And so to the big match of the season. The banter had been building for weeks. All eyes were on the weather reports and the good news was it was set fine for the actual day. 

In fact, earlier in the day I had seen dozens of plastic dolls lining up behind one another - and so it was definitely Barbie queue weather!
 
There was no toss – the older team insisting on fielding as was our right. Each player would bowl 2 overs and batsmen would “retire” on 25.
 
Johnny and Joe S opened and it was clear from the off that the “olds” were going to give a better account of themselves compared to last year. 

Joe fell to Richard Checkley bringing Jake to the crease. The on field chat
increased as the two started to slowly build a score. Jake went for 11 and two
quick wickets followed. One of these was when Greg fell to a phenomenal catch at first slip by Jerry Butler, taken high under his throat with both feet off the
ground. As Captain Grimmers pointed out – one Jerry will be telling his
grandchildren about in years to come. Not sure how talk of grandchildren went
down though.

Johnny had amassed his 25 and in came Zac to join Matty. Runs started to build as they tried to increase the pace. Matty fell for 17 to another catch by “Bucket Hands” Butler. 

Zac retired on 25 – having had, at one point, 5 fielders on the leg side boundary in anticipation. He had just batted with his brother Joe who had hit 6 before been stumped by his old man on the last ball of the innings. Sorry son.
 
I am not sure, newly named, James “Magnet” Stevenson totally enjoyed being chased round the park by the ball. 
  
The youngsters reached a total of 115-8 off their 20.

Bowlers
Richard Checkley 1-14
Andrew Smith 0-9
Richie Bowles 1-5
Ted Behl 1-4
Derek Sprawson 1-13
Nadeem Jan 0-12
Jerry Butler 0-13
Richard Stevenson 0-13
Sam Grimley 1-12
Stuart Grimley 1-12

Wicket keeper Andy Ashworth

I was tired from just getting changed for the match let alone keeping for only the second time ever, so I was “delighted” to be asked to open the batting. Get it over with, I thought, and that cold lager would be tasted sooner rather than later. I did manage to get bat on ball and I was so surprised I spent a minute watching it head to the boundary. However it never made it and so with my
speed between the wickets I managed to turn a 3 into a single.

The good news for the team was that I was out soon after so that others could build our reply. The over 15s had decided to retire on 10 to give everyone a knock. 

The bowling was sound and wickets did start falling. One highlight being a fast, low, direct hit by Zac from two thirds out which took care of Nadeem’s wicket.
 
Andrew Smith was also caught off the bowling of his son Ben. These are the stats that make these games such fun.

Our retired batsmen came back in with Richard Stevenson getting 20 and Richard Checkley 13. 
 
It came down to this. Stuart and Sam Grimley in together at the end. One ball to go with two runs to win. They ran with the ball through to keeper Matty Bowles. He ran Stuart out. Wide was called. Match tied. What a game. Was it a wide? Yes. It was signalled wide. It’s in the book as a wide and now in the report as a wide. Match TIED!  

Stuart made 13 while Sam was 25 not out.

Well done all!

Bowlers
Zac Ashworth 1-3
Greg Behl 1-13
Ben Smith 1-13
Alex Jan 0-11
James Stevenson 0-12
Eliot Checkley 1-6
Joe Stutchbury 1-9
Johnny Butler 0-17
Joe Ashworth 0-11
Jake Saleh 1-13 

Wicket keeper Matty Bowles
 
A great game played in perfect conditions with lots of laughter from players and spectators alike.
 
Plenty of chat in the pavilion afterwards, including an apology from Zac to Andrew Smith for a very smart looking bruise near his knee.
 
Thanks to all the players. 
Thanks to Jane Butler for the BBQ. 
Thanks to Mark B and James J for umpiring.
And thanks to all the spectators for their support.

I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did. 

Driving the other day, I saw a sign saying  “Average Speed Cameras”. I decided to take the risk. If they were “Really Excellent Speed Cameras” I would have slowed down.

We were hosting Mansfield & Pleasley  (M&P) so once again were battling two teams at once. These were the team that beat us heavily in the cup two weeks
previously.

The lead up to the match was entertaining. At the start of the day we had just 7 players. Zac became ill so down to 6. Mr Grimley spent most of his day (on holiday as well) trying to raise a team. At 4 o’clock it was still looking ominous but massive thanks to Stuart for his persistence and to Stone, Max, Harriet and Ben for stepping in at such late notice.

M&P won the toss and elected to bat. At this stage we had just 8 players on the field but it mattered not! Ruth and Joe S  opened with a tremendous spell each. Ben and Harriet soon joined the party and we managed to keep them to 14 for 2 after 8 overs. Only two of their players contributed (Skinner retired on 35 and Machin hit 23) but we restricted them to 87 for 7 after 20 overs. This was 50 runs better than the cup game. 
 
Our bowling was tight and fielding fearless. Ben,  Joe A and Harriet all throwing their bodies on the line for the cause.

Eliot finished the innings off excellently by taking 3 wickets in one over. 

This was a very good performance, especially under the difficult circumstances in which we had put the team together.

Bowling:-
Ruth  4 overs 3 maidens 4 runs 0 wickets  (“Bowled like a demon”)
Joe 4-1-8-2 
Harriet 4-0-27-1
Greg  4-0-23-0
Eliot 2-0-5-3
Johnny 2-0-10-0

The target was gettable. They opened as tidily as we had done and we were 20-2 after 8. Each of the team got a few but did not quite get going. We were in with a chance throughout and just needed someone to hit one big over. Eliot (15) looked like he would but holed out going for another boundary. Joe A hit one four but was caught hitting for another next ball, as did Max. Stone (10 not out) also looked like giving us hope. We eventually fell just short at the end reaching 78 for 7. 
 
We had missed Zac’s hitting but not the runs that kept him out of the team this evening.

Thanks to Stuart for umpiring.

Team:-
Johnny Butler
Greg Behl
Ruth Sprawson
Joe Ashworth
Eliot Checkley
Joe Stutchbury
Stone
Max Clarke
Harriet Ferguson
Ben Smith

Friday 29th sees the BIG MATCH. Under 15s against NOT under 15s. Bring it on!

I was, once again, searching for my car key the other morning  when it dawned on me - anything that sounds like camouflage is bound to be difficult to find.
 
Farnsfield are always a good side and this match would prove no different.

Johnny won the toss and elected to field. With the words of Coach Grimmers ringing in their ears the team took to the field with extra determination. Right from the off, the improvement on last week's performance was very evident. Ruth quickly showed how to attack the ball in the field,  something we can all learn from. She later showed how to attack the wicket keeper in the field but more of that later.
 
We opened with Ruth and Zac who both showed good control, beating the outside edge on several occasions but without any luck. Both their openers retired having batted well. Greg took two quick wickets, bowling nicely. Ollie held his own taking the other wicket and Eliott had a good couple of overs at the end. Emily was, as usual, very self critical when fielding at third man down near us in the pavilion. 

I felt their total of 107-3 was a bit harsh on what was a pretty good bowling and fielding performance.

One stand out moment was a tremendous low catch in the deep from
Johnny. Nice one!
I was also pleased to see Matty’s glove work back to good
standards again. 

Bowling:
Ruth 4-0-16-0
Zac 4-0-14-0
Emily 2-0-22-0
Greg 4-0-22-2
Olly 4-0-25-1
Elliot 2-0-7-0 

During the last few overs a there was a skier which both Ruth and Matty felt was theirs for the catching. Unfortunately neither called (until it was too late) and a nasty looking collision left Ruth a bit dazed but thankfully not injured. Calling clearly something we need to work on as it wasn't the only example this evening.
 
Our batting started and continued just off the pace due to some good bowling as well as us missing a few tricks. Shot selection and run selection is something I think we can work on for next year. We finished on 77 for 8 off the 20, so congratulations to Farnsfield for a good all round performance to earn the victory.
 
Batting highlights 
Eliott 18
Matt 11
Zac 11
 
Southwell can reflect on a much improved performance which is, in turn,
reflected in the “Grim Factor” scores

Fielding better 7/10, bowling much better 8/10 , batting could
do better 6/10!!
 
Jilly suggested the other day that we should get our dog, Lexi, spayed. I quickly agreed and suggested as a treat and, given the impending holiday, we could get her a little plastic bucket too.
 
Thanks to Stuart for umpiring and Derek for scoring
Team:
Johnny Butler 
Greg Behl
Jake Saleh
Eliott Checkley
Joe Stutchbury
Rob Brown
Matt Bowles
Zac Ashworth
Olly Stanley
Emily Stutchbury
Ruth Sprawson

We came, we saw, but unfortunately it was not the conquer season!

We had got to this stage via a bye and then a walkover when  Calverton could not raise a team. So to say we did well to get here is an exaggeration but, in fact, to get here we did do well as finding "The Quarry" is no mean task.

Once again we were playing two sides at the same time in Mansfield and Pleasley. We had a good mix of experience and youth so I was looking forward to how we would fare.

Just for a while that is. We won the toss (Johnny rather than Emily) and elected to field. I use the word "field" generously as we were, quite frankly, appalling.

Catching, ground work, backing up and throwing were all well below normal standards and I know the team are disappointed with this.

To be fair to M&P they played well, earning some luck with aerial shots just clearing fielders or landing just short. Our bowling was too inconsistent in both length and width. 

We let them score 40 or 50 too many runs as they amassed a challenging total of 149-3 off their 20 overs.

To keep Matty as a bowling option we tried Joe Ashworth behind the stumps and he showed some good signs although plenty to learn if he wants to
carry on trying this. The opposition acknowledged the fact that to keep on that
track is no easy task. 

Selected bowling figures
Zac 4 overs 1 for 22
Matty 2 overs 0 for 10
Ruth 4 overs 1 for 25
Johnny 2 overs 1 for 13

Our batting seemed to be affected by the daunting target and we were soon losing quick wickets. Their opener took an impressive 4 for 6 off his four overs and we never looked to be in with a chance as we slumped to 72 all out from just 17 overs. 

Joe Stutchbury played a lovely knock of 23. Alex Jan showed he can cope at this level with some stylish strokes getting 5 before being run out.  Greg Behl (12) and Johnny Butler (11) were the other contributors.

All in all, it was a very disappointing performance. We can now concentrate on the league, as they say. In two weeks we have M&P at Top Ground so some amends can be made there I hope. In the mean time Farnsfield away on Monday 18th -always an interesting contest.
 
Driving home the other night I pulled over when I saw another sign for eggs. I asked the proprietor "Two dozen Range eggs please". "£6.50 please" he said. "Your sign says they're free! So no thanks" and I left, eggless! Or maybe some on my face?

Thanks to Stuart for umpiring
Team
Johnny Butler
Jake Saleh
Zac Ashworth
Robbie Brown
Matty Bowles
Ruth Sprawson
Joe Stutchbury
Greg Behl
Alex Jan
Joe Ashworth
Emily Stutchbury

Driving to work the other day I saw a sign outside a pub saying 1/3 off food. Just watch out because if you go with a couple of mates one of you  is likely to get salmonella or something.
 
We were playing Notts and Arnold. I was worried as I thought, not only playing Notts but this Arnold must be something special to be called out specifically. Luckily on arrival I discovered Arnold was not in their team that evening. 
  
Sadly for us, Minster Geography department field trip couldn’t find their way back home so we were two players down. This was going to be
tough.

Captain Emily kept up her run of losing the toss and we were asked to bat.

After the previous week’s success Zac and Greg opened and once again did us proud. Both retired on 36 and set a solid foundation for others to build a good score.

Jake (27) and Joe S (13) were other notable contributors to a challenging 128 for 4 off our 20 overs.

Granted, it was a small boundary on one side but the team struck some very sweet shots.
 
Was the nine player factor going to be crucial? Well yes it was to be honest. Their opener (Finney) reached 36 to retire in just the third over,  hitting 7 fours in a dominant innings. Although there were some decent run restricting overs, the match was theirs to lose rather than ours to win. 
  
Our fielding, particularly backing up was good but they reached their target fairly comfortably in the end with 10 balls to spare.

One fine moment for me was when Emily shouted to ask new player Callum, to walk in when fielding.   He did so immediately, and kept on walking from third man almost to slip, Forest Gump style. Walk Callum walk!  Amidst the laughter Emily explained the walking should be done only when the bowler starts their run up.
 
Wickets for Ruth (2-17) Jake (1-21) and Joe (1-13) and a good spell from Matty
 (0-15 off 4 overs) were the bowling highlights.
 
James also showed some good work as keeper.
 
Another loss, but one in which we contributed some good moments in a well fought match played in good spirit. Two players short was just too much to overcome.

Special thanks to Emily for staying on to the end when she should have been attending dance class.
 
Thanks to Richie for umpiring and to Ted and Derek for doing the scoring.
 
On my way home from work I noticed another sign saying “Duck Eggs”. Luckily I didn’t see any so evasive action not required this
time.
 
Team
Emily Stutchbury
Zac Ashworth
Greg Behl
Jake Saleh
Matty Bowles
Ruth Sprawson
Joe Stutchbury
James Stevenson
Callum