Match Report vs Usk 18
April 2010@ Usk (Skipper and Report Captain Dan)
Well, would you believe it, two sunny weekends in a row…it
must be April!! This time the Cazh were off the superb ground
of Usk. By mutual consent the toss was a ‘virtual’
one and the Cazh offered to field first. Mike Keer and Rich
Catchpole opened the batting and Winkie and Shag opened the
bowling.
Winkie bowling quickly, the first couple of overs went well,
then found his line wavering slightly, but the umpires were
lenient on the wides and the batsmen didn’t really chase
the ball. Shag started with a maiden and took the first wicket
(maiden) in the 10th over getting Catchpole caught behind
by Big Willy. The pair came off after 12 overs with the score
on 54 and 1 wicket down. Winkie was replaced by none other
than Steveo at the pavilion end and Shag replaced by BA. Steveo
started with a couple of wides, but eventually found the wicket
and didn’t bowl another wide throughout his spell. Paul
bowled well as usual with only a couple of loose deliveries
which were sent to the boundary.
Steveo nearly bought a wicket in the 21st over as the Usk
skipper – Sanjay (from Cardiff Hockey) went for another
big mid on 6, however Shag was on the boundary and took the
catch right on the boundary rope, unfortunately, Shag saw
the rope, realised he was going to cross it so tried to release
the ball before it crossed…and didn’t. However,
the next Steveo over Sanjay went for a similar shot, got a
bit too much bottom hand and was caught by Shag in the deep
(34). Paul took the wicket of the opener Keer caught and bowled
(76).
Mahesh took over from Steveo and Foxy came on for Paul once
he’d finished his 8 overs. Mahesh tried to replicate
his performances in nets with the ball swinging like a banana,
unfortunately they often started wide and went wider with
poor Big Willy diving around like a nutter behind the stumps.
He did however put down a straight one which was given out
lbw. Foxy bowled very well, until Ed in the deep fielded one
and winged it back in, which Foxy fielded with his ankle (as
Dave did last week) and next over pulled his groin and was
unable to complete his over. Steveo came back to finish it
off. Winkie was brought back to finish his spell and kept
it tight as Usk were looking to finish with a flourish. Richie
took over from the injured Fox and to be fair took a bit of
punishment including a reverse sweep...., however the reverse
sweep induced the umpire to give him out lbw next ball! Shag
came back for his last 2 overs and saw all the good work of
his earlier bowling cast aside as he was slapped for 15 off
the final over.
The fielding was a marked improvement on last week, with
everyone trying hard and putting their bodies on the line,
JR clocked one off his knee, Ed ploughed himself into the
ground, Big Willy was on the floor as much as he was on his
feet, Steveo did some excellent stops close in, Richie ran
the boundary, as did Britpop on the other boundary. Usk finished
on a rather large total of 259-5 after the 40 overs. (of which
45 were extras…)
Hood – 8overs – 0 maidens – 45 runs –
0wickets
Lewis – 8-2-35-1
O’Reilly – 6.5-0-43-1
P Stephens – 8-0-43-1
Mahash – 4-0-21-1
Prior – 3.1-0-26-0
Holliday – 2-0-25-1
Tea was as expected – large and plentiful, and there
was even some left over!
Now to the batting….In form Cheese and Britpop opened
for the Cazh and both played very well. Ed began with a prod
and then a cut for 4. Darren, started solidly with some good
defensive shots. In the 5th over The Cheese began to open
up, and successively cut the ball to the long boundary, Usk
kept the field in, which allowed Ed to continue to score boundaries.
Darren got in on the action with a beautiful mid off drive
for 4, but was unfortunately undone with the last ball of
the 10th over, the ball cutting back sharply and was bowled
(9). 53-1-10overs.
Mahesh joined Ed and tried for the record of number of dot
balls – which wasn’t berated at all as there was
a long way to go. Ed on the other hand was still going for
it, and it was only the introduction of a leg spinner (now
I say leg spinner as after a conversation on the boundary
it turns out the Captain Dan doesn’t know the difference
– this conversation wasn’t caught on video…as
Shag was on video duty!) anyway, with Ed on 49 he was bowled
in the 17th over. Thanks to Porno on the book we know that
it took Ed just 61 balls to get his 49 including 10 fours.
73-2-17overs.
Big Willy joined Mahesh. Mahesh finished his dot ball record
attempt reaching an impressive 24, before he got a single.
Will unfortunately only managed 2 overs against the spinner
before he was bowled by a goodun for 0. Richie strode out
the middle to avenge last weeks golden duck and after taking
four balls to get himself in cracked a 4. Mahesh after all
those dot balls then went wild scoring 3 fours in quick succession
before being caught (15). 94-4-21overs. Steveo joined Richie.
Darren by this stage asked if we wanted him to take any photos,
and in agreement proceeded to bring out the biggest camera
known to man, but fair play it did take some excellent shots!
Steveo, like Richie didn’t take long before he started
to swing, hitting a four and a big 6 to the long boundary.
The pair put on a good stand of 27 before Rich was caught
off the spinner Patel (17), Steveo followed next over being
bowled
for 14. 127-6-28overs.
JR and Dev (substituting for Foxy) were now batting. JR played
some good shots but unfortunately usually to fielders, Dev
bagged a 4 before being bowled by Patel (to gain his 5for)
JR followed soon after also bowled by Patel (2). 129-8-31overs.
Paul was next to enter the fray and hung around for a while
before being bowled (5). This left the last pairing of Winkie
and Shagger to see out the overs…which they didn’t
manage! However, they did put on a good partnership of 37,
Andy running 3’s and Dan slogging 4’s and a 6.
It was Dan who was finally bowled by a similar delivery as
Darren in the 39th over. The Cazh finished on 178ao.
The team then departed to the pavilion for drinks and to
finish off the tea! An excellent game, played on a smashing
ground, with lovely scenery, against very friendly opposition.
We certainly hope to play against Usk again next year. Well
done all.
Ed – 49 (bowled)
Darren – 9 (bowled)
Mahesh – 15 (ct)
Will – 0 (b)
Richie – 17 (ct)
Steveo – 14 (b)
JR – 2 (b)
Dev – 4 (b)
Paul – 5 (b)
Andy – 12 no
Dan – 21 (b)
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