Match Report vs Barry West End 03 July 2022 @ The Island (Skipper and report Luvvers)

With a little bit of rain about in the morning, the usual questions were being asked about the game being on or a delayed start etc. Thankfully the sun came out quite early and stayed for the day meaning the game started on time. All were in attendance on time except for Cheese who got stuck in the ever-present traffic going through Newport, we let him off though as travelling all the way from London for a game of cricket is bloody good commitment. Luvvers was skipper for the day in Ritchie’s absence and wandered out to conduct the coin toss, this was lost but both teams were happy as they wanted to bat and I wanted to field first. The wind was howling coming from the Bowling Green End so the conversations were interesting before we started, no one wanted to bowl from the funfair end so the pre-game plans that the stand in skipper had in mind were blown away before a ball was bowled.

First Innings (Fall of wicket not filled in so I’ve guessed to the best of my limited ability)

Dan opened up with Dave on what looked like a pitch that offered a little bit for both batters and bowlers. Dan bowled with good accuracy missing the edge a number of times and Dave battled hard against the wind only giving away two boundaries. The opening batsmen were taking some risky singles and running everything causing Luvvers to keep an attacking field. The first wicket came in the 9th over with a beauty of a delivery from Dan, the ball nipping away from the batsmen catching the edge with Will holding on to a sharp chance in the slips. Tim was next to battle against the wind and replaced Dave, he bowled tidily only giving away one boundary in his first 4 overs. Goffy replaced Dan and immediately found some good movement in the air and off the pitch to the point where a second slip was positioned for the majority of the spell.

The next two wickets fell to Goffy, the opener out LBW and the other bowled with a ball nipping away and glancing off the top of off stump. The next batsman looked like he was all leg side focussed so Luvvers moved Patrick behind square in anticipation of a few swipes, the very next ball Goffy dropped one a bit shorter and the batsman was too late on his pull shot and sending the ball straight into Patricks hands, small win for the stand in skipper! This would have been shortly followed by a fourth wicket for Goffy but a lovely ball catching the edge flew through at pace to the outside of Jimmy’s gloves and hit the deck. Tim was next to get a wicket, their number 4 knocking one up to the mid-wicket area and Rob changed direction rapidly for a great reaction catch. The next two batsmen put on a good partnership and punished anything short or wide, some tight bowling from Patrick and Stevo kept them reasonably at bay considering the quick outfield. At this point the oppo were 135/5 from 29 and looking to push on. After a tidy period of bowling from Patrick and Stevo, Cheese and Luvvers took over.

Cheese against the wind struggled initially for line and length but then changed to off spin and had much more control. Luvvers was getting the ball full (a few full tosses rather than bouncers for once) and in his second over bowled their set batsman with a nice yorker. After Cheese finished from the Funfair End Rob took over and immediately found success, he impressively cleaned up the tail with 4 wickets in 2.4 overs, two bowled, one caught by Luvvers and one that was nicely stumped by Jimmy. On a good track the score ended up 211 all out, the first time any team has been bowled out at the Island for a number of weeks apparently. A really good effort full of chat, backing up, tidy fielding and catches held (except for one).

Dan – 6-0-29-1
Dave W – 4-0-24-0
Tim – 6-0-32-1
Goffy – 8-3-16-3
Patrick – 4-0-20-0
Stevo – 3-0-16-0
Cheese – 3-0-30-0
Luvvers – 3-0-16-1
Rob – 2.4-0-16-4

Catches x 4 – Will, Rob, Patrick, Luvvers
Stumping x 1 - Jimmy

Tea

Still no teas, don’t ask me why as there are no other restrictions in place, dare I say that clubs are now set in this way and are unwilling to resume normal service as it’s too easy for players to bring their own food. Some players had their own food, and some went to the Burger Van, after waiting for what seemed like an eternity the burgers were finally cooked, Cheese and Rob were padded up for the next innings before we’d even taken a bite!

Second Innings

Cheese was still banging on about a previous record partnership so to keep the little angry man happy Luvvers decided to open with him and Rob. This turned out to be a great decision as Cheese batted beautifully and held the majority of the innings together. Due to a few aggressively minded batsmen in the lineup, Rob was asked to do a holding job and glue the innings together, this master plan worked brilliantly for one whole over before he dolleyed a simple chance back to the bowler for a duck. Will joined Cheese at the crease and both batsmen started watchfully with the usual openers bowling tight with plenty of swing and seam. They both saw off the openers with no further damage done with the score on 21/1 from 10, this hard work was rewarded as the next few bowlers offered up a bad ball or two per over with Cheese and Will putting them away on most occasions with lovely timing.

No further wickets fell before drinks and both batsmen were very close to 50, keep going for another 10 overs without risk was the chat at the break, this was yet another master plan that lasted one over as Will fell for 48 caught straight after surviving a very close LBW shout. The loss of this wicket was a big blow as the next 7 batsmen fell for less than single figures each, admittedly given the context of the game mine was a particularly poor dismissal at the wrong time with Cheese batting superbly at the other end. In between these dismissals Cheese kept his own focus and hit the bad balls with quality timing.

After a change of bowling Cheese reminded the new bowler that he’d previously hit him into the Bowling Green and was looking to replicate the effort, you probably would have guessed by now but this master plan from Cheese didn’t last a ball as he was bowled trying to block the bloody thing! Nevertheless, a quality innings that fully deserved a century. A few swishes down the order from Goffy kept the entertainment up for a little while longer but the innings was complete and we finished 188/9 from our 40 overs.

Cheese – 89 Bowled
Rob – 0 C&B
Will – 48 Caught
Stevo – 0 Bowled
Jimmy – 3 LBW
Luvvers – 3 Caught
Dave W – 0 Caught
Dan – 4 LBW
Patrick – 6 Run Out
Tim – 6 Not Out
Goffy – 14 Not Out

Off we went to the pub and enjoyed a Finger Buffet washed down with some beers. All in all a decent performance, good effort to bowl them out and field brilliantly. Glimpses of getting close to their total but a collapse quickly stopped our progress. Top knocks from Cheese and Will got us close though.

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