Barford Cricket Club

The first proper summer’s day saw an excessive outbreak of sunscreen and short wearing, and Barford taking on Rugby Oakfield at Leek Wotton.  Oakfield are a traditionally strong opponent and first impressions were not good as a succession of younger and fitter cricketers trooped into the opposition dressing room.   For some unknown reason (although I have my suspicions), I’d been selected to lead the motley collection of individuals chosen on a whim by none other than Captain Morgan himself.

Losing the toss was not an auspicious start but at least I had an excuse to give the team when they discovered they’d be running around in the heat of the day.  A couple of late changes meant that we were now definitely a bowling rather than batting side and so would be better off chasing than setting any targets (at least we’d make the game last until the tea interval).

The opening attack of Paul Stacey and Andy Hawkins set about the Oakfield line-up and suffocating bowling and fielding made sure that they didn’t get off to a flyer.  Andy Hawkins picked up a couple of clean bowled while Paul Stacey, justifying his tag of the “unluckiest bowler” went passed the edge and the stumps again, and again, and again…

Simon Hawkins and Gary Dunn then picked up the baton and continued the good work, so that after 20 overs Oakfield were struggling at 65-4.  There was the usual comedy Barford fielding effort as Shawn Harrison and Gary Dunn collided when trying to catch a top-edge off the bowling of Simon Hawkins.  Fortunately no damage was done, as he then bowled same the batsmen a couple of balls later.

The wheels nearly came off when a “tired and emotional” Shawn Harrison was called on to bowl and delivered a succession off pies, the majority of which were dispatched by the batsmen.  After he was summarily hauled off, Simon Hawkins carried on with a the diet of rubbish only to pick up another three wickets thanks to a series of inside edges and outfield catches thereby securing the first 5 wicket haul of the season.  Meanwhile Richard Johnson was keeping things relatively tight at the other end, and chipped in with a couple of wickets.  Oakfield closed on 170-9, which reflected a good all-round bowling and fielding effort.

After a delightful tea courtesy of the treasurer and his good lady, a replete Sandy Peirson and Nathan Haynes started the run-chase, well run-canter really.  The Oakfield attack was even more miserly than our own and after half the overs both openers and Matt Cobb, who was unluckily caught off a full-blooded drive, were back in the pavilion with a mere 30 runs on the board.

Things picked up slightly as the change bowlers came on and tried to test out the middle of the wicket, but Richard Johnson dragged on one to his stumps and was quickly followed by the “unluckiest batsmen” Paul Stacey for golden duck, the ball apparently defying the laws of physics on it’s way to demolishing off stump.  Phil Morris avoided the hat-trick but then perished to the next ball in a triple-wicket maiden.

Meanwhile, at the other end I’d been carting a number of short balls through midwicket and in company with Simon Hawkins at the other end, the score had grown from embarrassing to merely disappointing.  An ugly smear at their leg-spinner saw me depart for 32 and left the Hawkins brothers to try and inch us towards respectability.

However, disproving the old adage that twins are telepathically connected, Andy ruthlessly ran out Simon before his topspin forehand picked out mid-on.  Gary Dunn joined a now (more or less) sober Shawn Harrison who rescued himself from the TFC award by clubbing a few runs and ensuring Barford’s reply ended in three figures.

MOM went to Simon Hawkins for his first ever 5 wicket haul (5-31), and the book is now closed on him doing a unique double of Batsman of the Year followed by Bowler of the Year…

Paul Johnstone

We took the pitch fielding first, Skipper Griffin having strategically won/lost (make up your own mind here) the toss. S Hawkins opened the bowling and was immediately smacked over mid off for two, only the wet outfield (and the lightning legs of Peter Romyn) preventing a boundary. “Oh dear” we thought, “is this going to be a long afternoon?” Well the rest of the over was pretty lean and we pegged them back. Jolly then opened at the other end and was similarly economical. This vein continued and some seemingly dubious LBW decisions added to a tense atmosphere. The breakthrough came with the first change in the bowling with B Griffin trapping the opener leg before for 14 and P Johnstone C&B their No2 for 13. It was 33 for two after somewhere between 14 and 27 overs*

Tony “Slow Hand” Timms then made an impact cleaning up No 3 LBW for 14. On came their No 5 and proceeded to smack it around a bit. At the other end we were keeping the run rate down though and Henricians were struggling to build a big total. Timms then struck again with the most sensational catch that Mark Griffin has probably ever taken in his career. It astonished everyone, including the batsman who hung around in his crease before eventually resigning himself to the fact that he’d been Timmsinated. The ball flew vaguely towards Griff who was somewhere between gully and point. An arm shot out, reminiscent of a chameleon catching a fly and the ball was snapped clean out of the air by the veteran fieldsman ;-). Paddy Power and Suffs have stopped taking bets on Catch of the Season: 49 for 4.

J Farquar come on for a tweak, with Keeper N Haynes stumping No6 and Farquar bowling No 7 with some lovely offspin. Hawkins then joined in the rout, bowling 8 & 9 for 6&1 respectively and Henricians were 98 for 7. A catch by Morris, covering at least 30 yards to take it, off the bowling of Griffin and a final C&B by Timms signalled the end of Henricians in the last over, for 103. This was looking positive/nervy/a foregone conclusion (insert your own adjective here).

Tea was served in fine style by M Griffin who was still buzzing about the catch he took. The ball by this time apparently travelling at close to mach 3 and still accelerating!

Skipper Griffin then had an attack of benevolence and as consolation for fielding Morris at Mid/Long on at both ends, invited him to open the batting. Fancying himself to play himself in for a while Morris immediately accepted the challenge and he and Haynes took to the field. Haynes kept out the first over without troubling the scorers. Morris then kept out 5/6 of the second over before succumbing to a ridiculous catch, having previously given the oppo an equally ridiculous sighter. He slumped off with a head resounding to quacks all round: 0 for 1.

B Griffin came out and he and Haynes set about chasing them down. Ben eventually being bowled for 15 and we were 19 for 2. Could we muck it up from here – you bet we could? On a wicket which was drying out, but still taking some movement it was foxing a lot of our shot choices. But out came Farquar, swinging his logo-less willow and in his inimitable style he picked out the boundaries with some regularity. He was bowled by their pace man Pedley for 35 and there was a definite Brett Lee moment of bowler intimidation – which all added to the spice – 83 for 3.

Out came the catcher in the gully point, M Griffin. At the other end, however, Haynes was tootling along like a drunken bird in the Newcastle Bigg Market on a Friday night **. He and Griffin pressed on and were not out for 32 and 13 respectively and Barford were 104 for 3, winning by 7 wickets.

Simon International ended the day with a further presentation of ducks to Peirson (x2), Jolly (x1) and Morris (x2) and an enjoyable afternoon’s cricket was complete. Thanks to Skipper Griffin for some excellent tactics, a sound field and some really quite good bowling. It’s just a shame that so many of Tim Jolly’s balls were “nearly” wicket takers only and so will never show up in any scorebooks. Still, Tim, there’s always tippex and delusion eh!

*the scorebook is not fully complete so a certain amount of supposition is required.

** making steady progress but you know it could all fall over, tits up, with the slightest lapse in concentration

Phil Morris

Ed – As my dear old granny used to say, “There are always to sides to a story”, and the oppositions can be found here

Finally summer had arrived and on a boiling hot afternoon our dear leader managed to win the toss and correctly decided we should put our feet up and watch Nathan Haynes (making his first appearance in 2012) compile a huge score with his new bat. A plan which was carried out with almost military precision except for one minor flaw. Nathan was brilliantly caught for 15 in the gully as he attempted to guide the ball to the boundary after a bright start with Neil Carter (3).

This brought Martin Lusby and Mark Griffin to the crease who began to build a healthy partnership in the sunshine at around 4 per over before Mark was bowled for 18 with the score at 72 off 18. Martin was joined by Chris O’Reilly until an over by the Unity’s Jackman (soon to become our nemesis) claimed both Lusby (34) and Sandy Peirson without scoring.

Another rebuilding phase began with Chris and Paul Henderson with plenty of overs left, but (Hugh) Jackman was withdrawn in favour of some less challenging but more random bowling. Extras also started to contribute with wides and quadruple bouncing no-balls but with the odd delivery threatening the stumps it was difficult to get the ball away (honestly). With O’Reilly obviously in the form of his life, the strike was manoeuvered and he effortlessly went towards and then blasted through his maiden Barford half-century.

With plenty of batting still left in the hutch I decided to go large against Jackman and heard the death rattle falling for 28. O’Reilly couldn’t convert his 50 into a ‘daddy’ hundred and also fell to Jackers for a tremendous 66. Paul Stacey (5 no) and Simon Hawkins (3 no) were left with the tricky task making runs at the end, but a score of 198 was a good total, if slightly contrived – and at least we hadn’t had to field in the heat of the day.

Stuffed with Mrs Johnson’s finest cakes we took to the field and almost immediately regretted that extra slice as Mr Jackman came out to open and put strike bowlers Stacey and Hawkins (and everyone else who to whom Chris threw the ball) to the sword. Simon did claim the wicket of the other opener with a high hanging catch taken magnificently by Sandy at mid-off, and another lbw finishing with 2 for 33. But the J-Unit kept his relentless assault going – bringing up his 50 with barely 60 on the team’s total. There was a fleeting chance of a stumping but he obviously hadn’t had enough cake at tea time as he tucked into bowling of Henderson and Harrison.

He also seemed determined to keep the strike from his less able colleagues, perhaps having a prior appointment to keep, and despite some noble efforts in the field and a change of ball the writing seemed to be on the wall from an early stage. Shawn and Tony Timms did get a wicket each but with the run-rate at 6, 8, 10 runs an over at times ( I lost count) even when Mr J graciously retired on 119 the result was sadly inevitable. Neil Carter’s spell was probing and economical and he was very unlucky not to snaffle a wicket or two.

The total was reached with 12 overs to spare and there was plenty of time to contemplate the man-of-the-match (Chris O’Reilly) and ‘thanks for coming’ award (Sandy Peirson) as nominated by the Aston Unity’s captain (so Chris tells me). We also enjoyed Chris’s jug of Doom Bar for his 50. Anyway, it was all played out on a lovely day in front of a capacity crowd* at the Leek Wootton Oval.

*Mikes Ireland and Suffield in full flow

Paul Henderson

I tossed the coin for the first time this season and true to indoor form lost. So on a beautiful evening the Barford team took to the field. But would it be a beautiful start to my midweek role as captain? Well it was the Snitterfield opening pair that got off to the better start, as they were soon hitting the ball around much to the despair of Morgan, Johnson, Beaven and Johnstone. Hawkins and Griffin tried to end the partnership but the breakthrough finally came when little rabbit, angry at having been bashed for two sixes dismissed the first one with an excellent caught and bowled. The second opener was soon on his way back to the pavillion after being run out and the Snitterfield runs had stopped. Overs from Carter and Farquar ended the innings and Snitterfield had finished on 122.

With a strong batting line up I was confident we could chase down the target and after a quick pep talk in the dressing room openers O’Reilly and Farquar took to the wicket. The plan was simple as the best ones often are, take your time, have a look for a ball or two then smack them out the ground. Thats exactly what Jake did, swung at the first then smashed the second into the kids play area at the side of the pub. Thats how it continued for the next 5 or 6 overs, Jake smashing fours and sixes all over the place and somehow hogging the strike while poor old Chris at the other end, like everyone else could only watch. Our opening two were laying the perfect foundation and at 88 for 0 off 8 overs it looked like it would be all over inside 10 overs.

But things in a game of cricket can quickly change especially if you play for Barford. Jake was caught for 78 and Ben joined Chris. However Chris soon followed Jake caught for 10 and we were 92 for 2. With Ben and Paul Johnstone at the crease and only needing 31 to win surely even we couldn’t lose this one, could we? Ben went for 10 and James Beaven for a duck (which was presented to him after the game ) and we were now on 104 for 4 off 11 overs. Simon Hawkins joined Paul Johnstone and only wanting 19 off 4 overs it still looked like an easy win. However a couple of tight overs and the pressure was on us, it was now 110 off 13 overs. But Simon and Paul showed nerves of steel knocking up 12 runs with 1 ball to go in the penultimate over which went for a bye and signalled Barford’s first win of the season. It got a bit nerve racking towards the end but after such a good start we were always favorites to get there in the end.

Well played lads. As far as fantasy cricket goes, Richard Johnson was awarded the TFC by the opposing skipper and the man of the match went to Jake. However as Jake is not yet included in the fantasy league the man of the match award now goes to Ben Griffin for being second top run scorer with 10 and being joint top wicket taker with 1.

Simon International