The Saturday Team beat Avonside by 7 wickets. Evan reports thus:

The last saturday league game of the season was a 3rd place play off. Things began well, Steve O bringing all his experience, wisdom and skill to bear in winning the toss, and in overcast muggy conditions he put the oppo into bat.

Pacemen Joe and Gary opened up and with the ball moving around in the air Avonside were under pressure from the off. Gary took out their best batsman’s middle stump, Joe bowled the perfect length and one beauty of a ball which came in a foot from outside off and hit the stumps, to the astonishment of the batsman who was leaving it. Rob replaced Gary and wickets tumbled until we had them 40 odd for 7. At this point some idiot was heard to remark there was little doubt we’d be in the pub early – will I never learn?

Their number 9 bat clearly had other ideas and set about ruining Rob and Rogers figures, which up until then had been faultless, by bludgeoning both for 20 in a single over and then informing them he couldn’t really see it. One of the sixes he hit was the biggest I’ve seen this year. He was eventually caught on 62 and they were all out for 114 in the 31st over.

Tea not being ready, we had a tricky 10 overs to see out before the break. It was essential not to lose early wickets, so bringing all his experience and wisdom to bear, Steve O opened with Iggy and Angelo. As they strode out Iggy asked “permission to slog skipper?”. He then hit the first ball of the innings for 4. Angelo on the other hand, resisting the urge to do what he does best, and batter their openers short pitched stuff which was sitting up begging to be dispatched, blocked the straight ones and left the wide ones like a test match opener, only to be run out for 2 by a great throw from the outfield. When Ben Preece played no shot at his first ball, which cut in and took his off stump it seemed for a while another classic fuck up might be on the cards. As it was Iggy, Evan and Gary brought it home comfortably after tea and we reached the target for the loss of 3 wickets in the 25th over.

3rd in the division – well done to Steve O and the boys.

MOM – Budge

Cider – Budge’s peach of a ball

See  the full scorecard here

05/09/2010

The Sunday 1st Team beat Lansdown by 5 wickets. TT reports thus:

‘But it’s not supposed to be like this,’ bleated a few of us who’d spent the morning perusing all the available weather forecasts, as we sat under the porch at Frenchay listening to the rain drumming on the roof. The sight of some of the opposing Lansdown team turning up with a rugby ball got a few hot under the collar, but for a while it looked like the more appropriate sport.

Eventually, the drizzle eased a bit and the covers were rolled off to reveal a reasonable, if sticky playing surface. Bolts won the toss and dithered little in his decision to have a bowl, electing Harry and Dave L to take the new ball. The young Lansdown openers started very slowly, thanks to some thumbscrew-tight bowling from Dave but it was Harry who made the breakthrough when Bolts pouched the first of his three catches.

Justin was on duty behind the stumps again and made Martin a happy man when he came on to bowl and provoked an edge that Justin eagerly snaffled. Sadat generated some pace from the other end and eventually bowled the other stubborn opener to leave Lansdown on 69-3 some time after the 20 overs drinks break.

The rain had continued to fall on and off but mercifully the ball hadn’t degenerated into a sodden sponge, although it did get a bit scuffed after being deposited for several straight boundaries off Martin, who was somewhat reluctant to let your correspondent have the ball when given the nod from the skip. Hidayat came on at the other end and broke the middle order partnership that had been steadily threatening to crescendo to a competitive final total and justice was achieved not long after, when Martin caught out his earlier tormentor.

The novice Sunday 1st XI bowler had further success when Justin took a fine, low, leg-side catch and then again, off his worst ball, to Bolt’s finest catch. He was then somewhat perplexed to discover that it was a 35 overs match and that the innings was at an end with Lansdown on 151-7.

A few sandwiches later, Justin and Bolts were off to navigate the way to the target. The first three balls hit Justin uncomfortably, the fourth he prodded behind for a catch. After the jittery start, Wilko proceeded to compile a fifty run partnership with Bolts, playing his deft, trademark, late dabs until Bolts was lbw for 20 and he was joined by Duncan. The score cruised up at a good rate to 81 before the pair went in quick succession, Duncan to a catch, Wilko stumped smartly for 33. A few runs later, Harry was adjudged lbw for a duck, leaving the Cowboys on a still healthy, but possibly crumbly underneath 86-5.

Contrary to appearances, the next man in wasn’t hiding, but sheltering amongst the conifers from the wind as the chilly autumnal evening descended. He waited and waited, as Hidayat and Dave L progressed with just the right blend of care and aggression, taking the total towards and past 100. The fielding side displayed a mixture of superlative throwing and slapstick as they tried in vain to break the partnership. Spectators arrived from the friendly match on the other pitch (big up Nelly’s 50) as the pair at the wicket calmly overhauled their target with an unbroken 69 run partnership in the 32nd over.

The pink champagne flowed, followed by a pint served for the last time by Chris and Ian, who are retiring from their voluntary running of the bar and will be hard to replace.

Man of the Match was shared between Hidayat, Dave L and Tim and the Cider Moment split between Dave being bowled off a no ball and the third of Bolt’s catches.

This report was first posted here.

The full scorecard can be seen here.

Remember that this is where all sections of the Club meet, men’s football, women’s football, netball, cricket etc. Team managers please make sure that 2 people from your team attend.

The Saturday Team beat Oldfield Park by 2 wickets (sort of, but in the spirit of the game more like -3 wickets)

The Saturday Team’s season was going swimmingly until we met bottom of the table Oldfield Park at Frenchay, they posted 108 and in an exciting finish we did not. Our season then headed, if not South, maybe South by South West. Putting a very strong XI out for the return match against a team who were now  second from bottom but who could only managing to field 8 players, lightening surely could not strike twice. Oh, but dear reader as you will know by now it not only strikes twice it sometimes strikes thrice.

So it was that we arrived in an odd little cleft where the climate was warm, wet and windy (like my men). A pitch inspection revealed that it to be so soggy that no one was willing to risk their car keys. The opposition skipper with only 8 players at his disposal suggested to Uberpops that we should forgo the toss and allow them to bat first so that we could at least “make a game of it”. Prophetic words indeed.

With the wind whistling down the cleft, making controlling the bowling difficult, Garner and Budge opened up. The batsmen stood firm and tried not to do anything rash on a treacherous strip. They chugged along at a comfortable 3 an over until, after the first bowling change, their number 1 stood on his own wicket. Not that most of us had noticed, so his sudden departure without so much as an appeal caused a little confusion until Gretch pointed out what had happened.

Fighting the wind Dodger also struggled with his line and was not helped by an umpire who called a wide for anything missing middle. His first over included an impressive 5 wide deliveries which prompted him to ask Gretch if it was swing or just shit.  With lots of wickets left the foe enjoyed a little thrash at the end and reached 143 for 5. Not a bad score in terrible batting conditions. Roger ended up taking 3 wickets and Rob got 2. Budge in an impressive display of controlled bowling went for 22 off his 8 overs even though he was bowling at the death while the foe made hay.

There was an eccentric mix of fielding on display. Garner fell over to produce a stunning stop on the boundary and Ev let the now obligatory one go through his legs. Rob, haring round the boundary went for a catch but ended up palming it for six before tumbling to the ground head first and almost rendering himself unconscious. Seeing a chance to get us down to 10 men the batsman tried to persuade Rob to give up and go home but our brave boy continued manfully if a little groggily.

Grove and Iggy strode to the crease to get the Cowboys’ reply under way. Grove was in a bit of a state having broken his glasses that very morning. He tried batting in rose tinted prescription glasses but with the sun behind a cloud life still seemed unbearably dull. Handing the glasses to the umpire Grove continued o-natural and persuading himself that he could see far less than he actually could he was out to a very shit shot for 2. Ben and his hangover staggered to 10 before being caught and an uncomfortable Angelo was also caught for a duck. Now bear in mind that they only had 8 players and our first three wickets had fallen to catches, it was becoming apparent that the foe’s captain knew how to set a field.

With the ball keeping low Iggy was out for a hearty 23, Gretch was looking like he was going to show us how to bat properly again but went for 9 and Uberpops , disappointed that Grove was not there to run him out, surrendered his wicket for just  1. Bugger! 56 for 6, how humiliating. Ev was hanging on with an early night and his new glasses intactus serving him well. Budge provided good support and a little hope getting 19 before getting bowled and so Garner entered the fray. He strode manfully to the crease to be told by Ev “run on everything”, Garner taking him at his word hit the ball straight to a fielder and ran, Ev having a less literal interpretation of what he had just said did not. Garner run out for 1.

With the excitement growing a demented domestic drove the spectators mad with incessant hovering, Dodger trundled to the crease and received a hearty full toss which he biffed for 6 hitting Iggy’s car, surely a good omen. Much hectic running ensued as Ev surged relentlessly towards the target.  But what is this? With a East-West facing pitch the cunning captain had saved his lob bowler for the death and the setting sun. Squinting into the light Dodger and Ev nudged and nurdled the 8 fielders and themselves towards exhaustion.  A firm biff by Dodger reached within a foot of the boundary and stopped, as the weary fielder ran to fetch it Ev ran 3 and then stopped and waited while Dodger eventually finished his 3 as well. It still looked tight but another 6 from Roger and a run 4 made it seem certain and we made it with 2 overs to spare. Ev finished on 46 and Dodger on 29.

Gosh! The fiendish foe gave it absolutely everything in the field and with a cunning captain using his spars resources well they made the most of another inept Cowboys’ batting performance. Rafael, the bored Brasilian, seemed far less than enamoured with his first encounter with cricket despite what he was told was an exciting finish. Two of our other supporters also got pissed off when they were told they could not lie in the sun a good 5 meters inside the boundary, you would think that  the undermanned foe would have welcomed two reclining ladies.

On checking the other scores we were dismayed to find that Wrington had managed to cancel their home game thus ensuring that they finished top of the league with 54 points, a loss would have left it open for Keynsham to finish top and us to finish level with them on 52 points. Now with us on 48 and Avonside on 46 third place rests on the final match of the season… yes you guessed it, EC vrs. Avonside.

MOM – Ev and his optician

Cider moment – Dodger biffing a dent into Iggy’s roof.

See the full scorecard here.

29/08/2010

The Sunday 1st Team beat Lansdown by 22 runs. Neil reports thus. What a lovely bunch Lansdown seemed, as we chatted about how awful it was that teams put their top-team players into matches to try and get extra wins, even if it was unsustainable because there was no core to the team being artificially strengthened. Little did I know until after the match that they were in fact playing three of their Saturday team today. Also, the ‘official neutral umpire’ (who actually did a good job) was part of their club. Still, the good spirit continued as Lansdown won the toss and put us in to bat on a still damp Frenchay wicket that was drying all the time.

The openers Justin and Bolts completed stage one of the job with a handy opening stand of 44 off the 1st 10 overs, seeing off their opening bowlers and causing Lansdown to begin sniping at each other with frustration. Bolts was out for 20 chasing yet another wide ball, this time he stretched and ensured the ball ended up in the hands of the point fielder, galling as he had been advising Justin not to do what he just had done. Justin hung around for several hours for his 21.

Meanwhile Wilki went cheaply but Just and Duncan built a partnership and the situation of having wickets in hand for a last 10 over push was on. From 110-3 off 30 the Cowboys pushed and pushed to record a very fine 181-9 off the 40 overs, everyone putting aside any of their own selfish interests in pursuit of a decent score for the team.

The Frenchay wicket was now almost as dry as my nervous throat. As usual with our matches, the game swung one way and then the other, Lansdown build a partnership-lose a couple of wickets- build another partnership – lose a couple of wickets, the Cowboys fielders looking sharp- looking ragged-pulling itself together- until we skittled their tail and they were all out for 159 in the 38th over. 3 wickets went to the Afghan trio, but, it was the old, silvery, wily head of Stratto who took 2 wickets and the mighty Brewood who, having shared a daydream he had had with Bolts of a bowling plan, put it into action and 4-22 was the evidence of its successful implementation, Dave L completes the list of those taking wickets. A special mention for Justin who, due to us having broken our other wicket keepers, stepped in to wear the gloves with quite some skill.

As the last wicket tumbled, cue the cuddling scenes. Promotion had been assured. looking at the table it appears to have been a fairly easy ride as we now put 16 points between us and 3rd place but, my goodness, it didn’t feel that way the last couple of weeks.

Man of the match was Mr Brewood who, along with his bowling haul, top-scored with the bat with a fine 38 runs.

Cider moment was for Dean’s impression of Sparky as he was run out off a wide-called delivery.

And TT reports thus:

With a chance of promotion to Division 3 at stake in their home match against Lansdown’s Sunday 2nd XI this week, it was a bit of a thrill to be embedded with the Sunday 1st XI at Frenchay.

Having eleven bowlers in the side seemed like an advantage and could perhaps have swayed the decision about what to do with a winning toss on a seaming, drying wicket. As it was, the opposition sent the Cowboys out to bat and goodness me, my dear old thing, it turned out that they had eleven batsmen too.

Justin and Bolts opened up, making steady progress with the slow bowlers of dubious action as some spectators reached for their 15° protractors and theodolites. Both made a score before succumbing to catches, Wilko hit a boundary then fell to another catch before Duncan and Hidayat steadied things and pushed on. Not that the Lansdown fielders took all their catches, but what they lacked in catching ability they made up for with good throwing arms, making the Cowboys’ running between the wickets all the more commendable, yet at times a smidgen fraught.

Stereophonic sound is a wonderful thing, often not appreciated until your world goes mono. Rather alarmingly, one of the disadvantages of batting with temporary hearing loss in one ear, seems to be that calls of YES! NO! and WAIT! all sound like ARGH! No matter, there were no mid-pitch mix-ups as the middle order progressed.

Hidayat having fallen to the fourth catch of the innings, it would have been dull to have departed in the same manner and so with plenty of batting to come, the writer in residence drove at a straight yet bendy one and was bowled, making way for first Dave L and then Sadat to join Duncan and force the score on. Duncan fell to a catch on 38, Sadat smashed a couple of colossal sixes, pushing the run rate to more than four an over before he was bowled for 21 and then the tail mustered a supporting wag.

In the confusion following a run taken from a wide, Dean lost sight of the ball and ended up the wrong side of the crease when the ball eventually arrived. When Martin strode purposefully to the wicket to face the last ball of the innings the bowler obliged by putting it in the ideal position for Stratto’s deft sweep to the leg side boundary for four. Not a duck in sight, the Cowboys had eeked out a good par score of 181 for 9.

TEA thanks to Wilko.

The aforementioned eleven bowlers gave rise to the question of who was going to keep wicket and after initial interest was shown by Duncan, the role was taken by Justin. Under clearing skies and sunshine Dave L and Sayed opened the bowling, the former being particularly tight and economical, the latter displaying customary hostility but unable to make the breakthrough.

Sadat restricted then bowled one of the openers, Duncan took a catch off Dave’s bowling to remove the other but then a stubborn young left-hander came to the crease, building a partnership to keep Lansdown in contention. Martin bustled in for his first few overs without success and at the 20 overs drinks break, the opposition were still only two wickets down and in sight of the run rate.

Soon after, despite, or because of the tartrazine possibly present in the mid-innings tipple, long-on clung on to a well-judged catch off Martin, who soon had the new batsman bowled for a duck. For a long time afterwards, Lansdown remained only four wickets down.

A catch or two went down, fielding positions became increasingly questionable, hotly debated or ignored. Later, someone would comment on the Cowboys’ “capacity for self-destructiveness during the 15-30 overs stage.” Hidayat and Duncan were the fifth and sixth bowlers used, the other few not called upon and for a nerve-jangling time, nothing happened.

At some point, monophonic hearing and an uncharacteristic reluctance by Duncan and the audibly impaired close fielder to shout for a catch, somehow failed to result in a mid-air collision, although in taking last-minute evasive action the latter narrowly missed pulling off a smart catch, the former, possibly, a simpler one. Soon after it was all smiles as Duncan hit the stumps and broke a partnership, yet still those blighters came at us. A runner came out with the injured opposition skipper and confused things. Some people expressed their anxiety and there was much shouting about things.

Without the publication of a detailed order of service with regard to the fall of wickets and with worse than usual short-term memory, it’s not possible to recall exactly how Lansdown performed from around the 30 over mark. Suffice to say, Duncan continued to bowl his spinners and snared more victims in his web of 4 for 22, Sayed returned for another spell to grab the wickets he’d been missing and the opposition started to make a meal of a meagre last ten over chase.

The much appreciated home side supporters were starting to look like nervous spot-fixers. Everyone was. Panic turned to optimism, Dean clutched a catch to his chest, Sayed bowled a couple of pearlers and Lansdown had capitulated by the 37th over, 23 runs short of their target.

Crikey! That’ll be promotion then. Back at the pub someone was overheard saying, “We’ve just got to make damned sure that the Home Office leave our Afghanis alone.”

Duncan was unanimously nominated Man of the Match for his all round contributions, Cider Moment votes were received for Dean’s run-out and other events recorded in the scorebook but not in these grey cells drizzled in olive oil.

The full scorecard is here.

TT’s report originally posted here.

What a lovely bunch Lansdown seemed, as we chatted about how awful it was that
teams put their top-team players into matches to try and get extra wins, even if
it was unsustainable because there was no core to the team being artificially
strengthened. Little did I know until after the match that they were in fact
playing three of their Saturday team today. Also, the 'official neutral umpire'
(who actually did a good job) was part of their club.

Still, the good spirit continued as Lansdown won the toss and put us in to bat
on a still damp Frenchay wicket that was drying all the time.

The openers Justin and Bolts completed stage one of the job with a handy opening
stand of 44 off the 1st 10 overs, seeing off their opening bowlers and causing
Lansdown to begin sniping at each other with frustration. Bolts was out for 20
chasing yet another wide ball, this time he stretched and ensured the ball ended
up in the hands of the point fielder, galling as he had been advising Justin not
to do what he just had done. Justin hung around for several hours for his 21.
Meanwhile Wilki went cheaply but Just and Duncan built a partnership and the
situation of having wickets in hand for a last 10 over push was on. From 110-3
off 30 the Cowboys pushed and pushed to record a very fine 181-9 off the 40
overs, everyone putting aside any of their own selfish interests in pursuit of a
decent score for the team.

The Frenchay wicket was now almost as dry as my nervous throat. As usual with
our matches, the game swung one way and then the other, Lansdown build a
partnership-lose a couple of wickets- build another partnership - lose a couple
of wickets, the Cowboys fielders looking sharp- looking ragged-pulling itself
together- until we skittled their tail and they were all out for 159 in the 38th
over. 3 wickets went to the Afghan trio, but, it was the old, silvery, wily head
of Stratto who took 2 wickets and the mighty Brewood who, having shared a
daydream he had had with Bolts of a bowling plan, put it into action and 4-22
was the evidence of its successful implementation, Dave L completes the list of
those taking wickets. A special mention for Justin who, due to us having broken
our other wicket keepers, stepped in to wear the gloves with quite some skill.

As the last wicket tumbled, cue the cuddling scenes. Promotion had been assured.
looking at the table it appears to have been a fairly easy ride as we now put 16
points between us and 3rd place but, my goodness, it didn't feel that way the
last couple of weeks.

Man of the match was Mr Brewood who, along with his bowling haul, top-scored
with the bat with a fine 38 runs.
Cider moment was for Dean's impression of Sparky as he was run out off a
wide-called delivery.
What a lovely bunch Lansdown seemed, as we chatted about how awful it was that

teams put their top-team players into matches to try and get extra wins, even if

it was unsustainable because there was no core to the team being artificially

strengthened. Little did I know until after the match that they were in fact

playing three of their Saturday team today. Also, the 'official neutral umpire'

(who actually did a good job) was part of their club.

 

Still, the good spirit continued as Lansdown won the toss and put us in to bat

on a still damp Frenchay wicket that was drying all the time.

 

The openers Justin and Bolts completed stage one of the job with a handy opening

stand of 44 off the 1st 10 overs, seeing off their opening bowlers and causing

Lansdown to begin sniping at each other with frustration. Bolts was out for 20

chasing yet another wide ball, this time he stretched and ensured the ball ended

up in the hands of the point fielder, galling as he had been advising Justin not

to do what he just had done. Justin hung around for several hours for his 21.

Meanwhile Wilki went cheaply but Just and Duncan built a partnership and the

situation of having wickets in hand for a last 10 over push was on. From 110-3

off 30 the Cowboys pushed and pushed to record a very fine 181-9 off the 40

overs, everyone putting aside any of their own selfish interests in pursuit of a

decent score for the team.

 

The Frenchay wicket was now almost as dry as my nervous throat. As usual with

our matches, the game swung one way and then the other, Lansdown build a

partnership-lose a couple of wickets- build another partnership - lose a couple

of wickets, the Cowboys fielders looking sharp- looking ragged-pulling itself

together- until we skittled their tail and they were all out for 159 in the 38th

over. 3 wickets went to the Afghan trio, but, it was the old, silvery, wily head

of Stratto who took 2 wickets and the mighty Brewood who, having shared a

daydream he had had with Bolts of a bowling plan, put it into action and 4-22

was the evidence of its successful implementation, Dave L completes the list of

those taking wickets. A special mention for Justin who, due to us having broken

our other wicket keepers, stepped in to wear the gloves with quite some skill.

 

As the last wicket tumbled, cue the cuddling scenes. Promotion had been assured.

looking at the table it appears to have been a fairly easy ride as we now put 16

points between us and 3rd place but, my goodness, it didn't feel that way the

last couple of weeks.

 

Man of the match was Mr Brewood who, along with his bowling haul, top-scored

with the bat with a fine 38 runs.

Cider moment was for Dean's impression of Sparky as he was run out off a

wide-called delivery.

 

 

No game

22/08/2010

The Sunday 1st team lost to Bristol Indians by 51 runs. Bolts reports thus:

If tension, sledging, bickering and all-out gamesmanship are your thang, then this was the match for you as this table-topping clash continually threatened to spill over. The cowboys versus the Indians in the wild west wasn’t this rough.

The captaincy team had been working on a plan for the Indians for the last few weeks; step one fell into place as we won the toss and put the Indians in to bat on a wet and sticky wicket at Coombe Dingle. The second part of the plan fell into place too as a determined effort in the field and a cunning change of bowler order left the Indians all out in the 38th over for ‘just’ 151. Two rare run outs, 7 wickets shared between the Afghans and 1 from Aran saw them off. The centurion from the last game between us: Sahil Patel still managed to top score for the Indians but this time only made 25 and saw much, premature, rejoicing. It wasn’t in the plan that the Afghan / Indian banter would begin to escalate into feuding and vitriol. gathering the team together on 30 overs could not stem the flow of insults between each team but at least it stopped us bickering at each other as the tension and adrenalin coursed through our veins.There are things to work on in this team, staying positive with each other, not screaming to ensure a catch is about to be dropped, not winding up the opposition when you are on top – thus making them play harder, all things that can be addressed with some carefully chosen words and some more experience for the Afghans in game situations.

Until drinks were due (although not taken) at 20 overs, the plan was still very much in effect with the Cowboys on 65 for 2, Bolts having just been caught playing an exhausted shot as the tricky wicket, humid conditions, and several hours of adrenalin rush came to an end. Justin, Bolts and Wilki had shown that this was not going to be a walkover and hard graft and patience would win the day. So what did our middle order do? Decided to bat half-asleep and try and gaily waft their way to victory, that’s what. Incredibly, this tactic did not work and Cowboys slumped to 100 all out and the title dream was over. Happy bloody birthday skip. Life begins at 40, does it end at 43? We shall see, as thefinal two games (both games at Frenchay, against Lansdown who are in 3rd place in the division) of the season will decide whether we can achieve promotion, one win out of the two will see us up, does the pressure ever let up?

See the full scorecard here.

The Sunday 2nd Team lost to Brislington by 90 runs. TT reports thus:

If all that matters are points, prizes and league table positions, then what follows is no more than a match report mitigating the final performance of the season by the worst team in the league, who have finished bottom of Division 5 in the Sunday Conference.

But it’s not quite like that, is it?

Although losing to Brislington Sunday 2nd XI in a home game played away (?) the Cowboys resisted until the final over, not out batsman Andy Chester winning a couple of cider moment nominations for some stylish shots to the leg side boundary after the battle was lost.

It was said that the Brislington ground had been under water the night before and so the Cowboys waited at home for the result of a late pitch inspection before embarking upon a 30 over match at 3 pm. Later, it transpired that there had been a free bar at the ground the previous evening, which may or may not have had any bearing on the delayed start.

DC2 inserted the opposition on a stodgy wicket with a lot of cloud cover and Iggy and Dave L reaped rewards with some excellently targeted deliveries, reducing Brislington to 30 for 3. The change bowlers continued to take wickets, albeit a little less economically, ably supported by all in the field. It’s still a bit of a mystery as to how Brislington ended up on 190 for 9, not only because at the time of writing the NSCL website currently shows no detailed stats.

After a hastily thrown together tea, not approved by the Vegan Society and constructed on a roundabout somewhere en-route, Iggy and DC1 began to climb the mountain. Together they gave the Cowboys a very solid base, Iggy scoring runs a plenty over the top and DC1 accumulating well along the ground. There was a faint whiff of jug avoidance as Iggy holed out before his 50, having previously smashed the opposition skipper for four boundaries in one over, but no matter, he justly deserved the Man Of The Match award later and is rumoured to be taking a day off to construct shelves at home to accommodate autumnal trophies.

Grant was very unfortunate to be out to one of the best catches of the season, plucked from the sky by the smallest person on the field. Others in the middle order fell to tamer opportunities while trying to catch up with an increasingly large run rate before the tail chilled and batted out the final overs.

Rather surprisingly, given that victory and promotion were in the Brislington kit bag, the opposition youth displayed more than a tad of petulance, their keeper advancing down the wicket at one stage informing the umpire ‘that’s out that is!’ Apologies were immediately forthcoming from the older generation who expressed exasperation at the difficulties they have had all season in keeping their pups at heel.

Photographic evidence would suggest that the Cowboys reached 118 in the final over although the NSCL website begs to differ. It’s true to say that there had been a few umpiring mishaps with regards to extras – for which apologies are proffered – although those alone don’t account for the disparity.

See the full scorecard here.

This report was originally posted here.

If tension, sledging, bickering and all-out gamesmanship are your thang, then
this was the match for you as this table-topping clash continually threatened to
spill over. The cowboys versus the Indians in the wild west wasn't this rough.

The captaincy team had been working on a plan for the Indians for the last few
weeks; step one fell into place as we won the toss and put the Indians in to bat
on a wet and sticky wicket at Coombe Dingle. The second part of the plan fell
into place too as a determined effort in the field and a cunning change of
bowler order left the Indians all out in the 38th over for 'just' 151. Two rare
run outs, 7 wickets shared between the Afghans and 1 from Aran saw them off. The
centurion from the last game between us: Sahil Patel still managed to top score
for the Indians but this time only made 25 and saw much, premature,
rejoicing. It wasn't in the plan that the Afghan / Indian banter would begin to
escalate into feuding and vitriol. gathering the team together on 30 overs could
not stem the flow of insults between each team but at least it stopped us
bickering at each other as the tension and adrenalin coursed through our
veins.There are things to work on in this team, staying positive with each
other, not screaming to ensure a catch is about to be dropped, not winding up
the opposition when you are on top - thus making them play harder, all things
that can be addressed with some carefully chosen words and some more experience
for the Afghans in game situations.

Until drinks were due (although not taken) at 20 overs, the plan was still very
much in effect with the Cowboys on 65 for 2, Bolts having just been caught
playing an exhausted shot as the tricky wicket, humid conditions, and several
hours of adrenalin rush came to an end. Justin, Bolts and Wilki had shown that
this was not going to be a walkover and hard graft and patience would win the
day. So what did our middle order do? Decided to bat half-asleep and try
and gaily waft their way to victory, that's what. Incredibly, this tactic did
not work and Cowboys slumped to 100 all out and the title dream was over.  Happy
bloody birthday skip. Life begins at 40, does it end at 43? We shall see, as the
final two games  (both games at Frenchay, against Lansdown who are in 3rd place
in the division) of the season will decide whether we can achieve promotion, one
If tension, sledging, bickering and all-out gamesmanship are your thang, then

this was the match for you as this table-topping clash continually threatened to

spill over. The cowboys versus the Indians in the wild west wasn't this rough.

 

The captaincy team had been working on a plan for the Indians for the last few

weeks; step one fell into place as we won the toss and put the Indians in to bat

on a wet and sticky wicket at Coombe Dingle. The second part of the plan fell

into place too as a determined effort in the field and a cunning change of

bowler order left the Indians all out in the 38th over for 'just' 151. Two rare

run outs, 7 wickets shared between the Afghans and 1 from Aran saw them off. The

centurion from the last game between us: Sahil Patel still managed to top score

for the Indians but this time only made 25 and saw much, premature,

rejoicing. It wasn't in the plan that the Afghan / Indian banter would begin to

escalate into feuding and vitriol. gathering the team together on 30 overs could

not stem the flow of insults between each team but at least it stopped us

bickering at each other as the tension and adrenalin coursed through our

veins.There are things to work on in this team, staying positive with each

other, not screaming to ensure a catch is about to be dropped, not winding up

the opposition when you are on top - thus making them play harder, all things

that can be addressed with some carefully chosen words and some more experience

for the Afghans in game situations.

 

Until drinks were due (although not taken) at 20 overs, the plan was still very

much in effect with the Cowboys on 65 for 2, Bolts having just been caught

playing an exhausted shot as the tricky wicket, humid conditions, and several

hours of adrenalin rush came to an end. Justin, Bolts and Wilki had shown that

this was not going to be a walkover and hard graft and patience would win the

day. So what did our middle order do? Decided to bat half-asleep and try

and gaily waft their way to victory, that's what. Incredibly, this tactic did

not work and Cowboys slumped to 100 all out and the title dream was over.  Happy

bloody birthday skip. Life begins at 40, does it end at 43? We shall see, as the

final two games  (both games at Frenchay, against Lansdown who are in 3rd place

in the division) of the season will decide whether we can achieve promotion, one

win out of the two will see us up, does the pressure ever let up?

 

win out of the two will see us up, does the pressure ever let up?

The venue is still to be confirmed, so if anyone has any suggestions please get in touch. We also gladly welcome offers (from anyone, whether you’ve been to Chiapas or not) of help to organise the event and help on the night. We have tried to contact the many Cowfolk who have been out to Chiapas, but if you were missed off the list let us know!

Email kiptik@kiptik.org

To be held on Wednesday 15th September, 7.30pm at Hawks Gym. Team managers please make sure that 2 people from your team attend.

Cowgirls AGM

This will take place on Monday 13th September in the Plough, after training (about 8.30pm) We’ll be appointing a new chair and secretary, so if you fancy a slice of the glory, fame and glamour that goes with these jobs, make sure you’re there.

The Saturday Team game against Whitchurch was rained off.

15/05/2010

The Sunday1st Team beat Blackwell Flax-Bourton and his chums by 58 runs. TT reports thus:

There may be no such thing as full employment in the world of economics and job markets, but in the Easton Cowboys Sunday 1st XI’s match against Backwell Flax Bourton, everyone bent their back in one direction or another to help pull off a convincing 59 run victory.

After the previous day’s deluge there wasn’t much doubt as to what to do with a winning toss on a damp, spongy, green wicket and so it was that the opposition inserted the Cowboys when the coin fell on their side. Not only did skipper Bolts lose the toss but before there was a run on the board he’d lost his wicket to a well taken catch too. Wilki steadied the ship against the young guns who were proving difficult to tonk away, a task not aided by the long boundary and damp, lush outfield.

When Justin departed having just reached double figures, it was clear that it was going to be a relatively low scoring game and despite positive intent, Harry struggled to overtake that mark and returned to the pavilion with the score on 48 for 3. Hidayat and Wilki then punched and deftly dabbled a partnership of thirty until the latter went to the fourth catch of the innings.

Meanwhile, across the other side of the country at RAF Scampton, some rather powerful BAE Systems engines were warming up and sat navs being set for our vicinity. Yes, Europe’s largest arms exporter was headed our way and things were about to get a bit dicey.

On the pitch, or more accurately, behind the stumps, the gamesmanship had been cranking up since the start. Admittedly your own correspondent was very lucky to survive several balls that gated him and missed the stumps by a whisker and was having trouble pulling off any confident scoring shots. Being constantly reminded of this from behind the stumps didn’t help and the intensity of the chatter threatened to drown out the sound of the approaching Red Arrows after surviving a confident appeal for an edge behind that wasn’t.

Hidayat on the other hand was now well warmed up and threatening to score the first boundary of the innings with each missile he launched into the outfield. The score was beginning to get some colour in its cheeks and the fielding side were getting increasingly frustrated. And then a misfire went vertical high above the pitch, the keeper advanced a few paces, quite capable of catching the ball in his mouth and Hidayat called his partner for a pointless run.

The non-striker had already done much running of late and what with the large figure of the approaching keeper and the other incoming fielders, the road through was looking congested. Besides, why deprive the new batsman of the opportunity of being on strike? He loudly declined the futile offer, sending Hidayat in search of the crease he’d just left. Unfortunately the keeper now occupied the space directly behind the batsman, who turned hastily and immediately collided with him, breaking his box in the process and staggering injured to the turf within his ground. In the melee, the keeper dropped the ball and the opposition were understandably a bit peeved. It was all rather unfortunate but clearly not intentional.

Hidayat now required a runner (Wilki) to continue and if that didn’t make it chaotic enough, the Red Arrows were by now looping the loop and farting coloured smoke above our heads.

The fifth wicket and catch were taken with the score on 144 with a strong tail still to come in support of Hidayat, now well past his fifty and having finally penetrated the boundary, to the audible delight of one of the visiting umpires. Perhaps inevitably with a runner on the field, Hidayat was finally run out for 78 and the Cowboys eventually finished on 169 for 7, whatever the scoreboard might have said.

Given the depth of the bowling attack, the Cowboys took to the field after tea with confidence, Harry and Sayed tying down the openers with fine spells and Martin and Sadat following up with tight inroads into the opposition’s early order who, thanks to some snappy and highly commendable keeping from Reg and attention to duty in the field, found themselves behind the run rate at 33 for 3.

There followed a mid order partnership of over fifty which though never threatening proved hard to shift, the ball always somehow being batted just out of reach of the fielders. It was shortly after the batsmen were heard to say that they were cruising it that Hidayat made the breakthrough, Dave L following with a great spot of bowling to reduce BFB to 91 for 5 with a long way to go.

The Cowboys had sniffed blood. Sayed returned for another spell and Hidayat’s safe hands at long off made it 95 for 6, then Bolts shrieked and juggled in the deep off Dave L to make it 96 for 7. Sayed dispensed with the need for fielders by spearing in a couple of exocets to hit the base of the stumps, ending with figures of 4 for 11 as the opposition limped to close on nelson for nine with a tad of last wicket resistance.

Hidayat was voted Man Of The Match for his great all-round performance and the cider moment was shared between Bolt’s startled, juggled catch and the mid pitch melee.

This report was originally posted on Green Lung.

Scorecard

04/08/2010

The friendly cricket team played a 20/20 match against Ram CC at Bath University. Ram batted first and with each player getting to bowl 2 overs each they reached 160 with some impressive biffing and a fast outfield. Billy pulled off an amazing caught & bowled and Alan took two difficult skiers. With the Sun setting and the dew settling the boundaries slowed considerable… well that is our excuse.  Unable to hit any 4s Grove and Jeffer had to run like loons, something that continued when Alan arrived at the crease. Having just run a 3 Alan and Grove set off for a 2, which due to an overthrow became a 3, which in turn became a 4 with a second over throw. Grove only just managed to complete the 4th run and then had to be helped from the field to have a lie down. In such a fashion the cowboys managed to reach 140 odd. The Rams then took us to the pub and fed us.

07/08/2010

The Saturday Team beat Midsomer Norton by 79 runs.

With Ubes still on holiday Ev and Roger guided our brave boys to victory. The Cowboys won the toss and batted first getting to 217 for 7. Iggy got 75, Wilko got 55 and Ev got 32.

In reply MSN got to 138 all out from 32.1 overs. Kalu opened the bowling with 8 overs, 22 runs for 2 wickets and Wilko also picked up 2 wickets bowling just 2 overs at the death. The other wickets were evenly spread.

Full Scorecard Here

08/08/2010

The Sunday 1st Team did not have a game.

The Sunday Team lost to Bristol Bangledeshies by 165 runs. TT reports thus:

At the time of writing, the NSCL website shows that the first time that the Sunday 2nd XI played Bristol Bangladeshis 2nd XI this season, none of the Cowboys’ bowlers went for any runs at all. A stunning feat, surely hard to better, or perhaps a computer / human error.

With several of those unbelievably economical bowlers absent, it was certainly going to be a hard task, especially if the Bangladeshis played their demon off spinner Chirag Agarwal, who had taken a brilliant, if relatively expensive 7 for 4 in that previous encounter. But hold up, here comes the cavalry in the form of four Sunday 1st XI imports looking for a game, including DCPunk to replace DC2 at the helm for the day and with Aran, Justin and Bolts in the side too, confidence was quite buoyant. Reg even went so far as to park his motorbike in line with a straight six. Much debate was had over the perennial bat / bowl question, complicated by playing on the unfamiliar other wicket at Frenchay.

By 2.15 the Cowboys had taken to the field and were limiting the Bangladeshis’ openers to only a few runs an over and following a couple of well taken catches and great bowling from Aran, the opposition were 16 for 2. The chance to press home the advantage unfortunately went to ground a couple of times and the middle order partnerships upped the run rate against the part time bowlers, despite some tidy stuff from Bolts. A potential centurion was halted by a stunning caught and bowled from Aran and Reg and Justin conspired to prevent another reaching his fifty with a stumping. DCPunk considered himself unfortunate that none of the skyward balls launched from his bowling landed near any fielders, except one that Dave H claimed for his second. It is a big field. Your own correspondent bowled the last over and kindly donated three wides to help the Bangladeshis to a final 246 for 9.

‘Anger is an energy’ wailed John Lydon with PiL. Justin might have been humming this ditty to Bolts as they went out to bat, such was his apparent ire at having had to spend more time than usual running, walking, to retrieve the ball in the field and a fraught negotiation over ice cubes at tea. At least a dog didn’t step in his humous and wolf his muffin. Thanks Jack.

Through kindness, guile or stupidity the opposition opened with their tamest bowler and contrary to fears he was smitten and seen off without incident. All was fine and dandy, even after the introduction of the demon off spinner with infinite variety, who was handled with care until Bolts lost his leg stump and it was 33 for 1. Dave H and Ben S came and went quickly, followed by Justin, leaving Aran to provide some resistance and solidity. Alas and alack, nobody else made it to double figures, although the resilient acting skipper might have done had he not run out of partners in the 21st over with the total on 81, a minimal 3 run improvement on the season’s previous encounter. Chirag Agarwal took 6 for 9 for the Bangladeshis.

The original was posted here

The Full Score Card Here

Tickets Available From The Plough