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There was a rather disappointing turnout to the pre-season party where events (and apathy) conspired against us, although the food was excellent and plentiful as usual. Thanks to everyone who supplied food, transport and/or organisation, and our hosts at Snitterfield for letting us use their clubhouse. The kids had a great time in the skittle alley, the larger kids played snooker and as can be seen below the WAGs turned into pool hustlers(!):
It’s not often we get the chance to “blow our own trumpet” as it were, especially given the usual levels of performance on the cricket field, but this weekend’s “Sunday Times top 100 places to live in the UK” has afforded just such an opportunity.
Barford has crashed through into the top 100 for the first time, ranked at 57th in the country, and is the top village to live in the Midlands. And the first (and hence, of course, most significant) reason in the accompanying blurb is the “sociable cricket club”, where apparently you don’t need to be Alastair Cook to join – personally, I think we’re more after the Alastair Sim type. I’m also not too sure about the reference to the “thwack of leather on willow” – normally I find it’s the thwack of leather on flesh with an accompanying cry of “ouch” (or something similar) that is more redolent of a Barford summer…
Shamefully, the local rag has seen fit to ignore the huge impact of the cricket club and focussed instead on minor issues such as crime rates, house prices and school performance.
Imagine if we actually played in the village!
A goodly crowd of players and WAGs assembled at Merchant’s in Warwick to celebrate the achievements of the year at the annual end of season dinner. In a notable change from tradition this was held within a few weeks of the actual end of the season, thereby ensuring that the majority of us could still remember most of what had actually happened on the field of play. Admittedly this didn’t last for too long as the alcohol took hold…
An excellent dinner was had by all before the evening descended into a technological tour de farce force inspired by the efforts of the incoming and outgoing Social Secretaries and the Captain (or the Three Stooges as they perhaps should be known henceforth)
Your hosting dream team
Speeches from the Skipper and Chairman were seamlessly intermingled with slideshow presentations and video links to the shy retiring winners who were (un)fortunately unable to make the evenings festivities, in an amazing display of interactive happenings that left the audience dumbstruck. Before they even had a chance to get their breath back, let alone toddle off to the bar for replenishments, the following prizes had been distributed:
Batting: Will Perry (apparently just keeping it warm for little rabbit next year!)
Bowling: Richard Johnson (mr consistency, except when he wasn’t)
Fielding: Shawn Harrison (the new safest hands in cricket)
Clubman: Simon Hawkins (all round good egg)
Champagne Moment: Richard Johnson (giving up an all run 5 on tour – still p!$$ing ourselves…)
Catch of the Season: Simon Hawkins (frankly I think he was as amazed as the rest of us)
Most ducks: John Lambdon (Who’s backing?)
Apologies to any prize-winners who were left out, but my memory is not what it was and I’d rather lost interest after being passed over again..
Given the fact that he’s probably listened to more speeches than most, it was perhaps unsurprising that Pete Romyn waltzed off with the sweepstake for the length of Ben’s speech (longer than expected as it did include two movies to pad it out a bit – the smart money was on 2-3 mins), whilst Jake Farquar grabbed the prize for Sandy’s speech (ages).
Pictures of the evening’s jollification are available here including a rare shot of Jake dropping something…
Many thanks to Paul, Simon and Ben for organising and hosting such an entertaining evening (although you can drop the raffle of Warwickshire 2nd XI autographs next year Simon!). It was great to have Richard and Lee from Snitterfield with us for the evening, and we look forward to another season playing at Snitterfield next year.
For those of you interested the 2 videos from the dinner featuring Shawn and Will and Simon International’s debut Through the Keyhole performance are now on Youtube (although probably not trending yet!). The links are below:
Outtakes to follow.
Barford played the youthful Kineton side for the second time this month, thanks to some last minute fixture wizardry by Simon International. With none of the usual captaincy candidates available, an electoral college was hastily convened at the Joey and Martin Lusby, in absentia, was raised to the position. Could age and experience overcome youth, enthusiasm, lake of infirmity and cricketing ability, for the second time in a couple of weeks?
Martin won the toss and opted to bat first. Kieran Bailey from Leek Wootton had stepped into the breach as our 11th man and Martin sent him in to open with Sandy. Kieran looked good before being LBW to a straight one, which bought PJ to the crease. Thankfully the follicless master was in cracking form, following a couple of early season disappointments, and after a slow start scored freely on his way to 53. Batsmen Fisher, Lusby, and Romyn came and went in support of Paul, who was finally out in the 32nd over with the score on 97. The rest of us nurdled a few against slow bowling and a slower outfield, but our total of 131-9 seemed well below par. It was clear that Kineton were pretty confident of knocking off the runs in quick time.
They were soon in trouble, however, in a fantastic opening spell from Richard Johnson who took three wickets in his opening four overs (all bowled). Keiran (6-0-23-2) and Jon Lambdon (8-2-29-1) both kept the pressure up with regular wickets and at tea Barford looked well in the game. Kineton took charge, however, when their Aussie Cooper came in at number 7. He quickly moved on to 26 before being undone by a fantastic ball from Tim. At that point the game seemed to have swung back in our favour with a couple of Kineton’s young players at the wicket. They were stubborn in defence, however, and played well against Hiten’s spin.
After 30 overs they only needed a further 20 to win and Kineton looked favourites again. Martin threw the ball to openers Hawkins and Johnson with the instruction to bowl slowly and accurately. This pinned the young players back as the required rate grew. Your correspondant made a tit of himself by dropping the easiest caught and bowled chance ever, but then managed to scramble a runout. Richard picked up another wicket to end with MOM and jug winning figures of 8-5-10-4 (not to mention an excellent catch) – it was a match winning performance. Tim cleaned things up when Kineton’s number 11 skied a ball to the shovel like hands of Pete Fish – Barford won by 7 runs in the penultimate over.
It was gratifying to win for a second time against young opponents, who have promised to up their game next time….
Following an excellent all round team performance Thanks for Coming was awarded to Phil Morris who wasn’t in the team, but turned up to watch for about 10 minutes before leaving, thus missing the thrilling denouement. Thanks for coming Phil.
Simon H
Big Dicky
The early season enthusiasm for writing match reports has waned so I’ve decided to go for a brief round up of all the latest action, which includes a couple of storming victories. Read on…
Warwick Nomads – (Away) Tuesday 7th May 2013
Played in early May, it’s probably best to draw a veil over this shellacking.
Nomads 140-8, Barford 73 all out
Marton – (Away) Sunday 12th May
We were fortunate(?) to eek a 30 over game out of a wet day in our return match against Marton. Marton batted first and were put to the sword by Paul Stacey (5-0-29-2) and Andy Hawkins (5-1-25-3). As the innings drew to a close, the situation had Jon Lambdon written all over it and the big man lived up to the hype with 2-0-4-2 plus one run out. Marton were all out in the final over. Chasing 148 to win, Barford got off to our typical poor start with Jake getting another duck and James and PJ both falling cheaply, leaving us 3 wickets down with only 8 on the board yet again. The situation had Jon Lambdon written all over it but the number 4 could only manage 8. A period of consolidation followed with Ben scoring 36 before being cruelly cut down in his prime. Nick Saunders batted through to the end for 27 but by this time the ball was sodden and the outfield impossibly slow. We ended up 124-7.
Marton 147 all out, Barford 124-7
Lemmings – (Home-ish) Wednesday 15th May 2013
On a small but perfectly formed ground at Warwick School Barford notched up a good win against our old rivals Lemmings. Batting first, Richard Johnson was on blistering form playing a series of cracking shots, before being caught on the boundary for 12. PJ (24) and Ben (33 retired) pushed on and their good work was continued by Nick (23) and Sandy (24), giving us a total of 148-5. The situation clearly had Jon Lambdon written all over it and the tweaker was soon amongst the wickets with (3-0-14-2). There were also wickets for Hiten, Richard Jones and Neil Carter. Richard Johnson and Simon Hawkins did their best to throw away a promising situation with some “buffet bowling” at the end but we managed to hang on.
Barford 148-5, Lemmings unrecorded smaller amount – 5
Khalsa – (Home) Sunday 19th May
We’ve had some easy victories against the Khalsa youngsters in recent years, but it was a different story this time as the away side batted first and notched up 171-8. It was our first home game at Snitterfield and Richard Jones marked the occasion by taking his 200th Barford wicket; he was the pick of the bowlers with 5-0-17-3. Unfortunately our promising early start was undone by the excellent batting of Khalsa’s youthful number 9 who scored 66 not out in no time.
Our reply had Jon Lambdon written all over it, which was unfortunate because he wasn’t playing. It was a scratchy effort from all our batsmen and we were all out for 138 in the 38th over.
Khalsa 171-8, Barford 138 all out
Snitterfield – Tuesday 22nd May 2013
Our first of four matches against our new hosts was dominated by the club’s spinners, with Jon (whose name was written all over the situation) taking 2-0-17-3 and Richard Jones 2-0-8-3. Richard’s three wickets came in the form of a hat trick. If the Snitterfield wicket continues to play as it has in our first couple of games it seems likely that Richard will be celebrating 300 club wickets in two or three years. Paul Henderson and Ben polished off the home side for what appeared to be an under par 81. Barford made heavy going of our reply with Nick (26 retired) and Paul Henderson (23 not out) doing the bulk of the work. We limped over the line with 4 balls to spare and enjoyed a very good barbecue with Snitterfield after the game.
Snitterfield 81 all out, Barford 82-4
Barford notched up our first win of the season in a very enjoyable game against Kineton. It was the first time that we’d played them since the distressing events of “Cobbgate” and a quick inspection of the wicket showed that the blood stain is now barely visible. Kineton fielded a very youthful team, whose combined age can’t have been much higher than that of Barford Grandees Timms and Lusby. The opposition batted first and Captain Griffin threw the new ball to the fearsome pace duo of Hawkins and Carter. Your correspondent managed to sneak a wicket in the first over and Kineton made fairly slow progress as wickets fell to Hawkins, Morgan and Timms. They were 48-4 at drinks.
Thereafter the pace accelerated in a strong partnership between Cooper, the home side’s Aussie, and their number 5, the 13 year old J.Geary-Heaton. Ben had sensibly held back himself and Nick Saunders in anticipation of this onslaught and both bowled a very good, tight line through to the end. The pair combined when Nick held a good catch off of Ben’s bowling to dismiss the Aussie for 47, whilst Gear-Heaton batted through to the end for a very good 61, with Kineton finishing on 158-8. All their young players had batted sensibly and well, suggesting that they must have a very good coaching set up.
After a good tea Barford started in traditional Barford style as Jake collected his first Drage rubber duck for the club and Phil played very solidly against pacey bowling before being caught for 1, leaving us on 6-2. Sandy and James both dug in really well to steady the ship and their scores of 10 and 14 respectively don’t do justice to their contribution. Both had fallen by drinks, however, leaving us precariously placed at 54-4. Martin (34) and Ben (46) then built an excellent partnership, scoring quickly on a slow outfield, before they were out in the space of a couple of balls. With 35 runs required off of 6 overs, it was down to last week’s unsuccessful run chasers Saunders and Hawkins to see us home with Nick doing the bulk of the work with a combative 23 not out. The winning runs were stuck early in the final over, which is always the sign of a good game.
The match was played in a good spirit, with the Kineton lads keen for a rematch. I’m not sure who got the nod for MOM (Nick I think?) and TFC was a toss up between Jake who didn’t take his dismissal with a stiff upper lip, Neil (slightly unfairly) for dropping the Aussie early on, Simon Morgan for missing the start having forgotten his kit and Martin and Tony for torturing the Treasurer over the matter of subs, by claiming to be unwaged.
For the benefit of Mr Timms, let it be here stated that TFC stands for “Thanks for Coming” rather than the unrepeatable assumption that he had drawn, based on the first word being “Total”. These Rugby types, eh?
Update from Phil: MOM was Nick, with Jake taking the coveted TFC.
Simon H
We’re on the look out for similar teams to play against on the following Sundays in 2013:
We can offer a friendly 40 over match (and a great tea for the home game), with a team that will socialise (during and) after the game.
If you can help, contact Mike Suffield on mikesuffs@gmail.com or on 07905 711301
A new season underway at the fifth attempt and a new opposition in the form of Marton – which was convenient for your correspondent as it’s only 10 mins down the road from my house! Major congratulations to our hosts for getting the game on at all but Chris O’s tactical toss loss meant we ended up bowling anyway on a low slow pitch and slighty shaggy outfield. In a fantasy fest of bowling options, our dear leader entrusted the new ball with Ben and Tim. Down the hill Ben was making it talk, skidding on and inducing several edges. Tim had the harder job up the hill and into the breeze but made the first breakthrough as keeper Chris took a fine catch.
This brought a strong pair to the crease and some excellent athletic goalkeeper-style fielding in the gully and covers from Neil Carter kept the runs down too. If he had clung on to either chance that went to him, then we could have closed the catch of the year competition there and then, but unfortunately consciously or unconciously remembered he was playing for Barford and sadly dropped 2 very hard chances.
A change of bowling came and Paul Stacey tried to extract something from the pitch. When this failed, his option of the full toss hitting around 1/3 up the stumps did seem to work, only to be judged a no-ball for height. While we didn’t have time to discuss the Newtonian mechanics of the projectile (something his pupils have no doubt had to calculate today) he was able to dismiss the other batsman with a sharp caught and bowled (lots of points there fantasy fans). It was Andy Hawkins turn to toil up the hill and he claimed the other opener with another catch from Chris. With the slow outfield, everything had to be chased down and the runs were kept to a minimum, although at the halfway stage a score of 130-140 looked likely and would have been very difficult to chase down.
Spin was tried in the form of Richard Jones and Mike Ryles, but with the pitch doing plenty for the seamers and just sitting up off the slower tweakers, it was time for James Beaven to have a go and he picked up a wicket of the very useful Marton no 3. Ben returned to try his luck up the hill and bowled the other dangerous Martian*. This left the tail exposed and your writer Henderson managed to clunk the base of the stumps and amid plenty of edges, combined with Paul Staceys bucket-like hands to claim another. An accidental beamer floored the remaining batsman making 2 no-ball ‘wickets’ in one game but the highlight in the field came from Pete Romyn’s Collingwood/Rhodes-esque run-out from mid-on. He pounced on the ball and left the hapless batsman stranded as the arrow-straight throw made it easy to whip of the bails – no-one takes a single to Pete.
Tim returned to finish off the innings and left with the best bowling figures of 3 for 9 off 7 overs. 121 looked emininently chaseable and we looked forward to tea about as much as Man Utd did about 89 minutes into the final round of premier league games going on.
The superb tea meant some reluctance to go out to bat and stay for another slice of cake or fitness melon, but Chris and debutant Neil strode out and gave a positive start with good running and solid defence. Unfortunately not quite solid enough for Chris as he was he first of what would turn out to be 9 (nine) ‘bowled’s in the innings. Neil also departed to bowler Dodd’s first ball and 23/2 off 12 overs was a good base to chase down the rest of the runs required. I found the middle of my new bat with one boundary, but Dodd struck again and 30/3 the wobble was on. James struck a couple of sweetly timed 4’s as the outfield got slightly faster, but was lulled into a false sense of security and was bowled after the second boundary. Cometh the hour, cometh the man Pete and he and Ben slowly started rebuilding the innings. Slow being the operative word, but the bowling was extremely tight and while these two stuck it out, there was always a chance and there were some well-scampered 2’s in the partnership of 14 off 10 overs. However as the rate required increased to almost IPL proportions of 5 an over Ben was undone and out lbw. Some lusty blows from Paul Stacey couldn’t get us back on track and from 67 for 5, the inevitable Barford collapse ensued with a flock of ducks appearing the scorebook, including a golden one for Tim leaving us all out for 75 in the 33rd over.
Nevertheless it was a good feeling to get the season underway at last and with such a friendly opposition and lovely ground, it’s good to be back. We retired to the pub/curry house in the village and after an aborted attempt to sit outside we were rewarded with a fine ‘curry-for-a-quid’ accompanied by chips and excellent naan bread. A loss in the book, but as they say, cricket was the winner.
Paul Henderson
