Kids Go Crazy

Our Festival of Junior Cricket was a fantastic success on Wednesday. Tuckers did a brilliant job organising the event and marshalling his many willing volunteers. And most importantly all the kids had a great time.

The Field of Dreams looked a picture for the 11.00 Test Match start time. The groundstaff had laid out four pitches, erected gazebos for the scorers, and most importantly had the tuckshop fully stocked and the tea urn bubbling, Jean, Cliff and Lorraine doing their normal sterling job.

Official welcome over, instructions given, and team photos taken, the competition began. Four matches began simultaneously in bright sunshine. Tuckers, The Sheriff, Bobby and Benji were the umpires, with Boss Hogg as reserve (his strict interpretation of leg side wides likely to slow the over rate to a crawl), and Cliff cooking the books in the scorers' tent.

Towards the end of the first innings we had a sharp shower and so took an early lunch.

During the interval Rob Baker from the event's sponsors Proludic, and a former KCC youth cricketer, handed over a cheque to help support KCC's youth development.

Fortunately the rain didn't last long and proceedings soon resumed with enthusiasm and volume levels undiminished.
After the first two rounds of matches, we had a clap catching competition, a fielding competition, pairs catching, and an 'extreme' catching contest (where Laddy would have been 12th man). There was also an ongoing 'name the player' and 'spot the number' competition in the members' tent.

After these activities, the battle for the KCC shield and plate got under way. All games were fiercely contested with everyone giving 101% with some really useful talent on display. The quality of fielding and catching was remarkable throughout and an instructional DVD should by now have landed on the First Team Skipper's desk!


At the close we had our winners and prizes were awarded by Cllr. John Cottee. The tuckshop was empty and Tuckers went for a lie down in a darkened room!

And it was a triumph for Keyworth schools over local rivals. Crossdale School beat Cotgrave in the Plate, while in the main event Tuckers' own Willowbrook side beat Cotgrave.

Rumours that Betfair have handed over suspicious betting transactions from Mr.Tuckwell's account have yet to be confirmed!


Everyone agreed it was a cracking day and thanks and congratulations must go to Tuckers and his band of helpers for their efforts in getting it organised.