12 Cavaliers 16 June 08

Sunny though not really that warm Wenvoe greeted us as we took on our old foes the Cavaliers. The toss was done with my credit card out in the middle (I was putting the stumps in) as neither skipper had a coin, JF won and we were batting.

JF and Easy opened up and a fantastic partnership developed with the skipper at one stage easily being outscored by Easy. Yes there was the odd Chinese cut but some really top shots and some excellent running as well. With the help of some wides the score rattled along nicely and we were 16 off 3 then 40 off 8. The score had reached 54 before Easy was first to go, bowled for 18 in 10th over, job done.

Shakes who has been in fine form lately continued to look good as he stroked the ball around while the skipper played some top shots though the biggest one just plugged and didn’t go for four towards the cars. The pair had added 18 before the skip hit a lovely four through the leg but then tried a bit of a heave and was bowled for another excellent knock of 32. 72 for 2 in the 13th.

Kim came in to bat which was a relief for the rest of us as he was getting on our tits as usual. Just get out there and do your f*cking thing! He said he was going to bat slow tonight at a run a ball. Thing is when you say just go and do your stuff you know he most probably will.

He and Shakes put on 36 before Shakey was run out in the most unlucky fashion when it was touched on by the bowler as he was backing up. Tough titty that one. What it did mean that the running would suddenly turn up a gear as Goughy was in next. 108 for 3 in the 16th.

I have seen plenty of Casuals come and go, not as many as some but still plenty. I have seen Pad bat, Shakey accumulate, my bro very rarely fail, Goughy break the record, Srini take it higher and then other top bats like Horse, Andy H etc but I am not sure I have seen a better complete package than Kim. When you add his fielding, running, catching, bowling and keeping into the equation I think you have to say that he is right up there. I certainly think he puts the bad ball away as well as anyone. When you have him and other master batsman Gough at the other end it is certainly a real joy to watch. This partnership was an absolute cracker. Some of the shots sublime (Goughy before he went out said he didn’t feel right having a bat in his hand?) and the running f*cking brilliant. They put on 52 in about 4 overs before Kim was out with 7 balls to go just after reaching his 50 (slight delay from the scorers like Siva yesterday but its no big deal for them getting to 50 anyway) trying to twat another one and was bowled. He hasn’t even got his own bat. 160 for 4 with 7 balls left and Kim gone for 52.

From the sublime to the ridiculous. I faced one ball of the penultimate over and thought I will try and twat this as a single would keep Goughy off strike. Twat it? I never got near it, dot ball. Simon took a two then a single of the next two balls so that put me back on strike. Now so far this season I have spent more time in the middle than the past 5 put together so am feeling ok with the bat and even yesterday although I didn’t last long due to my kamikaze approach saw the ball ok. I thought I will try and twat this and as long as I get a bit on it we will get a single. The next four balls were the most shameful and shocking of my Casuals career and that includes some golden ducks. Of course the sensible thing would have been to just push it and run to give Goughy the strike but no dickhead (AF) thinks he is KP. I actually got some bat on the second one and broke my f*cking bat. £20 down the drain. I couldn’t be bothered changing it as it was on the back and then had the shame of them bringing the field in to me. I thought I’ll show them but too more windmills later with the ball nowhere near my broken bat meant four dot balls, a broken bat, fielders getting closer to me while one of our premier batsman was at the other end. What a complete and utter prick, I was more pissed off than ever and I didn’t even get out. Just as well we had made 163 and you can just imagine the stick I was getting on the boundary while Goughy was laughing who ended on 15 not out. One of their guys said to Kim if you get me out with your bowling I will be sick of the sight of you so I piped up “don’t worry we already are”. As it was Kim was keeping.

Anyway, time to defend a big total with Andy Steadman quite capable of making it reachable. Dan who was a bit worse for wear after his golfing trip home opened up and five balls later a tremendous catch at mid off from Goughy (he had to dive forward and take it inches off the ground) meant that main danger man was gone 5 balls in. As he did last week he threw the ball up in the air but managed not to groan out loud!

Pablo operated from the far end while I was still sulking in the field. Continuing where he left off yesterday, Pabs beat the bat on several occasions and in his third over took out the other opener bowled and 23 for 2 in the 6th. The skipper at number 3 was playing and missing while also playing some really good shots but after the opening bowlers had finished their spell it was 30 for 3 as Paul had the number 4 caught behind neatly by Kim with the score on 26.

Andy took over from Dan (shagger is back was cried) and Nadders from Pabs. Andy has been looking sharp the last couple of games and seems a bit quicker than he has for a few years. In his second over he bowled the number 5 as he smashed the top of the stumps and than after bowling two leg side wides to the new batter did the same to him, awesome. 42 for 5 in the 11th and even eternal pessimist Shakey must have thought we would win despite Marchant still being there.

Nadders got in on the act and was bowling well (although he was heard to shout “shit” at one point - unheard of), so well in fact that he took the next wicket bowled. 47 or 6 in the 12th. Unfortunately for Nadders in his third over he lost it a bit and bowled two wides that went to the short boundary towards Penelope Keith’s house. Great 2.4 overs though Nadders.

This brought Dave on while Andy finished his spell at the pavilion end. Marchant decided to have a go at Dave but DT is far too canny these days as he came down the wicket and was bowled for a fine 34. 85 for 7 in the 17th. The skipper was in a position that he could bring on those that don’t usually bowl i.e. me! As he rightly pointed out it couldn’t be worse than the batting. I think my last bowl was that 4 innings game on a Sunday 2 years ago with the burgers after and that was the only two overs I bowled that year I think. Put it this way Kim had to ask me what I bowled and I said “slow” while the skipper instantly said “I will give you plenty of protection”. Fair enough. As it was I bowled ok with my mixed bag which is just as well or I would have thrown myself off the foot bridge by the ground.

There was still time for Dave to take a wicket from a top edge that went behind the batter which Easy indeed made look easy which in truth is what it was but you know what its like with us. Game over with the Cavs finishing on 96 for 8. A clinical performance where almost everything apart from the five balls I faced came off with bat and the bowling was rather good as well with all 5 bowling well. All round top performance and once again a spectacular innings from Kim standing out even though there were several really good contributions tonight. Seems like I was saying the same thing last Thursday which was also in contrast to the game on the previous Sunday.

One of the oppo who knows my brother asked if we were brothers so John had to admit the truth and the cheeky git said something along the lines of he can see who has the batting talent. I had to defend myself and said “he hasn’t score 83 this season”, but the guy looked at me as if to say who the f*ck were you playing? A bunch of 10 year olds! Point is I can’t really argue and now I need a new bat too!!! The pub after was quite a laugh with the usual varied topics ranging from politics to filth,Srini, how many weddings Nadders goes to and my complete and utter abortion of an innings.

To top my evening off I ran out of petrol (I tried to get some earlier but everywhere was empty) just as I was about to reach the main road. What a f*cking day I was having. Luckily the brothers Stephens were just behind me (hey hey!) and Mark kindly took me to the Cardiff West services where he filled up and I bought a petrol can. Thanks boys. So I didn’t get in till gone 11 but promised myself I would finish this before I went to bed.

JF-32 4 fours
Easy-18 1 four
Shakey-16 1 four
Kim-52 5 fours 2 sixes and we estimate about 25 balls if he played 5 dot balls.
Simon- 18 not out 1 four
Knob-0 not out 5 balls of shite

There were 23 wides in a total of 163 for 4 in 20 overs

Dan 4-0-13-1-4 wides
Pabs 4-0-17-2-3 wides
Andy H 4-0-21-2-4 wides
Nads 3-1-22-1-2 wides
Dave 3-0-18-2-3 wides
Furny 2-0-3-0 1 wide

28 wides in a total of 96 for 8 in 20 overs

One incident made me chuckle. Just as Dan walked back out into the field after finishing his excellent bowling spell, Kim, in his usual endearing manner, was heard to shout, "Well bowled, Dan. You only need to work on your fielding and batting now!" Next ball was hit to leg, Dan chased it to just inside the boundary, then launched one miles back in to Kim about 6 inches over the stumps. Kim immediately shouted, "Just your batting now!" (Ed- cheeky git)

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