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Match report vs Clytha
06 May 07 @ The Moat (Skipper and report Goughy)
After great weather for almost a month the casuals travelled
to Clytha with the sun deciding to recede behind the clouds
for the afternoon and by the time we found the Clytha Arms
the sun had disappeared and so had all the pubs ½ pint
glasses….why they did not half fill pint glasses we
did not know. However we were escorted to the ground and managed
to start at 2.45pm with the Casuals winning the toss under
new skipper Goughy and putting the oppo in.
This was a slightly risky tactic but with an unproved side
it gave us a good chance of a game. The bowling was opened
by Dewberry and (Roger) Bannister who kept it tight for the
first 4 overs before Roberts (a continual thorn in the casuals
side) opened up and started to flay the ball around, with
some luck, but without losing his wicket. With the first 10
overs gone Clytha were some runs for no loss with Dewbs and
Roger going for 28 and 23 respectively both bowling a tightline
but being punished for anything loose on a small pitch. (yes
I know the figures are not complete but the book was a little
incomprehensive)
Clytha were looking to accelerate at this point so skipper
Gough brought on the Casuals Mr Reliable of recent years in
Dave ‘Doughboy’ Thomas and he brought or should
that be bought a wicket in the first over with Roberts skying
the ball to Mid-on where the skipper ran from mid-off to take
the chance and leaving no one in doubt that he wanted it or
that he was pleased to take the catch with a loud scream that
could have been heard in Cardiff.
With the momentum behind him the skipper brought himself
on from the ‘madhouse end’ and he was about to
break a casuals record having only to bowl 2 dot balls to
beat the ‘dot ball’ record of 39 set by Andy Hood,
who watched in trepidation (or should that read a ‘warm
coat‘) from the side lines. Goughy managed the feat
and to celebrate he chucked one down the legside for a wide
and only extended the record by 1. Doughboy and Goughy then
proceeded to tie the batsmen down with DB getting another
wicket with a good rebound catch from Smitts and he ended
with great figures of 5-0-22-2 and Goughy with a miserly 5-0-12-0.
The next bowlers up were Shakes and Scott Hand (shandy) who
had mixed luck and fortunes with Shakes taking a good wicket
with a sharp chance from Smitts and Shandy struggling for
his line a little at this early stage of the season but due
to a scoreboard and scorer error he was allowed to bowl 6
overs (maximum 5 overs agreed before play) and returned figures
of 6-0-33-0. Shakes was taken off halfway though this but
was bowling when Dave ‘Doughboy’ / Paul Collingwood
Thomas ran out one of the top Clytha players with an almost
unbelievable direct hit with only 1 stump to aim at!!!!!!!
Roach replaced Shakes and with a mixture of good balls and
double bouncers ended with figures of 3-0-21-0. This just
left Shakes and Holiday to finish the innings with Shakes
finishing on 5-0-24-1 and poor Richie being spanked for 24
off his single over - the highlight being when he was carved
for six into the pavilion and watching as one of the oppo
‘ran’ from the rebound and tripped on a nearby
kitbag and was also hit in the face for his troubles. The
final Clytha score was 202 for 4 with their skipper finishing
on 43 not out.
Although not an insurmountable total the Casuals had much
work to do on a decent early season wicket and no mid innings
tea to blame on a likely poor performance.
The opening partnership was key for the Casuals and the skippers
faith was put into Matthew ‘Smitts’ Smith and
Matt ‘no real nickname yet’ Brierley who strode
to the middle with real conviction. They both started slowly
and after 5 overs they had scored 16 but were looking to up
the rate at any time and with Matt B starting to play some
sublime shots it was beginning to look good for the men from
Cardiff.
This partnership was soon broken up by a piece of mediocre
bowling and an umpiring decision of such mediocrity that it
is almost impossible to write….Smitts was hit on the
pad with a heavy bat deflection whilst also being more than
a good stride down the wicket. He was given with much enthusiasm
by the (Clytha) umpire and Smitts was on his way………
10 overs gone and we were 49-1
Next in after this farce was Roach who, although did not
seem to middle much, was running between the wickets like
a madman and the indoor running style was still alive. He
soon departed for 4 to be replaced by Richie who soon spooned
one up to mid off for 1 and his day of woe was over (apart
from umpiring). Out strode Shakes with new bat in hand - an
M+H willow which apart from one shot looked more like an H+M
willow. He left the game after being undone by a snorter for
5. Next out was the forth emergency service in Ash Akbari
who joined the steady but very correct Matt B. Sadly Matt
was undone by a wide one and edged to the keeper and correctly
walked after scoring a solid 41. There will be many more runs
to be had from this chap in the coming season despite whatever
Kim ‘Slogger’ Swain has to say.
20 overs and casuals were 93-5.
With a big defeat on the cards in strode the skipper to join
Ash and after getting off the mark first ball with a 4, he
was then dropped next ball and again in his 20’s by
the oppo skipper. In between times the casuals pair contrived
some Laurel and Hardy running which kept the crowd amused
and steadily brought back some respectability as they passed
their 50 partnership and then the 150 - all the time keeping
up with the 8 an over run rate and starting to really worry
the opposition who took to meeting at mid wicket to brew up
new plans after new plan. In the end the casuals (as ever)
became the architect of their own downfall with first Ash
being bowled for 14 and then Shandy being run out for 0 after
a very quick single being called and that was that. Gough
went soon after being stumped for 55 after a very tired swipe.
The end was almost nigh but with some quick dashes between
the wicket from Roger and Dewbs were helping but when Roger
was run out after playing a reverse sweep and a direct hit
saw his demise.This only left Doughboy facing the quicks who
had returned but he 2 was run out for 2 and the casuals had
slumped from 166-5 to 179 all out.
A good game played in a fierce but friendly fashion and many
good things to take through to the rest of the season. The
only thing left to do was tuck into the tea provided at the
pub - Roast potatoes, new potatoes, Ham, bread and some buttered
peas!! Very pleasant though and at last a hush had descended
over the casuals......
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