Match report vs South
Glam 19 May 08@ Wenvoe (Skipper Jonny F, report Andy
F)
The visit of S Glam is always a tough encounter so when JF
saw a tail he decided to bat with the hope of us scoring a
decent score to put pressure on. 11 Casuals were present at
the start but two of them were not down to play (Pikey in
his suit and Shakes not in his suit) and one of us (me) had
only one decent leg. Both Mr Smith and Mr Hirani who are responsible
for the future of this country had both confirmed but it seemed
had then forgotten. Luckily we were batting first and after
a couple of phone calls Smith was on his way but Hirani had
to be replaced by Shakey who managed to sueeze into Dan's
spare whites. His “wand” as he put it was with
him though.
JF and Goughy opened up and managed to put on 25 for the
first wicket until Goughy was caught and bowled for what seems
the thousandth time for ten, the highlight being back to back
fours out of his 13 faced. JF went next with the score on
54 in exactly the same manner to the same bowler for 13 off
37 balls which included one 4. By this time though Kim had
raced to 24 and despite the leggy turning it a lot, took him
apart so he finished with 4 overs for 49 of which 37 were
hit by Kim. Paul had joined Kim but was bowled by Bailey who
picked up his third wicket with Paul scoring a single of two
balls. Paul was heard to suggest he has lost it and now officially
can’t bat anymore!!
This brought late replacement and his brother to the wicket
who managed a lovely four off the leggy with his wand before
being bowled by Parry for that four off four balls. Smith
had by now arrived to which he told us that he knew he was
picked for this game but didn’t realise it was today?????
He was also next to go for 7 off 9 balls which also included
a four off the leggy. This left us 82 for 5 in the 15th with
Kim still there on 41. He reached his 50 with a rather large
six which landed just over the boundary to the left of where
we were sitting. This mega blow was followed by a smaller
but straight one into Penelope Keith’s area. He was
finally out trying to hit one six too many and was caught
at long off for a superb 63 from just 30 balls including 5
fours and 3 sixes. This left us 108 for 6 in the 17th. We
could only manage 11 more after he went. Omar played some
lovely shots into the covers before Muff was run out going
for a second to which he remarked as he came off, “I
think I have lost a yard or two” (ed- more like 22 as
the ball was in the fielders hands when he turned for the
second). Muff managing 2 off 5 balls and then Omar also was
out going for a second for a well made 10 off 11 balls including
1 four.
Andy Hood lasted one ball for what my brother described as
one of the easier LBW decisions. Not expecting this I then
had to rush to get my pads on and join Dan in the middle and
managed a single for Dan to face the last ball of the 19th
over which was indeed the last ball of the innings as Dan
was bowled from his first ball although I should point out
that he was playing a defensive shot. This meant we finished
on 119 and were all out with one over left. We probably should
have scored at least ten more but how often would you expect
to see Andy and Dan out first ball; this also meant Parry
finished with 5 for 14, Bailey 3 for 25, reward I guess for
bowling straight. It did mean though we were in with a shout
but would have to bowl well.
Andy H opened from the Penelope end and it became clear that
the left handed opener could play and didn’t fancy hanging
around. The right handed John Sparkes at the other end did
his usual against us and was content to anchor it but look
for any run they could. Pablo despite telling us that he can’t
bat anymore won’t be saying he can’t bowl anymore
and bowled really well and was very unlucky not to get a wicket
when the ball came off Smittys pads and clattered into the
stumps for absolutely nothing to move. Andy got hit for a
6 equally big as Kim’s earlier by the lefty but that
was his last scoring shot before he was caught for 34 by a
typically vocal Goughy who thankfully managed to pick this
one up as earlier he had 'lost' a similar one. Andy taking
a wicket with his last ball to finish with 4-0-31-1.
The lefty was tasty it must be said (ed - I think AF is talking
batting...). Paul finished his spell at the other end full
of variety to finish 4-0-17-0. This meant that after 8 they
were on 50 for 1 which was 14 ahead of us at the same stage.
Muff came on for Andy and as Sparkes was coming down the wicket
at him chucked one down the leg side but Smitty was just unable
to grab it to make the stumping off the wide. Sparkes was
also certainly run out while strolling to the crease with
his bat in the air but was given not out. Their running though
was very aggressive and although at times a bit risky meant
they picked up lots of singles and turned singles into twos.
Omar had come on for Paul and when he got it right they found
him very difficult to play. After his second over which was
the 12th they were 75 for 1 so needed 45 off 48 balls The
number 3 bat took 8 singles before being caught by a really
top notch catch from Dan who ran in from deep mid wicket to
take it low down, a real cracker and the game was still alive.
Dan was also now on for Muff at the Penelope end and by his
own admission was finding it hard to find the right line and
length, even so he wasn’t going for many runs and also
a great throw from the deep by him meant that Sparkes was
run out for 38 and we were still in it.
Omar finished with 4-0-22-1 and the equation was 15 off 3
as Muff returned to bowl his third over, this time at the
far end. The number 4 and 5 bats are quality also and sadly
there was to be no close finish this week as by the end of
this over we had lost. Muff having a rare off night with the
cherry. It had though up to this point been a good game but
we just never got our noses in front so to speak.
Credit to them for bowling straight, good running and some
very good batting for our level. We didn’t do too much
wrong in the field, Shakey threw a cracker back to Smitty
way over his head but at least that wasn’t as bad as
throwing it over your own head like JF did (didn’t cost
us a run though) and yes there was the odd casual fuck up
but overall we did pretty well. Kim’s innings was right
up there but we couldn’t support him and Goughy of course
managed to wind up a couple of the oppo but it wouldn’t
be Goughy otherwise. The main question in the Wenvoe after
was which player would forget he was playing next? Anymore
teachers in the team?
Andy 4-0-31-1
Pablo 4-0-17-0 1 wide
Sharif 4-0-22-1 3 wides
Muff 3-0-27-0 2 wides
Dan 3-0-16-0 2 wides
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