Freezing conditions and a bitter wind failed to dampen what turned out to be a closer than expected match that went down to the last over. Barford unfortunately lost by 9 runs as dropped catches, run-outs, substitutes, single-handed catches all made an appearance and most distressingly of all, a trip to A&E for ‘The Safest Hands in Cricket’ Simon Drage, who has temporarily been reduced to the ‘Safest Hand in Cricket’.
Man-of-the-match Paul Stacey raced to the top of the rankings with his 2/16 and 31 runs and his inclusion in O’Reilly’s World Beaters has strengthened the ex-skipper’s grip of the top of the table.
First match report of the season is now up, detailing the narrow (7 wicket) loss to our old friends the Lemmings.
Fantasy fans please note that not many people scored many points so there is still time to sign up and join the league – check your emails for details from Statto.
On a chilly St Patrick’s Day once again quizmaster Lusby took to the stage to challenge, confuse and amuse the assembled teams.
And those teams certainly stepped up to the plate in terms of nomenclature: from Morgan’s Spiced and 50 Shades of Grey (Matter) to Hey Presto and the Dark Side of the Moonies it turned out that competitors were almost as creative with their names as they were with their answers.
Amongst the usual rounds, Martin had snuck in a seasonally appropriate one on Ireland, and a geographical/technological one on Internet country codes which made the all important ‘playing of the joker’ even more crucial. For those born after 1985 and not familiar with such technology, the music round also featured an appearance of a cassette deck – google it if you’ve never seen one in action.
Luck of the Irish
Half-time was marked by the usual fantastic food with pasta dishes galore hand-crafted by the ever-cheerful ‘volunteers’, and a plethora of puddings that were enjoyed by the hungry quizzees. More time was given for poring over the Olympic gold winners who made up the picture round.
Loch up your daughters
And so the final round just had to feature a loch question and if you didn’t know that Loch Morar was the deepest Scottish loch then you weren’t even trying. But that wasn’t enough to scupper Richard Yendall and the Snitterfield team – ‘How Deep is your Loch’ who took away a well deserved first prize, narrowly beating ‘Half Century’. The wooden spoons were claimed not by the French but by the ‘We Who Dare’ team, who didn’t dare quite enough unfortunately.
In a strange quirk of fate, those two teams also faced each other in the raffle prize, but the Snitterfielders couldn’t quite guess Kevin Pietersen’s test run tally as closely as the Half Centurians, so missed out on a total clean sweep.
Olympian effort
It wasn’t just the picture round that featured our Olympic heroes, these events don’t just happen by themselves, so it’s a big thanks to everyone who came along, especially all those who cooked the fantastic food that was heartily consumed and everyone who help set up, serve up, wash up and tidy up.
Also of course to Martin and Sue Lusby for their sterling quiz double act, Simon Hawkins for keeping the bar running smoothly and Fiona Jolly for her efforts in coaxing excellent raffle ticket sales.
Next up it’s the Pre-season event until we do it all again next year.
This year’s Quiz is switching to to Sunday 17th March and take your seats a little earlier at 6pm to get underway at 6.30pm so that we don’t finish too late.
Once again Quizmaster Lusby will take the reins and as usual there will be a cash bar and 2 course meal (supplied by the willing volunteers) all for the entry fee of £7.50 per person. Prizes galore for winners (and the odd loser) will be distributed like gold medals at London 2012
Teams are usually made up of 4 members, but don’t worry if you’re fewer than that, we can match you up with other players on the night.
Find out more on the event page and enter a team, drop me an email ( paul_henderson54@yahoo.com ) by Friday March 1st or leave a comment. Spaces are limited so book your table soon!
Here is further information regarding the first net session on Sun 3rd Feb.
Venue: Warwick School Sports Hall
Time: 11:00 to 12:00
Mainly for the benefit of Simon Drage whose SatNav seems less than reliable the school is located here.
The Sports Centre is accessed via the last school entrance off Myton Road heading towards Leamington and there is plenty of parking in what during the week is the Junior School Car Park
From the car park walk past ‘the bears’ through the gates into the Junior School playground
The entrance to the Sports Centre is on the left
Through the doors walk straight on past the stairs and then turn left
– straight on to the Hall or right to Changing rooms
We have a one hour session with four lanes available so I would ask you to be punctual so that we get the maximum from our time.
The nets, mats and plastic stumps should be in position but Mike Ireland (who visited the school with me today) has agreed to arrive 10 mins early to check this has happened. From our discussion with the duty manager it would seem that some mangers are not quite as conscientious as others in checking the diary for detailed requirements.
Now that you’ve all paid off your Christmas credit card bills in full it’s time for me to ask you for tour deposits.
This year we’re off to Gloucestershire, staying in Stroud with fixtures on Friday 5th (evening), Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th of July (with a chance of meeting Pete Fisher off the telly).
The price will be £45 per person, per night. To reserve your place I require a deposit of £10 for each night you wish to stay (i.e. if you’re staying Fri, Sat & Sun then I need £30).
Closing date for cheques to reach me is Monday 11th Feb so I expect the usual prompt response(!).
Come along and turn your arm over ahead of the new season at our weekly (not bi-weekly as before) net sessions running for 7 weeks from Sunday 3rd February.
NB note the new venue at Warwick School. We’ll have four lanes of fun this time, but we will have to be prompt in and out. However there are no nets to set -up or put away so there’s no excuse for tardiness.
Some things never change though and we will adjourn as always to the Old Fourpenny Shop afterwards for ‘debriefing’ and ‘analysis’ (aided by some liquid refreshment and ‘team nibbles’)