 29 July 2007
Sunshine and victory
Finally the sun shone and we managed to get a game of cricket in yesterday. However the joy was tempered early on by the fact that today's game had been cancelled already, giving our title rivals Thornton more cause to celebrate since we only take 4 points from the No Result and is why I'm sat here typing instead of warming up to play again!
Anyway back to yesterday's match, the Wareing Trophy Quarter Final versus Fleetwood IV. We found Cottam in amazingly good condition considering all the rain. The outfield was very soggy with puddles everywhere, but with the sun shining and the breeze blowing, the sqaure was drying very quickly, leaving a crusty surface and a soft interior. An easy call to make on winning the toss with Captain Rawcliffe electing to field. With a short run up I got through my 8 over spell very tightly and should have had a couple of wickets had it not been for errant catching, especially from my younger brother Andrew on debut (filling in for our severely depleted team)! Another amusing incident in the first over with an easy run out chance being missed. A suicide single meant an easy opportunity, but Andy had knicked the wickets with his pad before receiving the ball, so I had to scream "pull it out, pull it out" to remove the stump and complete the run out. Our celebrations were short lived as it transpired that while he had pulled the stump out, he had forgotten to touch it with the ball in his other hand, disaster! We managed to field well in tough conditions and bowled Fleetwood out for 81 with a few overs of their alloted 40 left.
Amos and Hindle went about the task of chasing down the small target knowing conditions were far from easy. Fleetwood had only managed 1 boundary in their total. Amos was instructed to nurdle it around by the Captain, so promptly saw off the first few overs before charging around and smashing the ball to all parts! A quickfire 24 got us on our way but a small collapse left us needing 40 with myself and the Captain at the crease. The bowlers were being changed constantly to keep us on our toes and with the pitch taking spin it was imperitive to get ourselves in before taking on the bowling, especially with our potentially weak tail end. Even though a few more wickets fell (Kenny most amusingly, succumbing to the sledging from the slips with only 4 runs required!), I managed to stick around ending on 16* with Scott and finish off the chase, getting us to 82/5. So into the Semi Finals next Sunday after our crunch league game against Thornton IV on Saturday at Cottam. With our No Results putting us on the back foot this is now a massive game, and even if we win we will still not be able to overtake them in the league unless other teams do some damage to them. It could be a tight finish to the season...
Anyway back to yesterday's match, the Wareing Trophy Quarter Final versus Fleetwood IV. We found Cottam in amazingly good condition considering all the rain. The outfield was very soggy with puddles everywhere, but with the sun shining and the breeze blowing, the sqaure was drying very quickly, leaving a crusty surface and a soft interior. An easy call to make on winning the toss with Captain Rawcliffe electing to field. With a short run up I got through my 8 over spell very tightly and should have had a couple of wickets had it not been for errant catching, especially from my younger brother Andrew on debut (filling in for our severely depleted team)! Another amusing incident in the first over with an easy run out chance being missed. A suicide single meant an easy opportunity, but Andy had knicked the wickets with his pad before receiving the ball, so I had to scream "pull it out, pull it out" to remove the stump and complete the run out. Our celebrations were short lived as it transpired that while he had pulled the stump out, he had forgotten to touch it with the ball in his other hand, disaster! We managed to field well in tough conditions and bowled Fleetwood out for 81 with a few overs of their alloted 40 left.
Amos and Hindle went about the task of chasing down the small target knowing conditions were far from easy. Fleetwood had only managed 1 boundary in their total. Amos was instructed to nurdle it around by the Captain, so promptly saw off the first few overs before charging around and smashing the ball to all parts! A quickfire 24 got us on our way but a small collapse left us needing 40 with myself and the Captain at the crease. The bowlers were being changed constantly to keep us on our toes and with the pitch taking spin it was imperitive to get ourselves in before taking on the bowling, especially with our potentially weak tail end. Even though a few more wickets fell (Kenny most amusingly, succumbing to the sledging from the slips with only 4 runs required!), I managed to stick around ending on 16* with Scott and finish off the chase, getting us to 82/5. So into the Semi Finals next Sunday after our crunch league game against Thornton IV on Saturday at Cottam. With our No Results putting us on the back foot this is now a massive game, and even if we win we will still not be able to overtake them in the league unless other teams do some damage to them. It could be a tight finish to the season...
Saturday 28 July 2007
Long awaited update
Apologies for the long abscence dear reader, my keyboard broke and I have only just replaced it with a Swiss version which my Uncle has given me. The occasional letter is in the wrong place so please excuse any amusing typos!
We last left off with the extraordinary tie in the Twenty20 league and not much has happened since due to the English summer coming to town and flooding out most of the country... The 1st team have only played one match since that defeat to Fleetwood, which was the Stuart Cup Final against Thornton. Unfortunately we lost in a highly competitive and amusing game. Full match report by Thornton here.
From a personal point of view, I was happy to help the Captain rebuild our first innings, going in at 30/6 and getting the team past Thornton's first innings total with a 40 odd partnership. In that was a highly amusing over from Dobbie who, no doubt upset after I bowled him out, set to bowling one of the most hysterical overs I have ever witnessed. Beamers at my head, hilarious schoolboy sledging after a no ball was given "why are you crying like a girl" responded by me "feel free to bowl at the stumps" a few wides, more no balls, his own team turning on him, genius. We decided on a groundhog day 2nd innings and this time I helped Rob to rebuild, with him running me into the ground with his excessive fitness! However after two top order misfires (unheard of!) it was always a tough task to win and Thornton managed to chase down their target with ease. Still it was nice to play a competitive match and at Blackpool CC, an international ground this season no less.
In the Fylde Twenty20 League we have kept our 100% up, managing to lose to Jolly Boys on a very soggy Cottam Hall pitch and also to Rushale at Rossall School. It was nice to go back and play there for the first time since 1998 when I managed to hit the winning runs in my last match for the school 2nd XI! I'm starting to get very frustrated with the 2020 this season, with our batting failing every week I'm running out of ideas to motivate the squad. Next week we play back to back matches on Wednesday and Thursday against our bottom of the league rivals, Warbreck and Henry's Marauders. If we can somehow get 2 wins we will sneak into Finals Day and can prepare for a comeback greater than Lazarus!
Anyway as I write this the sun is shining and we have 2 matches this weekend. Playing Fleetwood in the Wareing Trophy, a 40 over cup competition with my little brother Andrew answering the call to fill our depleted team and away to St Annes in the league tomorrow. Bring it on!
We last left off with the extraordinary tie in the Twenty20 league and not much has happened since due to the English summer coming to town and flooding out most of the country... The 1st team have only played one match since that defeat to Fleetwood, which was the Stuart Cup Final against Thornton. Unfortunately we lost in a highly competitive and amusing game. Full match report by Thornton here.
From a personal point of view, I was happy to help the Captain rebuild our first innings, going in at 30/6 and getting the team past Thornton's first innings total with a 40 odd partnership. In that was a highly amusing over from Dobbie who, no doubt upset after I bowled him out, set to bowling one of the most hysterical overs I have ever witnessed. Beamers at my head, hilarious schoolboy sledging after a no ball was given "why are you crying like a girl" responded by me "feel free to bowl at the stumps" a few wides, more no balls, his own team turning on him, genius. We decided on a groundhog day 2nd innings and this time I helped Rob to rebuild, with him running me into the ground with his excessive fitness! However after two top order misfires (unheard of!) it was always a tough task to win and Thornton managed to chase down their target with ease. Still it was nice to play a competitive match and at Blackpool CC, an international ground this season no less.
In the Fylde Twenty20 League we have kept our 100% up, managing to lose to Jolly Boys on a very soggy Cottam Hall pitch and also to Rushale at Rossall School. It was nice to go back and play there for the first time since 1998 when I managed to hit the winning runs in my last match for the school 2nd XI! I'm starting to get very frustrated with the 2020 this season, with our batting failing every week I'm running out of ideas to motivate the squad. Next week we play back to back matches on Wednesday and Thursday against our bottom of the league rivals, Warbreck and Henry's Marauders. If we can somehow get 2 wins we will sneak into Finals Day and can prepare for a comeback greater than Lazarus!
Anyway as I write this the sun is shining and we have 2 matches this weekend. Playing Fleetwood in the Wareing Trophy, a 40 over cup competition with my little brother Andrew answering the call to fill our depleted team and away to St Annes in the league tomorrow. Bring it on!
Wednesday 20 June 2007
A tied match!
Finally the Cavaliers scored a point in the Twenty20 league last night however through away a great chance of victory. Well we should be thankful for small mercies, after fielding fantastically and Andy knocking a quickfire birthday 26* we managed the usual cock up to ruin all our good work. However David Lever heroically saved the game and almost got us over the line... Click here for the full match report.
One more Twenty20 match before the big Stuart Cup final, can the Cavaliers claim their first victory? The bookies odds aren't good!
One more Twenty20 match before the big Stuart Cup final, can the Cavaliers claim their first victory? The bookies odds aren't good!
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