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

[hans kraay fan club]

Saved by the weather at Hambledon.

Their team of keen, athletic, well-coached grammar school and Uni kids, was far too good for us.

Given the demographic of most club cricket these days, there are not many scorecards that read like this, any more!:

Josh
Seb
Harry
Elliott
Lewis
Jamie
Joel
Toby
Archie
Jonas

They won the toss and chose to bat. They were very aggressive from the start and we all went for a few. I nicked off one of the openers early, and we managed to have them 75/2. Then 'Lewis' and 'Toby' put on 186 - and they finished 271/3. Toby (100 not out, from 81 balls) is 17. Depressing !

In response, at 104 after 18 overs, we were actually ahead of where they'd been - but with 4 wickets down, 30-odd runs behind the DLS score. Then it started to spit with rain.

Our umpire went to put the stumps down, so they could bring the covers on, but the opposition umpire and captain, were adamant we should 'give it a few minutes'. We played 5 more balls, lost one more wicket, and then it started to rain properly.

Still they were adamant we should try to play on, but we basically walked off, as it was absolutely not playable. By 'a few minutes' of course, they meant the SEVEN more balls, that would have completed 20 overs and thus constituted a result.

Then we sat and watched it rain solidly for an hour, before they finally accepted their fate.

Along with not providing any teas, Hambledon's lack of respect for tradition / etiquette, stretched to neither of their centurions getting a jug in (granted one of them would have had to get a jug of coke )

 

[Sid and the Sharknados]

Saved by the weather at Hambledon.

Their team of keen, athletic, well-coached grammar school and Uni kids, was far too good for us.

Given the demographic of most club cricket these days, there are not many scorecards that read like this, any more!:

Josh
Seb
Harry
Elliott
Lewis
Jamie
Joel
Toby
Archie
Jonas

They won the toss and chose to bat. They were very aggressive from the start and we all went for a few. I nicked off one of the openers early, and we managed to have them 75/2. Then 'Lewis' and 'Toby' put on 186 - and they finished 271/3. Toby (100 not out, from 81 balls) is 17. Depressing !

In response, at 104 after 18 overs, we were actually ahead of where they'd been - but with 4 wickets down, 30-odd runs behind the DLS score. Then it started to spit with rain.

Our umpire went to put the stumps down, so they could bring the covers on, but the opposition umpire and captain, were adamant we should 'give it a few minutes'. We played 5 more balls, lost one more wicket, and then it started to rain properly.

Still they were adamant we should try to play on, but we basically walked off, as it was absolutely not playable. By 'a few minutes' of course, they meant the SEVEN more balls, that would have completed 20 overs and thus constituted a result.

Then we sat and watched it rain solidly for an hour, before they finally accepted their fate.

Along with not providing any teas, Hambledon's lack of respect for tradition / etiquette, stretched to neither of their centurions getting a jug in (granted one of them would have had to get a jug of coke )

View attachment 185941

Clearly the good Lord chose to punish them for their disregard of tradition/etiquette.

 

[Arkwright]

Saved by the weather at Hambledon.

Their team of keen, athletic, well-coached grammar school and Uni kids, was far too good for us.

Given the demographic of most club cricket these days, there are not many scorecards that read like this, any more!:

Josh
Seb
Harry
Elliott
Lewis
Jamie
Joel
Toby
Archie
Jonas

They won the toss and chose to bat. They were very aggressive from the start and we all went for a few. I nicked off one of the openers early, and we managed to have them 75/2. Then 'Lewis' and 'Toby' put on 186 - and they finished 271/3. Toby (100 not out, from 81 balls) is 17. Depressing !

In response, at 104 after 18 overs, we were actually ahead of where they'd been - but with 4 wickets down, 30-odd runs behind the DLS score. Then it started to spit with rain.

Our umpire went to put the stumps down, so they could bring the covers on, but the opposition umpire and captain, were adamant we should 'give it a few minutes'. We played 5 more balls, lost one more wicket, and then it started to rain properly.

Still they were adamant we should try to play on, but we basically walked off, as it was absolutely not playable. By 'a few minutes' of course, they meant the SEVEN more balls, that would have completed 20 overs and thus constituted a result.

Then we sat and watched it rain solidly for an hour, before they finally accepted their fate.

Along with not providing any teas, Hambledon's lack of respect for tradition / etiquette, stretched to neither of their centurions getting a jug in (granted one of them would have had to get a jug of coke )

View attachment 185941

Is that the Bat & Ball Ground at Hambledon? My old club Caterham has records of the Gentlemen of Caterham playing the Gentlemen of Hambledon in a three match series. I remember playing Hambledon to celebrate our 125th anniversery however despite Caterham being established in 1873 the records of cricket being payed go back much further.

 

[Fignon's Ponytail]

Anyone from Southwick & Shoreham... is this a real thing??

One of Britain's oldest cricket clubs 'forced' to ban hitting sixes

In the present day, when 10 and 20 over matches are played often and even Test cricket has adopted the aggressive Bazball style of batting, what good is cricket without big sixes?Unfortunately,...

www.thenews.com.pk

My lad used to hit balls into peoples gardens there when he was about 11...not the biggest boundaries you have to say!

 

[Fignon's Ponytail]

Good win for Mayfield vs Nomads 2nds on Saturday, which bumps them up the Div 2 table a bit more I think.
Jnr's getting in amongst the wickets lately after taking three vs Buxted Park a couple of weeks ago, taking another triple on Saturday.
9.3 overs, 2 maidens, 33 runs, 3 wickets. Happy with that.

 

[Pudos]

My lad used to hit balls into peoples gardens there when he was about 11...not the biggest boundaries you have to say!

This has just been on Jeremy Vine, radio 2 phone in, i only heard last call from Duke of Wellington pub team

 

[Dave the OAP]

My lad used to hit balls into peoples gardens there when he was about 11...not the biggest boundaries you have to say!

I did the same. Only played a season at Southwick on the green but it was very tight left and right.

the ground at Battle is also a no 6’s game but that is because it’s a very small ground and you can practically hit a “6” with a paddle over cover Or square leg.

i actually hit a ton for Lews St Michaels at battle without any 6’s.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Is that the Bat & Ball Ground at Hambledon? My old club Caterham has records of the Gentlemen of Caterham playing the Gentlemen of Hambledon in a three match series. I remember playing Hambledon to celebrate our 125th anniversery however despite Caterham being established in 1873 the records of cricket being payed go back much further.

No - the 'Bat and Ball' ground (Broadha'penny Down) is still in existance, but not of a very high standard. Apparently someone called Broadhalfpenny Brigands CC play some games there.

Hambledon CC moved to their 'new' (and still existing) ground Ridge Meadow, in 1784...

 

[Audax]

I did the same. Only played a season at Southwick on the green but it was very tight left and right.

the ground at Battle is also a no 6’s game but that is because it’s a very small ground and you can practically hit a “6” with a paddle over cover Or square leg.

i actually hit a ton for Lews St Michaels at battle without any 6’s.

Played at Battle a few years back when I was still at Laughton. Tiny, tiny little ground. Was annoyed at the time, given I was still yet to hit my first outdoor 6 at the time and when I'd showed up I thought "today's the day!" only to be told ... nope!

 

[Gwylan]

Our umpire went to put the stumps down, so they could bring the covers on, but the opposition umpire and captain, were adamant we should 'give it a few minutes'. We played 5 more balls, lost one more wicket, and then it started to rain properly.

Still they were adamant we should try to play on, but we basically walked off, as it was absolutely not playable. By 'a few minutes' of course, they meant the SEVEN more balls, that would have completed 20 overs and thus constituted a result.

Then we sat and watched it rain solidly for an hour, before they finally accepted their fate.

Times have changed. I remember a game about 40 years when our opposition needed about a dozen to win, with loads of wickets in hand. It then started absolutely belting it down, thunder and lightning, the works. As they only needed a few, we played on for a few overs. I got a skier heading towards me - I could scarcely pick it out as the sky was as black as Newgate's knocker. I saw it late and the ball was like a bar of soap by then and skidded through my fingers for a four (I remember it well as it was one of the few catches I dropped). The game was over a few balls later and we trooped off - it looked like I'd been swimming.

 

[Arkwright]

No - the 'Bat and Ball' ground (Broadha'penny Down) is still in existance, but not of a very high standard. Apparently someone called Broadhalfpenny Brigands CC play some games there.

Hambledon CC moved to their 'new' (and still existing) ground Ridge Meadow, in 1784...

Never knew that. I thought Hambledon played at Bat and Ball.
I hope Hambledon have all the memorabilia.

 

[Shropshire Seagull]

I occasionally got dragged in to play for my works team in the Worthing Evening League back in the late 80s. Often teams would choose to bat first because they didn't have 11 players there at the start time.

Up here is the Shrops Evening league the toss is uncontested - the visiting team bat first. The reasoning is that the home team should likely have a shorter journey to the ground and will have almost 11 to start fielding on time.

Bit of an assumption, is that, but seems fair enough ....

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Tonight's evening league game is rained off - which is a huge relief. I had the cortisone injection in my (bowling) wrist last night - it is properly sore right now, and I really wasn't looking forward to it.

Two days to properly get over it, and be fit and ready for Saturday's big showdown between the two RED HOT FORM TEAMS in Hampshire League Div 4.

 

[Joey Jo Jo Jr. Shabadoo]

Been a bit tardy in updating this thread with my sons exploits on the cricket pitch recently.

One of the things that has really annoyed him is that he kept getting out on 30. In age group T20 games players are retired at the end of the over when they get to 30 and he’s retired several times at 30. Earlier this season he hit 30 in a T20 development game where he played against a side containing a mixture of kids and adults. Last week he got to 30 in an age group game with 4 balls still left in the over and promptly got bowled next ball.

Today he put that hoodoo to bed. He had two third XI T20 friendly games against another local side.

First game they batted second, he played as wicket keeper and they restricted their opponents to 142, he had a couple of stumping chances but the batsman was deemed to be in.

The boy then opened and led his side to 144/4, scoring his new highest score of 46. I thought he’d be disappointed not to hit his first ever half century but he was more than happy with that score.

I’ve seen recently that he’s always trying to hit big, but I’ve been talking to him about the importance of looking for the gaps in the field and hitting 1s & 2s when he can rather than going for a big hit missing it and scoring nothing on that ball. Today he definitely thought about his shot selection a lot more.

Second game and we batted first, the boy was down at number 11 this time to give those who didn’t bat in the first game a chance. His team mates knocked up a very decent 156/6.

He swapped round with another player keeping the second innings and took 1/25 which was decent as he doesn’t bowl much anymore. We bowled their opponents out for 112 this time to take a second victory of the day.

 

[Audax]

Good golly gosh... Uckfield 1sts played Kerala Strikers Sports Club this afternoon, at Temple Grove. We won the toss and elected to bowl first. That's about as far as the good news went.

I came into the match carrying a sore back, and as such selected to field / bat. In the end, I bowled a couple of overs at the death off two paces because we just had to try something different ... didn't work. They made 364/7 from their 40 overs. Bowling figures were terrible all around except for one of our openers who bowled his 9 through early on at an economy of 2.89. For them, their top scorer made 165 from 71 balls.

In reply (those who've been keeping track will be expecting this...) our batting folded. We made 72.

I don't mind playing in one-sided matches like that, as long as they are played in good spirit and sportsmanship. Today ... was not one of those days. It started with their umpires giving absolutely nothing (including a pair of plumb LBWs). It carried on with my umpiring spell seeing me initially unofficially ask their 'keeper to remind the slips fielders not to shout until the ball has passed the batsman, and then a few overs later being forced to make it an official warning. All went further downhill from there, with a bit of tit-for-tat emerging. Not a great day for cricket.

 

[Joey Jo Jo Jr. Shabadoo]

The boy guested for another local team today (I say guested 6 of the players were from our club so it was more like they were the guest players).

He opened the batting for the first time for this team and quickly got to 13 off 10 balls. He then left what he thought was a waist high no ball that ended up hitting the wicket and he was given out, he wasn’t happy but his appeals fell on deaf ears.

They put on a total of 295/6 off 34.4 overs before they cut their innings short because of an injury to a fielder that needed prolonged treatment.

A man down the other side couldn’t get going with the bat and were all out for 38 with the boy having figures of 2 for 9 off 3.5 overs including taking the final wicket.

So his best batting performance yesterday and his best bowling figures today. A good weekend all round.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Saved by the weather at Hambledon.

Their team of keen, athletic, well-coached grammar school and Uni kids, was far too good for us.

Given the demographic of most club cricket these days, there are not many scorecards that read like this, any more!:

Josh
Seb
Harry
Elliott
Lewis
Jamie
Joel
Toby
Archie
Jonas

They won the toss and chose to bat. They were very aggressive from the start and we all went for a few. I nicked off one of the openers early, and we managed to have them 75/2. Then 'Lewis' and 'Toby' put on 186 - and they finished 271/3. Toby (100 not out, from 81 balls) is 17. Depressing !

In response, at 104 after 18 overs, we were actually ahead of where they'd been - but with 4 wickets down, 30-odd runs behind the DLS score. Then it started to spit with rain.

Our umpire went to put the stumps down, so they could bring the covers on, but the opposition umpire and captain, were adamant we should 'give it a few minutes'. We played 5 more balls, lost one more wicket, and then it started to rain properly.

Still they were adamant we should try to play on, but we basically walked off, as it was absolutely not playable. By 'a few minutes' of course, they meant the SEVEN more balls, that would have completed 20 overs and thus constituted a result.

Then we sat and watched it rain solidly for an hour, before they finally accepted their fate.

Along with not providing any teas, Hambledon's lack of respect for tradition / etiquette, stretched to neither of their centurions getting a jug in (granted one of them would have had to get a jug of coke )

View attachment 185941

It was better 250 years ago

 

[Sid and the Sharknados]

He then left what he thought was a waist high no ball that ended up hitting the wicket and he was given out, he wasn’t happy but his appeals fell on deaf ears.

To be fair, unless he was facing some sort of Spedegue's Dropper style lob (or he's about 4'6", I can't remember how old you said he was), I struggle to imagine a ball that would be clearly high enough for most umpires to give a no ball if it actually hits the stumps.

That said, I feel some sympathy for this, having been given out caught when I was about 16 having taken a wild swing at what I thought would be a no ball. Regardless of whether I was right or wrong, the square leg umpire was a lad of about 14 from our side and almost certainly didn't know the law.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Finally a long-overdue win.

Opposition won the toss and batted. Bowled with much better rhythm than of late, and finished with 9/1/28/1 - with lots of playing and missing of the swinging ball. They lost the odd wicket but plodded on at 4 an over, to 124/4 after about 30 - heading for a competitive total.

Then, our skipper who had as usual, been hiding from the top order hitters, brought himself on to bowl. His first ball, to their set batter, fizzed past me at short cover, on its way to a one bounce four. Second ball was a half tracker, and the lad rocked back and absolutely belted it directly at me, neck high. I managed to get one hand up to it, in self preservation - and before the pain registered, managed to hold a twice juggled catch.

It turns out they had very, very little left, and a succession of young lads trooped out, played back to the skipper's gentle off-spin, and were bowled. From being smashed for four first ball, he subsequently took five for NONE - prompting lots of Elmer Fudd gifs in the team group chat..

They succumbed from 124/4 to 127 all out. Impressive.

After a top class tea, featuring not only ALL the classics (egg & cress / coronation chicken / cheese & pickle) but also HOME MADE scotch eggs and chilli sausage rolls - an uneventful chase - the good guys winning by 6 wickets, and at 5.15pm for beer in the sun.

Top afternoon - apart from the state of my THUMB, which still properly hurts, two days on...

 

[Audax]

To be fair, unless he was facing some sort of Spedegue's Dropper style lob (or he's about 4'6", I can't remember how old you said he was), I struggle to imagine a ball that would be clearly high enough for most umpires to give a no ball if it actually hits the stumps.

I can, because I had it happen to me 20-ish years ago in Australia. Ducked what was a head-high full toss coming down the pitch, but it dropped like a stone after it went over my back and took the bails. *Both* umpires (same as lower leagues here - players from my side) called no-ball, but succumbed to pressure from the fielding side and revoked the no-ball to give me out. Fielding side relied on the "can't be a no-ball for height if it hit the stumps" argument, but everyone completely forgot that the no-ball is called on waist height as it passes the batter and the ball is perfectly capable of dropping enough from that height to hit the stumps.

Was so annoyed that I never played for them again (to be fair, I'd only been filling in anyway and at the time my focus was on indoor cricket).

In other news, I'm regretting bowling those two overs (even if I wasn't working my back) on Saturday. Back's not good, now on ibuprofen. Fortunately I'm unavailable for the next 3 weekends due to non-injury reasons, so plenty* of time for recovery ahead of the last 3 matches of the season.

* Obviously depending on exactly what's wrong. I'm hoping it's just muscle or similar, but at the other end of the scale it's possible that I've slipped a disc again and could be out for the season...