Keyworth Avoid Groundhog Day

Keyworth firsts this time finished on the winning side in a dramatic last over victory over the visiting Attenborough II’s at a glorious sun-baked Field of Dreams. Skipper Tindsley was away with the sweaty masses at Glastonbury and IG was driving a fast car slowly around Rockingham race way, so Bobby Baker once again took up the Captain’s armband for the day.

After winning the toss he gladly elected to bat, sending Marc Bailey and Ted to the crease. Marc was soon out LBW for 9 but showed everybody the mark on his brand new bat to show he’d got an inside edge on it. The Elliott father and son partnership batted well for the second wicket but it was Ben (67 in 60 balls) who made all the running and secured his status as No1 on Shelley’s list.

Ted was eventually out in the 18th over after crashing just four runs in the 50 balls he faced. Boom-Boom went for a long walk and a lie down under a tree to dream about the sound of willow on leather. Still, at 77-2 off 20 overs it was a good start.

When Ben eventually fell after looking set for three figures, Jamie Vickers and Steve Rendu (37 in 38 balls) put on 78 for the 4th wicket taking the Millers to 176-4in the 40th over. Similarly to last week, the middle order struggled to find regular boundaries in the last 8 overs with Dave Strong (11) and Dale Collison (2) falling before Jamie (61* in 96 balls) and AC (4*) took the innings to a close on 216-6, perhaps 15 short of par.

Tea was a Hiller sister spread with highlights being sausage and chutney wraps and a fruit salad that drew comments from Shelley on the juiciness of the melons.

Fresh from his holiday, a bronzed Rocket sped in and his fourth ball bowled the opening bat to get KCC off the best possible start and followed this up in the 5th over with number two. Loving the prospect of coming up the hill on the hottest day of the year, Strongy (0-32 off 7) bowled well without any luck or help from the umpire who turned down an absolutely plumb LBW. AC came on first change down the hill and his two overs for 13 summed up his day that included a dropped catch and a through the legs miss-field for four. Andy Hiller bowled well to replace Strongy with his figures of 0-32 off 8 including 11 wides. Beaky again showed a safe pair of hands and took a sharp leg side stumping off a Baker wide.

The visitors were making steady progress with 97-2 off the first 20, and 122-3 off 30, with the opening batsman doing nearly all of the scoring from one end. Baker and the returning Rendu bowled out the last 18 overs, but the Keyworth clowns were in town again with 6 chances being put down, allowing the visitors to get to 163-5 off 40. With their opening batsman still at the crease, Attenborough sniffed a victory.

It all came down to the last 2 overs with 17 required and 3 wickets remaining. Bobby’s last over included a wicket and a big 6 to leave him with figures of 4-65 off 16, and 7 required to win. Rocket (4-52 off 15) bowled the final over which saw Andy Hiller keep his head to take a catch at long on, and then the No11 unable to put bat on ball to leave the opener stranded on 103*, falling just 3 short of a perfect run chase.

The Attenborough scorecard was bizarre in the fact that the next top scorer was 42 extras, and then only 2 other batsmen got into double figures with the highest being 16.

House Of Cards

The Stiffs batting collapsed like a house of cards away to Kimberley.

With Cowlard less likely to travel away from home than Steve Harmison we lost one all rounder, but gained another, as KCC's favourite pub landlord Meeky made the short walk up the hill from the Cricketer's Rest.

Leggy once again kept the squad guessing about his final selection until the last moment. Though this was mostly due to turning up at Nuthall having forgotten that the game had been switched to Kimberley's main ground! The Boss and Liam counted round the dressing room and however hard they tried could only come up with 10 players. There was no chance of JB getting a late call as he was away on a stag do, so we were fortunate to call on Neecey Snr who had packed his kit anticipating the usual shambles.

Dimps was fretting that he hadn't got his umpire's cards and the best we could muster was a three of clubs from Meeky's poker set.

Leggy lost the toss and we were sentenced to field in the hot weather. The Boss was all of a fluster so handed responsibility to Meeky to tinker with the field and bowling changes. It soon became clear this was a big scoring day with a rock hard pitch, fast outfield and the usual short boundary to one side.

However Liam and The Boss plugged away keeping a lid on the boundaries. Meeky used his local knowledge by keeping the short boundary well protected, and Billy was kept as busy as a pig searching for truffles on his way to a well earned fielding point.

Meeky and Billy kept the pressure on first change, but with the score approaching 100 we needed a breakthrough. Stu decided we needed to buy a wicket, and it looked like we would need to write a big cheque as Drurs was brought on with both openers licking their lips in anticipation. However, the Chairman had other ideas and managed to get one opener to play on in his first over. The paper boy came in at no.3 and Meeky decided it was best to keep him in, so kept Drurs on! The scoring rate slowed and Sam Nice got the other opener to play a loose shot to be caught at extra cover. The master plan back fired when Drurs caught the young lad off his own bowling.

The Cotgrave Connection came back for a second spell and bowled to the stengths of Kimberley's dangerous no.4 who raced away with a series of boundaries on the way to a quickfire half century. The last 10 overs were a flurry of big shots and wickets as the home side posted 210-9, by no means a big score in the conditions.

Leggy was once again the pick of the attack (8-1-31-3), supported by Meeky (12-1-41-2), Drurs (7-0-30-2) and Sam (5-1-16-1).

Tea was above average with melon the highlight on a hot day.

In reply Ern' opened up with Duncan Disorderly and both had the added pressure of facing a girl opening the attack, who lost nothing to the boys in terms of pace. The openers put on largely untroubled 66 before Drunk was bowled for 16. Ernie decided the best way to get the home side's spinner out of the attack was to send him to A&E, as a straight drive went though his hands and gave him a gashed lip like a Ricky Hatton upper-cut. The break in play as we mopped up the spilled claret broke Ernie's concentration and he was bowled after a wild slog for 38.

The middle order then collapsed like a deck of cards; Paul Lay made one-become-two for a duck, Meeky slogged a four then chipped to mid off, and Leggy got a golden, playing a dreadful Cowlard-swipe, that even Dimps had to give LBW. From 62-0 we had stumbled to 85-5.

Drurs reminded every incoming partner that this was the best batting pitch that most would ever see. And Liam listened smashing two sixes before mis-timing a pull to square leg for 17. The Chairman was then looking more stranded than a character from Lost as Billy then See-Soar lasted only an over between them.

At 136-8, Drurs decided to farm the strike and aim for maximum batting points. A flurry of boundaries got us to the important 180 mark in the 42nd over. Neecey Snr and Jnr were both bowled in quick succession to leave us all out for a disappointing 183. Drurs ended unbeaten on 85.

Although 7 points wasn't a terrible return for the day, Leggy summoned the batting numpties for a dressing down, but could barely find a bench big enough!

IG Gets Double Century

The Millers made the journey north of the river to Mapperley to face table-topping Gedling Colliery. It was a welcome return for club captain Geoff Tindsley following his shoulder operation, but both Rob Baker and Steve Rendu were absent.

Tinno made a good start by winning the toss and electing to bat on a straw coloured track that looked like a batsman’s paradise. Strongy had misjudged what the weather would be like at the highest point in Nottingham, and put in an SOS call to wife Michelle to purchase some cozy knitwear for him while she was in town.

Marc Bailey and Ian Graham opened up, putting on 30 runs for the first wicket before Bails got caught off a leading edge. What followed was the best partnership seen since Grant ‘Mr Angry’ Parker and Ian set the new record for the first wicket a few years ago. IG (133) and Ben Elliott (52) were dominant, scoring a chanceless 170 in 33 overs, sending the ball to all parts. Ian’s century was his 10th for the club and sets a new record for statistician Barry Baker to note down in the annals of KCC. A great effort.

At 204-2 off 40 overs, a score in excess of 250 was on the cards, but with Tinno going for a 2nd ball duck and Gedling managing to stop the boundaries in the last 6 overs the innings closed on 250-4 with Jamie Vickers (28) and Dave Strong (14) both not out. Still, a great batting performance.

Tea highlights were vegetable samosas, scones with jam and cream and retro favourite pink wafer biscuits. Salad and fruit were notable omissions.

Strongy and Kitcho opened up, with Dave being miserly with his return of 1-13 off 9 before his body gave up. At 56 for 1 off the first 20, Gedling were making steady progress whilst protecting themselves against a defeat. The bowling change saw the now non-hazardous ‘Dangerous’ Dave Hiller and Ian ’10 centuries’ Graham pair up with a view to them bowling out the remaining 30 overs as the Millers were short of a 5th bowler. Dave took 2 wickets in his 3rd over to make in-roads in to the Gedling top order, and at 99-3 off 30 the Millers were in the box seat.

However, the turning point of the match occurred in the 34th over when 19 runs were scored and Gedling suddenly started believing they could chase down the target. At 185-4 off 40, 9 runs an over were being scored consistently, with the only dropped chances being skiers coming directly out of the sun that had replaced the dark clouds.

With wickets in hand, Gedling’s middle order held their nerve and chanced their arm with a few lusty blows left them needing just 3 off the last over. The winning runs were scored with 3 balls to spare with 3 wickets remaining, leaving the Millers dejected after being on top for much of the match.

Dave Hiller and Ian Graham finished up with figures of 4-80 off 15 and 2-116 off 14.3 (his 2nd century of the game). Ian’s stats included 22 leg-side wides that resulted in the umpire coming into the dressing room after the match to give him some advice about altering his line of attack. Ian was very diplomatic and thanked the gentleman for his observations... So another close finish for the Millers that on another day would have resulted in at least a winning draw.

Howzat For Openers

A record breaking day as the Stiffs cruised to a 10 wicket win over Cotgrave.

Cowlard was running late so Leggy took on the early captaincy duties. Fabio would have been impressed as The Boss keep the squad on tenterhooks delaying his final selection until five minutes before the toss. Liam had jotted down the side and found we had 12 men. The axe fell, voluntarily, on The Adonis, who anticipated a cold day of umpiring ahead. That was until Dimps turned up with a 15 tog duvet in his bag to ward off the arctic winds at a blustery Field of Dreams, feeling more like January than June.

Cowlard arrived in the nick of time to open the bowling and looked to set his usual 6-3 field. Trouble was we only had 10 men present. Cowlard looked at Leggy, Leggy looked at Liam, Liam looked blank. An admin error saw JB’s on/off day back on again. It was sod’s law that an edge should go through vacant 2nd slip off AC before JB could don his whites. Alan Lea on debut bowled with promise up the hill, and soon realised the Field of Dreams was not a bang-in short deck.

Ground fielding was patchy; Billy was worse than Robert Green at square leg, and Liam dropped a sitter at cover. Meanwhile Duncan Disorderly, Sam and Alan all vied for the Sticky Palmer fielding point with some sharp stops.

We bowled reasonably but didn’t get a breakthrough until the 20th over with 70 on the board. Liam was enjoying bowling up the hill with the wind, and a wild slog saw a leading edge spiral more than the Adidas Jabulani ball towards Drurs at mid off who took a safe catch.

Leggy bowled another miserly spell to keep the score in check, picking up 2 wickets for just 29 runs in his 12 overs, both caught by the Lays. Ernie took a sharp caught behind, while Paul dropped the ball three times before holding on at the fourth grab. Alan took a catch off Billy, and Cowlard returned to take two late wickets.

174-7 at tea was a good defensive performance, Liam 2-34, AC 2-41, and Billy 1-30 supporting The Boss.

Tea would have finally brought a smile to Fabio’s face as the Legge's laid on another Italian banquet. Alongside the staples of pasta al tonna and barbabietole all'arancia, the surprise highlights were the formaggio e prosciutto paninis and a juicy medley di frutta, the latter would have rivalled any of the hats seen at Royal Ascot during the week.

In reply records were about to be broken. With Leggy padded up at no.3, Drurs and Ern’ took a low risk approach steadily frustrating a decent opening attack. Legends and players alike had decided that the pavilion or lounge log fire were the best places to escape the attritional batting and biting wind.

Ernie soon found his range with some glorious pick-ups over mid-wicket, while The Chairman scored yet another 50 straight to the fielders. The veteran opening pair kept to Bobby’s maxim of reaching 100 in 30 overs, with Evergreen the first to reach his 50. Drurs scored his first 6 of the season to bring up his own half-century, only via 4 over-throws! We cruised home from then onwards reaching the winning line in the 40th over, Ernie unbeaten on 82, Drurs on 70.

More work for Barry as a glance at the archives showed this was the highest ever opening partnership for the Stiffs, the fifth best for any wicket in KCC history, and a very rare 10 wicket win.

Post match, Leggy' s efforts to convince Ernie of the merits of his Samit Patel diet fell on deaf ears, the ink still drying on a contract to be the body double for Daniel Craig.

Fiskerton Foiled

Last Monday saw the 13s back in action in the Newark League, with a match against table toppers Fiskerton. The usual 9 were joined by Shepherd and Newell, with Neece and Cairns ready and raring but disappointed due to a Tuckwell administrative error. Legge was on college duties so Newell Snr took charge in the middle.

The home team bats first and aggressive positive running was the message ringing in the KCC boys ears, as Healey and Normington set off to open.

Healey recieved an absolute pearler, 2nd ball of the innings, and was soon returning to the hutch with a wry smile on his face.

Newell and Normington then set about the most accomplished innings of the season turning 1s into 2s, crashing boundaries and running a series of tight singles and punishing any byes. With the partnership worth 85: Newell (35*) retired off 34 deliveries for his 2nd maximum of the season, closely followed by Normington (35*) off 32 deliveries, with his career top score and deservedly beaming from ear to ear.

Coulthard kept the score board ticking before Tudor (7) fell in the penultimate over. Things turned agricultural in the final over with a handful of cross batted boundaries attempted. 2 middle stumps were removed in the process before Hennessy ran with the final ball not moving further than a foot from the batting crease but became the third wicket of the over. 119-5 off 18. A special batting performance.

With a fire in the bellies, Brown steamed in down the hill and was grateful to a superb running catch from Mills at deep fine leg, a perfect birthday present for Grandpa Copson watching on. 6-1 off 1

Mills (3-2-4-0) was then miserly at the opposite end, working excellently in tandem as Brown struck again in the 3rd and 5th over - both clean bowled. 17-3 off 5. Steiner and Shepherd kept up the pressure with the first change. Steiner finishing off a caught and bowled with Fiskerton in all sorts of trouble on 29-4 off 10.

With the win already in sight, some complacency and waywardness crept in with the ball and in the field. Shepherd fired into Steiner for an excellent run out before Tudor took his second wicket of the season. With 40 runs recorded in 6 overs Healey decided enough was enough and produced a double break through in the 16th over: a clean bowled and a smart catch from Hennessy behind the stumps.

Fiskerton finished with a flourish to secure some valuable bonus points but the KCC boysleft jubilant with another fine win and set up the Thursday's encounter with Plumtree.

A little bit late, but...

A week last Thursday, and the tough fixture card continued for the Under 12s, with Radcliffe yet again the visitors.

Under 13s double act of Legge and Tuckwell stepped in with Manager Newell catching the vista of the Lake District.

Radcliffe won the toss and elected to bat, not surprising with a wealth of district and county stars at their disposal.

The openers treated Rock and Shepherd with due respect with only 17 conceded of the opening 4 overs. Neece and Cairns then served up a KCC, Saturday tea time banquet - with 42 coming off the next 4, a platter of leg side full tosses the highlight.

The opening trio retired in double quick time, with a hats off display of stroke making, before Rock (4-0-15-0) and Shepherd (4-0-11-0) returned to restore a little parity - as Radcliffe finished on 159-0 off 20.

Neece and Cairns were given licence to bat for the full 20, but last weeks hero, Cairns, suffered heart break with a first baller, on the last ball of the opening over after brilliantly scampering through for a bye on the penultimate ball!

Shepherd (3) came in and kept the run rate up before holing out at long off. Meanwhile, Neece kept the score, and his confidence, ticking with a fine balance of defensive and attacking shots as the cans of Fosters were passed around the scorers enclosure. It's just not kids cricket, but the weather did warrant it!

Kitching came in and shut up shop, showing adeptness with the bat during a sustained spell of Radcliffe bowling, before being run out returning for a second.

With the score not an issue, Blacklock set about composing his best innings to date, scampering and harrying with Neecey.

Neece easily compiled his best KCC score to date with a fine boundary as the innings entered the final over. Tuckwell was keen for a finally flurry to reach the holy grail of 35 retired, while dad was after the full innings red inca. The penultimate delivery saw an exceptional chance taken at slip, with Neece departing for a marvellous 29, against one of the strongest bowling atacks of he'll face this year.

Rock came in as the Radcliffe boys rather disrespectfully crowded all 10 outfielders around the ball before receiving a firm rollocking from the sidelines. Rock gave the perfect response with a neat tickle down to fine leg, with Blacklock (9*) undefeated. 64 for 4 a fine response.

So Long Whatton

Keyworth firsts secured a deserved victory against the visiting Long Whatton with a good all-round batting and particularly bowling and fielding performance.

KCC lost the toss and were inserted on a green pitch that looked like it would do a bit after the mid-week heavy rainfall. IG was struggling to make it for the early 12o clock kick off, so Big Ted and Marc Bailey opened up with Bails looking for his first runs of the season. Ian arrived in time to see the first few overs come down military medium, leaving him wishing he had arrived 5 minutes earlier to dip his bread.

Ted and Marc made a good start with 40 coming off the first 10, but when Boom Boom fell for 11 Keyworth managed to lose a further two wickets with either batsman not troubling super scorer Shelley’s magic multicoloured markers. The Keyworth team looked on in disbelief as firstly IG tamely chipped a juicy half volley straight down mid-off’s throat, with Ben shortly following plumb LBW. The disconsolate Mr Graham left the Field of Dreams to gather his thoughts, as well as some sweet treats from the local Co-op to help the dismissal go down.

Jamie Vickers then steadied the ship and Marc notched up an effortless 50, taking the Millers to 71-3 after 20 overs. Jamie fell for 9, allowing Dave Strong to continue KCC’s 4-an-over progress until Marc Bailey was out in the 32nd over for a vital 70 runs, 115-5.

Strongy (37) and Dale Collison (29) (runs not years) continued where they left off last week, hitting a 56-run partnership before Andy Cowlard (14) and Rob Baker (6) took the score to 192 all out, with Rob Beake and Ian Kitchinson not troubling the scorer.

Tea was a very Strong affair with Dave and Michelle laying on a fantastic spread that had the opposition gladly reaching into their pockets to pay their £30. Highlights were old-school corned beef and pickle sandwiches, home-made coleslaw and potato salad (with gentlemen’s relish), coronation chicken wraps and endless desserts that included home-made cookies from Dave’s mum.

With Rocket Rendu on his hols, Strongy (1-25 off 8) took the new cherry and gladly came down the hill with Kitch (1-28 off 8) taking the other end. Their first few overs were largely unplayable, with the humid and overcast conditions allowing Strongy to bowl his trademark outswingers and Kitch to cut and seam to great effect.

Keeper Rob Beake had one of his best games behind the stumps, conceding no byes and showing a safe pair of hands throughout.

Long Whatton seemed content with blocking everything apart from the buffet balls, which kept the score ticking along at 3 an over for the first 20. Skipper Bobby Baker brought himself and IG on to try to prise out more of the Long Whatton top order who seemed to have settled in for the long haul. The beginning of the end was triggered by scorer’s favourite Ben Elliott who pulled off the catch of the season so far, leaping like a salmon to catch a drilled drive in mid air. It really was one for the cameras.

Despite four drops the remaining batsmen were taken by the spin twins, with BB getting a 5’for (5-43 off 12) and Ian (3-44 off 12) bowling tight lines to his 9-1 field.

Long Whatton were all out for 142 in the 39th over at 6 o clock, which was perfect timing to allow everyone to get a ringside seat for the football.

Beakey Butchers Bassett

Sunday saw the 2nd in the three match ODI series between Keyworth's Legge's Eleven and old friends Colston Bassett. Sadly rain ended play with the result in the balance.

Your reporter arrived too late to know what happened at the toss. We batted first and Duncan Disorderly and Beakey dug in against some wily medium pace bowling. We reached 50 off 20 overs before Dunc missed a straight one for 10. Billy and See-Soar were in charge of the new scoreboard and Leggy was soon flapping out in the middle as we'd apparently reached 259-9 off 37 overs at the drinks interval! Beakey soon brought up a fine half century. Liam looked in good form lofting fours to the mid wicket boundary, but again missed a straight one for 27. Drurs slogged a quick 43, and Beakey ended on a splendid 85 dying for a fag and a cup of tea. 174-2 off our 40 overs was a par score.

Tea was plentiful with tuna and cucumber sandwiches the highlight.

Colston got off to a rapid start as Billy and Sam looked to find their line and length. Chris See-Soar and Leggy also struggled to break-through and we were looking in trouble at the drinks break at 80-0 off 20 overs. The first ball after the break saw Leggy finally pitch one on a length and Drurs caught the dangerous opener for a fine half century. Liam then took a juggling catch behind off JB. The highlight though was a first senior wicket for 12 year old Joe Nice with a clean bowled. The low light was a dreadful dropped catch by Billy. Drurs struck with an inside edge onto the stumps before the persistent drizzle became a heavy downpour.

The home side had reached 126-5 off 30 overs with the game finely in the balance when play was abandoned.

We stay one-up with the 3rd ODI to play in September.

Stiffs (Pea) Rolled Over

A narrow loss in a low scoring game away to old friends Attenborough.

The trip to Long Lane is the Division J equivalent of a Premier League trip to Blackpool, so it was no surprise to see Cowlard again pick and choose his away fixtures, with apparently only a trip to Lords likely to prise him out of NG12.

Leggy was returning to the scene of his infamous cramp and the selectors had been scouring South Notts for more agile replacements. Jude found the ideal candidate in the Notts CCC squad.

We bowled first on a pitch that had the texture of a giant piece of Ryvita. The Attenborough openers looked low on confidence after being the latest rabbits to be caught in the headlights of Lambley’s Afghan Express. While Liam’s pace was less Express and more Cotgrave Connection, his swing was far too good for the opposition skipper knocking over leg stump second ball. Ernie then took a sharp catch standing up to give Nugget an early brace. Leggy was bowling with great control at the other end and runs were hard to come by.

Sam Nice on first change was another to have the happy knack of a break-though second ball with Drurs taking a simple catch at mid off. The home side’s effort was looking like one of Mr Tuckwell’s Year 6 maths lessons; 5/1 off 5, 10/2 off 10, 15/3 off 15. And Paul Nice soon picked up 100 lines dropping a sharp chance off son Sam.

The introduction of Mr Dearden and Drurs brought more success with a wicket each, Phil with one that hit the stumps on the second bounce barely getting an inch off the ground – a sign of things to come. At 50-5 we were well on top. A decent stand then took the score towards 100 with the home side’s 13 year old no.4 batting like an old hand in an unbeaten 60.

Liam and Leggy returned to swing things back in our favour. Liam produced another pea-roller to hit the stumps and finished with fine figures of 4-26 off 12. Leggy was miserly with 1-20 off 12, supported by Drurs 1-22 off 8, Phil 1-18 off 5 and Sam 1-12 off 4. 114-9 at the break was another fine effort in the field.

Tea was filling, but on the dry side and would have benefited from any kind of fruit.

In reply, the pitch now had less bounce than a 20 year old mattress and, we found runs equally hard to come by. Drurs had a life first ball, dropped by the ‘keeper unwisely standing up. And then had another, almost knocked out when the opening bowler hurled a ball back in his follow through that caught the Chairman flush on the elbow. Drurs just gritted his teeth, meanwhile on the sidelines Neecy was less charitable claiming, ‘I’d have dropped my bat, before dropping him’! The introduction of spin did for Ernie, bowled for 9 by an unplayable ball that turned a foot and dribbled along the ground.

Tuckers was dying to play some cross bat slogs to the spinners, but such shots were a more risky investment than BP shares. Drurs finally ran out of luck bowled by another shooter for 35 and Tuckers soon followed caught behind for 8. Mr Dearden lost concentration when Chris See-Soar turned up, fretting too much about his mis-counted 50, and was caught for 10. Billy went for 1 as we wobbled to 80 -5.

However, Leggy was still talking up his 200 run target for the season, and scampered a quick 13 before being bowled by yet another pea-roller. We needed 15 off the last 3 overs, but within 6 balls the game was over. Liam was bowled for 9. Neecy strode in on the back of a fine 32 the previous Sunday with the support of his team mates, but not 12 year old son Joe: “I hope he gets out first ball, he’s been bragging about his runs all week”. And Neecy went from hero to zero, bowled first ball, with Joe celebrating both the golden duck and his free transfer to Plumtree!!!

No.1 son Sam went in to face the hat trick ball and had no chance of keeping out yet another shooter. The Adonis survived the 5th ball of the over only to chip the last ball to cover. Duncan Disorderly was left stranded on 0 not out as we were all out for 103.

An early finish meant Ernie could be on his bike to beat the traffic to see Robert Green fluff his own pea-roller.

Firsts Battered In Bridgford

The Firsts were again on the losing side as table topping West Bridgfordians kept their 100% record on a baking hot day.

Ian Graham was absent, but the visitors welcomed back Andy and Dave Hiller - but only just, as they pulled into the car park 2 minutes before kick off. Fortunately Skipper Rob Baker had won the toss and elected to bat, so the twins didn't need to rush to get their kit on...

Marc 'Beckham' Bailey arrived just before the twins looking like he just stepped out of an Armani ad, sporting nothing but a pair of flip flops and some white linen trousers. He opened up the innings with the returning Lee Potts, but they found runs hard to come by and Bails fell LBW before Potty was bowled round his legs. Ben played some good strokes, but the morning's 25 mile bike ride caught up on him and he was out KBW - 'knackered before wicket'. Jay Vickers and Steve Rendu looked set to kick start the Keyworth innings, with the long haired buffoon hitting the ball cleanly. But Bridgfordians' opening bowlers continued to tear through the top order and both soon fell leaving The Millers in all sorts of bother at 60-5 after 24 overs. Dave Strong and Dale Collison managed to take the score past 100, before club President Barry Baker put the kibosh on DC by saying it was the best he's seen him bat in a while - 2 balls later he was trudging back to the pavilion. Bobby Baker and Rob Beake also found the boundary to nudge the score towards respectability, but the innings came to a close in the 42nd over with the twins not troubling the scorer. 136 all out was about 100 short of a competitive total.

Tea was an average affair bereft of salad or fruit, but the coronation chicken sandwiches were top drawer.

Keyworth needed quick wickets and one came in the first over with Ben taking a good catch in the covers off Steve Rendu. There should have been another wicket the very next ball with the batsman's pad being hit on the full plumb in front - but the umpire thought otherwise. This was the first of 4 almost certain LBW's that were turned down during the innings.

The 2nd wicket partnership batted very well and took the score to 90, and with a party to get to, Bobby brought on the twins to get the game over sooner. The bowling change saw Andy get 2 wickets with his first two balls, but the remaining runs were soon knocked off and the victory was sealed in the 25th over for 3 wickets.

Coronation Kings

More success for the Under 12s and 13s...... well at least for their Dads! Paul Newell and Alan Cairns won the biggest event at Stanton Golf Club, the Coronation Trophy, by a distance, showing sons Tom and Jack respectively that success runs in the family. Alan's wife is proprietor of the Youth Policy Tuck Shop, so we can expect Pro V1's on sale alongside the rhubarb and custard in the coming weeks.

Deadly Duos

A day of double acts as the Stiffs comfortably beat Woodborough.

The only cloud over the Field of Dreams on a beautiful afternoon was above Big Ted’s head. The returning skipper was struggling to muster an eleven. The Tollerton Express had failed his cycling proficiency test on Friday night and nearly ended in A&E, though most felt that pedalling home after 10 pints was a sterner examination than navigating cones on a Raleigh Chopper in the school playground in days gone by.

Meanwhile Mr Dearden was marking Chris See-Soar’s scoring homework and was gutted to find that his 49 a few weeks ago actually added up to 50!

Ted won the toss and opted to field. This immediately paid dividends as Cowlard picked up a wicket first ball: there was no need for hawk-eye as the new cherry lodged between the opener’s pads slap bang in front of middle peg! Leggy soon picked up the other opener who smacked a full toss straight to Drurs at mid off. Ted took a catch behind in AC’s next over and at 9-3 we were well on top.

The opposition number 4 looked a big hitter but was another to be suckered by a Boss Hogg full toss with Cowlard taking a fine catch at long leg. Drurs then took one for the team at 2nd slip as an edge off Cowlard lodged between his skinny ribs. Leggy landed his third sucker punch that tested the Sky pitch map to the extreme as a rank log hop rattled into middle stump.

With the Village Hall clock barely at 2 o’clock, the deadly duo had reduced the away side to 17-6 after 10 overs. The rush in the dressing room was small beer compared to the panic in the team room.

And things could have been even better as the Chairman and ex-Chairman spilled sharp chances behind off Cowlard. Stiffs Legend Dafty had to leave for a lie down to recover fron the excitement.

The Woodborough lower order came out fighting and the no.8 smashed a rapid 38 including a huge six off Leggy that landed three gardens down Nottingham Road. Poor Liam went for three boundaries in his first over, but was soon smiling as Drurs took a smart catch in the deep to see off the big hitter.

Ted had plenty of statues to hide in the field and the dressing room was the best place for Leggy with a series of woeful belly flops at extra cover.

Billy nipped in with a wicket, Cowlard a fourth, and Liam finished things off with a clean bowled.

94 all out in the 30th over was one of the best bowling displays for many a year: Cowlard led the way with 4-20, Leggy 3-37, Liam 2-21 and Billy 1-12.

Tea by Jude turned into a mid-afternoon snack and was a glorious spread. Dimps and Neecey resembled contestants on ‘double or drop’ on Crackerjack with bhajis, wraps and fruit medleys defying gravity on their paper plates. Cowlard would later pay for gourging himself on pickled onions and chicken nuggets. The highlight though came post match courtesy of choc-ices and Fab lollies.

Drurs and Mr Dearden opened up against a decent opening attack. Phil defended stoutly but lost concentration to his first short ball and was bowled for 2.

News had reached Crossdale Drive that the ECB pitch inspectors could be paying a visit to the Rectory Field after the earlier clatter of wickets, and KCC Legend Palmer raced up in his flip flops to see what the fuss was all about. He needn’t have worried as Boom Boom and Drurs passed their GCSE paper on run chasing at grade A, with a chanceless partnership of 84. Drurs got his normal stick for taking his guard like Chanderpaul but peppered the extra cover boundary with 11 fours in an unbeaten 61. Ted played himself back into form with a solid 32 as we crossed the winning line in the 30th over.

Tuckers had arrived to see if we could could pick up more points than his tame effort in the Stanton Coronation Trophy and we matched his lame effort on the links with 18 points! Mind you this was a better effort than his attempt to dismantle the scorer's gazebo.

Quarters for the 13s

A superior run rate and additional bonus points meant that the Under 13s made it through to the Quarter Finals of the Newark League Cup. They will face the Wollaton Development Squad (alright for some) on the 21st of June at the Field of Dreams

9th Wicket Revival

Tuckwell was never in doubt of the Tuesday match, despite persistent daily drizzle and a rather suspect, angry looking cloud, hovering above the Field of Dreams at 5.45.

Ellerslie were the visitors in the Newark League, 18 overs aside, with the home team batting first. As planned the batting order was jumbled to give everyone a chance in the middle.

The emphasis was on aggressive running and putting pressure on the fielders. Steiner and Hennessy opened up positively before Steiner lost his off stump to a peach of a delivery. 8-1 off 2. Brown entered at 3, having already scored 10 earlier in the day while on district duties, but chipped to mid on. 15-2 off 4. Captain Normington was immediately in on the act keeping the run rate at 4 an over before 2 wickets in the 7th over, Hennessy (7) and Normington (10) put the skids on.

Healey (7) and Coulthard (8) followed two overs later, with Stolworthy (6) an over after. At 50-7 off 11, the run rate was pleasing but the wickets lost worrying. Shepherd (1) came and went in the 13th over leaving Cairns and Tudor with the 9th wicket honours. And what a partnership unfolded! 44 runs were plundered in the last 6 overs, with 29 coming from the last 2 as Tudor finally threw his bat on the off-side - crashing the shot of the day to the boundary. Cairns was his opportunistic self and finished on 14* with Tudor 19*. 97-8 off 18.

A huge boost to the end of the innings and excellent team display of running between the wickets and seizing opportunities, only 17 singles.

After high fives all round, Legge and Tuckwell made sure that everyone was grounded. Healey opened up down the hill, with some fire in his belly, and sent the off stump cart wheeling. Mills followed up - with Shepherd taking a magnificent catch round his ears, at slip. Healey followed with a maiden as Mills returned with a wicket maiden, removing off stump. A proud Grandfather looking on! A further clean bowled by Healey was followed with a maiden by Mills. Ellerslie in all sorts of trouble 3 for 4 off 6.

Shepherd, decided on a 9 ball over, instead of yesterdays 12, but found the edge and Healey took another belting catch at first slip. There was to be no let up as Normington entered the attack and was left with the task of whipping off the bails with both batsmen at the strikers end. 6 for 6 off 8.

Ellerslie steadied the ship but Shepherd produced the catch of the day extending a fully stretched arm to a crashing drive at mid off, the ball sticking to the palm, off the bowling of Normington. Tudor was miserly with 2 maidens before Cairns removed off stump for the final wicket of the evening.

An excellent game, in good spirits with exceedingly overcast conditions. Fantastic momentum to take into the 3 games next week.

Bowling figures:
Greg Mills: 3-2-1-2
Ben Healey: 3-1-2-2
Harry Normington: 3-2-1-1
Mackenzie Shepherd: 2-0-7-1
Jack Cairns: 1-0-6-1
Zachary Tudor: 2-2-0-0
Isaac Brown: 1-1-0-0
Harry Stolworthy: 1-0-1-0
Josh Coulthard: 1-0-8-0
Dominic Steiner: 1-0-6-0

Tough day at the Office

Another tough fixture on paper against high flying Kimberley, and so it was to prove.

Normington lost the Bank Holiday toss, and Kimberley elected to bat. Steiner and Brown did and excellent containg job in the first 4 overs as the Kimberley openers found their feet and decided to tee off. The change bowlers were unable to prevent some rather spectacular wagon wheels.

The break through came from a Shepherd over, full of variety -and deliveries, buttering the opener up with a succession of wides, before forcing a leading edge down the throat of safehands Cairns. The opener embarassingly turned into the Incredible Sulk, gloves thrown to the floor and kicked all the way to the boundary.

Boys I don't ever want to see that from you and I am sure that I wouldn't!

The onslaught continued with the 100 up and still 4 overs to go, thankfully the other opener had retired - 35*, but the pint sized number 3 was in the mood.

To great credit Steiner and Healey only conceded 15 off the last 4 overs, the former with tremendous figures of 4-0-9-0, as Kimberley finished on, nearly a run a ball, 116-1 - with the number 3 ending on 36* and plenty more stars in the hutch.

Tudor and Cairns opened up at 4 an over before Cairns played across a straight one and Legge's finger triggered. 11-1 off 3. The following over saw the squeeze tightened with a double wicket maiden, as Hennessy was first bowled then Tudor presented an easy catch to mid on. Healey steadied the ship but the Kimberley bowlers were unrelenting as Stolworthy (5), Steiner (2) and Shepherd (7) all came and went. 46-6 off 16

Normington (7*) and Healey (23*) kept the scoreboard ticking and gained some valuable time in the middle, as the innings finished on 64-6.

On the face of it a 52 run defeat. Positives: 20 more runs than in the same match last year and 4 less wickets given away