Match Report vs Ponthir
18 August 2024 @ Abercarn (Skipper Jim, Report Rob
0)
After 5 (?) cancellations in a row due to bad weather and
opposition holidays / incompetence, the Cazh turned up at
Ponthir who agreed to host us again as a late stand-in. As
purveyors of quality teas, this was a welcome alternative
to the also excellent Pentyrch teas.
It was the Ponthir family fun day, so plenty of people and
action around the ground, with bouncy castles, a BBQ, ice-cream
van, and the PA system pumping out the tunes. Hopefully the
crowd weren't there to watch the Mighty Cazh (19% win ratio)
put on a show, but to get slowly drunk instead and have a
good time - but not too good a time (see Sudbrook report).
Pre-match, the skipper AKA Mystic Jim, gave another fine
social media pre-match interview saying:
"After a challenging few weeks due to poor weather, poor
batting, poor bowling and no catching... the boys are really
up for... teas. I've told them no second helpings unless they've
earnt it."
Tosser / Fielding:
With 8+ bowlers at his disposal, Mystic Jim loses the toss
(again, again) and we’re fielding on a cloudy day. Dan
and Goffy to open, with slips and a gully on a very bouncy
track. Dan bowled the opener in the 3rd over, and the bowling
continued to be tight – Dan quite full, with Goffy going
short. Either way, not too much bat on ball. 19/1. 10 overs.
Spin time, with Rob (slight spin) and DT (continental drift)
on. With Dave’s second ball, the other opener wandered
down to whack the juicy pie and missed it, stumped Jim. The
umpire didn’t seem to know what was going on, but the
batter walked anyway. The next few overs consisted of Goffy
wandering about between mid-off and short mid-off, with the
ball landing wherever he wasn’t. Eventually he stood
still and took a catch off DT. At the other end, Rob took
a self-preservation C&B catch in front of his face. 43/4.
20 overs.
Pushing the combined bowlers age over 100, on comes SteveO
and Pabs to inject some energy into the batters, who’d
been given the nudge to get on with it. The pitch maybe not
suiting Steve's moonballs, with the short boundary an inviting
target for the batters to pick their spot. Pabs seemed to
enjoy it, and was really difficult to play, however much they
tried. Jim can’t have caught so many balls in a match
before, with everything going over the bat. 94/4. 30 overs.
The youth project next on to bowl, with a combo of Sanay
and Liam W. Not many sides are bringing on this sort of quality
for a 3rd change. Both bowled well with the batters struggling
to get anything going. In Sanay’s final over he had
the no.3 caught by Dan at mid-off just after he’d passed
50. He then bowled two more (young children) in that over.
Triple wicket maiden. Bully!
Pabs came on to bowl one more, then Liam bowled the other
new batsmen in his last over, leaving Ponthir on 126/8. 40
overs.
Dan Lewis 5 2 12 1 2.40
Goff Day 5 2 7 0 1.40
Rob Owens 4 1 11 1 2.75
David Thomas 5 0 14 2 2.80
Paul Stephens 6 0 23 0 3.83
Steve O'Reilly 5 0 36 0 7.20
Sanay Goyal 5 2 8 3 1.60
Liam Warren 5 0 17 1 3.40
1 bye in the book! Luckily for Jim, there was no real umpire
signalling of any type, or calling of ‘over’,
so they all went against the bowlers figures. Which is fair
considering they weren’t doing wides either. 7 maidens
bowled.
Tea Report:
A good spread of sandwiches, mini sausages, mini pasties,
sausage rolls, little cakes but no tea that we could find:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/tffL4GbpJVdqMPzR9
https://photos.app.goo.gl/3GZrDuD83nfvcge29
Also, some important quotes that may require investigating:
Dave - I don't want cake.
Dave – No to Jelly babies, they will make me sick.
Batting:
Jim and Liam step out to open, with the explicit version of
Dr Dre - Still D.R.E. pumping out of the PA for the kiddies
on the bouncy castle, followed by Pump it Up for the 10th
time. DJ Casper - Cha Cha Slide and the Macarenna got the
Cazh (barely) moving in the stands, and the tunes kept coming.
We had Robin S. - You Got to Show Me Love before we went random
euro tech pop.
Jim had put his keys in the bowl and was swinging his shoulders
off. 12 off the first two overs. Both openers were bowling
well, but the play and swishy misses kept coming. 35/0.9o.
Liam had looked controlled, but got dropped for the second
time by Vickery pushing at a drive, but was bowled next ball.
Will next in, and he got to see Jim bail out immediately for
a quick 26. Ponthir on a team hat-trick… but nobody
seemed to notice.
Panic on the sidelines, with batters scrambing for pads...
as SteveO was next in. He may have had a look, it’s
hard to tell. With the extra bounce, he looked more like Zorro
than his usual self. A few whacks before being bowled for
9. Not sure if there was some confusion or just disgruntlement,
but he eventually dragged himself off, backed by Eiffel 65
– Blue.
Rob to join the Spankmeister General Will at the crease,
who was batting like his wife could give birth at any time.
Or he fancied some of the many leftover (!!!) sandwiches.
Probably both.
Will hit a 6 and several 4s in to / at the bouncy castle,
surrounded by obvlivious parents and screaming children. From
the other end, several flew towards the new pavillion, with
one hitting a window and it rebouncing on her back / head.
Ice packs and a drink to cure all ails. He got to his 50,
but nobody knew about it. Rob was picking off the short stuff
at the other end. A nice 66 run partnership to see us home.
Post match interview, when Captain Derek Acorah was asked
if he was thrilled:
Not thrilled. Just content. It's what we do.
Win percentage up to 23%. Maybe the threat of no second helpings
worked?
Runs - Balls - 4s - 6s- SR
James Hodkinson ct & b Lewis Davies 26 35 4 0 74.29
Liam Forster b Stefan Vickery 6 24 1 0 25.00
Will Mason-Wilkes not out 54 35 6 3 154.29
Steve O'Reilly b Matt James 9 19 1 0 47.37
Rob Owens not out 31 29 6 0 106.90
Liam Warren dnb
Goff Day dnb
Sanay Goyal dnb
Dan Lewis dnb
Paul Stephens dnb
David Thomas dnb
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