2008 match reports

2008 Match reports

TSE v Newdigate CC
Sun 28 September
Result: DRAW

The last weekend of September, the skies were clear and the M25 was clear too. The walking-wounded gathered at the lovely setting of Newdigate cricket club for the last game of the season.

Carl had fingers on one hand heavily bandaged, having dislocated them the previous day playing rugby. Amit hobbled onto the pitch and informed us he too had picked up a leg injury playing rugby. Arun limped onto the pitch - broken toe - fell off his bike whilst riding it IN school.

Pastie was the only one to buck the trend, back from retirement/injury for the um-teenth time this season. He told us he had lost 13 stone, I mean pounds, since he had last played and was raring to go. The only down side was that neither his trousers or teeth fitted him any more. But a combination of braces and Loctite did the job and kept him together for the duration of the match.

Ian showed great patience when explaining the difference between a timed or overs match to the opposing skipper when they walked to the middle. They tossed up and elected to play a timed match. Not sure who won the toss.

Opening the bowling Marti took a wicket in his first over with an in-swinging yorker. He ended with figures of 50-2. At the other end Carl was running in, down the hill. He bowled 15 straight overs for 53 runs and was unfortunate to end up with only 2 wickets. He accounted for Newdigate's number 2 & 4 batsmen, who were both getting in and looking like they were going on to make big scores. Carl has proved to be a good find and we all look forward to him playing for us next season!

Unfortunately our fielding was not up to scratch most of the time. Having two of our youngsters not fully fit and unable to run properly, we found the going tough. We failed to take all the opportunities that came our way. However Dave marshaled the leg side field well by himself for most of the innings and Pasty, not content just to stand at first slip all day, did some running around and run-saving too. Good to see it Phil. Kirit was behind the stumps again this week, where he took two catches and a nifty stumping.

Ian took first change of bowling. Whilst he made it clear that he wasn't happy with his performance, credit must go to him for shouldering the responsibility of bowling when the Newdigate's big hitting number 7 got going. He also took the end - up the hill - which no one else fancied. These are just some of the qualities that make for a good captain and a great club man. He finished with 2-59.

It was good to see Thomas bowling again. Once again he came on at a tricky time and kept his composure. He took one wicket and was unlucky not to take more.

Newdigate's number 7 hit 5 sixes on his way to 64 n.o. He moved their score from 131 for 5 in the 26 over to 204 dec 10 overs later!

A splendid tea was taken and onto our innings.....

Steve and Pastie opened and got us off to a great start, putting 43 on the board for the first wicket, inside of 10 overs. Steve hit a five 4s and then a 6, but was out the next ball, he made 33. Pastie was out shortly after that and made 16.

The next pair were the father and son combo, Kirit and Amit. They both played well and put on 40 runs, then Kirit was out for 12. This bought big brother, Arun to the wicket. Runs started to flow, even though the outfield was starting to get damp with dew and the ball wasn't running to the boundary. Both lads played some lovely back and front foot drives through the covers. Amit was out first for 21. On another day without his leg injury and the ball travelling through the outfield to the boundary, his score could easily be double that.

John come to the wicket and should have been out first ball, had the square leg fielder been walking in and concentrating. So with a let off he nudged and nurdled for a bit, before playing more convincing shots for 4. Arun was stumped (7), coming down the wicket to the spinner. Like his brother, Arun's score didn't really reflect his innings, he played a couple of lovely shots which he was only able to hobble a single for - STOP RIDING YOUR BIKE IN SCHOOL!!

Dave was next in and next out, lasting just one ball. Don't worry Dave it will come...next season....

This brought Thomas to the wicket, who showed from the outset that he was going to play some aggressive shots. He made 10 which included one 4. It was remarked upon that whilst batting it was hard for the scorers to tell Thomas and John apart. For those who haven't been to cricket for some time, young Thomas is now pushing six foot something and both he and John bat in blue helmets. I don't know how Thomas feels being mistaken for a man of a certain age....but John thinks it's great being a teenagers again!

Marti's batting nightmare continued when he was caught for 1.

A steady partnership grew between John and Ian of 40 odd which ensured that Temple Seen saved the game and it ended in a draw. Ian was not out 10 and John was out off the final ball of the match having a swish for old-times sake, for 29.

It was always going to be tough getting 205 to win but everyone was determined to go for it and in the end we were only 36 runs short - a great team effort as far as the batting went!

Afterwards we enjoyed several pints of very well kept Harvey's Sussex Bitter.

Thank you to all the spectators who travelled to watch us and to Derek for his taxi service and scoring. Maybe by next season they will have put the sign up directing you off the A24, Derek!

TSE v Dormansland CC
Sun 21 September
Result: DRAW

Pastie's Recollection :
We have travelled to Dormansland for many years in Sept/ Oct, right at the end of the season, and are greeted as old friends. This year George was skippering for Dormansland and following a phone call from Ian { stuck in traffic at roadworks} Steve took over as captain for the day.

The first change from last week was the type of game, it was to be a timed match meaning that a draw could also be a result. We started at 12.45 fielding and Brian and Marti opened the bowling. Brian's third ball was hit for 4 and his 4th one exacted revenge the ball straightened turned the batsman round and Marti who slipped, managed to dive forward and take the catch.

Great start which heralded the arrival of Dave Tribe a batsman who has been a thorn in our sides for many years. Just after this Ian arrived, 11 minutes late, it mattered not Marti proved to be an able deputy who along with Brian shared the first 20 over's conceding only 61 runs.

Ian replaced Marti, [ 10-2-33-0 ] and came on at the end I was umpiring from, I mention this because I had a close up of what happened next! he came in to bowl his first ball, perfect length gently swinging away which the batsman played back to him, Ian bent down to pick it up and changed colour from tan to puce. I have never seen that, he stood there for a few seconds turned ran in and bowled another ball on a perfect length, it transpired that he was at the same party as Nick celebrating Sally's ........something over 21 birthday party, and it was all Nick {sallys partners] fault for giving him too much champers.

In Brian's 12th over he bowled the other opener 64-2 and with Ian keeping things tight at the other end went on to bowl Mr Tribe for 41. Brian ended with figures of 17-4-51-3. Well bowled mate. It would be remiss of me not to mention 2 of last weeks absentees, Kirit and Amit. Kirit kept wicket superbly, Arit who came on to bowl after Brian, took 2-11 off 5 over's with 1 maiden, well done young man and Ian continued to bowl in a miserly way. Ian ended with 12-4-38-0. Steve brought himself on to open the game up bowled 1 over and Dormansland declared at 161-5.

I have criticised the fielding before, not this time, the one chance missed flew hard at head height and did not stick who cares the fielding was SUPERB, a much improved performance. We had bowled 45 over's on a slow but flat pitch in weather that was sunny all afternoon and we went in for the usual good quality fare we are used to at Dormansland.

Cast your memory back to the 13th of July when we beat British Airways, this had been Julian's last appearance for us when it took him quite a while to get off the mark, he turned up at Dormansland to open the batting with Steve, hit the first ball he faced for 4 to be quickly followed by more boundaries, Steve was bowled for 10 24-1, Arun was run out for 6 and a mini collapse followed when Julian was out for 32 the score was 68-7 in the 28th over, Thomas and Marti getting ducks, Neal 1 and Nick C. 2. Arit was next to go with the score at 76-8 and it was left to Ian not out 9 and Brian making 18 whilst not being out for the 5th time this season!

George had brought his opening bowlers back for the last 4 over's, the game had been played in good spirits and the draw was the right result. Well played both sides. I hope I may be allowed a footnote to those of you who for what ever reasons have not been able to play recently, our next fixture is the last this season, please make yourselves available for this match please.

Brian's Recollection :
The season’s penultimate fixture at Dormansland was a combination of Family Fortunes & The Generation Game. Our 11 consisted of 3 Karawardene’s & 4 Coggins ( A shame Simon wasn’t playing to make it 5 !!) There were 3 father / son(s) combinations as well.

Marti , Julian , Neil & Myself were the odd ones out. Steve stood in as captain as Ian was delayed , partly due to being on the booze till 4 o’clock that morning , suffering badly as a consequence & a traffic delay on the A22. I don’t know if we won the toss or not , but we were in the field starting the game with 9 men.

As is rare now we played a timed game with no limits on bowler’s overs It was a perfect afternoon for cricket one of the few we’ve had all summer - Dormansland had their big guns out for us with Michael Watson (who scored 150 last time he played against us) Dave Tribe who constantly made big scores against us in 1980’s & early 1990’s before moving to Devon & Nick Hellier occupying 3 of the first 4 places in the batting order. I opened the bowling to the aforementioned Michael Watson , who left 2 balls alone then clipped one of his legs easily for 4. He tried the same shot next ball , got a leading edge to send the ball looping straight to extra cover. Marti slipped , but was still agile enough to get up , recover and take a valuable catch .

Ian & Tom had arrived by this time & took the field , with Ian looking greener than the outfield. Marti bowled from the other end & bowled a very tidy 9 overs and only two loose balls in his 10th put his economy rate over 2 runs per over. You should all know by now that it takes me at about 4 overs just to warm up , so I don’t really like 8 over stints , but its a team game , we have an abundance of good bowlers & at 47 years old 8 overs is about all i'm good for , but when I get a chance for a long spell & to get into a groove I have to take it , knowing I need to bowl well or I’d soon be put out to graze on the boundary. I was enjoying the challenge bowling to two good batsmen .

Drinks came at 22 overs with Dormansland 60 for 1. Ian had replaced Marti and was doing a great job keeping Dormansland tied down. In the 3rd over after drinks , I got the opener to play on to just clip leg stump. Dave Tribe was still looking good & was joined by Nick Hellier. We couldn’t afford to let these two get going. Ian dropped a sharp chance at slip & when Dave Tribe hit me for a straight 6 , a couple of overs later , things looked ominous. Fortunately he tried the same shot next ball and played on having scored 41. I bowled another 2 overs to complete a stint of 17 overs for 51 runs , feeling quite pleased with myself. After the 34 overs

Dormansland were around 100 - 3. Young Amit replaced me and bowled a really excellent spell at a time when Dormansland were looking to get on with it. At only 13 years old , he shows all the signs of becoming a great bowler. He got his rewards in only his 2nd over when Hellier edged one to Kirit behind the sticks who took a comfortable catch even with a broken finger. Caught Dad , bowled Son !!

Well done the Karawardene’s.. It got even better for Amit a couple of overs later when the Dormansland no. 5 clipped one to mid wicket where I caught it bruising my finger in the process. After 44 overs Dormansland were 141 5. Amit had completed his 5 over spell which is all he’s allowed to bowl as a 13 year old .

Steve decided to bring himself on just as the call of “Last Over !!” came from the boundary. 6 balls & 20 runs later we came off for tea , bad luck Steve , but still a great bowling & fielding effort to keep the score to around 3.5 per over.

Tea was a lovely spread of sandwiches , cake , salad , melon & pork pie pieces , enjoyed by us all , especially those who didn't have to go out and bat straight away.

Callum managed to stay put this week at tea , having learnt his lesson last week when he accidentally played hide & seek in the boot of Daddy's car and got himself shut in there for 20 minutes to earn the title of "Effingham Hide & Seek Champion 2008"

Steve opened our batting with Julian -Great to see you again Jules , we've missed you in recent weeks - hope the back's OK - We needed a solid start and got one with 30+ on the board before Steve lost his off stump to their opening quickie. Arun came in at 3 & looked realy solid against their opening attack & 1st change bowling before getting run out going for a second run. By this time Dormansland had opened the game up with their slow bowlers on. Their tactics worked well. Thomas came in at no.4 & was bowled almost immediately , NIck was no. 5 , scored a few before skying one to be caught behind. Neil was next in and scored a few before getting bowled.

When "20 overs" were called were were about 60 - 5 & it was then a question if we could bat out the remaining overs. Julian was keeping one end held up , but sensing we needed to put some runs on the board went after the wrong ball to be out for 31. Amit came in at 8 to join Marty & the pair added a few more before first Marty & then Amit were out leaving us 70ish - 8 with 11 overs to go. Ian was batting at 9 having recovered from the night before & was looking rock solid. Kirit & I tossed up to see who would bat 10. I lost so went out to join Ian leaving Kirit padded up expecting to be called into duty at any minute. He never even got to the wicket as we added an unbroken 30 runs in the remaining overs to take our score to 111-8 at the end of the game.

As has happened so often this season we struggled with our batting. Our bowling & fielding were excellent & we deserved a draw through our efforts in the field. It was a very pleasant afternoon , played in a good spirit .

Dormansland were as always excellent hosts. There were a number of plusses for us. It was great to see Julian back in action. Marty continued to prove that he has become a very good opening bowler for us in recent weeks. His control & variation is a great asset & full credit to him for playing in every single match this year. Amit showed what a great prospect he is at only 13 years of age & Kirit kept brilliantly with a broken finger. For me it was the first time i'd seen him keep wicket.

Lots of encouragement already for 2009. Finally thanks to Pasty & Derek for umpiring & scoring for the whole game. It really does make a difference.

TSE v Old Wimbledonians CC
Sun 14 September
Result: LOST

Sundays cricket was not for the faint hearted. A much depleted team Lego, Pastie, Ian Millson. Julian, Gerry all injured, Mark working, Kirit and son having trials Arit, cricket at Banstead and Kirit sheepdog on Wimbledon common, we look forward to watching you, KIRIT..... on one man and his dog.

Simon was missing but turned up with the family almost exactly on tea time [nothing new there then] having been away on holiday. Tommy brought that lovely four legged friend ERNIE who escaped at least 3 times once leaving Tom flat on his face, Del was doing the scoring, Lego on crutches was testing the beer, Pastie was umpiring, the weather at 1.45 when we started was sunny and warm and Del had a new set of pencils to score with. Temple Sheen lost the toss and fielded.

Brian and Ian opened the bowling and after 10- over's had restricted the batting team to 19-1. Ian came off having conceded 5 runs from 5 over's and more astoundingly upset The Old Wimbledonians Australian player/umpire with a loud appeal which was turned down. Brian's wicket showed that Neal's attendance at various courses connected with his work had been worth it. In Brians 3rd over the batsman hit one in the air towards Neal who looked at it, rubbed his hands looked at it again failed to move his feet and missed it, a guilty look towards Brian followed by a shrug of his shoulders did not set us up for what happened two balls later. Same bowler, same batsman, same shot different result Neal caught it. Back in Brians good books!!!!!

Marti replaced Ian and took a couple of wickets his 2-43 included an over which went 6 6 2leg byes 6 W . Interesting! Brian ended with 1-25 off 8, Carl came on and in 2 spells took 1-20 off 7. John with a great spell of spin bowling ended with 2 for 42 but deserved 5 and Dave 2s came on while the slog was on, 0-34 again unluckily.

Umpiring a whole game gives a different view of what is happening and I applaud Ian for opening the game up rather than bringing himself on to close the game up. The only criticism's of our fielding was that it got shoddy, and that 7 no balls and 11 wides were far to many in a total of 30 extras in a score of 178.

Tea was taken congratulations to Pam in her capacity as Tea Lady and chief cake maker and all other members of the Coggins family who helped in producing another fabulous tea.

Father and son Steve and Nick opened for T.S.E. Nick was soon out quickly followed by Arun, whose father was spectating having got back from the trials. Ian joined Steve and we were soon in more trouble The 4th Coggins to bat in the top 5 strolled to the middle, did not take a guard and was bowled first ball. John came to the middle avoided the hat trick ball and top scored for us with 18, whilst wickets fell at the other end T.S.E. all out for 70. Their skipper finished with 3-3, off 5 over's with one of the best spells of left arm spin I have seen in many years.

1) Squirrel eagerly awaits an opportunity... carefully watching the graceful ark of the straight bat....

2) Squirrel spots his opportunity...

3) Squirrel grabs his opportunity... with keen eyes and slight of hand.....

4) Squirrel asks the question.

TSE v Westbourne CC
Sun 10 August
Result: LOST

After a pretty eventful journey, coupled with very vague directions, Brian had the correct ones, Lego also knew but it was too late to get in touch.
The first person we got was the local ”Village” whose directions were rather vague to say the least!. Finally with a little help from Brian we arrived at the Ground to be met by Lego. We were closely followed by John, Steve and the 4 Muskateers! Keith who must have been powered by Jet fuel, as he left at 1:30 from home. Only team Member missing being Mark, last heard of passing Fontwell. Lego lost the Toss we took the field with 10 Men, Squirel donning the go fasters.

Brian and Marti opened the Bowling with Marti bowling 4 overs 0 for 14. Brian was joined by Keith and bowled 8 overs for 2 for 14. Mark who had now arrived bowled 8 overs 1 for 26. Brian had bowled 8 overs 1 for 26.

Enter John the Hat into the attack. Where has he been the first part of the Season and followed his 4 for 41 at Woodmansterne with 5 for 25, including a near hat trick. Steve relieved of the Go Fasters, finished 1 for 12. During the innings Ben Coggins took a reaction catch at 2nd slip. A credible effort.

After a very good tea it was Temple Sheen’s opportunity to bat.

A family opening partnership Steve and Nick opened and Nick with some unorthodox strokes soon reached 19, tried another and was bowled.

Marti was next in, meanwhile Steve had departed for 3. Marti was joined by Whitman and scored 2 before departing. Enter Dando, exit for 0. Ben was next in and departed for 4. Marti is joined by Lego, he hit a very long 6 only trying to follow this with another, bowled for 13. Score now 50 for 6. This brought Mark to the crease and a partnership developed with Lego which was going well until Lego attempting a quick single, collapsed in a heap damaging his leg, and could take no further part in the Game!

Enter Keith all going well until Mark was well caught for 16. John joined Keith with a result still possible, Keith bowled for 9 - result still possible! Brian joined John and the Score reached 98, when John was adjudged out LBW, later indicating he had hit the ball, this was later confirmed by one of the fielders. The Umpire can only give what he sees, it is questionable whether John should have been recalled.

A very nice Location could be considered for a Tour Match venue. So to next week at Slinfold.

TSE v Woodmansterne CC
Sun 10 August
Result: WON

It was the Thursday before the match, The club skipper readying for a session of sun bathing on the continent and the eccentric [no pun intended] Lego our vice captain had 6 players and was still hopeful. Drag Pastie out of "retirement" haul Keith away from work and have a word with the chairman. These were his dastardly plans. It worked, Nick Coggins and a couple of his mates were able to play and at 2 o'clock on Sunday 10 men representing T.S.E.C.C. took the field, Lego promising that Keith would appear between 3 and 4 o'clock.

Brian and Marti opened the bowling Marti taking a wicket with his first ball and another in his third over Woodmansterne 10 -2 Brian nipped in with 2 more wickets 14-4 Marti 2-10 off 5 over's and Brian 2-14 off 8 over's had done a great job.

Steve Coggins came on to replace Marti and thanks to Nick diving full length to take a great catch ended with 1-16 off 6 over's.

Pastie at the other end was being as mean as ever 1-17 off 8 and John the Hat, a much under used bowler took 4-41 to finish Woodmansterne off for 111 after they chose to bat. Well bowled all.

Please realise dear reader that our last win was a month ago against British Airways [I'll return to that subject later] so we were not exactly brimming with confidence, and in such fervent anticipation of a possible win we went for tea.

Tea was superb, enough cheese to keep Lego happy, Tommy who was there in his capacity as presidential cheerleader with Ernie found nothing to moan about and Del who was doing a great job scoring was able to warm up and fill up at the same time.

Lego named his batting order, Steve and Nick to open, Nicks mates messrs Whitman and Dando were 3 and 4 and our beloved Lego was at 5, alas we were soon 14-4 when Mark joined Mr Whitman at the wicket and they took the score to 34.

John joined Mark until Mark was caught on the boundary for 24 43-6. Marti came out and with John batted as well as either of them had batted all season and they took the score to 81. John was then given out LBW in very dubious circumstances, the umpire was in such a hurry to give him out his finger nearly caught fire. John made 22.

With Marti defending his end, Brian took the score to 101 before he too was given out LBW in even more dubious circumstances which left Pastie with light enhancing glasses hidden under his helmet joined Marti and with a boundary each and a single each made the scores level. With 4 over's left a bye was run to win a very exciting match, Temple Sheen are back in the wining stakes.

Well played all and many thanks to our guest players without whom we could not of played. Very finally, great to see Tommy, his seriously loud dog Ernie, Del, Pam and Brenda who had all made the long journey to support and help us.

TSE v Lynchmere CC
Sun 03 August
Result: Abandoned

Ian lost the toss and Lynchmere decided to bat. The game was to be 40 overs a side. Temple Sheen opened the bowling with Ian and Simon Coggins who restricted Lynchmere to 39-1 off the first 10 overs on what seemed to be a flat slow pitch, or so I thought.

Marti took over from Ian and his second ball probably the fastest we have seen him bowl nearly took the batsman's head off Marti bowled 8 overs, taking 4-28. He was ably assisted by our guest player Mr Dinwall who took 2-25 and Steve Coggins who took 2-19. Oakley finished the innings off at 129 all out after 38 overs.

It had started to drizzle as we took tea yet another fine example of Temple Sheens ability to offer superb fare every game.

Steve C. opened the batting with Kirit who was first out for 9. Next in was Kirit's son Arun who played beautifully for his 12 [DAD take note!]before and with much reluctance I gave him out LBW.

Steve was out for 15 and as John and Ian took us to 60-3 in the 21st over the rain became to heavy to play in. We retired to the pavillion hoping the weather would clear up. Unforunately it did not and after a 30 min. wait the match was abandoned as a draw. Either team could have won.

Temple

TSE v British Airways CC
Sun 06 July
Result: Won

BRITISH AIRWAYS GROUNDED.

Temple Sheen touched down in Cranford on Sunday for our first ever fixture against British Airways.

The ground & facilities were excellent , the opposition keen & weather sunny, but not too hot, so we were all set for a good afternoon's cricket. We were not to disappointed, read on !!!

As is now customary for most Sundays, we played 40 overs per side. Ian won the toss & had no doubts about batting on a hard, flat, pitch. Steve & Julian (welcome back after a 6 week absence) faced the new ball. The opening bowlers bowled very steadily, getting a lot of movement & carfeully varying line & length to make scoring difficult for us. Jules decided he needed to play himself in having been inactive for the last 6 weeks. It took him 10 overs just to get off the mark . giving Matt some competition for the "barnacle" title, Steve was working the ball around for 1's or 2's & waited patiently for the occasional bad ball to deposit to the boundary to keep the score moving. A change of bowling at 1 end after 10 overs upped our score rate as the new bowler charged in & had trouble getting a line & length allowing Jules & Steve to pick off boundaries. After 3 overs, another bowling change at the same end found us facing with a very cany spinner who mixed both flight & pace to keep us guessing. At the other end, the opener bowled a very steady 8 overs & was replaced by another even faster bowler who quite frequently beat the bat with a combination of pace & swing. At the 20 overs drunks interval we were 50 without loss.

Considering the quality of the bowling it was a very solid & valuable start. Steve was out soon after the re-start for 22 and Mark joined Jules with instructions to get the board moving. Mark duly obliged with a quickfire 25 before getting out in the quest for runs, Lego came in at no 4 & bashed a quick 18 before perishing in similar fashion. Julian was still occupying the crease accumulating valuable runs, Ian came in at 5 , but was involved in a mix up with Julian and was run out for 1 , John scored a quick 8. An exhausted Julian was out in the 38 th over for a patient but valuable 47 and in some pain after putting his back out again early in his knock. Kirit & Simon saw out the last 1 1/2 overs. Simon was our 7th wicket on the last ball of the innings , run out going for a 4th run !!!

We finished our innings on 153 for 7 & headed towards the transit lounge for tea which consisted of sandwiches , croissants & fruit - surprisingly no "Sexton Blake"

Towards the end of our innings with scoring still difficult , several of the opposition were asking themselves , "why aren't they scoring many runs , they haven't got enough". A look through the opposition score book , quickly showed that BA regularly knocked up scores of around 250 in their 40 overs.

As we took the field, Ian called us all together for a pep talk, "Come on guys, bowl line & length, force them to take chances , they'll come & make sure we hold our catches " was the jist of it. Brian opened and bowled a tidy maiden, Simon took the other end for a couple of runs. 2nd ball of Brian's 2nd over saw the opener trying to hit a straight one onto the M4. He missed & was bowled off stump. Enter no.3 bat, having scored 115 the previous week, he was quickly putting away 4's off good balls from both Brian & Simon. In Brian's 4th over the other opener drove at one which moved away & Mark took a brilliant one handed catch low down to his right in front of Pasty at 1st slip who was trying to get out of the way. The no. 4 bat also put bat to ball straight away. It was vital we didn't let these 2 settle. Our chance came when no.3 skied one to extra cover off of Simon and Marti dropped a very difficult chance. Simon got his deserved rewards a couple of overs later when a repeat shot found Ian who held it comfortably. 2 balls later the no.4 tried to put the ball out of the ground & skied it to Lego , who despite loud calls of "drop it" from the boundary made it look easy to give Brian his 3rd wicket & leave BA 40 - 4. We were well and truly flying now , Simon continued to bowl well with no luck, Brian on the other hand was enjoying his purple patch & got his 4th wicket when the no.5 played and misssed, strayed out of his ground & Mark was alert enough to make a very smart stumping. Then in Brian's last over the left handed no. 6 left his leg stump exposed and was bowled by Brian to leave BA 55 - 6 Pasty replaced Brian from the M4 end and Ian replaced Simon from the flightpath end. Pasty bowled well without much luck , but It was Ian who really took the honours by steadily taking the last 4 wickets thanks to catches by Mark, Pasty, a great catch by Julian in the deep & finally Lego to dismiss British Airways for just over 100 with 10 overs to go to wrap up a great win against a very good side. Although there were some good individual performances - Julian (47 runs & a great catch) , Ian (4 - 20 and a good catch to dismiss their prolific scorer) , Mark (25 runs plus 2 catches & a stumping), Lego (18 runs & 2 catches) , Brian (5 - 28) Steve (22 runs in a 50 opening stand with Julian). It was a great all round team effort with everyone else : Simon, Pasty, John, Kirit & Marti all playing their part. Our fielding and catching was superb.

It really was one of our best performances for a number of years for which we should all feel proud.

TSE v Pirbright
Sun 29 June
Result: Lost

Before starting it must be recorded that we were entertained to the Best Away Tea of the Season. Plenty of cheese sandwiches, hoola hoops, Pork pie and cakes!

To the game : It is assumed that Ian won the Toss and elected to Bat.

The opening pair were Steve and Phil. 3 overs gone and Phil receives a ball which should have been despatched over the Trees, for it only to drop into Mid Off’- 7 for 1s Hands. Enter Mark who proceeded to hit 2 4s, Steve meanwhile was also hitting 4’s, with the Score at 28, Mark is Bowled for 8.

Ian joined Steve in which is his best batting position the score moving on, until it reached 63 when Steve was bowled for 31.

Enter John the Hat, to join Ian and a very useful stand developed, which carried on until it reached 152. with John being bowled for 25.Marti was next in, but with only 13 Runs added Ian was caught for a creditable score of 66..
Neil was next in to Join Marti and left again the Score now being 170. Enter Brian and with score still on 170 Marti decided on a run which resulted in him being Run Out for 7. Arun joined Brian and in the remaining overs another 10 Runs were added Brian not out 7 Arun not out 1, Extras 31. Total 180 for 7.

So to Tea, already described.

Temple Sheen took to the field somewhat overburdened by the amount of tea consumed.

Brian and Ian opened the Bowling. Brian down hill Ian up. First over for Brian to loosen up. 2nd over saw the first wicket fall to Brian. Ian bowled 3 and was replaced by Marti, who bowled as good as we have seen him. Pirbright at 46 and Brian claimed his 2nd Wicket aided by a smat catch by Steve. In his next over Brian claimed 2 more wickets one a smart caught and bowled the other one with n LBW, the batsman on 49. It was like old times at Temple Sheen, firstly the dressing room door was slammed shut, followed closely by the bat hitting the wall! Leaving Pirbright on 88 for 5 and Brian with 5 for 48, a jug one would assume!

Steve came into the attack but Marti took the next wicket, before getting over excited and attempting to bowl a 9th over. Skipper consultation bat spun agreed that Marti had bowled 8.1 overs. Pastie came back and took 2 wickets Steve took a wicket a rather smart stumping by Mark Ian came back and without much luck. With the last pair at thecrease the scores were tied, a single settled it for Pirbright.

It is hoped that we can return next Season.

Champagne moment must be when Neil got confused which game he was playing, and diverted a possible catch over the Bar for “6” Pastie being the bowler.

On entering the Cricketers we were informed that Sir Alec Bedser was a regular at the pub, and was in the Bar. Thanks to Neil we now have an autographed score book, for the Trophy Cabinet.

TSE v Bookham
Sun 22 June
Result: Won

I arrived late at the ground, sure as hell won't do that again as my punishment is writing this report and dropped down to 6th in the batting order.

By the time i got there the match was already underway a promt 2 o/c start. 40 over's a side. Temple Sheen batting we only had 10 men as Lego was injured playing on Saturday.

Pasty and Marti at the wicket. Marti 1st out for 8. Mark joins Pasty at the wicket and rides his luck for awhile. Pasty thinks it's about time he opened his shoulders and legs and got on with it. Straight down the ground was the way forward. Pasty was next out for 27. He had decided it was 4 runs or oxygen and oxygen won!

Enter Nei l- a swift 9 then bowled. Next up Keith - one of our occasional players. A partnership grew after a shaky start. A good partnership of 66 materialised before Keith was out for 31.

Enter Squirrel. Dropped to number 6 for being late. Three quick singles - caught at long on going for the big "un". Enter Aaron. Played a steady knock supporting Mark. Over running out - Aaron run out trying to give Mark the strike. With 2 over's to go, Paul our guest comes out to bat, caught at cover. Mark however sensing a chance of 100 takes 19 off the next over. Kirirt is run out for a duck.

Enter Ian - nought not out. Mark last man out - caught behind for 96. A great knock Mark after a dodgy start the final score 214 from 40 over's.

A good tea was had - a good selection of sandwiches including cheese, with chocolate and lemon drizzle cake. No Hula Hoops this week. Temple Sheen take to the field.

Paul and Kirirt open the bowling. Bowling without much luck - Bookham soon have 50 on the board. Lego watching from the balcony could stand it no longer and gets changed. He joins us on the field doing a very good impression of Heather Mills McCartney - fielding on one leg! ( be careful Lego we will soon have you looking for land mines!)

A rush of blood by the opener Keith takes up a good catch at deep mid-off from Kirirt penultimate over. Change of bowling Ian for Paul and Pasty for Kirit. The change of bowling slowed down the Bookham charge. Ian taking 10 from 25 Pasty 3 for 35 off their 7 over's. good steady bowling from our trusty stalwarts, turned the game in our favour.

The last 12 over's were the responsibility of the spinners. Arron and Squirrel. Bookham no.4 bat having reached 50 came down the track once too often and was stumped. One of the 3 stumpings for Mark. Runs still came but not at the required rate and wickets still fell. Squirrel 6 over's 2-14 and Arron 6 over's 1-35. Bookham finish 181 for 8. A good game where everybody contributed. Man of the match Mark 96 runs and 3 stumpings. Also a gold star for Pasty 27, runs 3 wickets and a number of chases to the boundary.

I hope the chemist at "The Mount" has plenty of deep heat in stock. I wont be late again as this is the umpteenth draft and the recycling bin is over flowing. It has cost me dearly having to engage Mrs Squirrel with this task. What a great partnership - I can't type and she knows Foxtrot Alpha about cricket ;-)

TSE v The Warwick Castle CC
Sun 15 June
Result: Won

Match report ; 7th edit, condensed version – if you want to see the full report I have it saved on three discs).

It was a bright sunny day and bright sunny expectations were had by all. Our Captain Ian……. decided to field first knowing that some of us have the attention span of a squirrel (ASOAS) and left to bat first would have forgotten why they were there.

Brian opened the bowling and bowled 3 maidens and got us two wickets, the first of the wickets resulted from an edge taken by Steve Coggins using spectacular acrobatics in the slips I’m sure he was wearing spandex for that extra smooth movement ). Ian ……also took a wicket and I have no idea what happened then (please refer to my first Para – ASOAS – mine – no more match reports from me then?)

Brain took his second wicket as a result of Kirit poaching a second catch from Steve in the slips – competing for attention in their new Temple Sheen shirts – Ernie and Amit seemed impressed any way.

Marti steamed in from the field end and found his groove bowling 5 Overs in total and was unlucky not to get a wicket as it was a close call on a few occasions especially with the controversial ‘no ball’ call.

Amit bowled and bowled and got really knackered however he did bowl a couple of maidens and the runs slowed but this we think was because they were unsettled by what they thought was a ‘Smurf’ playing for TS.

Steve Coggins took 3 wickets from his 6.1 Overs and was generally a one man show that day. Sorry Steve (was in the ‘zone’ at the time and …..actually ASOAS- sorry).

Kirit bowled from the road end and had to remind himself that he wasn’t playing baseball and had to pitch the ball during his 5 Overs but miraculously took two wickets (the praying helped).
We partook in the famous grand Effingham tea (thanks to Ian’s mum for spoiling us).

We were then back looking for action with our batting. Steve and Matt Richardson opened and gave us hope as the first wicket didn’t fall until about 40 (ASOAS) and Steve went on and on and on others came and went but Steve carried on. After Mark was bowled ? (ASOS) Lester joined Steve and the runs were piled on. Lego came and left as did everyone else – the middle order collapsed with Henry (paid attention here) bowling Arun and Marti and was on a hat trick when baby smurf (Amit) hit two off a no bowl then a casual stroke forgetting he wasn’t playing with smurfs hit the ball straight into the welcoming arms of the opposition. We still needed another 27 runs and Papa Squirrel Smurf arrived at the crease to take part in the glory as Steve made 79 runs not out and Kirit …..hit a glorious 4 to win the game (sorry Steve despite your sixes and fours through out and…. slogging all day out there what must have felt like on your own). Actually it must have felt much like speed dating for Steve…. with such rapid turn round of partners…not that I would know anything about it…….(I still have trouble with finding the space button ……better go…got to wash the whites…………………

TSE v Ealing Wanderers
Sun 8 June
Result: Lost

Temple Sheen were involved in yet another low scoring classic. The fixture secretary had been asked to find another fixture due to the scheduled opposition cancelling earlier in the season. Once again he produced the goods with a fixture in the grounds at the simply stunning Chiswick House against Ealing Wanderers.

The clear blue skies and tropical temperature had combined to bring out many families, young couples sunbathing, dog walkers, joggers and the odd tramp. All stationed around the mighty tree lined boundary in anticipation of the upcoming battle.

Sheen batted first as is their want and lately as is their want, they made a bit of a mess of it. Squirrel was back with his old mucker and scoreboard worrier Matt to open the innings. Some very quick and accurate bowling helped to quell Matt’s run a ball philosophy and when Steve attempted to cut a rare wide ball he was unlucky to drill it straight into the hands of gulley. Mark who has been the shining light in the top order strode to the crease and made his intensions clear with a couple of trade mark cuts for four. Sadly he too played at a wide one and was caught. A clearly out of form Lego played and missed several times, Matt maybe realising this tried to back up a bit too keenly and on being sent back was easily run out. John came and went and Lego was finally put out of his misery, leaving Marty and Ian to try and salvage some pride as Sheen were struggling on 38-5.

Marty who has clearly been waiting for the sun to come out and warm his back, started playing some of the flourishing shots that we all love to see from him and with Ian playing the captains role at the other end, the score started to approach some sort of respectability.
Marty was finally bowled for twenty five and with Pastie supporting Ian with some hard running and shots Sheen ended their innings on 119-7.

Without doubt Sheen have bowled and fielded superbly over the last few games and they would have to continue this form if they were going to be asked back to this fantastic venue.
Simon opened the bowling and struggled with his length early on but encouraged by Jane to alter his technique, he recovered to superbly and soon found his stride, having conceded twelve runs in his first over he showed great guts to return 8-0-30-0.

Ian once again was almost unplayable and with Thomas taking a great catch low down at mid on for his dad his figures were 8-4-11-1. The openers had bowled their maximum eight over straight through and Ealing were finding runs hard to score.

Thomas and Pastie needed to keep up the good work and apply more pressure to Ealing. Pastie struck in his first over, a low full toss had the opener licking his lips and he straight batted it over Phil and watched as Lego hauled his frame to his right from mid off and caught the ball at full stretch. Thomas and Phil kept things tight for the next few overs, backed up by enthusiastic fielding and in over number three from Thomas he clean bowled batsman three. Pastie produced his new speciality ball and the number four had been grubbed out lbw. More tight bowling and then in Thomas produced a fantastic finally to his spell. A dot ball followed by an unplayable ball that cut back and passed through the defence of the batsman, clean bowled. Three more dot balls and then with the team urging him to find another dot and not try anything too risky, he clean bowled the number seven for a duck.

This really was the coming of age for Thomas. He showed maturity way beyond his age and his figures of 8-1-24-3 earned him the votes from the team as the man of the match, sadly he declined the invitation from the team to get a jug in, blaming the current Hula Hoop crisis and increasing cost of school pack lunches. That and he was saving up to by a new season ticket to Farnham were he is courting the future Mrs Coggins. Phil ended his spell with a wicket and finished with great figures of 8-0-29-3.

After 32 overs Sheen had restricted Ealing to 98-7 but despite Squirrel and Marty’s efforts the home team passed Sheen’s total in the 37th over.

A fantastic days cricket played in fabulous conditions at a stunning venue I ask you could anyone leave the ground anything but totally fulfilled?

TSE v Stallions
Sun 1 June
Result: Lost

A hastily arranged fixture was confirmed on Saturday afternoon with Stallion CC, a team from Essex on their day off from Sunday league duties.

The Stallions trotted into town slightly later than planned, due to their SatNav taking them on a scenic tour of various Surrey bridleways, rather than the direct, M25 route.

The late arrival prompted an enjoyable fielding practice session which coincided with one of Temple Sheen's better displays of fielding. Maybe it should become a regular thing!

The two skippers went to the middle and having won the toss, Stallion's skipper hoofed it back to the changing rooms to discuss what to do with the rest of the team. A decision was eventually made and we were put in the field.

Brian and Dave opened the bowling. Brian was into his stride quickly and proved something of a horse whisperer as his figures of 1-29 show. Brian's hard work was rewarded when a superb catch gave him a timely wicket. Lego later revealed that he only saw the ball at the last moment as he was conducting his very own Springwatch and observing a rare lesser spotted crested pheasant off in the distance.

Stallion's openers proved to be champing at the bit to put quick runs on the board. But this ultimately proved to be their downfall too. Ian came on to replace Dave and a deceptive ball got him his first wicket with a return catch. Ian continued his usual thorough-bred bowling, picking up three more wickets and ending with the excellent figures of 4-21.

The highlight of the day was watching Thomas Coggins (our young colt) bowl. He came on at a tricky time, when the going was heavy, after Brian had just been hit for 2 successive sixes. One of the the stallions was trying to stamp his authority on Sheen's bowlers. But Tom stepped up to the plate, completely unfazed and won the challenge by taking the dangerman's wicket in his first over. Well caught Mark! Thomas continued to bowl well, ending up with figures of 1-25.

Well bowled too Pasty, both his wickets came from appeals for LBW, plum in front on the back leg, there was nothing the umpire could do but give them! Later Pasty was put out to pasture, in a spot adjacent to the boundary where he was looking for quiet time of it – the ball promptly followed him around.

There was a consolation wicket for Dave Twooze who bowled a lot better in his second spell. This came from a fine catch from Julian who got it at the second attempt as he fell back to earth like a faller at Beecher's Brook. In doing so he twisted his withers, and paid no further part in the match - get well soon Julian!

Temple Sheen put in a great bowling and fielding display, which we can be proud of. It gained praise and respect from the stallions.

The tea was up to it's normal high standard. Each player's nose bag contained sausage rolls, ham sandwiches, chipolatas and vegetarian rock cakes, with no rocks in them!

And so to our batting....
The stallions opening bowlers came in at a gallop, poor Marty continued his bad run of form, when he got a snorter which cut back a country mile and removed his bails. Mark was met with a first ball, full toss which rapped him on his pinkie. Meg later renamed it his purplie. By now it's probably his black, yellow & blue-ie. Only joking Mark - I hope there is no serious damage and that you are able to play next Sunday.

Mark was hit on the arm a few overs later and in his anger proceeded to hit the next four balls to various parts of the boundary, on his way to top scoring with 28.

At the other end Pasty was batting stubbornly, trying to see the opening bowlers off. Their tails were up and thought they spotted an old nag, only fit for the glue factory. But Pasty was having none of it and he hit 17 valuable runs and combined well with Mark for a good partnership. He fell at the last hurdle when he played on to his stumps, his concentration had been disturbed somewhat by the Stallions wicket-keeper's mobile phone. This held up play on several occasions and it was good to see their skipper was furious too!

The phone ended up on the scorers table where it continued to ring intermittently for the rest of the innings. Guess who was our scorer? yes you're right – Pasty. His disapproval was clearly audible from the middle when I was umpiring.

After Mark was clean bowled, trying to keep the run-rate ticking over, not much else can be said for the Temple Sheen batting. Had it matched our attempts whilst fielding then I think we could have got the runs. But the change bowling was unrelenting and Stallions proved to be young bucks in the field too.

Temple Sheen fell short by 80-odd runs. Ian carried his bat and Julian was not fit to bat..

TSE v Brading
Sun 25 May
Result: Draw

I was honoured to be asked to skipper Temple Sheen in our first match Tour 2008.
I was doubly honoured as our New Shirts were on parade for the first time, both training shirts and match shirts looking very smart First thanks of the tour to Ian.

9 Temple Sheen members and 2 guests turned up at Brading for a game that our amateur weather forecaster Mr Derek " it will rain all tour" Cleveland said could not take place. Del I hope the weather in Southport was as good as we had.
Second thanks of the tour to Brading for getting the game on, the weather the night before had been atrocious by the time we arrived 2 pitches were available to us and we used the newly rolled grass one.
Thirdly thanks to the 2 guys from Bembridge who made up the numbers for us, well done Richard and Stevie.
Brading were put in Ian given the new ball along with Richard, Ian straight onto line and length, opener bowled, number 3 bowled and number 4 well caught by Tommy, 10-3 all to Ian. I must admit to missing a sitter of Richard otherwise both opening bowlers would of had victims and Tommy's catch in the next over got me out of trouble. Julian came onto bowl and got rid of the other opener, but this was the last success for some time, Bradings no. 5 & 6 made a large partnership the no. 5 making an unbeaten 105, Pastie, Marty and Stevie K were smacked around the ground. Time for a double bowling change. Steve "Big Fella" Coggins at one end and his smaller!!!!! brother recalled at the other end Mark ran out the No 5, Steve bowled the no.7 and Brading declared at 188-6, Ians bowling 9-1-36-3 keeping the score under 200.

Fourth set of thanks to the tea ladies from Brading, the tea was superb no complaints from either Tommy or Lego!!!!!

THE RUN CHASE

At 4-31 we had not started well, Steve had been caught for a duck [where was the tour tea shirt] John suffered a direct hit on his toe and his stumps suffered a similar fate from a return from the boundary alas run out 7, Julian was bowled for 11 and Lego committed suicide with a cross batted hoick to nowhere bowled for 6, we were in short in the doodahs [ refer to I.O.W. dictionary] Mark and Ian pulled the innings round a partnership of 55 broken when Mark was out for 39, Richard followed for 7 ,Marty went for 5, Ian 26 and Tommy a duck [ when we find the tee shirt it will be presented to our President] the score was 118-9 with 6.3 over's left. Pastie and Stevie K batted out for a draw a fair result! I would say that anyway.

Bank Holiday Monday

I should not be writing this but our amateur weather forecaster got it right 2nd time round more filthy weather overnight and early morning put paid to any cricket however in Mark Lester and Lego, Temple Sheen have a pair of well "chancers" is not really the right word perhaps Arfer Daley's would be the right way to describe them, Marty and John had to leave early and by the time Julian got back dropping them at the Ferry the Temple Sheen Sports SEPTAGON had been organised, each of the remaining members had stumped up £7 or was it £5 it matters not and we were all given a torn piece of green paper, do not lose it Pastie its your JOKER . The sports were Crazy Spooky golf, basketball hoops, ten pin bowling, air shuffle football that's 3 out of 4 for Mark to be followed by golf at Browns, Darts and pool, if I was being cynical I might say that the choice of sports might be biased towards someone who had lived in the states , run his own pub, was a good golfer and who as a kid had his own air football table but that would not be fair. It was accurate as Mark wiped the floor with us, as organiser presented himself with the Trophy and the rest of us with a thimble apart from Tommy who got a stick of rock! honest this is not sour grapes as that night mark treated all of us to a meal in the Caulkheads pub so well done mate. Mark now has a furry friend, Mark and Julian are indistinguishable at a distance so beware. More thanks to Tommy for saying grace and reminding us to be in bed by 10.30 , was that a.m or p.m?

Final Thought

To those of you who missed the tour if you would find it easier to go at a different time of the year or indeed would like to go elsewhere let out committee know YOU MISSED A GREAT TIME

TSE v Bank of England
Sun 18 May
Result: Draw

Report to follow.....

TSE v Norwood
Sun 11 May
Result: Won

At last a sunny day at Effingham on Sunday! 11 players on the ground with 2 on the way, not the way it had been looking earlier in the week!

Norbury won the toss and their Skipper insisted on the whole 11 going to the wicket to decide whether to Bat or Bowl!

Finally a deceision is made and Temple Sheen are invited to Bat!
First problem for Leggo who wanted to open with Julian and Kirrit, who was delayed due to Arun doing a run for Charity in the Morning.

Decision made Julian and Keith to open, 2.05 Ready to go!

Both Batsmen started briskly and when Julian was caught of a supposidly"No Ball" for 18 and the Score at 34. Enter Marti with only
3 added Keith was out for 10.

Enter Mark only to be brilliantly caughtat short square leg for 0.
Enter Leggo first scoring stroke 6 to square leg recorded by the assistant scorer as 4 A good stand developed with Marti and Marti was bowled for 25 the score 82.

Kirrit was next in, and continued with a stand with Leggo who was next out for 31 the score on 104. A short stand followed beween father and son when Arun was caught for 0 the score had reached 114.

Matt was next in and desite some doggy running between the wickets scored 2 before being bowled the score on 123. Ian showed potential but Kirrit ws out for 22 at 127.

The tail failed to wag, and one extra was scored seeing Dave bowled for 0 followed in quick sucession by Pasty., both not troubling the Score Board thus leaving Ian not out 0. The final score being 128 all out!

A highly recommended Temple Sheen tea followed, thanks to Lauri and Leggo, with cakes prepared by Pam. Pasty was seen encouraging the opposition to dive into the Chocolate Cake!

Opening over to Dave followede by Pasty 6 and 4 runs scored!

First wicket to Dave 7 Runs next over 2 Wickets for Pasty Norbury 3 for 11

After 4 overs Dave replaced by Julian. 2 More wickets for Pasty departs after 6 overs for 6 Runs. Norbury now 15 for 5. Arun now brought into the attack ending with 6 overs for 31 Runs a run out saw Norbury 70 for 6.

The Norbury Captain retires on 45 with cramp Julian leaves the attack 0 for15,to be replaced by Pastie for 2 overs. Kirrit comes into the attack Pstie leaves with Figures of 4 for 9 re enter Dave to bowl his last 4 overs 1 over left and by the end of the over a hat trick and 4 or 20. Kirrit took the last wicket to finish 1 for 6

A very convincing win for Temple Sheen by 41 Runs.

TSE v Newdigate
Sun 20 April
Result: Lost
Turned up Sunday, wicket cut, chicken wire and chairs on the square (this being a deterent to stop joyriders running their ford capris across the pitch (which happened closed season causing a fair amount of damage). Eventually found stumps and markers, buried in the changing room with printers,tv, bar furniture, everything plus the kitchen sink. The painters were in, sorry Effingham player, plus wife and pyromaniac son (who seemed to put everything unwanted in the club house on a bonfire, ) not knowing 22 hungry herberts were up for a game of cricket.

Once we picked their jaws off the floor and spoken to half of Effingham's committee on whether the game should be played (v wet soggy outfield) the game did start. Newdigate won the toss and elected to field.

Enter Julian and Steve from the newly created dressing room (Steves Mondeo in the carpark) past a filing cabinet, tv, smirnoff ice pile of unused bottles and the bonfire, of which if it wasn't nailed down it got burnt.

I didn't see much of the match as I was partially helping Joe and Abs clear the kitchen , so this will be brief and inaccurate.

Steve out for not a lot bowled

Mark a couple of boundaries before out - score ? I'll ask Del at least double figures

Lego in everyones fantasy team ... quack quack oooops

Marti a couple then caught

Julian caught on tennish

John lovely looking 6 turned into a 1 when it got stuck in the mud, out for 4ish.

Neil, well done double figures

me for one very outragous reverse paddle, before leading edge to slip

Brian again close to double figures

and Pasty for 1

leaving Ian stranded not out 0 - playing for averages ...
63 all out - looked like nets had been a power of good in the closed season.

Tea taken, what a super spread, the clubhouse was back to some normality thanks hugely to 1 Effing player and wife act (thanks)

Great tea, please keep the tomatoes out of the egg please, cheese back in fashion and a good old piece of your mums victoria sponge (pam will pull me up on that probs as it was bound to be something different.)

Their inning ... great runout by Ian (of what he remembers, picking pieces of his finger off the track), lbw for Julian , and another wicket for someone else (ian/pasty/brian) please delete where appropriate.

Game over by 16:30 ... was going to have a beer match but half the commiteee from effers appeared and it was thought it best to retire to the bar or feed the bonfire with redundant unused cricket bats.

The fielding was poor due to the ground, catches missed and I am totally miffed for all those players who picked me for their fantasy team , I was told I dropped 2 , one I palmed to Steve at 1st slip as he's in my fantasy team and I need the points and the other off Pastys quick bowling which he signallled to me by scratching a part of his body b4 delivery, I thought he had nits and ignored it to my cost, standing right up , inside edge going down legside at a 140 degree angle into the ground. The fantasy committee are cruel so dont say i didnt warn you, especially as Mr Lego decided to bottle a catch that he had time to dive for, infact so much time and bottle, he had time to find a crate to put his bottle in b4 trying to dive. Certain other memebers dropped a few catches but wouldnt have made much of a difference

That was Sunday - funny old day - thanks to all that helped and especially to the two youngsters helping in the kitchen, pam and Ian's lovely teas, Lego for arranging the pitch and inspecting it personally each day, and to the skipper for making was seemed a bad start to the day into a quite enjoyable one even if it was the first defeat of the season.

Final view from the field, sunsetting over a roll of chicken wire and 8 rickety ol chairs.

2007 match reports

2006 match reports

2005 match reports