Match Report vs Chepstow
29th June 2025 @ Chepstow(Skipper and Report Steveo)
Cast your mind back dear reader, if you can, to the end of
June, and a sunny prospect for the Casuals Sunday jaunt to
Chepstow. It might be almost an hours journey, but it is indubitably
worthwhile, with a warm welcome awaiting at the well-appointed
ground and clubhouse. As is usual, there was a gathered throng
who were there more for the beer and burgers than the cricket,
but it always adds to the atmosphere, and they are a friendly
enough lot.
The casuals were missing the normally ever-present face of
D. Lewis, who was clipping his Jack Russells’ nails
that day, but fear not, we had G. Day and E. Stewart for bowling
firepower and D. Thomas and P. Stephens to provide the guile
and cunning ( ‘cyclops’ having both eyes fully
functioning for this game). Beyond that our bowling attack
would rely on A. Jamal, P. Dean and yours truly to provide
variation.
For batting we were missing Dr. WMW, who was busy finishing
his paper on ‘the interactions and intersections between
pr² ( Pies are Square) and the community cricketer’
but fear not, as the currently unemployed J. Beaumont was
present, and the K&K Jones family were ready and able
to hopefully provide a solid stand.
Chepstow CC won the toss and elected to Bowl. Our openers
were Kevyn and Liam, and each took to the task with care.
However, the opening bowling was tight and the first few overs
offered little, with a run and a bye off the first, the second
being a maiden and so on until the fifth over which saw the
demise of Liam (for an apposite, five runs) bowled, bringing
in J Beaumont. Liam had plugged away in support of Kevyn,
who continued to score until he fell for a useful 24 runs
off 26 balls, including four x 4’s. Kev had started
opening up after a careful start, scoring 10 off the 7th,
but an excellent caught and bowled did for him in the 9th
over (one of the Chitnis family, 3 of whom were playing).
Ed Stewart in now with Jack, and did his best to keep up
as Jackie Boy crafted away, including getting a trio of consecutive
4’s in the 12th. The 13th brought a maiden as Ed kept
his cool and defended well ( or just missed six deliveries,
who knows). Thereafter the pair managed around 4 an over,
slowly accumulating, until Ed was bowled (by the very handy
Tom Absalom) for 29 runs off 34 balls in the 19th, including
6 x 4’s ( score at 105 for 3).
K Jones Junior joined in the fray and although things slowed
down they did not cease, and it wasn’t until over 25
that Jack succumbed to the bowling of another Chitnis, having
scored a very good 43 off 57 balls including seven 4’s.
Score on 130, getting up there but not enough on this ground,
with 15 overs left.
Never fear, plenty of batting to come, and Captain O’Reilly
strode out to the middle to Join Kian, and the ‘youthful
pair’ set about their steady task, both scoring –
including ten runs by Steveo in the 32nd. Kian batted well
and patiently surpassed his dads score, hitting 29 off 51
balls (inc 4x4’s) before eventually getting caught in
the 35th off the bowling of Finlay. Skipper had missed four
deliveries, eventually scrambled a single, giving Kian the
last strike of the over, which proved his downfall.
Ahmad up next, and not many overs to play with. Steve ‘O
fell in the 37th, also to Finlay. Pat had little choice but
to play against type in throwing the bat at it, scoring 2
off 5 balls before popping one up to a caught & bowled.
This brought the Mighty Swish to the crease, with only 15
legal deliveries to play with. Amazingly this suited G Day
and his swashbuckling ‘style’ and, with his usual
gusto (but with an unusual outcome), Goffy amassed 18 runs
( inc 4x4’s) off only 8 deliveries, supported by Ahmad
at the other end. Crucially, we saw out the 40 overs with
both Goff and Ahmad not out, making the most of the opportunity.
Messrs. Stephens and Thomas valiantly Did Not Bat.
Cardiff Casuals 210 - 7 off 40.
Fall of Wickets : 11-1 Liam Forster (Kevyn Jones-5*); 35-2
Kevyn Jones (Jack Beaumont-4*); 105-3 Ed Stewart (Jack Beaumont-31*);
130-4 Jack Beaumont (Kian Jones-7*); 175-5 Kian Jones (Steve
O'Reilly-18*); 184-6 Steve O'Reilly (Ahmad Jamal-3*); 188-7
Patrick Dean (Ahmad Jamal-4*);
batting figures
https://cardiffcasuals.play-cricket.com ... ts/7145457
BYO Tea was taken, burgers and hot dogs were also available,
the sun was shining and it was tempting to simply sit back
and snooze in the heat, but a bowling display was required
to defend a good all-round effort by the batters (pleasing
to see so many in double figures (6) and no ducks at all).
The bulk of the bowling attack was going to fall on the broad
shoulders of Goffy, Paul and Dave, and each in their own way
did not disappoint, all bowling 8 overs.
Goffy went for a very miserly 17 runs including two maidens,
putting great pressure on the oppo, but wasn’t rewarded
with a wicket. Paul, by contrast, went for some runs (60 in
total) but also got the first four wickets and made a huge
dent in Chepstow’s confidence. The first bowled with
Chepstow on 36, the second quickly followed, caught and bowled,
with only 4 runs added. Steve O caught Paul’s third,
22 runs later, and Pablo took his last wicket bowled to end
an excellent display: Chepstow 80 -4.
The batters then settled down again but Dave Thomas got in
on the act taking the 5th and 6th dismissal. One edged behind
to a good catch by Jack with the gloves and the other bowled.
Dave also managed two maidens in his spell, going for only
35.
The nine overs shared between Messrs. A. Jamal and P. Dean
were more to the liking of the batters, and the strongest
of the Chepstow team were now chasing down the total.
With seven overs to go, Chepstow only needed 26 off 42 balls.
Ed was now brought in to the attack to help manage the inevitable
demise. But Ed is never defeated and with all his pent up
rage he bowled a magnificent opening maiden. 26 required off
36.
There was nothing for the skipper to do but take up the mantle
of responsibility ‘imself, and get stuck in. One of
the Chitnis boys had been making merry and reached his ton,
ably sending the ball to all areas of the sizeable field,
and looking to push on easily to the end. Employing his usual
array of deliveries ( the loopy slow one) Cap’n O’Reilly
befuddled the in-form batter with a dot ball, followed by
another dot ball, until Chitnis had enough and hoiked a huge
one out towards the boundary, only to be met by the solid
figure of aforementioned E. Stewart, who looked further away
than he really was, barely visible in the distance. No one
doubted the outcome and the talented Cheese snaffled the catch,
and a slight glimmer of hope had returned to the embattled
Casuals. Mr Chitnis out for 109, Chepstow on 185-7, 26 required
off 33 balls. O’Reilly followed the wicket with a dot,
a single and a dot ball.
25 required off 30.
Ed took the 36th over, 1,1, 0,1,1, and Chepstow were sensibly
creeping toward the total, until Ed made an extra effort and
bowled the elder Chitnis batter . 190 – 8
21 required off 24
This could go either way, with 5.25 needed per over. Chepstow
now need 21, but Casuals need two wickets. Nil Desperandum,
there was beer and burgers to look forward to, and they would
go down much better with a taste of victory for garnish.
The game had been played in good spirit, and none more so
than when Steve’O opened the 37th over by bowling a
straight one and was given the LBW decision he richly deserved,
despite the delicately balanced situation. Well done Umpire.
190-9.
In the following five deliveries only a single added. Still,
there was time…. 20 required off 18 for Chepstow or
a wicket for the Casuals.
Ed once again bowled a very tight line in tense conditions,
ably backed by the fielders, limiting the advance, but no
dismissal 1,0,0,0,2,1.
16 required off 12
The penultimate over. The relentless afternoon heat beat
down. The long day was wearisome for all. One team needed
to make a supreme effort, the other just needed to keep their
head and get a few runs. Would O’Reilly protect the
score to give Ed something to bowl at in the final over?
1 run scored; 15 required ...
4 runs scored; 11 required ...
A precious dot ball ...
2 runs scored; 9 required ...
Kailan Hooper on strike: admittedly a youth, admittedly a
bowler, admittedly the number 11 bat, but with a strike rate
of 100 in this game, 8 off 8, highest season recorded score
12, could he be the man-child to hit Steve O to the boundary
once more in this over and get down to needing only 5 or 3
in the last …. ?
With his final throw of the dice, and ball, Steve O takes
a deep breath and launches, Hooper thwacks it away and WICKET!
A dramatic caught and bowled as the skipper drops sharply
to the floor and snaffles the returning ball to the amazement
of all around, including himself!
Chepstow 202 all out in the 39th over. Cardiff Casuals win
by 9.
A lovely game and a good win, with a strong team batting,
bowling and fielding display, a good day was had by all.
Fall of Wickets
1 36-1: Filip Chitnis b Paul Stephens (Brent Harkins 9*)
2 40-2: Tom Absalom c & b Paul Stephens (Brent Harkins
11*)
3 62-3: Brent Harkins ct Steve O’Reilly b Paul Stephens
(Bruno Chitnis 15*)
4 80-4: Finlay Hillman b Paul Stephens (Bruno Chitnis 29*)
5 114-5: A De Almeida c Jack Beaumont b David Thomas (Bruno
Chitnis 55*)
6 136-6: Ewan Guthrie b David Thomas (Bruno Chitnis 73*)
7 185-7: Bruno Chitnis ct Ed Stewart Bowled S O’Reilly
(Max Hunt 12*)
8 190-8: Rajendra Chitnis b Ed Stewart (Max Hunt 14*)
9 190-9: Max Hunt lbw b Steve O'Reilly (James King 0*)
10 202-10: Kailan Hooper c & b Steve O'Reilly (James King
4*)
bowling figures
https://cardiffcasuals.play-cricket.com ... ts/7145457
Bowling Highlights
Steve O'Reilly -Overs 2.5 -Maidens 0 -Runs 9 -Wickets 3 -Wides
0 -No-balls 0 -Econ 3.18
Paul Stephens -Overs 8.0 -Maidens 0 -Runs 60 -Wickets 4 -Wides
1 -No-balls 0 -Econ 7.50
David Thomas -Overs 8.0 -Maidens 2 -Runs 35 -Wickets 2 -Wides
1 -No-balls 0 -Econ 4.38
Ed Stewart -Overs 3.0 -Maidens 1 -Runs 8 -Wickets 1 -Wides
0 -No-balls 0 -Econ 2.67
Goff Day -Overs 8.0 -Maidens 2 -Runs 17 -Wickets 1 -Wides
0 -No-balls 0 -Econ 2.13
Ahmad Jamal -Overs 5.0 -Maidens 0 -Runs 33 -Wickets 0 -Wides
0 -No-balls 1 -Econ 6.60
Patrick Dean -Overs 4.0 -Maidens 0 -Runs 37 -Wickets 0 -Wides
-No-balls 0 -Econ 9.25
FIELDING EXTRA RUNS: 3 NON-BOWLER WICKETS: 0 TOTALS: Overs:
38.5, Maidens: 5, Runs: 202, Wickets: 10, Wides: 3, No Balls:
1
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