Coton v Waterbeach, 21 June 2008, Midsummer Madness on Coton Rec.......

It’s a tradition for which origins are lost in the mist of time. They say that in the olden days men erected two sets of three wooden poles in the ground to cast the shadows of the midsummer sun and then donned strange white garb to perform arcane rituals around the poles. They appealed to the god known as Umpire with strange cries of "Howzat" and greeted each other with shouts of "run" and "wait" whilst wearing strange accoutrements that many historians believe to be vestiges of former armour. Meanwhile loyal servants prepared banquets in the fabled pavilions so that the hungry revellers could feast and gain strength.

Well, maybe. Anyone looking for shadows at Coton Recreation this Midsummer would have been hard pressed to spot any as the current acolytes of cricket took the field against Waterbeach. Grey clouds covered the sky and the ritual proceeded under the continual threat of rain, although there were no more than a few drops during the game. There were several enforced changes in the team from last week’s victory at Cambourne: most notably in the bowling attack where three key purveyors were missing. As a result the bowling was opened by Ross Chandler and Rob Kaye: hardly the fastest attack in the world but fast was not to be the order of the day. The morning drizzle had made the pitch treacherous which Rob soon discovered as he fell over delivering his first ball (the surprised batsman was unable to score off it). Ross and Rob delivered tight opening spells, Rob bowling both openers before handing the ball to Dave Scotcher who proceeded to take the third Waterbeach wicket with his second delivery. Ross bowled unchanged through to drinks at which point Waterbeach were 55-4.

Bowling became steadily more difficult as the ball absorbed more and more moisture. Dave bowled through his ten overs without anymore wickets. Richard took over from Ross and bowled tidily taking the 5th wicket but an ominous 6th wicket stand developed and this was to ultimately put the game beyond Coton’s reach. The umpires declined a number of LBW and stumping appeals: since when has "I wasn’t paying attention" been a legitimate reason for turning down one of the more blatant stumpings? The fielding degenerated somewhat and it took the introduction of Ed Darling to break the partnership. Ed proceeded to take 2 wickets in his short spell, Richard taking the only catch of the innings. Rob returned to close out the innings. In his early spell the ball had been swinging extensively but the sodden ball offered no such incentive now and no further wickets were taken. Waterbeach finished on 162-7, the exact same total that Cambourne had gained the previous week. Could Coton do it again?

After a fine tea provided by Janet Scotcher, Ross and Richard opened the reply. Ross continued his form from where he had left off the previous week striking the ball around the ground. The opening partnership had reached 35 before Richard was bowled: his contribution to that stand was being just 3. Dave Hale came and went quickly and then Alastair joined Ross for a steadying stand. While Ross was there victory looked distinctly possible but he was unfortunate to drag a wide ball onto his stumps and departed for 42. The scoring rate slowed and the target crept up to 5 and then 6 runs per over needed. Acceleration was the order of the day in the last dozen overs but attempting to do this precipitated a mini-collapse with Mike Bullard and Al Carroll departing to successive deliveries. Alastair was still providing stability at one end: could the tail wag for once and hit the 80 or so runs now needed?

For once the Care Bear family got some runs. Firstly Rob hit a couple of cracking boundaries before departing to an expansive shot of Waterbeach’s best bowler. Alistair eventually went for a hard-fought 19 followed by Rads and Dave both making useful contributions. The innings was brought to a close by Paul Norton being run out off the final ball: "not-out Norts" finally being
out. In the end we came up 25 runs short in an even match that was just shaded by Waterbeach.

The Coton team and many of the Waterbeach team retired down to the pub for the final phase of the Midsummer celebrations. In recognition of the changing sensibilities in these modern times we decided to skip the part involving the sacrifice of naked virgins*.
Next week its off to Over all being well. See you there.

(*Because we couldn’t find any).

Highs:
- Ross Chandler making 42 runs on a tough day to score runs
- Ed Darling taking 2 for 15 in 3 overs - removing the top 2 scorers for Waterbeach.
- Alastair Breward made a sustained batting effort and helped the the tail to Wag.......check out the scorecard!!!
Lows:
- Unable to "restrict" Waterbeach to a reasonable total.......perhaps a day to implement the sweeper earlier.......
- A "misly" day that needed some Coton sunshine to pour on the runs......next week, next week.
- A dropped catch from Coton's Silver Fox - aka Mike Bullard.....bump ball or not!

Next week its off to Over all being well. See you there.

Coton Crusaders v Ashwell, 14 June 2008, Coton Crusaders v NCI

More milestones passed for Coton Crusaders over the weekend and yesterday. On Saturday we had an absolutely thriving Recreation Ground since Ashwell brought along U11 and U9 teams. The Under11s played their first 'proper' cricket match - hard ball, pads etc..., coached and supported by Chris and Ross. Coton lost a competitive match by just 14 runs, and it might have been different but we retired a few batsmen along the way. Anyway, a great experience to get the U11s playing the 'senior' form of the game.

Mike & George looked after the U9s and Crusaders were able to field two teams for the Kwik cricket. The first match was lost by a mere two runs, the second match by a bigger margin but still great experience for everyone.

I reckon we had about 65 children on the Rec last Saturday, and every single one got to play in a matchagainst the visitors if they wanted it!

On Monday night Chris, Ross and I took a group over to Churchill College to play NCI on an absolutely fantastic wicket. The teams batted for 22 overs each using an 'incrediball' - a hybrid between a real cricket ball and a kwik cricket ball. Coton, captained expertly by Hollie, fielded first and conceded about 20 runs in their first over! But as the innings progressed the team exerted more and more control on the batsmen, with at least two outstanding catches in the deep and a run out. NCI scored 280 in their 22 overs. Coton's response was typified by some excellent scoring shots interspersed with absolutely kamakaze running and calling between the wickets! The final few overs became very challenging with NCI crowding the batsgirls, but Hollie, Lara and Beth held out. The final score was 306 - Coton win by 26 runs!!

For this coming Saturday we revert to a more sedate coaching session starting at 10.00 on the Rec. However, I will be taking a team to Cambourne to play a match. Many of those who didn't get a chance to play last night will have an opportunity and I'll be in touch with parents individually about that later.

That's all for now... Mike and Chris

Reciprocity or Catches, Big Daddy Splashes and Smashing Batting at Camberwick Green (nae Cambourne!), Cambourne v Coton, 14 June 2008

Coton CC paid a visit to the hitherto unbeaten league leaders Cambourne last weekend. It was obvious that some thought had been put into the ground and an attempt had been made to make it look like a village green. It was surrounded by an array of houses of various styles (was it really deliberate that the ones behind the bowlers arms were painted in light colours to act as sight screens?) and who knows, in 100 years time when the saplings have become trees it might even be a pleasant place to play. In the meantime the environs still have a sense of desolation and you can imagine tumbleweeds blowing across the pitch on windy days. And, can someone explain why the changing rooms are across the street?

It was a strong Coton side that took the field with Chris taking a break from new parenting duties and Ross coming back into the team. There were certainly plenty of bowling options for the Richard to call on but – unsurprisingly – we opened with Chris & George. There was plenty of life in the track and a fast outfield. An initial wayward over from George soon gave way to accurate spells by both openers. There was plenty going on to keep them and the fielders interested but it took the first of several outstanding catches to break the opening partnership. Mike Bullard leaped to his right like a silver salmon taking on a waterfall to haul in a sharp chance off George.

A double switch to spin precipitated the next breakthrough, Ross coming on from one end and Dave Scotcher from the other. While Ross wheeled away through his 10 overs from one end taking two wickets (good catches from Richard and Neil) it proved not to be Dave’s day. The pitch wasn’t suited to his particular talents and although the ball was frequently in the air it contrived to avoid the field on all occasions. After three overs a visibly exasperated Dave got the hook to make way for Neil Sparnon to bowl at the non-descript end that wasn’t quite the same as the other non-descript end.

Prior to the game, Dave had been trying to get people to bet on whether Neil would start with his traditional wide. This seemed to inspire the latter to do something unexpected and open up with a straight ball that almost took the batsman by surprise. Had they been doing some scouting? It was the precursor to a spell of aggressive bowling that was punctuated by another fine catch from Rob Kaye lumbering in off the cow corner boundary, almost misjudging the distance and ending with a dive to make up for the slow reactions.

Cambourne arrived at the 30 over mark with just 4 wickets down and an ominous looking total on the board. The remaining overs didn’t yield as many runs as they wanted due to good spells of controlled hostility from the returning openers, Chris and George. Both hit the stumps and each contrived a more interesting dismissal. Alistair “Teflon Gloves” Breward was alert to one of their batsman taking guard outside the crease and not bothering to get back in after a play-and-miss. Alistair threw down the stumps and followed with more of an apology than an appeal: but the batsman reluctantly had to depart. There was some debate as to whether this was a stumping or a run-out. It went in the book as the former – possibly the first ever off George – and a subsequent post-mortem proved it to be the correct decision. The final wicket was a catch at short cover by Andrew East. Well, more of a “nurse” than a “catch” as the sharply hit ball lodged between chest and arm. After a short search the ball was recovered and the wicket was given. Cambourne finished on 162-8 which was considerably less than they had looked like getting. Tight bowling and good fielding kept the total to something reachable on a quick scoring track. But given our recent batting frailties would it be too much?

To mitigate against our precipitous collapses, Richard tried a new tactic dropping Neil down the order to act as a shepherd to the tail should we require a scramble for runs at the end. We will never know if the tactic would have worked as Chris and Ross proceeded to knock off the runs unbeaten with 7 overs to spare. They hit half centuries (Chris - 78 and Ross - 55) of contrasting styles and never really looked in trouble (to their knowledgeable colleagues) against some decent but unpenetrative bowling.

On the sidelines the remaining putative batsmen debated whether a wide that goes to the boundary counted 5 or 4 to while away the time between some classy stroke play. As the appeals got more desperate and the fielding more despondent our openers saw us home with a flurry of boundaries to a 10 wicket win against league leaders that were no longer undefeated.

And so to the Monkfield Arms where 10 Coton players were joined by several members of Cambourne team, and after an hour or so by Alistair who had decided to go and do his shopping at the adjacent Morrisons before getting a beer (note: get your priorities sorted). It is the mark of a pub that has connections to cricket that it will have jugs available for 50s or 5 wicket halls. That the Monkfield didn’t have jugs, it tells us that the pub – like Cambourne in general – still has a few years to go to reach maturity. The Marstons Pedigree was quite nice though.

As we reflected on a fine all round effort and the contrast from the debacle at Comberton thoughts turned to impending visit of Waterbeach to the Rec.

See you next week. Rob.

Highs:

• Superb Team Fielding - 5 Top Drawer Catches - Bullard, Allison, Sparnon, Kaye and East
• Another Stumping from Alastair Breward - taking glovemanship to new levels....must have been drinking Carlsberg.....probably!
• A Club Record Opening Partnership - of 166 (Chris Cooke 78 not out and Ross Chandler 55 not out)

Lows:

• No Rosy Lea at Tea
• Andy's 'Big Daddy Splash' on a reclining Neil. 'You don't want to see that lot coming at you at pace...' You can still see the dent.
• I can't think of anything else - what a belter of a day

First Ever Win(s) for Coton Crusaders!, 7/8 June 2008

We had a very busy weekend! On Saturday we played our first competitive match at home against Abington. Abington were keen, to say the least - arriving 40 minutes early and proceeded to perform intimidatory and complicated warm up excercises! At five to ten it looked like Coton would be represented by Patrick Butterfield against 14, but the Coton sleepyheads eventually arrived and the game kicked off. The teams were pretty much evenly matched but Abington's experience of playing matches showed and they turned out eventual winners by about 50 runs.

On to Sunday and the Kwik cricket festival. Coton fielded only one team so we realise that many kids might have missed out - we'll do our best to rectify that in the next few weeks. Anyway, 12 teams competed in this NCI festival held on Parker's Piece. Chris and I took a Coton team down, ably supported by Mums & Dads. There were three groups in the group stage and the winners of each group went onto the semi finals with the best performer from all groups making up the 4th semi final place. Coton started by playing Cokenach. after posting a criditable score Coton took to the field and in our first over took 4 wickets! (well done Adam). It looked like plain sailing. However Cokenach responded well and ran in eventual winners by just 4 runs. Hard luck Coton, and more about Cokenach later!

Next to play, as the sun came out, was St Giles. Improving bowling displays and some fine strokeplay, particularly from Hugh Bishop, allowed Coton to romp home by a margin of about 30 runs. OUR FIRST EVER VICTORY!!!

From here on the performances just got better, with everyone contributing as we despatched the T&W team by a considerable margin, thanks to an all round performance from all players including 2 excellent catches. As the matches progressed so the amount of banter on the field increased, with some hilarious advice offered from all quarters; all positive and team focused, of course.

Then, a long wait while the fate of Coton and their 2 out of 3 victories position was deliberated. In the end we didn't quite do enough to gain a semi final place but we surged on to contest the "Plate" - the runners up trophy.

We had our first semi-final against Cokenach (the team that we had lost to by a small margin earlier). Team selection was a challenge and after deft use of a 2p coin, the team took the field. Cokenach batted first and through a great display of bowling and fielding from the Coton team, were restricted to only adding 17 runs to the 200 that they started with. It was a very different situation when Coton batted, the runs flowed freely and we ended the innings having scored 74 runs in our 8 overs, which turned out to be the highest score of the day. On to the final…

We arrived at the pitch for the final to find the Hardwick team already on the pitch. They had a convincing win in their semi-final and were looking forward to putting the “new boys” in their place. Paolo Mastroeni strode out to the pitch as captain ready to toss the coin, team selection having been made more simple by Hollie Cooke agreeing to stand-down for the final. Having taken the advice of his team, when he won the toss he elected to field. It was clear form the start that this Hardwick team were a step up from any other team we had played so far – their opening batsmen quickly got into their stride and the runs started to flow. It was a great credit to the Coton team that they did not panic and after a couple of good catches the Hardwick team were pegged back a little. However, Hardwick had saved their best batsmen for last and the final two overs saw a flurry of runs to take Hardwick up to a very respectable score – this was going to be a tough target!

Despite some very tight bowling from Hardwick, the Coton innings moved along just behind the required run rate. Having learned from previous matches, the team were very keen not to give away their wickets and moved the score along nicely. However, the bowler of the penultimate over produced some very tight spin bowling which tied the scoring down and left an improbable target off the last over (sorry, I didn’t count exactly what we needed - the umpire was busy trying to signal how many runs were needed and seemed to be holding up a lot of fingers – lots of times!). The final pair began to score freely and a four and a six were thrashed to the boundary to leave seven required off the last two balls (the umpire could finally manage to adequately signal the required runs using his two hands and without having to resort to semaphore). The pressure suddenly seemed to hit the Hardwick bowler: The second last ball sailed wide down the leg-side and was signalled “wide” (in this form of cricket, 2 runs and no extra ball). So we were left needing 5 runs from the last ball, with Adam Bradbury facing. No longer able to shout “Line and length!” or “Don’t get out!” to his team mates, Adam was left with the team’s fortunes on his shoulders. The parents and supporters went quiet and awaited the final ball…

The bowler ran in and bowled a “juicy” full-toss which Adam summarily dispatched over the mid-wicket boundary for 6. To their immense credit, the team managed to hold their most exuberant celebrations until after a sporting “Three Cheers” for Hardwick and having shaken hands with their opposition. There then followed much celebration, air-punching and for some obscure reason, the boys diving into what can only be described as a “big pile” (a suspicion that this has been learnt from Neil Sparnon's 'how to celebrate a goal' sessions held regularly on Coton Rec). The presentation followed with T-Shirts and medals for all and a short photo-session for their admiring public (parents). The final celebrations over, and having stretched the finish time by at least an hour, we headed off home – satisfied with a fantastic effort from the players, wonderful support from the parents, the two coaches finally able to breathe again and in the knowledge that Coton Crusaders have most definitely “arrived”.

Thanks to all the kids and parents that took part and all of the other Coton Crusaders who have contributed to a great start to Coton's competitive career.

Comberton v Coton, 7 June 2008

After a humping from Granta IV's the previous Sunday (who wants to play in the Junior I mean Senior Cup anyway!), Coton had another away day at Comberton. The wet outfield, with rather high grass should have made Coton feel at home in the field. Speller opened up with 2 maidens. Alas Neil Sparnon's first over was wayward. Comberton's Captain Hartwright and number 2 batsmen Wick took an early opportunity to fill their boots. The tone had been set for the first ten overs as Comberton were 39 for 0. Luckily for Coton the "lush" outfield (see picture) held the ball and 4's were at a premium. Coton's bowlers were being picked off at 4 runs an over by the opening bats.

It wasn't until the 19th over when Scotcher made a well needed breakthough. Speller dived gazelle like and stretched with his left hand, scooping the ball afore it landed in the green outfield. Wick was gone for 18 runs. Champagne moment nominee. This moment of brilliance lifted the Coton team and whilst Comberton had made a good start, Scotcher had found his groove. Another 3 wickets fell in his next 2 overs. 2 stumpings from Alastair Breward and a tasty catch from Pete Brookes unerved Comberton. Pressure was building at the other end as Richard Allison also found a mean streak. After a run-out and a diving catch from Sparnon, coton were into the tail. A mini revival from Selby and Collins did not last long as Kay and Speller wrapped up the tail. Comberton 136 All out.

When Coton openers Sparnon and Breward took the field, Comberton were more frugal with the bowling. Swift opened with 3 maidens followed by a wicket maiden, picking up the wicket of Sparnon who played on. Speller decided to pick up the pace and ably assisted by Breward the scorers were awoken from slumber. When Breward was run out Dave Hale decided that clubbing of bad balls was the order of the day. Coton seemed in control as the speed of scoring tested the scorers powers of arithmatic. The Comberton fielders were in the ditch, several times.

Alas the good times came to an abrupt end as Coton hit the self -destruct button. First Hale then Allison (goldie) fell in an over from Cook. George Speller lost his wicket in the next over from Swift as panic swept through the Coton ranks. The comedy value to the spectators was all to apparent as the tail were skittled faster than Lewis Hamilton in a Canadian pit lane. Coton made average bowlers look good. All out for 112 in 36.4 overs. 25 runs short of victory. If it were a school report it would read - shows signs of promise, must learn to concentrate and try a little harder!!!!

Highs:

• Superb Team Fielding - Catches, Run-Outs, Backing Up, Support in the Field.
• 3 Stumpings from Alastair Breward - Must be a club record. Must check the statisitics.
• Another 4 wicket haul from Dave Scotcher - Although a club fine should be imposed for "jug avoidance".
• "Champagne Moment" - A superb diving 1 handed catch by George Speller

Lows:

• Woefull Batting - except for George Speller (37) and Dave Hale (29).
• Lack of a middle order batting "plan" - we need to use the nets to gain some confidence
• Umpiring - Everyone needs to do a stint - if you don't know the rules - learn them!!!
• Scorebook - Guys PLEASE let's try and make the bowling and batting add up.......I have "massaged" the figures again this week as the book didn't add up

Granta IV v Coton, 1 June 2008

Sometimes cricket is just great. The sun shines, it's a good game, sometimes we even win and get to talk it over in the pub as the sun sets (see Remnants below). And then there are matches like this...

Well what can we say about yesterday's complete pummelling from Granta IV's, nae Granta 1's, 2's and 3's? Ross Chandler captained a Coton team to possibly one of the biggest defeats in our history. Not surprising when you think that most of the Granta IVth team happily play their cricket at a far higher level than Junior 3 - to put it mildly.

On a hazy and soggy Sunday afternoon, Coton lost the toss and were fielding. Initially with 10 men as Eddy was carding his lowest golf score for some time...however the ten men valiantly toiled away whilst seeing the ball carted to all corners of the lush outfield. Time seemed to stand still as 2 after 2 after 2 was hit by Granta. Eventually the bar of soap that was disguising itself as a cricket ball hit the stumps, several times and Mark Carrington took an outstanding catch in the deep. Granta 225 for 4 wickets in 40 overs.

Following a splendid tea, Coton set about the daunting total. Speller and Sparnon looked confident at the crease. When Sparnon was caught and bowled, A East strode to the crease and slumped back again after a goldie. Coton batsmen came and went offering little resistance save for Chandler with his "steamy" glasses. Granta's answer to Murali did his best to sling his way through 5 wickets. The overspin faster ball to dismiss Dave Pye was as blatant a throw as you will ever see. Coton all out for 58. Look on the bright side. I won't be hassling you to play on a Sunday - until next season!!!!!

Highs:

• Mark Carrington's triple of dropped catch, amazing catch and batsmen running 4 to his "tired" arm. 'Sod it!';
• 9 Coton players and Sam in the Granta tent knocking back beers afterwards. 6 of the theirs players were "drinking" coke!!!;
• Old School Teas - just like your granny used to make

Lows:

• Woefull Batting - except for George Speller and Ross Chandler
• A Pie Chucking bowler for Granta taking 5 wickets for next to nothing - not that it made any difference...