Match Reports 2008

1st v Tewkesbury 30th August 2008  Tewkesbury batted first and started strongly but Birdlip found a good line and length to bring the run rate to below 3 an over. Birdlip found wickets were hard to come by with George James (12-4-21-0) bowling well without just reward. Opener Simon Vincent (84) batted through to the last ball when yorked by Dave Cooper. He was ably supported by Stuart Tame (38) and John Allcoat (21no). S Prakash and Andy Hieron both picked a wicket a piece with good economy as Tewkesbury reach a modest 189 total.
Birdlip lost a early wicket in reply but David Partridge and Ian Green soon made headway and the run chase was on. Unfortunately both perished in the twenties and little support followed and the innings petered out. Steve Bowers the main thorn in Birdlip's side with 5 for 20.

2nds v Corse and Staunton 30th August 2008   ‘O frabjous day, callooh callay’ as Lewis Carroll so uniquely put it in the Jabberwocky, my beamish boys and I won a game we could so easily have lost. The ramifications are that we avoid Gloucester Pakistanis next year, we are back in a league which has teams I like but I will miss playing against my brother, one of the first to ring on Saturday night to see how we got on.
Nice to win a key toss and with Al’s agreement for a change, we put them in. My second team talk of the season, so carefully rehearsed while mowing the outfield, didn’t come out quite the way I intended. If anyone was guilty of not doing what I asked of them all it was me. That we got off to a dream start was due to combination of good bowling and some undisciplined batting. Corse seemed slightly spooked by the wicket and in no time at all Charlie had got three wickets and George one. These two are a very complimentary pair, opening bowlers should hunt as a unit and I very much hope to see them together again as often as possible. However Corse did go at us, partly because after Charlie and George the change bowling did not maintain the pressure apart from one magic ball from Toby. Kent and I restored the game back to us though a young batsman, Ben Morton, who was not out at the end, showed his olders but not betters how to put a foot down on an innings. Wayward bowling and some pretty ordinary fielding, certainly by one senior individual, allowed them to get a score I would have regarded as useful, given the start but not too challenging had I been their captain. We did not get the full points being denied by that young man and some very stern umpiring. The game was still on.
For the technically minded a reply of ‘win the game’, brightly stated by an unshaven uncomplicated son of the soil, to the question of ‘what is your plan?’ leaves a captain with mixed feelings. But Parsola is not technical about batting, his plan is to stay there to the end and that should be a winning formula. Duncan muttered something about having a plan. Uneasy as I was, I trust the guys who do the job I picked them for and so another carefully worked speech had been binned. It was a stuttering start to our innings against goodish but not really threatening bowling. If I am guilty of anything in what followed it is the desire to be seen as excessively fair to the opposition, irked by their inability to give LBWs. This is inspired by Corinthian rugby heroes of my youth who would shake hands with the bully who had put in a cheap shot on the blind side to make them feel a cad for doing so.
I fired Duncan. The ball did everything right but in hindsight, may have been too high. He had survived quite a few appeals before, including one to me that may have been outside the line, maybe not, moments before. Off he went in a cloud of invective all aimed at his recalcitrant captain; can’t blame him really. Busey came in and did what he does, bang ,bang and gone, Al just bang and so to Ben Symcox, on debut. I have known Ben since he was 14, he was a strong player then and still is, hit good shots but got too bullish. Out comes our Flintoff derivative, Toby Harris, same blond hair, no earring yet and no pedalo to play in but it will happen. If Ben Morton, who had batted so well, bowled equally well (he was the Corse top batter and bowler by the way), had caught Toby early it might have been different. He dropped the only catch he has dropped all season, badly splitting the web of his hand in the process. That moment turned the game irrevocably to us. Tired bowlers gave way to poor bowlers, allowing Pars and Toby to bash it to all parts to win the game.
It has been a great season, one of the best in all my time at Birdlip if not best ever. The reason it has been so good is that I have enjoyed the company of pretty well everyone I have had the privilege of captaining and also of the teams we have played. I would like to think that quite few will be back with a real desire to do well next year, to improve over the close season to being better players than they were this year. However for some of us, for all the practice merely puts the inevitable decay in remission but, what the hell, you kids will have take the prizes from our cold dead hands: if you can!

2nds v Hatherley & Reddings 3rds 23rd August 2008  At last a game and one that but for a slight error of judgment would gave been a maximum 22 pointer. I have done the maths and if we beat Corse, getting more than 18 and they do not score 10 points we are second providing Chalford do not get 22 points. Its going to be some game next Saturday, not for the faint hearted or those of a timorous disposition, but a test of character and nerve; can’t wait.
And so to North Park and Richard Stewart’s depleted 11 where once again a lost toss could have been decisive. That they put us in came as no surprise, their best chance lay in bowling us out cheaply but we batted almost to 11.To be fair to the home side they did bowl very well and my too ambitious target was swiftly revised downward. Pars and Duncan could not get on top of the bowlers, the track held all sorts of little surprises, something you don’t expect there. It was a very steady start, too steady for me; both openers would probably admit that they were happy to see me go off as umpire in the first session. I hear Duncan used the expression ‘avoiding the evil eye’, next week he could well be watching a pitch side voodoo convention if things don’t go according to plan.
Hatherley’s strategy started to work as we lost five wickets for not much on the board, Busey ,Kent ,Chris H and Al not posting much between them .However once more the faith in a long batting order paid off as Toby and George put on 70. When Toby went George and Tommy Overbury got us so close to the maximum points, George perishing in the attempt off the penultimate ball. Parsola was hoping I would be run out off the last ball so that my average would drop below his: was he serious, of course he wasn’t…mmmm?
Charlie and George bowled an exemplary line and length, with the junior partner in the attack perhaps outshining his illustrious first teamer, great to watch and easy to captain. Toby and Chris H came in as first change, Chris being niggling without any luck and Toby being exactly the opposite. In a low scoring game his three wickets went for almost 6 an over, Chris went wicketless for less than 2 an over. Toby’s real ability will show more when he achieves greater control, for the time being it is a combination of magic and dross. Kent was a good change for Toby, getting something out of the pitch to splatter the stumps when the batsman had shouldered arms believing the ball to pass harmlessly by. Big seam movement was always there for him and his two wickets were a just return.
Just when a return to form is needed, and boy did I need it, a stubborn batter was removed first ball by a classic off break (Al, don’t!!), the irony being that he had removed Chris with an identical delivery. Georgie took a fine catch to complete a great day for him and I wrapped up the game by bowling the hapless number 11, the umpire’s comment being ‘if he had lasted the over I would have been amazed’ .A long chat and gossip in the bar afterwards with Richard , who is also Hatherley and Redding’s chairman revealed that big clubs have the same problems as we do. Back to the Shire for a chilly, damp party, drink and dancing till late, ideal preparation for a six a side don’t you think? Anyway at least the Mole didn’t see me so , naff off O furry one.

Birdlip v Cinderford 17^th August 2008 This match was poised for a tight contest when the umpires drew a close to proceedings with 2 overs bowled of Cinderford's innings.
Opener Guy Partridge continued his good spell with the bat with 73no which enabled Birdlip to reach a challenging 200 for 4 off their 39 revised overs. Ian Green (33), Ken Griffith (40) and Andy Hamilton (24) all made useful partnerships with Partridge. Cinderford's ever accurate M.House was the pick of the bowlers with figures of  9-2-31-2.

2nds v Saracens 5 July 2008 ‘Yeah, let’s do to them what they did us and anyway it’s going to rain so at least we get a bat’: that was Parsola bursting with childlike enthusiasm to crack some more runs on the Sarries as he did last week. So sayeth all my senior players (except one, more of him later) when I won the toss and, as always, consulted them. Somewhere, deep in the vaults of my cricket experience files, under matches labeled ‘These can make you look stupid ‘,  the voice of my sub conscious archivist cried ‘you’ll be sorry’. Anyway Dave Green had a sprog with him that prevented him taking the field for an hour or so if we bowled ,the sky looked like a Spielberg set for an alien invasion movie, they were not the team we played last week, and so, ignoring that mordant warning in my head, bat we did. As I went out to umpire I swear Dave’s little mite gave me a reproving stare.
‘Oh my prophetic soul’ as the great bard had it. TP duly tossed away his wicket, Duncan got a classic away swinger that he feathered and had to walk, Roger defended his stumps with his pads again, Charlie Buse thought every ball had four written on it, the second one had not, Dave Green got an LBW to an inside edge, Harry perished tamely ,the score was 55-6 off 18 overs. As if that was the end of it, mais non. Al and I sensibly agreed to see off the last overs of the openers but then he promptly spooned one to mid off,  cursing himself as he marched away ; it’s a good job he didn’t hear me mouthing away at his retreating back.
Thank god for boys with brains who did as they were told. Lloyd was excellent in defense , played some nice shots and did his bit before going to a disputed catch. Coops never quite falls into the ‘did as he was told’ category but he backs himself and that’s good enough for me. With only Jamer to come after these two , things looked pretty bad. The three of us doubled the score , got the overs down to 39 out of 40 when Phil fell second last ball. Tea and no bloody rain.
Forced into a rare team talk from me, the boys nonetheless showed some mettle in the field. The Cold Slad Express whacked it down, Charlie bowled really nicely with no reward but the rain never quite got to the quality needed. I am ashamed to say I resorted to slow over rates and time wasting. At 75 for 3, the only thing Al got right all day delivered us from evil, rain it really did and so match abandoned. Afterwards all the old lags were saying they told me so but wouldn’t quite look me in the eye. Duncan reminded me that he was the sole dissenting voice in favour of batting; he wasn’t, the other one was saying ‘I have filed this under You Lucky Sod matches because it won’t fit in the Back Your Own Judgement Section but could get into Should Have Known Better, what do you think? ’I didn’t.

2nds v Saracens - 28 06 08 Things are taking a sinister turn ,teams are losing to teams who always lose, the hopeless are winning; it’s going to be an interesting run in to the second half of this season. Decisions ,decisions, what to do when you have three or four number 11’s and a bowling set up that is somewhat unknown in quality or form. Should have called heads last week, should have batted first this week, didn’t do either. And so we fed a strengthened Saracens team , whose left handed openers gratefully scooped six after six to the short leg side boundary. Setting a field for bad bowling wasn’t an issue as a lot of it went into the field. We spent so much time looking for the ball that it must have looked from the air like an outbreak of crop circles. If these guys are second from bottom then they must have been sedated for the most part of this season, for this Snow White of a team were awakened by kisses from the princes of long hops and full bungers. Having said that I was pleased with Lloyd Moore whose only fault was far too many wides, Duncan did all he could and Darren did not bowl badly. The rest of us were ranged between woeful to not good enough on the day: to concede 47 extras made their task so much easier, as if they needed it, and the fielding was on a par with the bowling.
Faced with 308 we decided that 200 was the target and then, depending on whenever we got there, only then we would have a go. As it turned out on a great batting track we might have made more of a fight of it but, being nervous of a long tail, made us a bit circumspect. Other than a tyro leggie who went for 10 an over, they bowled very decently. We lost only four wickets, three batsmen getting 50’s, and that with Danny and Darren scoring two between them, to leave me wondering what might have been. Roger got his maiden 50 and well done to him, despite an outbreak of bumptiousness after the game. Duncan, also with a first club 50, truly impressed showing the ability to pace his game and play a range of shots. Parsola was Parsola and hit with some force and at a good rate but still whinged that I cost him a hundred when he could have played for the full innings instead of getting out going for a score, mmm! Nonetheless a cunning plan is being hatched for next week when we play them again, using that well known ploy of bowling straight. As is true of all the games so far, they were a good bunch of men and maybe the fair play award is going to be hard to place this year.

BBCC 2’s v Corse and Staunton 21-06-08 There is an adage, among many other self evident truths about cricket, that bowlers stop batsmen getting the target they need; it takes ten balls to win a game and they could be all in a row, runs aren’t so easy to come by. Another truth is that everyone will tell you where you went wrong but no-one tells what you did right; so very English. Losing the toss was not so bad given our relative strength and to score 194 on a damp seamy wicket was a very good effort, more runs than the Corse captain thought he could get. Our recent stars failed but others stepped up, Duncan hit some great shots as did the imperious Allen when we were in bit of trouble. After the luckless Andy Ward departed Dave Green played his best innings so far and got Toby going; when Dave was out Chris Hieron took over, these two striking it hard and long. Ominously the wicket seemed to get that bit easier to bat on , the finishing bowler at one end, who was a first teamer and who consistently bowled very well,  still went for 43 off his last six overs. On the whole the Corse bowlers did not have a great deal of luck, some poor fielding let them down and they were ,by far, the best all round bowling team we have faced.
What happened next was a simple accumulation of a number of factors that all point to a defeat. And yet we removed the top four batters for 41, a testament to the blameless Knockers and Toby , whose opening spells collectively gave away 39 runs for 3 wickets off 14 overs but all the time the wicket became a better track. It was the first change that , if anything ,cost us the game. Chris and I went for 55 off our 9 overs, my bowling in particular got yippy which happens sometimes with a damp seam .It is also true that we fielded poorly from thereon in and with complacent field settings that were not reduced until too late, we let them back into the game. The plan to strangle them on a high run rate needed good accurate bowling, backed by good catching and throwing and it was not there. All it takes is ten balls and we could only find three more and a run out. Having said that I must give credit to those two boys, they hit good balls as well as the bad ones. The batters coming in after did to us what we did to them in the latter stages of our innings. Despite bringing back Danny and Toby, with Duncan bowling pretty well at the other end , the confidence we had given them in the second quarter allowed them to belt it all over the place and so collect their maiden 50’s and win the game.
Charlie Hulls, who I have known for many years, said it was probably the best game he has played in and seen at the ground ; on balance there wasn’t much in it but the toss was a significant factor. Corse lost to almost the same team we put 363 on, with almost the same team , we in turn have won matches we could easily have lost and that is why this is such a great game.  

2nds v Hatherley and Reddings 4^th 14 06 08
Maybe this should have been billed and the Shire Two’s versus Pete Ferns and 10 other guys who played a bit part here and there, some more than others. To say that his innings should have won them the game would have been a fair assessment; that they lost was because Toby finally produced the ball of the game to bowl him and maybe that Pete got a bit misty eyed getting his well deserved ton. Nonetheless if he had with him some of the players I had they would have won but no-one stuck with him and they all got themselves out or were got out. We did not bowl that well and our fielding under pressure was not as good as it had been though we caught well, with one glaring exception. Putting us in was exactly what we wanted and Richard Stewart’s team went about their task in workmanlike fashion. Maybe their opening bowling was flattered but it was nice to see Parsola getting going much earlier and his 87 n/o was the match winner. James duly injected some pace back into the score, making Hatherley blink and worry as he does and a nice even partnership between Pars and Toby kept us going. The minimum target was always 200, TP and Chris Hieron made sure of that. The other mid order batsmen also responded to the need to get a good total, nice to see the urgency they placed on their role and the intelligence displayed; it’s what all captains want. However Al and I thought 207 was very gettable and so it proved to be.Chris Hieron bowled very nicely but Toby struggled to find his rhythm, bowling some very useful balls and some not so good. Al was wont to remark later that we bowled only 20% on the stumps, usually a losing formula: any width was put away by Pete Ferns with strong powerful shots square and driven. While the star bat punished us one end at the other end batsmen came and went, mostly getting out very cheaply. The run rate was always with Hatherley but the wickets went to us at an equal rate. Jamer put in a good little spell bagging two , one though with a classic Foxy leg side full bunger straight down Toby’s throat but that was why he was there. Chris took two more in his last spell, a fine reward for a good player, leaving Toby and a perspiring Andy Ward to close the game out. Their last man was in fact their opener, batting with a runner, so the odds swung back to Hatherley until that ball. Richard Stewart was very complimentary after and it was, despite an unsavoury couple of moments on our part, a very well conducted game played like it should be. North Park will be a sterner test.

2nds v Cinderford St John 7 06 08  
What happens when you travel to the Shire with a team of 10 consisting of 5 boys of 16 or younger, a number of very senior players and a bottom table position? What happens when you lose the toss and you bowl hardly a wicket taking ball in the match? What happens when you concede 70 extras, more than your total batted score? What happens when you fail to suppress Abuse, that your only chance was given, as it transpired, not out when he was and that you dropped him several times? What happens when you let the normally introverted Parsola loose? What happens is that you stare out at the long and miserable vista of the 363 runs you have conceded and you know that you have no hope whatsoever of getting near the total. No one enjoys the humiliation of another team, at least I don’t because I have been in that position myself more than once and there is, or should be, a natural compassion for the plight of fellow cricketers. To their credit Cinderford took their beating with a kind of resigned defiance and those kids did not give up. Talking to Al P we decided that declaration was not an option for all sorts of reasons and so we watched the slaughter continue. Take nothing from James or Tom, you still have to play the shots and get the score though I did hear of a daft bet between TP and Buse as to who would be the first to a ton. Any bookie would have closed his account on Buse at a 100-1 on. Abuse, true to nature, duly got his hundred, waved to us and wagged two fingers at Pars; a no contest in the context of another. Busey ran himself on 151, I think a record in the Two’s, when he himself had run out of the strength to hit that ball anymore. Al P ,also true to Partridge habits, flung his bat around when he played on ,prowled around the ground for a while muttering to himself and anyone in earshot ,all because he had missed out on the run fest. Our bowlers were exemplary, dismissing a series of hapless batsmen with some good accurate bowling; it was clinical and right for the situation. Matty found some form and now is high up in the league bowlers with 10 wickets, Knockers, also with three victims, swung the ball and is always a danger when he does. We caught nearly all the catches ,one by Harry was top drawer, though some of the ground fielding let down the bowlers and one spilled catch was reminiscent of a performing dog act. How can you dive after you have dropped it??? And so a jolly evening in the bar, with lots of banter when the remains of the defeated first team dribbled in ; we wonder what the selectors are going to do now as a somewhat twitchy Greener seemed to going through a hundred team permutations a minute.
Apology Dymock 31 05 08
Al says I am wrong ,their batsman was run out because his bat was in the air but Rog in unrepentant still; sanferryanne as they say in the forest,it changes nothing

Match Report 31 05 08 Birdlip V Cirencester
Birdlip won the toss and with damp track asked Cirencester to bat hoping their bowlers would take the early initiative. It wasn’t long before Guy Partridge bagged the first of his 3 wickets with Cirencester’s top order making slow progress. The absence of regular skipper Nick Rutter who found success here last year, was readily noticeable. Frugal bowling from Partridge (20-3), George James and Trevor Holder (26-2) accumulated 11 maidens between them, with Cirencester through most of their innings finding runs hard to come by. J Gilchrist (26) with some fluid leg side shots was the mainstay of the early stages, posing questions of Birdlip’s fielding positions with his placement. Toby Harris, given a rare chance a long spell with Birdlip missing their opening bowlers, made the most of his opportunity with 5 wickets and twice in a position of a hat trick ball. As the overs ran down T Waters (23) batted with urgency at No. 10, to help the tail gain valuable runs for the visitors.
Chasing 122 Birdlip quickly gained momentum and the partnership of Nitin Shetty (36) and Trevor Holder (63) produced a 50+ opening partnership for the second week running. Skipper Clive Gray mixed his bowlers around trying to get something out of the game. Eventually with the score on 92, indecision by Nitin Shetty gave Cirencester a long awaited breakthrough. Their good standard fielding was rewarded with a direct hit run out with Shetty well short of his ground. Holder kept up his run rate although Cirencester bowlers started to get more out of the wicket and runs slowed from the other end. With 4 required J Denyer had Holder caught behind by Clive Gray and soon Guy Partridge followed with no addition to the score. After a couple successful overs for Cirencester Kent Partridge guided the ball of his legs for 4 to seal a convincing 7 wicket win with 14 overs to spare.

Match Report 31 05 08 2nds v Dymock
Losing the toss on a damp wicket often proves fatal for the inserted team and, at first ,losing the game was the most likely result for us. As it turned out that was the last piece of luck Dymock experienced as they bowled too well in getting the ball to seam and swing but never close enough to the stumps often enough to take the early wickets they needed. When Roger was out ,trying to force some pace into the abject run rate, we were 17 off 11 overs . With his trousers tucked into black socks ,in true village style, and a hint of builders bum , our hero Abuse strode out to the crease. All those qualities of the bowling which Parsola said was ‘doing everything’ were as none to your man. Ah, the confidence of youth, as he began where he finished last week with two signature boundaries.  By the 16^th over we were 52,even Parsons shed his terrors to leap from 8 off 14 overs to 19 in the 20^th.Al P continued the assault with two successive sixes ; this further deflated Dymock’s earlier chirpiness now to be replaced by unease. When both Al and James departed, the latter failing again by 2 runs to make 50 (berk)  things still hung in the balance and we went quiet for a while until ‘Ron ‘ found the range. His 32 were crucial and so, with a flurry from the tail, we got to 203, something we should not have been allowed to do.
Dymock came out ready to go for it but then assisted themselves to destruction with a series of perhaps bizarre decisions in the context of some good bowling .Bizarre because I am convinced, as many were, that Abuse was run out but Rog at square leg ump ,he say no .Their opener, in by the same distance that James was out, was fired by a kid who I had got LBW earlier .He then gave me an LBW to a man half way down the track : sure the guy was probably out but no-one ever gives those, especially when the bowler in question got you that way, unless you are someone who is certain the victim is having an affair with your wife or a young man who doesn’t know the rules. Their captain ,when he came out, eyed up the miscreant with a look I have seen only when Clint Eastwood is about to execute someone’s imminent departure from this planet. Phil and Lloyd duly cleaned up the tail, making it a good day for ’ 006.9’.The only disappointments were that as good as Matt was last week he lost his rhythm this time out and couldn’t find it at all and that Chris Hieron didn’t bowl but that is sometimes how it works out. Both will have another day. Another very good game with some very decent men who took their defeat with good grace ,tinged perhaps with a little bemusement as to why ; but such is life in the seconds

Match Report 24 05 08 Birdlip V Frampton
Winning the toss we thought was vital, with patches of clover on a length at both ends the pitch looked rather dodgy. The toss was won but after inserting the opposition the pitch didn’t appear to hold any gremlins, that was till we had the pleasure of batting on it. It spit and seemed as though the locals turned a switch on after tea.
Driver Dickenson with red hair, resembling an ‘England’s Glory Match’ batted well with few mistakes and carried his bat to the final ball when run out by Toby. It was another booming throw from the deep, what an arm not always accurate though, one was so huge it cleared Nitin’s head by 20 feet, again from the far boundary. To give you an idea of distance, probably the equivalent of 5 of Ian’s throws. Driver’s 111 combined with a frugal bowling performance almost single handily put pressure on the boys from The Shire. Coops and Prakash grabbed 3 wickets apiece and George yet again slogged for 12 overs on the trot this time without reward. Nitin added to his season’s tally with another superb catch amongst his 3 victims.
Chasing 219 or 216 depending on what total we went by, (there could have been trouble at the death), their opener put the wind up us with pace not seen for some time, but luckily he ran out puff after 6 overs or in Trev’s words “I saw him off” after hitting him for consecutive fours in his last over. As with their last opening pairing Nitin (21) and Trev past the 50 mark in reasonable time and a solid start was achieved. Driver Dickenson’s introduction with bowling which would have been welcomed in our ranks drained the hopes of our chances though. He had Trev caught behind shortly after reaching his half century and conceded only 28 of his 12 overs. Ken (22) and a flurry of 14no from George offered some hope, but more in the chase for batting points. Matters weren't helped as for the second week running a poor LBW decision cost us a wicket, this time DP who is looking to kick start his season was the unlucky one. DP, Trev followed his firing with a 50 so look forward to next week. We crept passed the 175 before the dancing Coops had his stumps spread by a full ball from the returning quicky to end the innings

Match Report 24 05 08 Birdlip 2nds V Cam
I wonder when the real second team will appear or maybe we have already seen it; who knows? Thanks in part to guest appearances by first teamers (two successful one not so) we have won our last two matches. That the real umpf in the score was in our top 5, all regular seconds , suggests we have something but with Charlie Harris coming in at 6 and bowling match winning stuff confuses the situation. Nonetheless many positives were to be taken out of this game because we have beaten the league leaders and not just beaten them, duffed them up a bit .Those that failed this time were not a worry and need not worry, the task was taken on by others, the character of a good batting unit. And it was a another damn good game.
Abuse and Danny P were, in boxing terms, two sluggers that stood their ground and belted anything within range very, very hard. Pie after long hop after full bunger were planted in the surrounding fields. We were 100 off 15 overs, neck braces were made ready for the umpires as sixes crashed into the vegetation. Roger started to look like he was getting going when BBQd , according to him , by an LBW decision; if he was right it was an honest mistake; it is a risk you run playing off the back foot. The Ginster twins were taken off and the game began to assume its more typical character. Our stars both perished close together and with Parsola and Al both out cheaply earlier on, we subsided somewhat to 196 when 220 was most likely. This later period was enlightened by the elegance of Charlie and Duncan’s obvious quality against much better bowling.
For us Matt bowled his best spell yet , straight and pacier, supporting Charlie very well. Despite the fact that he took the opener with his worst ball, the dreaded full bunger, this did not detract from the general standard he established. I was congratulating myself on getting rid of numbers two and three, their top batter by a distance, when Abuse deflated my joy by announcing to the team that all I got were geriatrics and kids. Dave Cotterell is a year younger than me by the way. In came that awesome sight, a very large man , left handed and high on the grip, eyeing up the short boundary .By this time they were chasing an accelerating  run rate and I knew that  it was him or me. It was him. Taking myself off I turned to Jon Atkinson, who pranced in with my plea to bowl straight still ringing in his ears. ‘Don’t worry Foxy ‘ quoth the Billericay White Lightning as 8 went off his first over; but he was right .At the other end ,after Duncan had bowled a really nice spell of military medium ,Charlie destroyed them though not without the tab of fellow paedophile stuck on him by Abuse. Treacle also reminded me that he is still a wonderful fielder , (and we in general were pretty good again on the ground) ; his two wickets were well deserved, despite getting slogged for three fours off his last over. Cam were very generous after but the re-match will be interesting to say the least.

2nds against Churchdown 17-5-08 An away win gained by good tight bowling , on the whole, and batting which, though not chanceless, had the quality of being ,on the whole, positive. Three toss wins in a row defies odds but then all gamblers respect the streak effect and I am one. Damp wickets on cool May days are usually significantly difficult to bat on , often because they are seamer friendly ,do not come on to the bat and have odd bounce. To be fair to Churchdown , with all the problems they have with Council maintenance, they managed to clear the lumps of wet grass off the outfield just in time. All you Birdlip boys should give thanks to the fact that you are privileged to play on a ground as good as Sinclair Field created by the men that do.
Putting Churchdown in was a ‘no brainer’ given that we had ’ Ron’ Hieron and Andy Ward to open the  bowling with Matt and myself as change. Duly they struggled to put any score up and although wickets were hard to come by at first, the possibility of keeping them to a score less than 120 was the objective. We failed by 10 runs but that was due to bad luck, and maybe a spell of poor captaincy, more than anything else. As a unit we bowled well, notably Ron and Andy. If we had got through their top five quickly, they were dead in the water; we didn’t because I never had the fielder in quite the right place and dropped two caught and bowled.
One hit my leg, proving that 56 year old reaction time is all about self preservation. Another inch or so higher and I would have been looking for my nuts somewhere near my liver. The second was a low and painful bang on the thumb, a case of stick or not. I have come to the conclusion that I need to have two fielders close in to mid off /mid on for rebounds (and maybe wear a box; was Ned Kelly really a scared spinner?). James Buse should be renamed Jimmy Abuse such was his range of banter. He , along with Andy Ward and Danny P ,kept up a level of chirp not seen since the Marx Brothers. According to him the average age of my three wickets was 9, they all blubbed when out and rang their mums to take them home. My fielders made me laugh anyway, but they were pretty good that day, should you think it was all a gas and no action.
And so James abused their bowling, the silly sod getting out on 49. Tortoise Parsons,  abusing only the time he took to get 46 off 41 overs,  along with  a more urgent Dave Green , (Dan’s flame briefly spluttered but then went out ) got us to the target. Our three ducks were typical of their owners, nuff said. It was another really good game, good fun, great entertainment at times and it made you look forward to the next time. What more can you ask?

Two’s V Chalford 03 05 08
So the Mole is back, his coat is perhaps a shade of grey these days, maybe he’s a little slower and certainly lower than before but he still has those great qualities revered in journalists, accuracy, brevity and the ability to tell lies as if they were the truth , all shielded by anonymity ; taking the name of a blind rural pest is rather appropriate.
On to the new look Seconds or should I say, 2003 revisited with dash of fresh faces .What a great pleasure it was to see Dan Partridge back .He was in such great form ,not to mention his batting , which still has that firework quality of the supremely confident and reckless loon that he always was .A child  bowled at Dan what he felt was good length ball only to see it deposited on the roof of the club house for a huge six. With every ball he had sent down previously, I noted the elfin cricketer’s expectant face ,Dan gives hope to all. This brutal blow puckered the tiny features into an expression of disbelief and dismay; tears were not far away.I fully expect these two not to meet again for a year or so.
AP and other senior players persuaded me to bat first when I had come to bowl. If I had with me four known quantity on form bowlers I would have but I did have some good batters for a change so what the hell and they were, on balance, right.  A combination of the Partridge brothers, Alan and Dan, threatened to take the game into a positive position for us but Danny and Alan live by the sword and duly died by it, perishing to high swirling catches, as usual; but they cannot do it on their own .Dave Green batted with intelligence and almost got into the real money with a useful 13 .
What of Parsola? Patience has been his watchword, some would say that most of his innings are marked by somnolence for those watching, that is if any have an eye open long enough. However he won the batting prize last year and he does a job .He may have the strike rate of an anaconda which feeds twice a year but this was enough for now .I hear he thinks he lost us the game, he did not but he might have been patient a bit longer .Roger Moore made a fatal error of judgement however I expect him to be in the frame for the batting award in October. A flurry by the tail gave us something to bowl at but six scores of 3 or less tell the story.
The quality of our bowling was always going to be the key. Lloyd Moore,15 , on debut, was raw but he has real promise as a cricketer. He took a great one handed catch, batted with some composure and so reminded me of Coops at the same age. What he does have is a good attitude which will make him a real force sooner rather than later. Matt Roberts also conquered a few demons and settled down to bowl well. Being a left arm bowler is a great advantage and he will come on. Phylis amazingly sent down a high proportion of good balls having had no nets; his figures do not flatter him. He and I, with Matt, got a grip on the game. We would have won but for some unknown 15 year old who, coming in at 8, proceeded to belt Matt and the two Phils, James and Dickenson, over the rope in double quick time. This surprised not only us but also their captain. On the whole they were the better team, in that they had more batsmen and fielded better, yet the winning margin gives us the most credit. So ended a great match, and it was a real birthday treat for me. The thing I enjoyed the most was the superb atmosphere around the team; if all the other games are like this then the 2008 season will be one to remember.