Your English Cricket Season: 2008

[Chubb]

Hutton VI 210-5 (Chubb 91, I. Dunn 39) Rayleigh VI 127-5 (Chubb 3-32) Match Abandoned

Two new personal bests. Our team consisted of myself, Dunn, a good batsman just getting back into the game, three ageing nuff-nuffs and four kids under 15, so there was a quite a bit of responsobility. Rayleigh's team was mostly U17s, but two of them were pretty good bowlers, though still nothing special. I batted for two and a half hours, hit two sixes and about ten fours, mainly through the covers and behind square on the leg side. I got to 50 off about 27 overs, moved to 60 off 33, then started attacking, stepping outside the leg stump and hitting through the off side. If they followed me down leg I swung through the ball, and that's where the two sixes happened. I didn't know I was in the nineties- the captain signalled ten with one over left, I thought he just meant runs, not runs to me. I was run out off the third ball of the over. When I found out how close I had gotten I was more than a little annoyed, though of course still pleased, since it would have been the first hundred for Hutton VIs in history.

When we bowled I managed to take three wickets just by tossing the ball up- I had one caught-and-bowled, a stumping and a nick behind. Unfortunately it then rained and we had to call the game off. Therefore I had the best all-round game of my life and it was all for nothing. Obviously the opposition will be much better when I get back home, but hopefully I can build on this.

 

[Neil Pickup]

Thorverton II 157 (J Crouch 35, A Birmingham 28, S Reddick 21)
Upottery II 158-5 (B Bax 5-19)

Even eight hours on from that game, the only feeling that persisted was injustice. The fact that I got cleaned up fifth ball for one by a ball that pitched outside leg and hit the top of off has nothing to do with it - I'm not good enough to hit them. What rankles is that it feels like we were cheated out of a win today by umpiring that could be at best classed as incompetent, generously as gutless, and at worst biased.

Our 157 was about 20 or 30 less than it should have been: we do not have a middle order that has any compulsion or ability to occupy the crease, and as such, four or five down is a recipe for fireworks - the kind of which even the batsmen don't know. Even so, the third ball of the first over was played down to third man/deep point for an easy single, and then for some reason (probably as it was misfielded), the Upottery opener came back for a second. The throw was straight into my gloves, over the stumps; I took the bails off, facing straight at the umpire (one of the Upottery side), and appealed - one of those celebration/confirmation appeals when you know it's gone - by a yard or more. I was proud of myself for not letting out several four-letter words in the umpire's direction afterwards.

When the opener finally holed out for 63, Upottery were 110/1. From then on, we were by far the better side, and they made it home five down. Now we're 7th (out of 10), and on Saturday we have a massive game at home to 8th-placed Uplyme. On the plus side, only four byes (two of which had lots of pad involved), and I'm now officially second XI keeper (for the moment, anyway).

Monday's game to follow...

 

[Jamee999]

Definitely a no-ball. As were the eleven I've called in U12/U13 this week for going over the batsman's head on the full. As was the one last season that went straight up and stopped 11 yards down the wicket.

Oh, I'm playing tomorrow. Keeping wicket. For 46 overs.

First time I kept in PE (in Year 7) the first ball I had to jump to take on the full...

 

[Chubb]

I hope you destroy Kilmington on Saturday, Neil. Nothing would give me greater pleasure than to see them go down.

 

[Neil Pickup]

Last week, Thorverton II (202-9) got their first genuinely good result of the season, with a winning draw over Uplyme & Lyme Regis (183-9). I made 5* from number nine, seeing us through the 46 overs and getting us up to 200 for the final batting point. Kept quite well again, too - 3 byes - even with our opening bowler getting all Steve Harmison (five wides first up) on us.

Won't be playing Kilmington II this weekend - have been called into the 1st XI as a late replacement as a "good fielder who can bat a bit down the order"...

 

[Pup Clarke]

No one's ever going to believe this but it was 25 degrees here in Glasgow. The match was West of Scotland v St Michaels and it was my 2nd game for the 2ndX1. We won the toss and posted 189-9 of 50 overs. Considering the weather two drinks breaks were taken at overs 17 and 34 which was of great relief. Seeing as the wicket was an absolute belter we were a good 50 runs short of a competitive total. I was batting at 11 but bowled 4 overs of leg spin which cost 26 runs plus a very,very dubious leg before decision in my favour (batsmen attempting a sweep was hit on leg stump with the ball drifting way down leg). I obviously wasn't fussed about that as every wicket is a bonus especially when it's your first for that team. Anyways, they knocked of the runs for the loss of 3 wickets after 28 overs.

West of Scotland 189-9 of 50 overs Leggat 48 Valluri 47 O'Hairn 3-21
St Michaels 193-3 of 28 overs Dawson 65 O'Hairn 56 Liam 1-26 of 4.

 

[The Baconator]

Have a match tomorrow. Hope I'm in a decent enough state to be vaguely competent.

 

[Neil Pickup]

Thorverton I 194-9 (Pavlou 97, Burningham 37 | Pickup 5)
Tiverton & Bickleigh I 180-9

Well I didn't disgrace myself. Came in at 176-7 with 3.3 overs left and orders to play shots.. unfortunately it was first team cricket and I'm not really very good. My five runs took eight balls before I got cleaned up by a good yorker. Did manage to give the medium pacer who bowled me a decent bit of aerial treatment beforehand, and I'm pleased with the fact that I got forward and early forward on most of the balls I faced: the half-hour with the bowling machine on Thursday (which ended when I got one at 81mph on my arse) obviously helped.

With the ball, we had them 28/4, 57/6 and 100/8 but couldn't close them out. Their number 10 made 47*, mainly agriculturally, and much of that innings was spent at a slightly frightening short midwicket... I now have a blood blister on my left hand for my troubles having got behind a particularly fierce mow (admittedly that was at orthodox midwicket). We feel we should've won it, when in the 45th over their #11 got what can only be described as a substantial amount of the shoulder of his bat through to the keeper. The umpire said he wasn't sure what the noise was. I didn't ask what the hell else it could have been, but several of the rest of the team did.

The 2nd XI crashed to a 9-wicket reverse at Kilmington, miserably failing to get close to defending 147 and getting back to Thorverton (it's a good 45-minute drive) with 18 overs left of our match.

 

[Chubb]

The 2nd XI crashed to a 9-wicket reverse at Kilmington, miserably failing to get close to defending 147 and getting back to Thorverton (it's a good 45-minute drive) with 18 overs left of our match.

Kilmington are a good side, there's no shame in losing to them. Players like the two Lavenders are legends of the old East Devon League (Kilmington were on of the last clubs to join the league and they went unbeaten for 4 seasons going to the First Division, then two years later they won the thing), and they have good young players like H. Cook who took the wickets on Saturday. His brothers are all very good players too. Their mum taught at my primary school. Well done on getting to the Firsts, it's always a big step up.

North Weald 191-2 dec. (V. Curran 101*, Chubb 6.2-0-45-0) Hutton VI 61 (Some Guy 8-8-0-0, Chubb 24)

Against Rayleigh it was a bunch of kids against a bunch of kids and a couple of men. This game was men against a team composed of U13s, Nuff-nuffs, Ian Dunn who as I said before is a decent player, and myself. North Weald were far too strong. We bowled crap all day and Curran feasted, especially off me to be honest. They could see what a turkey-shoot it was so they generously declared as soon as Curran drove me for 4 to bring up his hundred. I came out to bat in the 3rd over, and twenty overs later we were only 22-1.The bowling wouldn't have shamed the Devon League. I was the only one who could handle it with some degree of security, though I still struggled. When I got out to a legspinner the score was 33-3, when I came out of the shower it was 35-6, and a few overs later it was finished.

Upottery 179 (Chubb 41, M. Denslow 32, M. Joyce 29) Tedburn St. Mary 178 (S. Baker 85* Some Guy 55 G. Kennard 5-5)

This was a fantastic match... I got back to Devon early Sunday morning, then I called the captain of the first team and he said we were short for today. So I ended up playing... I opened, did what i usually do, i.e. build a platform. The bowling wasn't too hot, but they had a very good chinaman bowler (the same guy who got 55) who got a lot of turn down the hill and he got me with a beauty. At that point we were 120-4, so a collapse ensued. I feared we didn't have enough runs, and at one point they were 120-2. Baker should have won them the game but he was too defensive and their tail collapsed under the pressure of our fielding and great bowling from Kennard, the ex-captain of the firsts. They needed 5 off the last over- Baker hit a two then a sigle, but Kennard got the number ten, then the las man slogged the last ball of the game up in the air, and the catch was taken. We'd won a great friendly.

 

[Neil Pickup]

Honiton 264/7 dec [43]
Thorverton 200 [48.5]

Gutted, absolutely gutted. With three balls left we were 200/8 and hanging on, then our #7 got a stinker of an LBW, leaving me two balls to negotiate for a losing draw. The first of them was just short of a half volley, which promptly spat, hit my glove, and looped to fourth slip.

The fact that I managed a really sharp catch standing up off a bottom-edged cut shot doesn't seem to count for anything whatsoever right now. Stupid game.

 

[Tom Halsey]

Rain, rain, go away.

 

[The Baconator]

Echo......

Match'll be cancelled, so it's probably either stay at home or go see a film I've already seen with some bogans, great.

 

[Neil Pickup]

Ivybridge 135/7 [40]
Exeter Uni IV 37/2 [12]

Match Tied (D/L)

This one ended in a Dartmoor-bound maelstrom, and once I got home, the computer told me that under Jack and Tony's rain rules it was a tie... The game itself was also interesting - we used three U14s as I was horrendously low on transport like never before - we bowled and fielded well, with the exceptions of three dropped catches (one my fault, gloved at chest height down the leg side, snatched at it), 29 wides and 10 no-balls! Ivybridge's Devon U12 opener, beneficiary of two of the spills (including mine) batted 24 overs for 18. I did manage one catch later on, a regulation outside edge on the drive, and I think was responsible for their #7 attempting a reverse sweep to a straight medium-paced ball by standing up to him.

The reply was conducted in dismal conditions throughout, and by 12 overs in it was dangerous - so a quick drink, a drive home, and a computer program telling me that we tied. Now for those lesson plans...

 

[Jungle Jumbo]

May as well go over what's happened so far...

Began the season mostly with a clutch of school 2nd XI games, with mixed results. We won only once, against the local clergy, when we chased down 135 in 16 overs (maximum of 30) as our opener, dropped from the first team, pounded a 52-ball ton. Absolute carnage.

However, that was only a storm in a teacup compared to the hurricane we had encountered a couple of days before. Playing with admittedly a very, very weak side, to see their highest-scoring dismissed batsman make just 14 (the only one to make double-figures) was a massive achievement. Their undefeated opener, meanwhile, had smashed 164 - probably from around 90 balls - and given me figures of 2-0-36-0. We looked solid at 50-odd without loss; 81 all out was probably a fair reflection of the rest of the batsmen.

More madness a week later, this time with stumps everywhere. Chasing an improbable 188 in 30 overs, I came to the crease with just over a ton on the board, seven down and only 10 overs left. Needing 35 off two overs, it was game over, although I'd played some nice shots off my legs and had 20-odd to my name. Cue their left-arm seamer, who'd bowled fairly steadily for five overs, to spray one delivery wildly down the legside. And again. And again. And again. And again. After his sixth wide, each further down the legside than the last, he came in of just a couple of paces and sent one somewhere in the region of a leg gully. He then smashed the stumps everywhere, leading to a lengthy discussion with our normally very strict teacher, who later told us that in any other circumstances, he would have sent him off the pitch, but he was more of an asset to us while still bowling.

We lost by 13 runs, for the record.

 

[Chubb]

Feniton IIs 158-7 (N. Wyatt 3-50) Upottery IIs 29-1 (Chubb 2*)

Rain ruined a shot at victory, but it might have been very close. The pitch wasn't too hot, we bowled well but so were they before it rained. The bowling was faster than I expected in the IIs, because I haven't played in this division for about 2 years baring a couple of games, but I'd like to think I would have handled it okay.

Upottery 138 a/o (D. Woolacott 27, D. Broom 24, G. Kennard 22*, Chubb 6) Chard 101 a/o (G. Kennard 3-5, S. Bath 2-7, Chubb 3-0-4-1)

I don't know how we managed to win this game. The pitch once again wasn't too good, but I got out because I lost concentration and didn't move my feet early on. It happens sometimes. It's my first failure this season, and it had to happen at some point. At one stage we were 97-9 but Kennard, batting 10, played well at the end to get us up to a good total. At one stage Chard were 60-1, but remarkably, Kennard and Bath pulled it round. Kennard bowled six overs and they couldn't hit his left-arm spin off the square. I replaced him when Chard were 90-7. In my first over, the Chard batsmen attempted a suicidal single, I took the throw and dived into the stumps to run him out. Off my last delivery the guy who'd run his partner out had a massive heave, missed completely and I bowled him... Game over, practically. The last man was dropped in my third over, but he was stumped off the next. So, bizarrely, we won. Chard really threw it away- all they had to do was keep batting, push the singles, but they couldn't. so again we won a friendly against the odds.

 

[Neil Pickup]

The bottom of D East II is now looking like Cullompton + one of Uplyme/Upottery/Thorverton/Feniton.

Cully are dire, and the top five are all significantly better than us by the looks of things. Feniton have the basement boys Cullompton next weekend, while the other three have more difficult tasks, then the week after Feniton v Thorverton is massive.

It'll be good to read the battle for survival from two perspectives.

 

[Chubb]

Wow, after some of the worst summer weather I've ever seen we finally played some cricket:

Saturday
Woodbury IIs 181-8 (N. Wyatt 3-30, F. Drew 2-14)
Upottery IIs 183-4 (B. Inglis 73*, I. Drew 38* M. Kellow 25, Chubb 0)

A great win over the third-placed side in the league. The pitch was damp and slow and hard to bat on, but over the day it dried out. They struggled for 26 overs to 67-2, but then attacked well over the last half of the innings. We thought we'd let them get too many. Our reply started terribly when Woolacott was bowled for 0. I took his place at the crease, and promptly got a fourth-ball duck. I pushed half forward to a full, straight one, missed it and got hit on the ankle right in front of middle stump. I was so angry. I hate failing, and I feared we'd lose the game. Soon we were 12-3, but then Inglis and Kellow consolidated for thirty overs, then when Kellow was out, Drew came in and smashed 38 off 23 balls with 3 huge sixes- we won in the 43rd over. This win gave us 19 points and a cushion of 20 points over Feniton- perhaps this was the game that will prove to be pivotal at the end of the season.

Sunday
Upottery 160-5 (G. Kennard 41, M. Joyce 36*, A. Button-Stephens 24, Chubb 8)
Luppitt Did Not Bat
Match Abandoned

This was a good friendly cut short by the weather. I opened and i was feeling good- i hit my second ball for six- but I top-edged a pull off a terrible leg-stump half-tracker straight up in the air. Jesus, I was cross. Because of all the bad weather the pitches have gone from being rock-hard, like they were when I was in Norwich, to being slow, low, puddings. it's hard to adjust but you have to try.

Tuesday
Potton 183-8
Upottery 146 a/o (G. Pidgeon 46, Chubb 4)

Touring friendly, pitch a pudding again, once again was feeling good before I tried to sweep a full ball miles outside legstump, and somehow contrived to deflect it into the stumps behind me- I was totally flummoxed- I didn't understand how it had happened, because I just looked round and the stumps were off and the keeper was laughing- I thought he'd gone for a stumping but I knew I was home- then he said "I wasn't anywhere near it". "What?" I replied "What happened?" "It's bowled, mate?" "What, how?". nobody could explain exactly how I had done it because this was a leg-spinner pitching the ball outside leg stump to a left-hander with the slope with the natural spin. Bizzare. It must have hit the back of my bat as I played the sweep and rolled back. I still feel in good form and I know it hasn't been that many innings since I was scoring big runs but it's a matter of adapting to the pitches now.

 

[open365]

Got moved up into my club's second team on Saturday because we were playing at Colwyn Bay and half the second team aren't commited enough to play anywhere outside an hour drive's radius.

I was allowed to bat at 7 and got 16 of 13 balls before they brought their opening bowler back on who took my middle stump out of the ground first ball, we strugled up to 153 of 50 over and lost by 8 wickets with 3 overs remaining.

I was a bit annoyed i got moved up to the 2nds when i found out after the match that our 3rd team won by 3 runs after being 18-7 and having one of the opposition bowlers set a club bowling record with 10-60.

 

[Neil Pickup]

Saturday
Thorverton II 262/5 (J Crouch 130*)
Cullompton II 94 (J May 4/19)

Saturday, mullered Cullompton IIs. We recovered from 66/4 to post 262/5 dec in 40, thanks to a blitz of 130* from a 14 year old...

Then skittled them for 94, despite me missing a run out and dropping a catch inside the first three overs. Made up for it by keeping the byes down to zero and recording my first stumping of the season - their last four wickets fell in six balls for one run.

Sunday
Exmouth 148/9 (N Pickup 2/18)
Thorverton 149/7 (G Greed 72*)

On Sunday, I got rid of the gloves as we played Exmouth. Managed 6-2-18-2 with some outrageously slow off spin with two men out on the leg side boundary. Wickets were my first LBW, ever, and an embarrassingly hilarious dismissal as a full t*ss hit the toe of the bat, then the instep of the batsman's splayed foot, and then rolled onto the stumps.

Opened the batting as no-one else wanted to, made 10 with two fours - one was actually a nice shot off the back foot through extra cover, the other was a short arm pull/hoik/tennis shot that nearly decapitated the bowler. Was then bowled, as usual, not getting forward, as usual. Won by 3 wickets.

Had an interesting exchange with one of Exmouth's Colts during that game too. For some reason he shouted to the pavilion for the tennis score during the innings. I told him to get himself out if he was that bothered.

Next ball he played and missed, I shouted out "love 15".
Two balls later, another play & miss - "15/30".
Then another, "15/40; two break points!"
Another big swish at a straight one, and goodnight.

 

[Neil Pickup]

D East II Table after 10/18 games
Ottery St Mary 155
Axminster III 139
Woodbury 118
Honiton 116
Kilmington 110
Upottery 95
Thorverton 92
Uplyme 83
Feniton 80
Cullompton 29

This weekend's games
Cullompton v Upottery
Expect Upottery to win easily as Cullompton really are rubbish.
Feniton v Uplyme
Very interesting lower-end battle: fancy Feniton with home advantage off a win over Axminster.
Kilmington v Axminster III
Both sides coming in off poor defeats, but with Kilmington light on runs, expect the Ax promotion push to stay on the rails.
Ottery v Thorverton
Very tough trip for ourselves, but off the back of a big win we might just manage something.
Woodbury v Honiton
A few weeks ago there was most of the table between these two. Now there's just two points. Honiton have the form and the momentum - expect them to be top three by Sunday.