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Revenge is a dish best served in the cold

From the Secretary:

Barford today recorded a nail biting, last over victory against a Badsey side who absolutely mullered us in tropical temperatures last year.

Badsey won the toss and opted to bat; a decision which seemed justified as their openers got off to a flying start, scoring at around 10 an over for the first three or four. Paul Stacey, who has “previous” against Badsey, was the first to strike, removing their opener with a magnificent caught and bowled. Diving away to his right, he snaffled a catch which everyone present agreed was the best catch of the season so far. No other catch by a Barford player has even come close.

Paul was bowling down the hill with good pace and accuracy and before long he bowled the other opener with a good ball that clipped the off stump. Andrew Sherratt also joined the party, bowling the Badsey number 4. This brought their first team Captain Powell to the crease, who some of us (Paul Henderson) will remember from last year when he scored 160 against us. He absolutely creamed a couple of boundaries before playing on to another excellent Stacey delivery. Paul ended a good shift with figures of 8-2-27-3.

The tight bowling continued with spells from Ben (7-2-14-2), Tim (6-1-13-0), your correspondent (8-0-25-2) and Laurence (less-said-the-better). One highlight was a catch in the deep by Simon International, where the ball landed on his left “pectoral”, rolled onto his right “pectoral” before lodging in his a fold of his jumper from which he was able to remove it for the catch. It was his first catch of the season, so well done Simon.

Sharp glove work by Phil removed the last batsman, leaving Barford with a total of 145 to chase. After an excellent Sherratt tea our reply didn’t get off to the best start when Jake was caught behind, throwing the kitchen sink at a wide one off his first ball. Paul and Ben moved the score on before Ben was bowled by Powell senior (having previously been reprieved by the Badsey captain when bowled by a double bouncer). Simon D kept up the chase with a brisk 29 and we were coasting at 80 odd for two at drinks. Martin Lusby was felled trying to pull a ball that caught him “a-midships” but stoically batted on, although by this point Badsey had pegged us back and the required rate was rising alarmingly. The temperature, meanwhile, was falling alarmingly. I must take up a summer sport sometime.

Paul Stacey biffed a couple of decent shots before being bowled, which bought Laurence to the crease to join PJ, who had passed his 50 by that point. It was clear that if Paul carried his bat we would win comfortably, but disaster stuck when Laurence hammed a ball straight back down the wicket, brushing the bowlers fingers on it’s way to the stumps – Paul was out of his ground and had to go for 65. This led to a rather buttock clenching last couple of overs with myself and Laurence scampering a lot of singles, overthrows and leg byes, before I produced a heavily improvised shot to score the winning run, with 3 balls to spare.

The Badsey side reportedly included 5 of their Saturday first team, so it was a very good victory and an excellent all round team performance. Can we carry this form to another inspiring win against Snitterfield next week? No.

Or yes.

Tim’s Magnificent Jugs

From the Secretary (4-3-1-3):

Following our indifferent form in the three pre-season warm up games, Barford recorded a splendid victory today in the first proper match of the season against Temple Grafton. Batting first against a youthful looking side (albeit only nine of them), Sandy couldn’t continue his early season form and was soon back in the hutch, but this bought Ben and PJ together at the crease. Both were in excellent nick, playing shots all round the wicket and running (reasonably) hard. Paul was finally out after drinks for 44, having notched up a partnership of 90 with Ben. Simon D (30) continued the good work before Ben was eventually out for 71 with the score on 160. James Beavan tried to push the score along and was unlucky to be caught on the boundary but the cause was taken up by a strident Stacey (25 not out) and a rampant Rabbit (15), followed by a cameo performance from Will Morgan. We ended on 213-8; a really excellent all round batting performance.

Temple Grafton is a lovely ground, set in a valley overlooked by Grafton Court, and we enjoyed an excellent sit down tea. before lumbering out into the field. The home side were forced onto the back foot in the second over when their opener drove an Andrew Sherratt delivery hard into the waiting hands of Paul Stacey at mid-on. It seemed like a false dawn, however, as Temple Grafton’s opener (and Leamington player as we subsequently discovered) Liam Killian pounced on anything loose. He raced to 50 and looked set for a big score, until he drilled a fierce shot back to bowler Jolly who caught it in the crook of his arm. A sharp run out from fielder Beavan and keeper Sandy shifted the odds back in our favour, before Tim snaffled another caught and bowled, this time more or less elbowing the butter fingered PJ out the way. In his next over Tim bowled Grafton’s number 6 with what Sandy described as a “banana ball”, but the best was kept for last when he pulled off yet another caught and bowled, which was identical in every particular to this

Tim’s four wickets, of which three were caught and bowled, was bad news for the Jolly family finances because a four-for and three catches both qualify for jugs.

The tail was finished off by your humble correspondent (modesty forbids me from mentioning any figures), Will Morgan who bowled 2 excellent overs and Paul Stacey, whose slightly wayward spell tested Sandy’s patience and flexibility, but got the final wicket. Temple Grafton were all out for 128.

Tim contemplating his monster round

It was a very enjoyable fixture, played in an excellent spirit which carried on long after the game at the pub, where Shawn in particular was keen to taste the sweet, free larger in Tim’s jugs. We can definitely look forward to playing Temple Grafton again next year. Well played Barford and well bowled Banana Balls.

Record Breakers

In the absence of the promised competing match report from the Social Secretary, special correspondent Simon Hawkins reports:

Barford faced Snitterfield last Sunday (24th August) missing our talismanic skipper Griffin, who was off having a baby or something (thanks for coming Ben). With just ten men (including three “mystery guests”) to face the combined might of Snitterfield and long-time Barford foe Tim Fell, the Hares batted first and it did not start well. Jake (“mystery guest” 1), Sandy, Paul H, International, Shawn and Mark Williams (“mystery guest” 2) all fell cheaply to a series of excellent catches, leaving us at 27-6 after 12 overs.

It was down to Will and Captain Morgan to steer us past our lowest ever score of 30-something which they did before pressing on. In the past Simon has played some good attacking knocks but this time he matched some cracking boundaries with a solid defence. By drinks we’d reached 72, with plenty more work to do to make a game of it, but Simon and Will carried on solidly, bringing up a hundred partnership after 28 overs. By now they were scoring freely as Will reached another 50. It looked inevitable that Simon would join him until he went for a big shot and was caught on the boundary for 38. He trudged off looking disconsolate but wait! Spectators confirmed that the fielder had overstepped the boundary and the big little fella was called back with a 6 to his name. He soon raced to a brilliant maiden 50 but was out straight after.

By this time Will had been bowled for 63 and together they had added 131 which is a club record 7th wicket partnership, beating the previous record set in 1999 by John “Smithy” Smith and Stuart Thompson. It was also the 13th highest partnership for any wicket. A brilliant effort.

Your correspondent and Mike Ireland (“mystery guest” 3) couldn’t continue the good work and we were all out for 165, which was far beyond what any of us could have imagined earlier in the day.

Snitterfield started their reply solidly with Richard Yendall and Andy Robertson both looking comfortable, but struggling to score off the miserly opening bowling of Mike Ireland, who only conceded 14 runs in his 8 overs and was put the home side under “scoreboard pressure”. Mark Williams got the breakthrough by bowling Robertson with a ball described by keeper Pierson as “an absolute Jaffa”.

They were still making steady progress, however, and looked strong favourites as they reached 90 with only one wicket down. Great leaders only show their true colours in a crisis, and Skipper Drage made the inspired decision to switch Paul H from the bottom end to the top, thus transforming him from lumbering donkey to glittering show pony. Paul immediately snaffled the crucial wicket of Richard Yendall and then went on to take 3 wickets in an over, ending with figures 8-1-26-5. There was the hint of a fight back from Snitterfield’s Krishna who was 37 not out, but his batting partners became increasingly geriatric as wickets fell, and they ended on 142-9 at the end of their 40 overs. It was a brilliant win based on great performances from Man of the match Simon, Will and Paul.

Before we get too cock-a-hoop I should make a note of thanks to Richard Yendall, who made a game of it by not bowling himself until the very end – had he brought himself on when we were 27-6 I think we might have all been home by 4 o’clock.

Quote of the day comes from Tim Fell – “does that Timms still play for you – the one who looks like Neil Kinnock?”

Attached photographic evidence show’s Captain Morgan’s jug and a rare pic of Mike drinking lager from a ladies glass.

Crashing back to earth…

From our correspondent The Lambinator:

Barford, still riding the crest of the wave of their recent form, entered the last match before tour hoping to extend their winning streak. As the evening sun cast ever-lengthening shadows across the outfield, the formidable partnership of Paul Johnstone and Will Perry strode purposefully to the middle. PJ was in imperious form, and set about caressing the bowling around the field with his customary élan. In a contrasting style at the other end, the brawny Will bludgeoned his way to a brisk 13 before getting bowled. This brought the other half of the gruesome twosome, Mr Shawn Harrison, to the crease. Unlike his lover friend, however, Shawn was unable to show any competence dominance with the bat and fell cheaply for 1 attempting an ill-advised sweep shot. Simon Drage joined PJ at the crease, and despite taking 10 balls to get off the mark, soon made merry with the scoring – including, to the shock of all present, a run on the off side. Once medical attention had been accordingly administered, the crowd turned their attention back just in time to watch PJ dismissively swat the ball to the boundary, retiring on a beautifully crafted 33.

Next man in was Will’s “friend” Oli, who didn’t last very long (innuendo intended) making just 1. Simon Morgan played a useful cameo with 11, including running a 3, which had spectators searching for the defibrilator. This may or may not have contributed to his imminent departure. Have just arrived following car trouble, Ben Griffin hurried out, but understandably looked flustered and unable to replicate his recent form with the bat, falling for just 3. The infamous Barford tail failed to wag with Laurence drilling his first ball straight to cover – who rather unsportingly caught it, then your author bravely played out the last delivery without alarm. However, our esteemed Chairman, on his return to fitness, batted as though making up for lost time, ending not out with 10. Barford finished the innings 109 for 9.

Laurence quickly made up for his failure with the bat by bowling the opener with the very first ball of the innings. After an emphatic start, what Barford really needed to share the new ball was a genuine threat, somewhat who mixed control with searing pace. So Simon Morgan it was then. Although he bowled well (surprisingly), he failed to take a wicket (unsurprisingly) and finished conceding 15 runs from his 3 overs. At the other end, Ben replaced Laurence and the change immediately paid dividends with Will taking a superb diving catch to remove the other opener. After only one over, Ben was replaced by yours truly, in order to take advantage of the setting sun behind the bowlers arm. Again, an inspired bowling change as the second delivery drifted out, gripped, span back through the gate to take the top of off stump. Twitter was immediately alive with #ballofthecentury* and #lambdonforengland**.

Unfortunately, from here on in, the bowlers failed to exert any control on the game. Will bowled one over – which observers reckoned was one over too many – going for 12 runs. Shawn (2-0-15-0) made the ball talk – however, it was saying “please hit me to every conceivable part of the ground”, to which the batsmen duly obliged. PJ (2-0-10-0) bowled tidily without looking threatening and Richard Jones (2-0-13-0) got good turn and bounce without reward. Ben (2-0-6-1) and Laurence (2.5-0-14-1) came back at the end but it was too little, too late as WCCS reached their target with 2 overs to spare.

Man of the Match was PJ for his 33, TFC went to Shawn for being a complete liability.

* Possibly untrue
** Definitely untrue

Winning habits

From our correspondent Simon International:

On Sunday we travelled to the beautiful little ground of Alvechurch. It was a new addition to our fixture list and one I hope we can retain for next year as our hosts made us feel very welcome, prepared an excellent wicket, provided us with a superb tea and played the game with a great spirit.

So skipper Griffin lost the toss again, I really don’t know why he bothers? He could save himself the walk all the way out to the strip and the pointless chit chat on the way there and back by just saying ” Tell you what mate, you just tell me what you want to do and that’ll be fine “.

Anyway we were asked to bat and off went Richard Johnson and James Wilson. The wicket looked superb for batting though Richard didn’t last too long, caught by the guy who stands just to the left of the bowler, mid on or off, I don’t know. That bought the in-form skipper to the crease and he and James soon starting smacking the ball all over the place. It was raining 4’s and 6’s and we had reached 70 odd in only 9 overs (that’s very fast for us). But just when it looked like they were both going to bat all day James was gone, bowled for an excellent 37.

This found young Will (with a tear running down his face) out to bat. The thought of leaving Shawn for a while at the side of the pitch was just too much for him to bear (bless). Still the tears of pain turned to tears of joy as 10 overs later Will was again crying as he reached his maiden 50 for the club. I must say that the sight of Shawn running onto the pitch to embrace his special friend even bought a lump to the back of my throat and just for a solitary moment even I forgave them for being a pair of screaming queers, ha ha. Well batted Will.

Unfortunately the rush was just too much for the youngster and he was out next ball. Still he had done enough to buy a jug at the end of the game and that’s all that matters. Next in was International and it wasn’t long before he was registering the longest 6 of the day and chalking up another lost ball -there wasn’t enough time to walk to Shropshire to go and fetch it. Sadly for himself and the people who had paid to watch him put on a show of big hitting that was it as he fell next ball after having played on.

Now don’t forget that while Will was batting and then International the skipper was still there going about his business of scoring runs with ease and after a promise from International that Ben could keep his bat if he made another century that’s exactly what was on the cards. Enter Jake the spoiler and the dodgy umpire not wanting to lose his bat, International. From the sidelines that’s exactly what it must have looked like as Jake faked a run, Ben found himself stranded and desperately tried to get back but a deadly accurate throw and an umpire who was about to lose his trusted Samurai added up to Ben being run out about 20 short of a ton. Another great knock skipper, well batted.

Pete Romyn joined Jake and both added double figure scores to the Barford total before Jake was bowled and Pete was caught. Shawn (Little Rabbit) Harrison came out to bat but you could see that he was still emotionally choked after watching his shadow bat earlier on in the day and perished with a TFC threatening duck. That left Phil Morris and Richard Jones to see out the Barford innings which they comfortably did and we finished on 227 for 8.

That was our highest score of the season so far and thing’s got even better when we all tucked into the best tea of the season so far. Hamilton had just won the GP the Dutch won at football the night before (I bet them at 20/1) and we were unusually in a comfortable position at the half way stage. This was a good weekend but could it get even better?

Opening the attack was Griffin and Johnson and we soon had the home side on the back foot as Griffin struck early removing the dancing around opener. Not to be outdone at the other end the impressive Johnson bowled a devastating 8 over spell which the paying public just loved as he recorded brilliant figures of 8-3-12-3. The home side were reeling at around 35 for 4 after 15 overs. Bowling changes bought Jones, Wilson and Perry into the attack and while Richard made his usual contribution of at least a couple of wickets, James and Will were unlucky with a few dropped catches. Now I’m not the kind of guy who would point the finger or name names as we play, win, lose or draw as a team. But see if you can work this out – sounds like Dawn Garrison, had a shocker in the field attempting to catch the ball on several occasions whilst trying desperately to secure the TFC award, ha ha.

With only 4 wickets left to find the skipper gave Shawn the chance to get himself out of jail by bowling at one end and Tony Timms at the other. It was Tony who struck first with his quicker delivery after setting the guy up. A piece of inspired bowling had left us now only needing 3 more wickets. Tony struck again, we needed 2 and Rabbit needed a miracle. But was it going to happen as the Alvechurch captain mullered one which had 6 written all over it but thankfully for Rabbit the safest hands in cricket underneath it. The prize wicket had fallen and within a few more deliveries a now revitalised Rabbit claimed the final wicket, cleaned bowled. Our host’s were all out for 133 and Barford had notched up another morale boosting victory before we head off on tour.

While having a drink after the game and a chat with the oppo’s captain it was decided that the man of the match should be awarded to Ben Griffin and the TFC be awarded to, wait for it, Little Rabbit. After all his hard work trying to redeem himself he still ended up being voted for. This angered the little fella who immediately quoted the club rule book and sure enough in paragraph 3 of section 2 there is a clause which say’s if a player is unhappy with being awarded the TFC he can demand a vote by fellow player’s from that day’s team on who is awarded the TFC from a shortlist of two. So after deciding it was a straight vote between Shawn and Phil the votes were cast and to Shawn’s relief Phil Morris picked up the award of the TFC and took it on the chin like a true gent.

Well that’s how I remembered everything happening.

Simon International.

Triumphant return to Leek Wootton

From our correspondent Simon International:

After all the rain we have had over the last few days it was no surprise that the wicket at Leek Wootton didn’t look a million dollars and the majority decision amongst the team was to field first. However skipper Griffin lost the toss ( again ) and we were asked to bat.

Things could not have started any worse for us as we lost opener O’Reilly in the second over with only 5 on the board. Double the overs double the runs and double the wickets as PJ fell victim to a excellent low diving catch that even I would have been proud of. This bought the inform pairing of Griffin and Henderson together though not for very long as Paul was out caught and we were rocking on 21 for 3 after 8 overs.

It was now down to Ben and James Beaven to steady the ship and get us back on course. That’s exactly what they did with a 50 run partnership before James fell just prior to drinks but not before hitting the games only 6. ( Awesome shot ). At the half way stage we were now 74 for 4.

Beaven sniffing leather

The first over after the restart was not a good one for us as skipper Griffin fell to another catch but he had again batted superbly for his 38. This bought two new batsman to the crease in the form of Drage and Stacey and both sent a message of intent to the oppo by hitting 4s with their first deliveries. Some big hitting especially by Stacey saw the runs beginning to mount up and Wootton’s quickies were reintroduced into the attack.

Attack, attack, attack with Paul Stacey

Drage took one in the rib/kidney area and struggled to breath then Stacey went down like he had been shot and tore a leg muscle. Both refused to leave the field and with true bulldog spirit continued to fight on, though we did need the help of Paul Henderson acting as a runner for the crocked Stacey. More runs were added to the score before both fell to catches within a couple of balls of each other. A 72 run partnership was just what the doctor ordered and we were now on 149-7 with eight overs remaining.

Almost a Dunn deal

Dunn and Sherratt stepped up and took over and Andy was unlucky with one which kept low but unfortunately was dead straight. This saw Tim take to the middle and with him some of the form he found in the pre season nets. Some lovely shots were played including a cracking 4 before being bowled by another pitch assisted delivery. Last man Richard Jones joined Gary and the pair added a few more potentially vital runs before our innings finished on 181-9.

Was 181 going to be enough? We would have preferred to of gone past 200 but the wicket was very unpredictable for us so if it remained the same for them it could be quite interesting. We knew we would have to bowl and field very well but we did it last week so why not again?

Was 181 enough? Yes.

The attack was led by Sherratt and Beaven and although there were a few near misses and a dropped catch the batsmen seemed to be getting on top and at 35 for none after 7 overs it wasn’t looking too good for us. If only one of them would play at a wide one and knock the ball straight to Gary Dunn, we would have our first wicket.

The bowling change bought Jolly and Griffin into the attack and it didn’t take long to pay off. Ben getting an LBW decision at one end and then Tim getting one at the other. Both bowlers excelled and delivered devastating spells. Leek Wootton just couldn’t score any runs as Tim bowled 4 maidens on the trot including a wicket one while Ben was taking wickets with ease including a hat-rick opportunity.

Gary Dunn and Paul Henderson came on and did everything apart from take three wickets each as the batsmen of Leek Wootton just did not know what had hit them. In his final over Gary got his just rewards when clean bowling their number 10. It was now down to the master of spin Richard Jones or replacing the injured Paul Stacey, the club’s new stand in enforcer Simon Drage to take the final wicket. While Richard had them guessing what he was going to do next it was the enforcer who took the match winning wicket. After lulling the poor guy into a false sense of security by bowling two slower ~~deliveries~~ pies the following quick one totally caught him out and he popped up a dolly catch to the man of the match Ben Griffin.

We had got them all out for only 83 runs in 27 overs. Like the week before it was another fantastic all round team performance with everyone playing a part. Sadly we couldn’t ask our opposition for their vote on the man of the match and the TFC as none of them stayed for a drink after the game. So we awarded them to Ben for his 38 runs and 5 wicket’s and one catch and Chris O’Reilly for nominating everyone else in the team. Does that sound about right Chris ???, ha ha.

Well that’s how I remembered everything happening. Well played guys.

Simon International.

(More photos here)

Win after win after win…

From our correspondent Simon H:

It’s not often that I find the need to report on 2 tremendous wins in a row, but the Barford Hare is truly on a roll at the moment and tonight he notched up another victory, against coach Paul Smith’s Wardens Classics.

It must be said that things didn’t start well when our in form, talismanic club skipper wasn’t able to make the start of the game. With some nifty negotiations by the midweek captain Drage, it was agreed that spectator Paul Henderson could have a bat, before leaving in order to take Thomas home for his bedtime. Thomas did not have a late night.

Wickets fell with alarming frequency, with only PJ holding the show together. It was looking like it wouldn’t be much of a contest and it’s possible that Wardens were trying to feed us a few runs – they certainly gave away a lot of extras. When Ben showed up, Paul Smith kindly allowed him to bat and he (21 not out) and PJ (carrying his bat for 43) helped us to an at-least-we’ve-made-a-game-of-it total of 118. I swiftly draw a veil over Tim’s platinum duck.

Past history suggested that score wouldn’t be enough, but Barford put in a magnificent bowling performance, with no bad overs and very few bad balls. It pains me to say it but the main damage was done by gobshites Shawn (4-0-14-2) and Simon Morgan (3-0-15-2). Simon took the prized scalp of Paul Smith, caught and bowled off a leading edge for a golden duck. Tim (3-0-5-1) was frugal, Richard Jones chipped in with a wicket and took a spiralling catch, Ben (2-0-4-2) popped up with a couple of late wickets and a tremendous team performance was topped off by PJ pulling off a fantastic run out off the last ball. Wardens Classics ended on 87-7. Special mention should also be made of Phil’s tactic of sledging the batsmen from behind the timbers – I’m sure it gave us a distinct psychological advantage and it’s definitely something we should consider never, ever, ever doing again.

Thanks are due to Paul and the Classics team for making a contest of it, and for providing a good tea after the game.

FORZA BARFORD!

Hare’s on the up…

From our man in the field (well on the edge of it):

“Ashorne 129 for 9, Barford 130 for 8

A simply gorgeous summer’s day at Ashorne ended in a tight victory for The Hares by two wickets, with two Barfordians – Sandy and Simon Morgan (who managed to get lost on the 3 mile drive from Barford!) – kindly playing for the opposition. The rancid turncoats.

Your correspondent missed much of the home side’s innings, but there were four wickets for Ben and three for Richard Jones (making good use of the sucker full-toss), whilst stunning catches were held by Richard Johnson (of the unfortunate Simon Morgan) and Ben. (There was also the usual quota of howlers in a typically Barfordian fielding performance – ed.)

Nick “The Man” Saunders laid a right stiff platform for Ashorne with 35-ish not out, having batted for about 18 hours. Their total of 129 looked very competitive on what was a very slow outfield.

Recovering from the shock early loss of Jake, Chris O’Reilly, Ben and PJ set about accumulating with the latter being typically fluent and top-scoring with 45 (it was 46, but who’s counting – ed.), despite getting little value from his stylish straight drives. Simon Drage fell victim to a dreadful umpiring decision from Ben who gave him out LBW on the flimsy reason that the ball was hitting half way up middle. It was obviously three feet outside off, or outside leg, or he’d hit it or something…

Anyway, with James Beaven falling victim to a dodgy curry and both Pete Romyn and Andrew Sherratt out when swinging, it was left to the unlikely combo of Richard Johnson and The Lambdoniser to steer Barford home. Richard played everything gun-barrel straight and was rewarded with a glorious matchwinning boundary. However, back on his old stomping ground, John smote a magnificent four to leave Ashorne’s players bemused as to why the St Helenian international was so utterly crap when he played for them.

Barford, too, were amazed at how permanent TFC award-winner Simon Morgan could bowl so well when he’s playing for the opposition.

A thoroughly enjoyable day and it was nice to get some sunstroke.

Here’s a couple of pics:

Mike

Barford v Christchurch – 2nd September 2012

Barford found themselves back at Kenilworth Wardens for a second week against Christchurch (who still haven’t managed to play a game at their home ground this year!). The pitch was the same as the previous week but would hopefully play a bit better after a week’s more or less dry weather – so on winning the toss I of course chose to bat.

It didn’t take long for me to start regretting this decision – two balls in fact as Simon D was back amongst the garden furniture after “missing a straight one, hearing the ball thud into the keeper’s golves and turning around to watch his off-bail descend to the ground” (expletives removed). He was less than chuffed to put it mildly, but Jake and Matt started to repair the damage via a series of edges and lobs between fielders. Until that is, Jake decided to unleash a straight drive which Matt decided to field with his thigh, thus saving the oppostion four runs and rendering him prostrate on the wicket.

The bowlers were managing to extract both sideways movement and variable bounce from the pitch and Matt was soon bowled afterwards. Paul and Jake set about taking advantage of some loose deliveries and managed to post the 50 for the loss of only two wickets. However a combination of good bowling and some indifferent batting saw the next 4 wickets (Jake, Simon H, Paul and Nick) lost quickly as a succession of batsmen were castled by balls that cut back sharply and/or kept low.

Shawn and Mark, the Barford youth policy, hang around for a bit without scoring too much before little Rabbit lost his head (and his wicket) to a leg-spinner. Mark was also clean-bowled (making it 7 from 7), before Tim attempted a kamikaze run to square leg and was comfortably run-out by the proverbial country mile, much to the amusement of all those involved. Andy swatted some useful runs in his own inimitable style before relinquishing the strike to Tiger who was promptly caught at slip, to leave Barford on a disappointing 97 all out.

At tea I was still hopeful that are bowler-heavy team (all 9 of them) would be able to make some early inroads. Tim and Mark opened up tidily enough but without extracting the same life from the wicket that the oppostion had obtained. However, in evading (or trying to) a short ball from Tim one of their opener’s tweaked his back and had to retire hurt with less than 20 on the board.

I just knew it wasn’t going to be our day when Andy, replacing Tim, dropped a comfortable caught and bowled in his first over. He kept plugging away and bowled a tight if unthreatening spell. At the other end, Nick came on for Mark and bowled with great accuracy and some intermittent sharp turn. He bowled both of the set batsmen with classic left-arm orthodox deliveries, and finished with very respectable figures of 6-1-16-2.

We had managed to put a bit of a squeeze on them, but Christchurch continued inching towards their target. Shawn tried his luck and managed to get some prodigious turn when landing the ball in more or less the right place, but a few loose deliveries and some dropped chances by the skipper meant that the runs kept coming. Even Tony’s donkey-drops were picked off remorselessy as Christchurch squeezed home by 7 wickets with plenty of overs to spare…

Paul Johnstone

Barford v Martins -19th August 2012

The best day of the year so far bought the Barford team together with the daunting task of trying to beat a Martins side for the first time in the clubs history. This was going to prove even harder after the skipper came second in the toss and not surprisingly we found ourselves in the field. The Martins team were going to take full advantage of a beautifully prepaired ( by myself and the Tango man ) batting wicket.

With plenty of bowling options to choose from skipper O’Reilly decided to open with Simon Morgan and Andy Hawkins. Both started quite well and apart from the odd one or two wayward ones which were duely punished kept the Martins openers rather quiet. Ironically in the middle of two good spells, it was the duff balls which bought wickets. One apiece for our opening two and it was Barford who had started the best. The bowling change saw James Beaven and new boy Nick Saunders take over the attack. Both bowled superbly and were so unlucky not to take more wickets than the one which James picked up. But what they had done was put the brakes on the Martins batsmen. A team who had previously hit 250 plus were struggling on 56 for 3 after 22 overs.

The skipper decided to keep spin at one end and introduced Richard Jones who bowled a full eight overs and use the medium pace of Gary Dunn and Mark Williams from the other. While Gary got hit for a few runs he was really unlucky not to pick up a couple of wickets as dropped catches cost him dearly. Though not as dearly as Simon Morgan as the catch he dropped off Gary’s bowling would later cost him the T.F.C. award. Mark’s bowling was neat and tidy but the damage was being done at the other end. Wiley fox Richard Jones again bowling beautifully and picking up another 3 wickets to add to his seasons tally. Richard Johnson was given a few overs at the end and not wanting to be outdone by anyone returned excellent figures of 3-1-1-8.

A superb team effort in the field had restricted the usual high scoring visitors to an all time low of 154/7 off 40 overs. Could there attack defend the total? That was the question going through everyone’s mind as they went for tea, and what a mighty fine tea it was too. I guess I have to say that, as I was the one who prepared it.

On such a glorious day and after having spent 3 hours in the field one or two people myself included wondered if skipper O’Reilly had caught too much sun when he asked me to open the batting with Mark Griffin. “Are you sure skipper, I’m not known for my patience at the crease you know”. But if that’s what he wanted that’s what I would do.

So chasing 155 to win me and Mark headed off to the crease. It was a slow, frustrating and somewhat painfull start especially for me as you all know I like to swing at everything. As Mark could see the tension building up in me he tried to keep me calm by telling me to keep cool and wait for the bad ball, but all I wanted to do was remove my glove and chew my fingers off to see if that was as boring and painfull as playing defensive shots, ha ha. Still the score was ticking over and we were using up the overs of the Martins quickies. The bowling change bought the luck Martins were after as Mark was unfortunately run out for 9. This bought Chris to the wicket with some crazy idea about running quick 1’s ans 2’s. Well if I ever needed an invite to hit boundaries that was it. Running in that heat, was he mad ?

Drink’s were served after 15 overs as it was such a hot day and a glance at the scoreboard showed that our innings was being perfectly paced as we were now on 39/1 and ahead of them at the same point. As we restarted it was time to hit a 4 here and another one there and so on as I really did’nt fancy the idea of running up and down and then to my surprise there was an almighty cheer and a round of applause from the home support as I hit 50. Yippee. I use the term yippee very lightly as I cannot print what I actually said to myself.

Chris however didn’t last much longer. The only consolation in being dismissed if there is one is that it was to an excellent one handed catch. Still the skipper had gone for 6 and it was time for James to join me in the middle. This wasn’t to be a lasting time together as after adding a few more runs to my total I was finally caught going for another big shot. Still we had 80 odd on the board just over 22 overs left to bat and plenty of wickets remaining. The platform had well and truly been laid, it was up to the other guy’s to cross us over the line.

Richard Johnson joined James in the middle and was a tad unfortunate to be bowled for only 6. All of a sudden however the pressure was on as after another quick wicket, in the back of everyone’s mind was surely this isn’t the start of another notorious Barford collapse. Not if Mark Williams had anything to do with it. Making his annual appearance for the team he was determined to stick around and score some runs. James was next to go after a great knock of 23 and at the next drinks break after 30 overs we were on 129-5 and edgeing closer to our target. New boy Nick Saunders was up next and if he could bat anything like the way he bowled surely he and Mark could get the 20 odd runs needed with 10 overs still to play. Six overs later we all gathered at the side of the pitch waiting for the winning run to be hit and with the second almighty cheer and applause of the day, there it was. Mark 21 and Nick 13 had steered the ship accross the line for a convincing and historic victory.

This has to be one of the best all round team performancies in the club’s history. Everyone played a huge part. The bowling was superb the fielding was great with only 1 or 2 minor blips and the batting was strong, paced to perfection and for once with no panic or a collapse in it. Ha ha. Well played guy’s. As for the fantasy awards the T.F.C went to Simon Morgan and while there were plenty of options for the M.O.M award it was given to me. If you have’nt checked up on the fantasy league in a while i’m lead to believe that Simon Morgan has been knocked off the top spot and that there is a new sheriff in town.

Simon International

Barford Cricket Club