Match Report vs BOTs
18 July 2024 @ Pontcanna (Skipper Steveo, Report Rhys)
Another Wednesday in Pontcanna, another gig in the castle
to avoid while Driving In My Car. With traffic its usual gridlocked
self, due to the Madness gig in the castle we were going to
struggle to start on time. And finish on time it would seem.
To quote the great DT. “It was Madness off the pitch,
and often Madness on it too”. An astute observation
as we will find out later!
The game started when vice-captain extraordinaire Steve-O
lost the toss. Again. Some would call this a genius stroke
forcing the BOTS captain into making a mistake. But others
would just call Steve a poor tosser. A boiling hot evening
of fielding would ensue. Hello Sun
The best bit about doing a match report early is that events
are fresh in your memory. But even with this advantage, I
am really struggling to work out the bowling figures in what
can only be described as an Embarrassment of scoring! ‘W’
meaning both wide and wicket, a pink pen, some illegible handwriting,
no bowler attributed to wickets, and no post-over tally! Let’s
see if I can work this out!
With BOTS padding up to face the might of the Casuals attack,
Steve-O called upon the services of UniStaff ringer#1 Ben
at one end, with Liam F at the other.
Ben bowled solid throughout, averaging just 5 an over with
a few Ws in his bowling figures. Unfortunately they were just
wides... Liam had less fortune from the Taff end, with their
opener finding the short boundary on several occasions. It
was to be a recurring theme throughout the innings, with that
boundary probably half the size of its offside equivalent.
BOTS 65-0 from 7 overs. I think. With the opener back in the
shed 51 off 26.
First change was UniStaff ringer#2, Dai. Dai was UniStaff’s
star bowler and batter on Blackweir only one day prior, and
I knew by telling Steve-O this I had jinxed him to an evening
of misfortune with both bat and ball!
After a few looseners, Dai found a decent length and claimed
the first wicket, a spooned catch well taken by Will in the
covers. Another decent batsmen came to the crease wearing
slightly Baggy Trousers, and dispatched Dai’s second
over for 17. A different David joined the attack at the other
end (written as THOMAS in the book, it’s like the scorer
Never Knew Your Name), and found his usual frustrating length
almost immediately. The mystery ball ripping thru BOTS’
middle order with ease. Taking 4 wickets for just 17 runs.
3 x bowled, and an excellent stumping from Jack “Russell”
Beaumont behind the sticks. Get those bucket hats delivered
asap!
Rob drew the short straw of bowling from the Taff end versus
a few decent hitters, and hit they did. Finding the short
boundary on four occasions during Rob’s spell.
The score up to 136-5 by my calculations off 15 overs. It
fell to yours truly to see it out from the Taff end. Fresh
from receiving the “worst bowling returns” award
last season, I was determined to at least get a wicket this
year. It only took 4 balls with a c&b effort that stung
my hands. A second was quick to follow, as their number 8
tried one too many pull shots and was bowled. Maybe a third
was one too many, as their captain hit the final over for
12.
Steve-O was economical at the other end, reducing them to
6 an over in his 12 ball spell.
BOTS 176-7 (but I am missing 6 runs somewhere! I’m
surprised it’s that low in all honesty. I think someone
competent took over half way!)
Ben – 4-0-20-0
Liam – 3-0-45-0
Dai – 2-0-29-1
DT – 4-0-17-4
Rob – 2-0-23-0
Rhys – 3-0-20-2
SteveO – 2-0-12-0
-----------------------------------------------
It would require a mammoth effort to hit this target, especially
after a gruelling 90 minutes in the sun.
Having run around in the field for a bit, the usual opening
pair of Jack and myself requested a bit of a rest so Will
and Bryn opened up. The latter falling in the second over
without troubling the scorers.
In came Dai, fresh from a 51* yesterday, and you guessed
it, holed out a pull directly to square leg. Will was soon
to follow back to the pavilion, stumped for 5. This brought
newbie Kian to the wicket. Initially slow to score Kian would
eventually find rhythm and play some lovely shots on his way
to 16 runs.
At the other end was Jack who was taking his time, dispatching
the bad balls well, and hitting the occasional boundary keeping
the score ticking along. When Kian was caught at mid off,
the Cazh were 43-4 off 11 overs, some way behind the run rate.
I came in at #6 knowing that there was no point waiting around.
To avoid the shouts of ‘Get On With It’ from the
touchline ‘support’ (which this evening contained
a Mr Foxy) I decided to take One Step Beyond, and charge down
the wicket to hit the slow bowler.
After missing the ball I was slow in turning back to my crease,
but luckily the ball was slower! I was able to see the keeper
eagerly grab the ball from in front of the stumps and throw
his hands back into them. An illegal move! Unfortunately for
me, the glaring evening sun must have been in Umpire Bryn’s
eyes and the finger was raised.
A bit of confusion followed, as the keeper was adamant he
took it behind the sticks, but since the result was a foregone
conclusion, I started walking back. However, in the Hour Of
Need, captain Steve-O stepped up to argue my case!
Calls of “Get off the pitch” and “Shut
Up” are usually directed at Steve-O from his own teammates,
but this time it was from the BOTS who were shouting, annoyed
that the captain was getting involved! How dare he! It just
so happened that Steve-O was next in, so was coming on regardless,
but I don’t think he knew that!
The end result was me coming back to the pavilion after a
comical dismissal which was much discussed on the boundary!
Steve hung around for 3 balls before Ben joined Jack in the
middle. Cazh 56-6 and heading for an early pub combo of crisps
and a pint. A ‘Maesteg Meal Deal’ as I call it.
However, Ben & Jack stopped the collapse with some solid
batting despite the fading light. Steve-O frantically searching
the Cazh kit bag for a Light Meter as our only method of getting
points from the game. Mainly due to the slow over rate from
BOTS seemingly changing field each ball for not much reason!
Jack and Ben spent overs 14-19 hitting out, and with a fair
bit of success. A couple of boundaries from Ben followed by
two large sixes on the aforementioned short leg side boundary
by Jack. An excellent innings ending with a single to bring
up his 50*.
Ben holed out a c&b for a well batted 19, and Liam F
was joined at the House Of Fun by Rob who dispatched the final
ball for a 4. Casuals well short of the target, and with a
21:10 finish a quick dash to the pub was in order.
WMW - stumped – 5
Bryn – bowled – 0
Dai – caught – 1
Kian – caught – 16
Jack – retired not out – 50*
Rhys – stumped – 0
SteveO – bowled – 1
Ben – c&b – 19
Liam – not out - 0
Rob – not out – 4
DT – DNB
116-7
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