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Bowling machine

In conjunction with Barford Sports Club, we are now the proud co-owners of a shiny new Paceman Pro bowling machine. It will be based at the King George’s Playing Field in Barford and once the electricity has been connected will be available for practice use on the MUGA as well as at winter nets.

As it is capable of propelling cricket balls at both 70mph and more or less in the same place as the previous one, it already outperforms the majority of our attack. It’s just a shame it’s even less mobile in the field than Pete Romyn, otherwise I think we’d be picking it every week.

Vice-chairman Simon Morgan and occasional club stalwart Mark Griffin put it through it’s paces(!) today and save for the missing feeder assembly all seemed to be working well.

The following clip shows how fearsome this machine is to face in real life…

Close of Play

By now I’m sure you will have caught the minutes of the AGM as the final act of the outgoing Secretary. Having been ~~press-ganged~~ elected (surprisingly unopposed) into his shoes, it would be churlish not to comment on his tenure over the last eleven (yes, really!) years.

Simon has been Secretary of Barford Cricket Club for as long as Lionel Messi has been playing professional football, and I think it’s pretty clear who’s made a bigger impact on the world stage. Since when did Barcelona’s diminutive No 10 ever stroke the ball through extra cover or deceive a top order batsman with his slower, back-of-the-hand delivery? Let alone drag the kit-back around in his boot for most of the season or hand craft a banoffee pie for the pre-season party? To be fair, the Hawk has only chalked up the last two, but there’s always next season.

It’s hard to think of anyone who has done more to keep Barford going through the last few years including the turbulent moves away from Hareway Lane and then Leek Wootton to our current haven at Snitterfield. He’s notched up batting, bowling and the elusive clubman awards on numerous occasions and is usually omnipresent at nets and available (if selected) for the majority of matches throughout the year. He has been the veritable heartbeat of the club for a number of years, and all this despite living miles away in the depths of Coventry.

Fortunately, Simon won’t be “doing a Romyn” (at least this year), and with the burdens of administration removed from his shoulders we should be expecting some spectacular performances on the field of play next season – no pressure…

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.

Back to winning ways

After a couple of lacklustre Sunday performances it’s great to report that the midweek team are on the march again. Inspirational leader Simon “twinkletoes” Drage reports:

“On a cold April evening the Barford midweek cricket machine rolled into action for the
first of it’s 2015 season’s games. Fielding what was possibly the youngest averaged
aged team in the clubs history ( 30 ) made so by the inclusion of young Morgan
and Hawkins 13 a piece, older Hawkins 14 and the ever young International 40
later this year, ha ha. Would there be enough in the Barford tank to prevent a new
and improved T.N.C team from claiming there first victory over us ?????.

After winning the toss skipper International chose to bat first and give something to
T.N.C to chase. Openers Griffin and Farquhar set off like a rat up a drain pipe and had
put a very quick 30 on the board before Jake was caught after top edging one. This
bought Johnstone to the middle and he was soon in full flight playing his effortless
strokes all around the field. Griffin finally went for 22, caught on the boundary going
for the big six, which bought O’Rielly to the middle. Chris wasn’t with us too long as
he swung at a straight one and was given out lbw by umpire Peirson. Still we already
had 80 on the board with plenty more to come. Andy Hawkins was next in and Paul
Johnstone was soon retired on 25 ( well batted ) so little Jack Hawkins joined his dad
and they set about the T.N.C attack. The 100 was passed and everything looked good
for a big score when Andy swung at a straight one and was bowled for 11. Enter the
skipper for the final 2 overs to hopefully smash a few boundary’s at the death and
push our score. Unfortunately the only thing that died was the skipper himself who
when setting off for his first run of the night, tore some mussel in his leg and hobbled
up and down for the rest of the innings like Forrest Gump in callipers. Young Jack
finished on 17 not out and we had amassed 128 from our 14 allocated overs.

Was that going to be enough against a cold and hungry looking T.N.C side ????.

Skipper International briefed his debutant kids on the game plan, which was simple,
attack attack attack and then passed the ball to Will Morgan to bowl the first over
and what a first over it was, slick, fast and accurate ( the complete opposite to how
his dad bowls, ha ha ) and immediately putt T.N.C on the back foot. Steaming in from
the other end was Jack and it wasn’t long before he opened his account and the team’s
by taking the first wicket of the season, clean bowled. The first bowling change saw
Harry Hawkins replace Will and not to be outdone by his older brother he also opened
his account, again clean bowled. Another tight over each and the change bought
another Hawkins into the attack only this time it was Simon ( no relation to the others )
and from the other end Steve Howes. Both bowled superbly and both took deserved
wickets to get their season up and running, again clean bowled. Tight overs from Jake
and Andy Hawkins, coupled with some brilliant fielding especially by the youngsters
and another excellent performance behind the stumps by Chris and we had come to
the final over of the night. T.N.C needed 22 to win and I needed someone with broad
shoulders to carry us across the line. The ball was passed to young Will and was simply
told to bring us home. 8 balls later the game was in the bag and we were off to the
clubhouse for the first victorious pint and or coke of the season.

Well that’s how I remember how it happened.

Many thank’s to Sandy for umpiring the whole game on a very cold night.”

2015 Pre-tour Report

The Tourmeister writes on his return from the entirely selfless pre-tour extravaganza:

The 10.50 to Oakham
After nearly a decade of using the excuse that the sideways-facing rear seats in Timmsy’s Landrover made me travel sick, I finally I had to vacate the front seat and let the chairman ride shotgun as the brand new model made its inaugural tour recce.

A meandering eastwards route in bright spring sunshine eventually led the intrepid team of myself, Tony, Sandy, Richard and Fish to Uppingham, and a very narrow dirt track access to their ground (where we nearly lost a wing mirror). We were met by Kev, the affable clubhouse chairman, who gave us a guided tour of their impressive pavilion. For saying this ground wasn’t opened until four years ago, having previously been farm land, I doubt Barford will ever play on a flatter outfield (which overlooks the early stages of a golf course that was never completed due to the consortium running out of cash-and six grand was nothing to them).

Uppingham

Next port of call was the latest entry in the now legendary ‘Richard Jones Good Pub Guide’ for a spot of lunch. The King’s Arms in the village of Wing is a traditional country inn with its own smokehouse and poultry pen. Very high standard cuisine and a charming hostess, but the main attraction for me was Ten-Fifty, the superb ale from Oakham’s Grainstore Brewery. The only negative point was a couple of extras from TOWIE eating half their lunch and then complaining just to get their money back. If, as I imagine, this becomes the meeting place for those travelling down on Friday morning then I suggest booking as it’s not very big and gets busy.

King’s Arms, Wing

Wakerley & Barrowden’s ground is slightly more uneven but has plenty of rural charm with its white pavilion set in the shadow of a line of trees and a stone wall circling the playing area (I imagine the attached picture will have Pete Romyn frantically calculating gradients and inclines into his captaincy plans).

Wakerley & Barrowden

The final ground on our list was Saturday opponents Empingham. We were fortunate to arrive as the groundsman was diligently preparing things for the forthcoming season and he kindly showed us around the pavilion. The clubhouse is used by the village as a social club so we might even get a couple of spectators!

Empingham

With the three grounds and lunch venue sussed we arrived in Oakham and checked into The Old Wisteria. The rooms are good, especially for the price we’re paying, however the owner didn’t seem particularly interested in hosting the Saturday meal so we headed into town to see what was on offer. For an affluent county town there is a dearth of restaurants in Oakham as we passed a very ordinary Indian and a slightly better Italian, both of which had staff eagerly waving us to come in…oh, and a Chinese takeaway called ‘Wok This Way’(!) Thankfully this search did lead us to The Grainstore Brewery which has its own bar next to Oakham Train Station.

Grainstore, Oakham

As I drank more Ten-Fifty than I should have Richard consulted TripAdvisor and we decided to explore Baker’s Yard, which seems to be a split of a bar and tapas restaurant (I should add there is a Weatherspoons but needless to say, we didn’t bother). Baker’s Yard could certainly do a job but we decided to give our enthusiastic Italian friend a chance. The meal was adequate and hosts amiable, but the fact we were the only ones in there all night makes me wonder if they’ll still be open in July.

Over-indulgence at The Grainstore was taking its toll and I turned in leaving the chairman and the retirement community to sample the hotel bar (which I never got to see during the trip!). The following morning an excellent breakfast was served by the friendly receptionist, but the previous day’s sunshine had been replaced by freezing wind and rain so we headed home, avoiding Leicester as Richard III was being re-planted.

Oakham is fairly limited in terms of entertainment (there was some place called the XY Bar which looks as if it could keep the sniffers happy and will probably result in Drage’s absence when the telegrams are read out on Saturday) but there is enough to keep everyone happy.

As regards cricket, right from the start the people of Rutland (Judy, Chris, Kev and Adi) have been so accommodating and helpful in organising this tour that I’m confident it will be a good one.

Finally the usual vote of thanks to Timmsy and his new chariot for all the chauffeuring.

Award	Recipient
Clubman of the Year	Simon Morgan
Batsman of the Year	Jake Farquhar
Bowler of the Year	Simon Hawkins
Fielder of the Year	Simon Drage
Most Catches	Simon Drage
Champagne Moment	Ben Griffin
Champagne Disaster	Simon Morgan
Midweek MOM	Paul Johnstone
Midweek TFC	Ben Griffin
Most Ducks	James Kavanagh
Worst Drop	Sandy Peirson
Fielding Flop	Phil Morris
Best Tea	Will Perry and Shawn Harrison
Best Scorer	Layla Staveley
Best Retirement	Pete Romyn

Barford Cricket Club