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[Cricket] The village / amateur 2024 CRICKET thread...



Billy in Bristol

Well-known member
Mar 25, 2004
1,466
Bristol
Surreal day of captaining my village team just south of Gloucester these two made their debuts...


I am sure you recognise them.
 

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hans kraay fan club

The voice of reason.
Helpful Moderator
Mar 16, 2005
62,441
Chandlers Ford

Geoff Boycott would have been proud…
This is tremendous work. I’d love to know the background. It looks like it’s pure shithousery.

The guy has blocked an entire innings and must have even deliberately turned down runs - it would be impossible not to accidentally score the occasional run, off the edge, or whatever. And his team have scored ONE point for securing that draw (against 18 for the opposition). His team are rock bottom, and remain rock bottom - so he hasn’t achieved anything for his side - BUT the full points for a win would have taken the opposition up a place out of the relegation spots.

They must have really pissed him off somehow.
 


hans kraay fan club

The voice of reason.
Helpful Moderator
Mar 16, 2005
62,441
Chandlers Ford
I made myself unavailable for tomorrow - my responsibility to get my Mum to the Amex, won out. Not popular with the very intense skipper, as winning the last two probably sees us promoted.

But - after a fair bit of agonising over the decision, looks like the cricket might well be washed out anyway…
The game was indeed rained off - as were all the games in the league. Final game this week, with an outside chance of nicking th last promotion place. Long shot though - the rained off game was 2nd v 3rd (we are 4th). We were hoping for a win either way, so one or other would drop points. Rained off, means we all stay as we are.
 




Ali_rrr

Well-known member
Feb 4, 2011
2,808
Utrecht, NL
This is tremendous work. I’d love to know the background. It looks like it’s pure shithousery.

The guy has blocked an entire innings and must have even deliberately turned down runs - it would be impossible not to accidentally score the occasional run, off the edge, or whatever. And his team have scored ONE point for securing that draw (against 18 for the opposition). His team are rock bottom, and remain rock bottom - so he hasn’t achieved anything for his side - BUT the full points for a win would have taken the opposition up a place out of the relegation spots.

They must have really pissed him off somehow.
Had this debate with a couple of mates and we're just baffled. Surely one bounces off of his bat and goes for 4? Unreal.
 




Guinness Boy

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Jul 23, 2003
36,522
Up and Coming Sunny Portslade
This is tremendous work. I’d love to know the background. It looks like it’s pure shithousery.

The guy has blocked an entire innings and must have even deliberately turned down runs - it would be impossible not to accidentally score the occasional run, off the edge, or whatever. And his team have scored ONE point for securing that draw (against 18 for the opposition). His team are rock bottom, and remain rock bottom - so he hasn’t achieved anything for his side - BUT the full points for a win would have taken the opposition up a place out of the relegation spots.

They must have really pissed him off somehow.
Definitely not playing for his average.
 


Cheshire Cat

The most curious thing..
This is tremendous work. I’d love to know the background. It looks like it’s pure shithousery.

The guy has blocked an entire innings and must have even deliberately turned down runs - it would be impossible not to accidentally score the occasional run, off the edge, or whatever. And his team have scored ONE point for securing that draw (against 18 for the opposition). His team are rock bottom, and remain rock bottom - so he hasn’t achieved anything for his side - BUT the full points for a win would have taken the opposition up a place out of the relegation spots.

They must have really pissed him off somehow.

Mickleover thirds captain Liam Finch said: “Max has just turned 19 and is a great lad. Some people on social media have been saying he was playing below his level but this isn’t the case. He has played third team cricket for the majority of his time playing adult cricket, all backed up by his stats on play cricket. He just batted well, took his time to start with and then accelerated throughout his innings. He was dropped on about 70 and then again after his 100, so they had chances to get him out.

“The league rules state that you can’t declare until 30 overs, when we were on 192, which is not a big total for a ground with short boundaries. I asked Max and Omair Arshed, who were batting, to just go for it for five overs – and the next five overs went for 79 due to some great ball striking from Max.

“The Darley innings was pathetic to be honest, it didn’t make sense points-wise to them because if they got bowled out for over 125 they would have got more points. The only reason I can think they batted that way was to stop us getting 27 points which would move us closer to avoiding relegation. Ian did not play an attacking shot, he edged a few but refused to run but he also refused to run at the non-strikers end when the other batsmen hit a shot, which I thought was really poor, a young player hits a nice shot and he wouldn’t run.”
 


Gwylan

Well-known member
Jul 5, 2003
31,707
Uffern
This is tremendous work. I’d love to know the background. It looks like it’s pure shithousery.

The guy has blocked an entire innings and must have even deliberately turned down runs - it would be impossible not to accidentally score the occasional run, off the edge, or whatever.
Oh, I don't know. I once batted 14 overs and didn't score a run. If you can do it for 14, it must be possible to do it for longer. I only stopped because we'd reached the end of the innings. I didn't have any edges, I middled everything, so there were no easy runs.
 






Sid and the Sharknados

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Sep 4, 2022
5,408
Darlington
Oh, I don't know. I once batted 14 overs and didn't score a run. If you can do it for 14, it must be possible to do it for longer. I only stopped because we'd reached the end of the innings. I didn't have any edges, I middled everything, so there were no easy runs.
Were you actually trying to score runs?
 


Mackenzie

Old Brightonian
Nov 7, 2003
33,828
East Wales
No games for my three this week, son still injured, the girls had a blank weekend, but the first team got the win which sealed promotion to the South Wales premier league (matches against Newport, Cardiff, Swansea…etc next season) and our seconds also won the league so move up a division next year.
 




Eeyore

Colonel Hee-Haw of Queen's Park
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Apr 5, 2014
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Henfield last week. Oddly, my first visit in 44 years of marriage to cricket. Over 400 runs in the day and a final over finish.
 




Audax

Boing boing boing...
Aug 3, 2015
3,198
Uckfield
The game was indeed rained off
So was mine, so the family-vs-family event shall have to wait. With 2 games to play, it's still mathematically possible for us to avoid relegation. Rather a large mountain to climb, though - we'll need to win both and have other results go very much our way. Those two games are against the sides currently in 1st and 4th.
 




Guinness Boy

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Jul 23, 2003
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View attachment 187913

Henfield last week. Oddly, my first visit in 44 years of marriage to cricket. Over 400 runs in the day and a final over finish.
Really? I've played there. Maybe it was for someone else or a game where you weren't playing.

I've also seen an Albion all stars team featuring Mickey Adams play a charity cricket game there when Mickey's first manager stint was ongoing.
 


stewart12

Well-known member
Jan 16, 2019
1,781
I once came in at 9 for a team I played a couple of games for when they were short on numbers. The two lads at 10 and 11 were young teens so I was the last senior-ish player really so was told to try and cling on as much as possible. Even with blocking basically everything I managed to get about 5 runs including one which I somehow edged for a boundary. To be honest the mental strength it takes to do that for more than a few overs is amazing as it gets very boring very quickly and human nature would dictate that you'd surely be tempted to absolutely smash a loose delivery. To block/leave 137 deliveries is absolutely insane
 


Audax

Boing boing boing...
Aug 3, 2015
3,198
Uckfield
A win for Uckfield. We batted first on a dry pitch. After our traditional slow start (66/2 off 20 at drinks ... one of our better efforts), we kicked on to make 189 from our 40. Went out at 7 with 4 and a bit overs remaining, made 19 not out including only my second ever 6 in outdoor.

Our openers started well, removing both their openers cheaply. We picked up a third before drinks, but they started to push and at 101/3 after 20 were ahead. I came on shortly before drinks and sent down two overs pitching a little short. Post drinks I found my length, and with the spinner at the other end tightened things up. Next 10 overs they made 30 ish and lost 5 wickets. Their #10 tried to rescue it for them, but tried 1 shot too many.

I ended with 9-1-31-2. Happy with a good all-round day 😀.

Edit: we can still avoid relegation. Need to win next weekend and both teams above us to lose (in Nutleys case, they need to lose heavily ... if they manage 2 points we're done).
 
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hans kraay fan club

The voice of reason.
Helpful Moderator
Mar 16, 2005
62,441
Chandlers Ford
Incredibly, Ampfield went into our final league match, able to finish the very tight league, anywhere from 2nd to 8th (of 18 teams).

We lost the toss and were put into bat - which was a major bonus, as it meant I got to watch the entire Albion match on my phone, while watching our innings, and drinking tea.

We made a decent 229/7, to just secure maximum batting points (final point is at 225). Ramnik the GUN made 115 - his SEVENTH ton of the season. He finished the season with a ridiculous 1221 runs in 15 matches, at 174 :lol: (400 runs ahead of former Surrey / England man Rikki Clarke - though Clarke's 6 tons were made a couple of divisions higher than ours).

Opposition set off rather sedately, and were a little behind the rate, after 20 overs, but crucially, we just couldn't take ANY wickets. They judged their chase really well, and I got a couple of late wickets but we couldn't stop them getting home, just 3 down, with 8 balls to spare.

Looking at the other results later - even a maximum points win, would still have not been enough for top three / promotion, so never mind.

My 2 dismissals, did mean I personally finished (on 26) second in the league, which is nice.
 




Audax

Boing boing boing...
Aug 3, 2015
3,198
Uckfield
I personally finished (on 26) second in the league, which is nice.

'grats!

Enjoyed reading your recaps here through the season. So thanks to you for starting the thread.

I've got 1 more match to come this weekend (our must-win against table-toppers Alfriston at their place). Thoroughly enjoyed my first (almost ... darned summer holidays!) full season since 2015. A little disappointed in my batting performances (wasted a couple of opportunities to settle in and play a longer innings) until last weekend. And my bowling has been horribly inconsistent ... but with this season behind me, and a better off-season, the signs are there I can get back to my best next year.

[Blimey ... I say my bowling has been horribly inconsistent, and it has been, but looking at my stats on Play Cricket it's only my economy rate (at just over 5 this season) that's taken a hit. Strike rate of 25, average of 21 can't be sniffed at, especially after I started so badly with new boots I just couldn't get on with.]
 


hans kraay fan club

The voice of reason.
Helpful Moderator
Mar 16, 2005
62,441
Chandlers Ford
Oh, and aside from blowing my own personal trumpet - to balance the doom and gloom around the state of amateur cricket - here's some background to what has been going on at my club.

When I joined the club, just THREE years ago, we had two teams, and no junior section. The facilities extended to a pitch and a pavilion (which is owned by the parish council, but really only used by the club and a playgroup who use the main room in the week). And covers - they did have the pitch covers.

In those three years, we have grown to three Saturday league sides (with the first team gaining two promotions).

The junior section that started with a single U9 side two years ago, now comprises 6 teams, 3 at U11 and 2 at U9. At least 4 of our juniors have been chosen for Hampshire teams, and we've won a promotion and an indoor league.

This season has seen the club form it's first women's team - they secured their first ever victory last week, and the club achieved ClubMark status.

Facilities-wise, the addition of the extra teams has helped hugely with our attractiveness to those that allocate grant funding - and in the three years we have added site screens, and electronic scoreboard. Just in the last two weeks we have had two artificial nets installed (yet to be opened) and over the winter we are adding an artificial strip on the edge of the square.

The Parish council have become a bit more relaxed on the pavilion, and allowed us to put up new club signage and some honours boards, which has made it feel more of a proper cricket pavilion.

Remarkable effort (as with any club, by a few incredibly dedicated people).
 


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