Match Report vs Abercarn
16th August 2026 @ Abercarn (Skipper Steveo, report
Pabs)
Warm and smoky is how I would describe it, depending on wind
direction, the outfield looked like a desert, the square not
so much but the pitch did look flat and good until we played
on it that is.
The Casuals assembled as usual in dribs and drabs, and the
opposition arrived and opened up the concrete pavilion that
resembles a 1950’s soviet nuclear bunker but the oppo
did erect (fnar) two awnings to shelter us from the beating
sun as the game was played. Steve won the toss and as is expected
we had a bat with Jim and Hazza opening the innings.
Jim went in the first over after a deft steer (think a Shakey
dab or a Rob fiddle (another one Dave, there will be plenty
of these in the report) to 3rd man before edging one that
bounced a bit from a youngster bowling spin to slip, Jim out
for 2.
Next in and out as it happened was Cheese, to the same youngster
bowling spin, it seemed to bounce a bit again and bowled him
for a duck, 2 for 2 after the first over.
Most of the opposition were teenagers apart from about 4
more experienced players and the youngsters were doing the
lion's share of the bowling at the start, next in was captain
fantastic, 2 forties in a row and we desperately needed him
to produce. Next out was Hazza, to the same bowler who at
this stage decided to bowl seem and the first ball he tried
induced a jab outside off and another easy slip catch, Hazza
out for 1 in the 4th over, Casuals 26 for 3, you will notice
the jump in score here, more of that later.
Next in was Mr Stagg who would have an interesting day to
say the least, he lasted 10 balls with a four before being
bowled by you guessed it, the same bowler, Casuals 32 for
4 in the 7th over bringing Mr Penning to the wicket to join
Captain fantastic.
While the carnage was happing at the other end Steve was
belting the 15-year-old left armer all over the place after
getting dropped by their captain after scoring 2 runs at cover,
it was a bit of a dolly to be fair and their skipper looked
quite embarrassed to drop it. Steve scored 48 off 38 balls,
he lost 2 balls in the river (one more, fnar). This was our
only partnership of note really between Skip and Greg for
48 runs, Steve was caught at cow corner (not a massive surprise)
for the aforementioned 48 off 38 balls with 10 fours, 2 twos
and 4 singles, Casuals 84 for 5 in the 14th over.
A couple of things to catch up on here, Steve gave 2 chances,
the other chance was a low skimmer to mid-on which would have
been a good catch to be fair and the bowler Steve succumbed
to was the first change bowler who had the greatest contribution
to the game with ball but mostly bat, a Pontypridd 1st team
player according to Jim.
Next in to join Greg was Iwan, after a 22-run partnership,
he was given out LBW by Jim sweeping for 5, Jim was confident
it was out until later on when Iwan told him it hit him on
the arm and may have been a little high, Casuals 106 for 6
in the 19th over.
You may note that the run rate is healthy, that was mainly
due to the glass like outfield, anything in a gap at almost
any pace went to the boundary so 200 was a minimum, maybe
240 plus would have been a challenging score considering 7
of the oppo were still in school or bunking off school as
the case may be. Pat was next in to keep Greg company he was
out for 5, plumb LBW according to Jim and Pat to be fair,
Me next, I scored 6 but only have 4 in the scorebook as Hazza
missed my first ball deft leg glance for 2 off the face of
the bat and gave it as leg byes, 1 four through the covers.
Greg was next out caught at long on for a fine 66 with 12
fours off 86 balls, he and Steve managed to make sure we made
even the minimum of scores considering the young bowlers and
the outfield. I was out next, adjudged LBW, Dave joined Andy
scoring 1 before lobbing one (fnar) to cover to be caught
leaving Andy stranded on 8 with 1 four, Casuals 166 all out
in the 35th over.
Teatime, during much of our innings another game was rampant
between Dave, Rich and whoever was sat next to them, extreme
innuendo bingo was in full force linking any or all cricket
terms, sayings or slang to sexual proclivities or practices
(see the previous fnar’s). This typical Casual foolishness
and childishness is surly why most of us turn up, it’s
not the cricket as the previous innings showed.
In the field we went, Andy and I opened up, I bowled ok,
the batters were not great at the top, an older bloke who
couldn’t bat, couldn’t hit it but who wouldn’t
get out. One of those guys that hits the straight ones and
misses everything else. Andy and I bowled our 8 overs straight
through, I got the skipper out, he looked like he could hit
the ball a bit and Pat took a decent catch at point off me
to get rid of him for, Cheese claimed the wicket because he
sledged him but it could have been my genius.
The lion's share of the praise here should go to Andy, 8
overs, 3 maidens, 4 for 19. A catch each for Steve which was
a bit of a skyer that I thought might give him a black eye
if he dropped it and Staggy took the other one.
Andy clean bowled two youngsters as well, one of the highlights
of the game was Andy walking back to the pavilion with the
last kid he got out simultaneously consoling him and explaining
what the ball did to get him out. At this stage, the top the
top 4 players and the number 6 batter scored 8, 0, 11, 6 and
0, at one point in the first 16 overs they were 34 for 5.
How did we cock it up from here I hear you ask, well we didn’t
really, their number 5 was a C Hopkins, the guy I mentioned
earlier who bowled 8 overs 2 for 24 then stroked (fnar) an
almost chanceless 100 not out, he gave 1 chance which was
a really thick edge off Pat that Jim managed to get a glove
too but it was a big deflection. He looked like he was in
second gear
throughout the innings to be fair and we couldn’t get
the various kids out the other end to force his hand (fnar).
I am not going to lie, there was a bit of an atmosphere born
out of frustration and the dropping of catches, captain fantastic
telling Ed he had dropped the game twice after dropping their
number 8 twice in two overs, but we have all dropped catches
haven’t we Skip! Remember Barry Wanderers against the
Cavaliers?
I don’t think it would have made much difference though
because we had not scored enough and some of their proper
adults were lurking at 9, 10 and 11 to force the issue, their
number 7 had 1 shot, the heave to leg and we couldn’t
get him out, he scored 17 in a 100 run partnership and the
number 8 who tried to smack it a bit hence the dropped catches
scoring an unbeaten 19.
To the bowing, I bowled ok, I was a bit unlucky only to get
1 but there you go, Andy as mentioned bowled brilliantly taking
4 for 19. I should mention here that the pitch was interesting,
it was digging in any stopping and jumping occasionally, and
it was turning for those of us that could do so, but it wasn’t
a minefield.
Dave bowled his 8 overs for 45, he just couldn’t get
his line right to the non-batting left hander and the good
player milked him (fnar) for runs, Pat bowled 7 overs for
38, he bowled quite well but it was easy for them just to
get 5 an over with the outfield as it was because we had to
protect boundaries.
I felt a bit for Staggy having to bowl near the end, 2 overs
for 17, the odd bad ball did get belted, Iwan took the stubborn
left hander in his 3.2 overs 1 for 19. He couldn’t bat
much but credit too him he stayed there and saw them through
most of their innings. Greg came on at the end and went for
8 off his 2 overs.
So, we managed to take it to the 38th over, it was all a
bit of a damp squib at the end as the smoke from the wildfires
rolled up the valley, are they wildfires if they are set deliberately?
We sat around with no opposition as usual after the game and
slagged each other off in usual Casual tradition before we
set off to our cars and headed off home.
Batting
Jim – caught slip for 2
Hazza – caught slip for 1
Cheese – bowled for 0
Steve – caught at cow for 48
Ed Stagg – bowled for 4
Greg P – caught long on for 66
Iwan – LBW for 5
Pat – LBW for 4
Pabs – LBW for 4 (should have been 6)
Andy – not out 8
Dave – caught cover for 1
Bowling
Andy – 8 overs, 3 maidens, 4 for 19
Pabs – 8 overs, 3 maidens, 1 for 20
Dave – 8 overs, 0 maidens, 0 for 45
Pat – 7 overs, 0 maidens, 0 for 38
Ed – 2 overs, 0 for 17
Iwan – 3.2 overs, 1 for 19
Greg – 2 overs for 8
Fielding
Steve – 1 catch
Ed Stagg – 1 catch
Pat – 1 catch
Abercarn win by 4 wickets with 10 balls to spare.
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