The first two games of the season had seen two defeats. Going into our 3rd game, several team members were unavailable: holidays, cup finals, hangovers and visiting relatives were taking their toll. Three players were making their league debuts for Coton and we just managed to piece together an XI: well done George! It was with some trepidation that I caught the train and walked over to Parker’s Piece for the game against NCI IVths last Saturday.
I also reflected on the fact that I had never completed a cricket match on this historic ground: all previous attempts had been rained off. At least the weather was looking better this week.
There was a last minute panic as Alastair was nowhere to be seen and calls to his house and mobile yielded no results. Had he really said he was playing? Hadn’t he said he was going to The States? Had he got the score book? Andy was resigning himself to going behind the stumps and was starting to pad up. It’s hard to say whether Andy or the bowels were more relieved to spot Alastair and his dog team racing past Reality Checkpoint.
Meanwhile, Gabriel continued to search for the score book…
NCI batted first. George repeated the previous week’s fast/slow opening bowler tactic (with so many missing bowlers this was perhaps more of a necessity than an actual choice). It soon paid dividends: in his first over George induced an edge that was confidently taken by Alastair behind the stumps. Rob then had two confident LBW appeals turned down before taking a simple caught and bowled and George rearranged the remaining opener’s stumps.
Rob tried a tactic that had worked for him successfully in a mid-week match a couple of years ago. Getting very close to the stumps he delivered a straight yorker whilst kicking over the stumps at the bowler’s end. The opposition captain was trapped LBW but whether this was because of the diversionary tactic or just an unplayable ball we will never know. This put NCI at 10-4 and thoughts turned to an early finish.
George continued to work through the batting order whilst Rob was economical without taking another wicket. The number 5 was castled and another caught & bowled reduced the opposition to 23-6.
We were now reaching decision time. We were on top but the two opening bowlers were reaching the end of their spells (and one of them was doing his grumpy old man impersonation, limping around the outfield looking for sympathy).
Rob “Warnie” McCorqudale stepped up for his 1st spell for Coton and promptly took the 7th wicket (32-7). He went on to take the 8th, aided by a smart stumping by Alastair from a leg side wide. Richard bowled a spell from the other end that alternated some wide balls, some very wide balls and several unplayable deliveries that might have caused others to tear their hair out. By the time the 8th wicket went down the score had doubled and NCI were making a fight of the game. Their #9 comfortably outscored the rest of his colleagues: he got more than 50% of the runs that came off the bat.
Rob McC was tiring, Richard was being frustrated by repeated near misses, and debutant Jack (Rob, Dave, Jonny, whatever) delivered a couple of unsuccessful overs. It was time for King George again. In his 2nd over back (and 10th overall) he bowled their #9 one run short of what would have been a deserved 50. One run and three balls later he repeated the treatment sending leg stump flying to end the innings. NCI had gone for 114: George 6-23, Rob K 2-20, Rob McC 2-26.
While we waited for a fine tea to be ferried from The Cricketers Gabriel (“I’m the only player from the village”) entered the scores into his Excel spreadsheet (in lieu of a scorebook).
We set about the chase. The target of 115 was about the same as we had made in the two previous league games combined so looked quite challenging. Gabriel opened with Will Frost, the 3rd of our debutants. Will soon went, bowled by Hefferland for a duck which brought Alastair to the crease. Alastair was soon into his stride and contributed 23 of a 25 partnership by the time Gabriel unerringly picked out a fielder to make it 26-2. Perhaps it’s was eagerness to get back to his automated scoring system. Richard became the third person to be caught and bowled and at 30-3 things were looking sticky. It soon became clear that NCI’s change bowlers were not going to cause the problems that their openers had. Perhaps a lack of maidens was the problem.
Alastair was compiling runs steadily and a sudden burst of scorning from Jack-Rob-Dave-Jonny (“I’m a tennis player really”) started to swing things around. Two sixes into Park Terrace contributed to his 21 from just 11 balls and we were half way to our target. Two quick wickets turned this into “half way to our target with half the team gone”.
It was time for the skipper. He had lifted the curse on his new bat by demolishing the pavilion roof at Fitzwilliam 10 days previously. Today he took an instant liking to NCI’s bowlers. Two attempts to kill the same toddler about 50 yards beyond the deep mid wicket boundary had the liability lawyers readying their briefs. The ball was now speeding to the boundary with some regularity. The remaining runs were rattled off and we reached our target with 17 overs to spare: Alastair 41 not out, George 35 not out off just 17 balls.
This was a comprehensive win in front of the massed tourists and students on Parker’s Piece. Some excellent bowling & keen fielding was followed by a mix of elegant stroke play and vicious hitting. I am sure the great man – after whom the pavilion is named – would have approved.
Gabriel was left wandering the streets of Cambridge checking rubbish bins and assailing random bystanders to inquire whether they had seen a score book. Meanwhile the rest of the team retired to The Cricketers to (a) pretend that they lived up to the name; (b) enjoy some jugs of beer; (c) wind up the absentees about the chances of them getting back into the team.
Doom in the Gloom - Coton get wet, lose to Fulbourn
Damn it was wet.
After much confusion (and dithering) we welcomed Fulbourn Institute II to a damp and gloomy Recreation Ground. Despite the wet conditions the pitch was looking very good from all the hard work put in over the winter and spring. For the regulars (and occasional) pitch crew: well done and thank you. For those who didn’t take part, you know where to find the rota!
Fulbourn took the field in persistent drizzle. Anticipating how wet the ball would become, and how difficult it would be to hold in the 2nd innings, we had agreed before the match to use a new ball for each innings.
Dave Simmons and Gabriel Fox opened the batting again. Alastair was down for number three but as he hadn’t arrived by the time we started, Richard stood ready. It soon became apparent that the wet outfield was going to prevent a high scoring match(*). After a brief settling in against accurate bowling the first wicket went down when Gabriel attempted to run a bye down to fine leg. 19 times out of 20 this would have been a safe run but this time a fine throw and direct hit left Gabriel stranded. Dave was joined by Richard as Alastair was still parking the dogs and locating his pads.
Dave played some fine shots but was frustrated by the slow outfield bringing the ball to a stop short of the boundary. On a dry day he could well have doubled his score. Richard never looked settled and was soon back in the dry of the pavilion for 2. I should point out that despite the wet conditions there was no hint that our batsmen were getting out on purpose to be back in the dry (and slightly warmer) indoors. Alastair was now ready and looking good before he was given out to a marginal LBW decision.
In midweek George had christened his new bat with some towering sixes against The Remnants at Fitzwilliam, including a demolition of the pavilion roof (see the pictures on
http://astro.ic.ac.uk/~mortlock/remnants/). In this match he continued his poor run of form in the league, being undone by one that jagged back sharply and failing to disturb the scorers (as the cliché goes).
Debutant Sam Grace then joined Dave, the latter looking totally untroubled as he moved his score forward. Sam played some fine shots and looking a useful recruit before becoming the first of 4 victims for Mr Whitehead. The second of these was Dave who decided that he could still be waiting for a decent partner at the end of the season, and departed for 35 with the score now 68-6. Adam made some useful runs and the innings ended as it did the week before with Billy not out, Dave out for 0 and Rob slapping one straight at mid wicket who managed to catch it whilst taking evasive action.
80 all out: we all thought that this wasn’t quite enough and that another 20 may have made the game very interesting.
We adjourned for some fine teas courtesy of Janet Scotcher whilst the rain got harder. Towards the end of tea it eased off, and by the time we fielded it had stopped completely. By the end of the innings there were even some rays of sunlight.
George and Rob opened the bowling for a contrast in styles: one elegant, quick and athletic, the other rotund, slow and arthritic. This didn’t prevent George falling over on his first delivery. Billy was positioned at mid off with a towel to keep the ball as dry as possible and the tactic worked very well. Rob made the breakthrough in the 4th over as the opening bat aimed for the footpath and was undone by one that swung away. In his next over Rob removed the number three, trapped in front and the following over George despatched the remaining opener who was also pinned leg before.
17-3 and game on: could we keep up the pressure. Slowly but surely Fulbourn turned it around. Scotch was his usual accurate self, only 8 scoring shots came of his 36 deliveries (unfortunately one was a six). Adam bowled some excellent spin, Richard varied some very, very wide ones with some unplayable balls but we couldn’t make the breakthrough. Billy was the one bowler to really suffer through the wet conditions and his single over was quite expensive.
The 4th wicket pair had taken the score to within 14 of victory when Adam bowled another fine turner and Scotch swooped at slip to scoop up the catch. A few balls later Richard enticed Rees to hit one straight at George and it was 5 down for 72.
It was to prove too little, too late and Fulbourn were able to limp home with 10 overs to spare.
So, we had two defeats to start the season. The batting looked more solid but we didn’t make quite enough and weren’t able to push home the advantage when we had them reeling at the start of their innings. The pitch played very well and the hard work we had put in over the winter held up well. So next it’s on to Parker’s Piece and the scrutiny of tourists and the Cambridge public. How would we fare?
(*) As if our matches were ever high scoring.
After much confusion (and dithering) we welcomed Fulbourn Institute II to a damp and gloomy Recreation Ground. Despite the wet conditions the pitch was looking very good from all the hard work put in over the winter and spring. For the regulars (and occasional) pitch crew: well done and thank you. For those who didn’t take part, you know where to find the rota!
Fulbourn took the field in persistent drizzle. Anticipating how wet the ball would become, and how difficult it would be to hold in the 2nd innings, we had agreed before the match to use a new ball for each innings.
Dave Simmons and Gabriel Fox opened the batting again. Alastair was down for number three but as he hadn’t arrived by the time we started, Richard stood ready. It soon became apparent that the wet outfield was going to prevent a high scoring match(*). After a brief settling in against accurate bowling the first wicket went down when Gabriel attempted to run a bye down to fine leg. 19 times out of 20 this would have been a safe run but this time a fine throw and direct hit left Gabriel stranded. Dave was joined by Richard as Alastair was still parking the dogs and locating his pads.
Dave played some fine shots but was frustrated by the slow outfield bringing the ball to a stop short of the boundary. On a dry day he could well have doubled his score. Richard never looked settled and was soon back in the dry of the pavilion for 2. I should point out that despite the wet conditions there was no hint that our batsmen were getting out on purpose to be back in the dry (and slightly warmer) indoors. Alastair was now ready and looking good before he was given out to a marginal LBW decision.
In midweek George had christened his new bat with some towering sixes against The Remnants at Fitzwilliam, including a demolition of the pavilion roof (see the pictures on
http://astro.ic.ac.uk/~mortlock/remnants/). In this match he continued his poor run of form in the league, being undone by one that jagged back sharply and failing to disturb the scorers (as the cliché goes).
Debutant Sam Grace then joined Dave, the latter looking totally untroubled as he moved his score forward. Sam played some fine shots and looking a useful recruit before becoming the first of 4 victims for Mr Whitehead. The second of these was Dave who decided that he could still be waiting for a decent partner at the end of the season, and departed for 35 with the score now 68-6. Adam made some useful runs and the innings ended as it did the week before with Billy not out, Dave out for 0 and Rob slapping one straight at mid wicket who managed to catch it whilst taking evasive action.
80 all out: we all thought that this wasn’t quite enough and that another 20 may have made the game very interesting.
We adjourned for some fine teas courtesy of Janet Scotcher whilst the rain got harder. Towards the end of tea it eased off, and by the time we fielded it had stopped completely. By the end of the innings there were even some rays of sunlight.
George and Rob opened the bowling for a contrast in styles: one elegant, quick and athletic, the other rotund, slow and arthritic. This didn’t prevent George falling over on his first delivery. Billy was positioned at mid off with a towel to keep the ball as dry as possible and the tactic worked very well. Rob made the breakthrough in the 4th over as the opening bat aimed for the footpath and was undone by one that swung away. In his next over Rob removed the number three, trapped in front and the following over George despatched the remaining opener who was also pinned leg before.
17-3 and game on: could we keep up the pressure. Slowly but surely Fulbourn turned it around. Scotch was his usual accurate self, only 8 scoring shots came of his 36 deliveries (unfortunately one was a six). Adam bowled some excellent spin, Richard varied some very, very wide ones with some unplayable balls but we couldn’t make the breakthrough. Billy was the one bowler to really suffer through the wet conditions and his single over was quite expensive.
The 4th wicket pair had taken the score to within 14 of victory when Adam bowled another fine turner and Scotch swooped at slip to scoop up the catch. A few balls later Richard enticed Rees to hit one straight at George and it was 5 down for 72.
It was to prove too little, too late and Fulbourn were able to limp home with 10 overs to spare.
So, we had two defeats to start the season. The batting looked more solid but we didn’t make quite enough and weren’t able to push home the advantage when we had them reeling at the start of their innings. The pitch played very well and the hard work we had put in over the winter held up well. So next it’s on to Parker’s Piece and the scrutiny of tourists and the Cambridge public. How would we fare?
(*) As if our matches were ever high scoring.
King George Ascends - Waterbeach 01/May/2010
On a pleasant spring day that managed to confound the forecasters, King George assumed the leadership of the Coton CC. What he thought of the performance of his new subjecs is not on record. His predecessor – King Richard – had abdicated during the winter but was still present to lend his experience, not to mention the luxurious beard that had developed during the close season. Rumour has it there are white-spotted bluethroats nesting there.
However, “6C” (try saying that quickly), aka Coton Cricket Club Coach Chris Cooke was not to be seen. Having been forced into retirement through injury he has taken on the challenge of coaching the team to new levels of performance over the winter months. How would they respond? Could Dave Scotcher learn to play a straight bat? Could Rob Kaye bowl an inswinger? Could Gabriel Fox catch a cricket ball? Could Neil Sparnon appeal any louder? Chris will need to wait a little longer to find out in person.
Apart from Chris the team that took the field at Waterbeach had a familiar look to it with the usual stale warts stalwarts joined by the youth movement of Billy & Adam (having got notes from their respective parents).
The day got off to its usual start with panicked messages from the M11 (henceforward to be known as the Andrew East Memorial Parkway). “Has anyone got the book from Ross” was followed by “traffic bad, will be there at 2”. So, we already knew we would be one short at 1:30 and more bad news was to come: Alastair was car-less and no one had spotted his plea for a lift! He got on his bike and arrived during the 4th over having been towed to Waterbeach by one heroic little doggie (thanks, Shadow).
King George won the toss and inserted Waterbeach while the rest of the team reminisced with familiar faces from previous encounters. We took the field with 9 men, Andy still being on the M11 and poor Shadow having stopped to take on water in Fen Ditton. Neil donned the gloves which meant that King George and Billy opened the bowling. Unlike Dave and Rob, Neil is still quick enough that he can’t deliver the ball AND make it behind the stumps for the edge. It all started promisingly. Billy got the first wicket of the season and Adam took a catch to remove the other opener. [Note to Adam: it looks better if you dive before the catch instead of safely pouching it and then doing the salmon leap.]
Alastair arrived and after a brief fight took the gloves off Neil. Overall this was definitely a good move. Dave replaced Billy and Neil took over from King George and Waterbeach were soon 4 down for not too many courtesy of a thin edge off Neil to the Alastair and a clean bowled from King George. Mr East arrived and we realised how quiet it had been without his enthusiastic encouragement in the field. Totally unrelated to Andy’s arrival it was at this point that the game swung to Waterbeach. In spite of some fairly tight bowling from Messrs Wright, Scotcher and Kaye the 5th wicket pair of Waterbeach were able to accumulate steadily alternating periods of defence with punishment of the few bad balls. It was during this period where a limping Dave Scotcher pulled off a remarkable stop in the field. Remarkable in that the ball got to him slowly that he was able to dive in instalments to stop it (he may still be diving for all we know).
King George took decisive action, bringing back Neil, Billy and finally own royal personage to the attack. Despite Gabriel’s one man juggling show it worked. The 5th wicket stand of 75 was broken and the final 6 Waterbeach wickets removed for 47 runs. A fine catch at square leg by HRH off Billy, some rapid bowling and stump rattling by Neil and final coup de grace by The King wrapped things up. There were 4 wickets for Neil, 3 economical ones for George and 3 by Billy. Waterbeach were 165 all out, so full bowling points for us. Had one or two of the catches stuck, it could well have been less than 100.
Perhaps I should stop there. I have covered all the good bits. When I say that Mr Extras top scored for us you can tell it was a traditional Coton batting performance. 3 down for 7 after 3 overs: it didn’t get any better. The top order was undone by flight and speed variations from opening bowler Shimron Thomas and pacier stuff from Hawkes. Collectively the top 5 contributed 7 runs.
The tail wagged a bit. Adam top scored with 9, and Rads made optimal use of the outside edge to get us what might turn out to be a vital bonus point. In the end it was an unlucky, fluky, deflection off a drive from Billy that ended the innings with Scotch run out backing up. And that was that: 57 all out. 5 bonus points were gained which put us above Romsey Town & Balsham (who both got 4) and Fen Ditton (who didn’t play).
So, for the benefit of Mr Cooke: the lower order for once outscored the top of the order so perhaps some of us have taken on board the techniques he has extolling over the winter and early spring.
However, “6C” (try saying that quickly), aka Coton Cricket Club Coach Chris Cooke was not to be seen. Having been forced into retirement through injury he has taken on the challenge of coaching the team to new levels of performance over the winter months. How would they respond? Could Dave Scotcher learn to play a straight bat? Could Rob Kaye bowl an inswinger? Could Gabriel Fox catch a cricket ball? Could Neil Sparnon appeal any louder? Chris will need to wait a little longer to find out in person.
Apart from Chris the team that took the field at Waterbeach had a familiar look to it with the usual stale warts stalwarts joined by the youth movement of Billy & Adam (having got notes from their respective parents).
The day got off to its usual start with panicked messages from the M11 (henceforward to be known as the Andrew East Memorial Parkway). “Has anyone got the book from Ross” was followed by “traffic bad, will be there at 2”. So, we already knew we would be one short at 1:30 and more bad news was to come: Alastair was car-less and no one had spotted his plea for a lift! He got on his bike and arrived during the 4th over having been towed to Waterbeach by one heroic little doggie (thanks, Shadow).
King George won the toss and inserted Waterbeach while the rest of the team reminisced with familiar faces from previous encounters. We took the field with 9 men, Andy still being on the M11 and poor Shadow having stopped to take on water in Fen Ditton. Neil donned the gloves which meant that King George and Billy opened the bowling. Unlike Dave and Rob, Neil is still quick enough that he can’t deliver the ball AND make it behind the stumps for the edge. It all started promisingly. Billy got the first wicket of the season and Adam took a catch to remove the other opener. [Note to Adam: it looks better if you dive before the catch instead of safely pouching it and then doing the salmon leap.]
Alastair arrived and after a brief fight took the gloves off Neil. Overall this was definitely a good move. Dave replaced Billy and Neil took over from King George and Waterbeach were soon 4 down for not too many courtesy of a thin edge off Neil to the Alastair and a clean bowled from King George. Mr East arrived and we realised how quiet it had been without his enthusiastic encouragement in the field. Totally unrelated to Andy’s arrival it was at this point that the game swung to Waterbeach. In spite of some fairly tight bowling from Messrs Wright, Scotcher and Kaye the 5th wicket pair of Waterbeach were able to accumulate steadily alternating periods of defence with punishment of the few bad balls. It was during this period where a limping Dave Scotcher pulled off a remarkable stop in the field. Remarkable in that the ball got to him slowly that he was able to dive in instalments to stop it (he may still be diving for all we know).
King George took decisive action, bringing back Neil, Billy and finally own royal personage to the attack. Despite Gabriel’s one man juggling show it worked. The 5th wicket stand of 75 was broken and the final 6 Waterbeach wickets removed for 47 runs. A fine catch at square leg by HRH off Billy, some rapid bowling and stump rattling by Neil and final coup de grace by The King wrapped things up. There were 4 wickets for Neil, 3 economical ones for George and 3 by Billy. Waterbeach were 165 all out, so full bowling points for us. Had one or two of the catches stuck, it could well have been less than 100.
Perhaps I should stop there. I have covered all the good bits. When I say that Mr Extras top scored for us you can tell it was a traditional Coton batting performance. 3 down for 7 after 3 overs: it didn’t get any better. The top order was undone by flight and speed variations from opening bowler Shimron Thomas and pacier stuff from Hawkes. Collectively the top 5 contributed 7 runs.
The tail wagged a bit. Adam top scored with 9, and Rads made optimal use of the outside edge to get us what might turn out to be a vital bonus point. In the end it was an unlucky, fluky, deflection off a drive from Billy that ended the innings with Scotch run out backing up. And that was that: 57 all out. 5 bonus points were gained which put us above Romsey Town & Balsham (who both got 4) and Fen Ditton (who didn’t play).
So, for the benefit of Mr Cooke: the lower order for once outscored the top of the order so perhaps some of us have taken on board the techniques he has extolling over the winter and early spring.
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