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| Tension Mounts, on with the body count | May 7, 2008, 9:59 pm GMT |
| Just got back from our second win of the season against WGs - an altogether pleasant match played out in stunning if not somewhat sweaty weather.
Nice though it was to win, tomorrow is a big day for Henleaze Old Boys CC. Our first league game of the season is also our first ever "competetive" game. It will be interesting to see how we react under pressure of a slightly different kind. We're not the best chasers of targets at the best of times (we've made hard work of chasing modest totals in our first three games), but here's hoping we rise to the challenge. On a different note, HOBs seem to have been struck by a series of ailments and diseases. From Anth's Shingles to Phil's piles bodies are mounting as if they were in a morgue. The least fortunate of course is Leigh who may have had his season curtailed by a vicous inswinging (straight) rapid (slow-medium) delivery, which crucnched his knee and left him in a crumpled heap at the end of our game in London. Made all the more painful I suspect by the fact that he hadn't wanted to come in the first place - he'd wanted to stay home and save money. He ended up paying for taxis and trains totalling over £70 i hear. As a gesture of goodwill we're waving your tour fees mate - hope you get right for some of the rest of the season. | |
| Cricket Fans - Book Altert | September 25, 2007, 10:44 pm GMT |
| Forgot about this in my last blog just now. I read a great cricket book whilst on holiday. Now I've been known to read what might be commonly described as NOT great cricket books. I'm a bit of a cricket obsessive. Amongst others I own the Autobiographies of David Gower, Nasser Hussain, Graeme Thorpe, Grahame Gooch, Ted Dexter. Perhaps members of HOBs might prefer I studied the Art of Captaincy by Mike Brearley. No doubt it would prove more useful.
However (and I know some of you might have read it, but you can't all have done), the book CONCERNED is: Penguins Stopped Play: Eleven Village Cricketers Take on the World By Harry Thompson. It's inspirational stuff - plus extremely funny. They may also have a worse record of snatching defeat from the bollocks of elephants than we do... I have a copy if anyone wants to borrow it for holiday (or any other) reading.... | |
| Reflections | September 25, 2007, 10:16 pm GMT |
| Hmm forgot about this blog.
Anyway the season ended in typically inconsistent fashion - a win against the Puffers followed by a really poor defeat to Gremlins. It's safe to say that we've left room for improvement for next season. Looking back over the season it's been a strange one. Foul weather is foremost in my mind, as well our recurrent capacity to snatch defeats from dominant positions. That said though the season was punctuated by outstanding team and individual performances. Three of the best games of cricket I've ever played in (that's not saying much, admittedly) took place over the course of this season: Against Winford Village (amazing comeback when they were 70-odd for no wicket); against Octopus at home where they were seemingly crusing before we put the squeeze on them in the field; and against Fishponds of course - the pinnacle of the season - coming back from staring down the barrell to tie the match, Rambino taking the last wicket in torrential rain and darkness (and the celebrations that ensued) to tie the game. That was our second tied match of the season against Fishponds which must some kind of record. As for the individual performances Ed was hugely consistent again this season and deserves praise in all three disciplines. Ashley was a revelation - finding his best position at number 7 in the order - and his weight of runs doesn't reflect the number of games in which he played match-winning innnings. Mike Serj smartened all of our acts up with his fielding example (none better than at Winford) - it certainly rubbed off on Old Man Clements who before this season had never held a catch for the Old Boys, nor effected a run out. He ended the season with four catches and 1 run out. Fantastic stuff. Will Thomas looks a real find for us, despite playing only two games (one of which he won single handedly). My other big "shout out" goes to Paul Ashford - as Skipper of the team i felt we really missed Paul's variation when he was away in the middle of th season, and generally his bowloing was a revelation. Generally speaking though, in the games we succeeded in, everyone contributed something. Although I think a number of us will be looking to improve our batting output considerbaly - throughout the team. It's certainly what cost us a number of games. If we can build up our consistency a bit next season, we'll be a more formidable team. Anyway, roll on the end of season Meal, I've begun dusting off my three trophies from last season - given that there's no danger of their retention. I'm rather looking forward to the results of the voting in all categories in what should be a close fought contest. S J Smith | |
| Nearing the end of the road.... | August 7, 2007, 8:43 pm GMT |
| Tis the eve before our penultimate game of the season, the annual carnival match against Putt’s Puffers. A lot has happened since our mild humiliation against the old men of WGs. Another embarrassment seemed on the cards in our next match against Stoke Druid – our annual whipping boys – that was until Will Thomas, on debut having not played cricket in three years, produced an outstanding all-round display. Will had been up watching us for the preceding four matches and scoring – a clear sign of a man who loves the game – and quite what he must of made of our recent efforts I shudder to think. Over that period, in fact over the last 6 games or so, we’ve played our worst cricket of the season. Mildly erratic with the ball and in the field, we’ve been quite frankly shocking with the bat. It’s hard to put your finger on why the malaise started – perhaps the on-off frustration of an almost entirely washed out middle-season took the wind out of our sales after an excellent start – who knows. Anyway, will turned the tide with an outstanding innings and single-handedly won us the match. Unfortunately, Will wasn’t available for the tour the following Saturday.
Christ we could have done with him though. The tour was good, but I’ll leave the finer details for the match report that I’m writing, and generally a much better effort from the Old Boys than last year. But still our batting let us down badly. Other teams seem to have a couple of very capable batsmen who’ve a decent amount of experience and have been playing for a number of years. They form the backbone of their team, not in the blocking and prodding Boycott sense, but they’re positive, take calculated risks and spread confidence throughout the rest of the team. Although we have some very decent batsmen, we lack that cutting edge – perhaps Will is the one we’ve been looking for (subconsciously perhaps!), if indeed we can give him enough games to keep him interested and the lures of Minor County or County Second XI cricket don’t prove to strong…. Anyway, it’s Putt’s Puffers for us tomorrow, and all off to Chipping Sodbury for the funny-rules festival cricket and a few beers and a BBQ afterwards. To add the festival-feel, I’m planning a batting lottery – all names in a hat and drawing out the batting order – some might argue that after recent performances I’d be better off doing that anyway. Others might argue that IS what I do anyway. Should add some fun to the occasion though. S J Smith | |
| Ambushed by Viagra-propelled Geriatrics... | July 31, 2007, 9:18 pm GMT |
| Well it's two defeats on the bounce now, both equally depressing for differing reasons. Having had WGs two wickets down off three overs for just two runs I was contemplatingbringing Anth and Jon off to make a game of it. Pure folly as it proved as we let the old men off the hook and they crept (and later smashed) their way to a half decent total - that being 93.
In fact it proved to be more than decent, as what followed was a masterclass in fielding from our creaking-boned opponents. The 11 frail frames dotted around the outfield as our openers took to the crease gave no clue as to what was to follow, as zimmers turned to zoomers, brittle bones to bullet arms, and arthritic hands plucked thunderbolts from the air - it was New-testament miracleesque stuff. In truth we didn't help ourselves. We were somewhat shambollic from the start - our running was shocking with four run-outs - and no-one really showed the discipline to knuckle down and knock off the runs. So all in all rather depressing, we were a triffle rusty and probably underestimated them. All will be forgiven though if we can turn the tide against Stoke Druid on Wednesday, and then follow it up with a first away from home win in the HOB V Octopus challenge trophy in our crunch, season-defining tour game at the weekend. Bring it on! S J Smith | |
| rain reigns | July 26, 2007, 3:09 pm GMT |
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| Just another dismal day, just another f*****g flood | July 23, 2007, 9:52 am GMT |
| This is the first time I've been able to bring myself to add an entry in the days following our troouncing at the hands of the MOD batsmen. I can safely say I have rarely felt so helpless on the cricket field. We didn't have our strongest line up out, but such was the the quality of their batsmen (especially the opener) that I don't think it would have made much difference. Leigh bowled beautifully though, and is looking like he might be an excellent bowler for HOBs both this season and in the years to come. The rest of us were dispatched to all parts, and with only five bowlers there was no room for manouver. On the positive side I thought we kept our heads up int he fild pretty well and still battled hard for every run. We also approached the the rather daunting matter of an 170 run target in a positive manner - it's just a shame Phil and I couldn't stay in a bit longer and get the score down to something more manageable. Coming in needing 10 an over with still 12 or so to be bowled is really not an easy task!
Today we're supposed to be playing the City Clerks, kind of a YMCA midweek team who we have never lost to. I have no doubt we will not be playing come tonight though - the forecast is, yet again, horrific. In fact, looking at the news yesterday I couldn't help but think that I was watching one of those awful BBC pre-enactments of what MIGHT happen in the event of a disaster (terroist attack, thames barrier flood etc) where all of the Government agencies fail. Although we have had half of our games called off this season, I still think we've gotten off remarkably lightly, considering that half of Britain seems to have been under water for most of the summer. Hopefully we'll be ok for Wednesday for our encounter with the Beast of Blaise and his United Banks side. No ridiculous four bowlers rules here though boys; in fact, if we have more than our requisite five bowlers I'll be tempted to go the other way and say we must play wityh six or seven. That'll learn them. S J Smith | |
| Oh My God, what a finish.... | July 16, 2007, 10:02 pm GMT |
| Well I said in my last entry that I hoped we could turn Fishponds over this time, after our "tied" game with them earlier in the season. Unbelievably we just tied with them again. In probably the most thrilling game in HObs short history we refused to give in, and inspired catching proved the catalyst for a renarkable comeback. It was without doubt the best, most dramatic and surreal game of cricket I have ever played in. With rain teeming down and the ball barely visible in the field, we held on to almost every catch - most of which will be in contention for catch of the season. Ed bowled superbly, as did Anth to take two crucial wickets in his comeback over - and Tom held his nerve wonderfully well in what proved to be the last over. That he cxame back from being hit for a four which brought the scores level and took a wicket took incredible bottle, and I take my hat off for just anybody!). What a game though, snatching a tie from the jaws of defeat.
We've improved so much from our first two seasons it's almost unbelievable. Everybody is getting better, and buying into the team ethos, realising that every run counts, laying their bodies on the line and giving their all. I genuinely fancy us to defend most totals and it certainly makes captaining the team a lot easier when everyone pulls together like we have this season. I think our results reflect that too, and I hope everyone is enjoying the games, we've had some real belters. Jon and Phil were not playing in this match, but it was nice to see them come up and support the team anyway. And the looks of joy and pleasure on their face at our performance were really great to see at the end of the game. It was a pleasure, too, to play in.... And fair play to Fishponds for their not-inconsiderable role in yet another cracker.. S J Smith | |
| Absence makes the heart grow fonder | July 16, 2007, 10:02 am GMT |
| Or something like that. It was nice to see my absence was keenly felt on Thursday, as the remaining troops notched up our seventh (and eassiest, by all accounts!) victory of the season. It looked like Ed led well from the front with Bat and in the field and unanimously won man of the match for his first game as the HOBs skipper. Hopefully we can repeat the dosage tonight on a Fishpons side with dubious skills in addition. Our one tied match this season, a neve-racking belter at the Stapleton ground, was not tied at all. Fishponds scorers gave their side and extra 10 runs or so, so we wound up chasing more than we actually needed. We'll have to keep a careful eye on that tonight.
It was odd missing my first game of the season for the Old Boys, but its pretty difficult to committ to all the games. In fact, with a couple of absences between Stu Adams and Ed this season, we're left with only one 100% (played in every game, of every season) Hobbber - Ashley. So hats off to him. We will be missing Jon and Phil for the game tonight, so will need a couple of people to step up to the plate with the bat in their absence. I hope to be opne of those as I'm in shocking form at the moment - following up my 53 a few games ago with scores of 0, 4 and 0!! Hopefully tonight will be a chance to put that right; I'm going back to my old beast of a bat in an effort to hit my way out of my rut! S J Smith | |
| Finally Defeated | July 11, 2007, 1:05 pm GMT |
| Well i suppose our streak of 5 victories had to come to an end at some point, and last night it did with a slightly disappointing defeat to MCC. The absence of Ed and Phil left a bit of a hole in our batting and the rest of the (so called!!) premier(ish) batsmen, myself, Jon, Stu and Ash failed to step up to the plate. Although we lost, there were a number of positives to take out of the game:
Matt, Jon and ashford got us off to a really good and solid start, going along at 5 an over for the first 7 or so. After an awful collapse which left us at 42 for 7 off about 12 overs, Anth and Tom recovered superbly to put on a record for 8th wicket. We then made an excellent job of defending 93, which in truth was about 30 runs short. What impressed me most was the intensity we maintained in the field, despite MCC getting off to a flier. and taking it down to the 18th over was a good effort. They had a beast of a player playing for them who was again the difference between the two teams. Had he not come in when the 5th wicket fell, I would have fancied our chances with MCC still needing 24 off the last 4 overs. But there we go, the freak won out in the end. My sincere apologies to Ashford for stitching him up to bowl what proved to be last over at the "Freak of Mechanicals", he'd have tonked anyone for 17 off four deliveries I reckon mate! We'll need to bounce back on Thursday against the unknown quantity of Venturers, and under a new captain for the day too as Ed takes over the reigns. I can't make it despite trying my luck with every conceivable ploy to get out of Kanan's birthday. Alas upon threat of an unexpectedly soon re-entry into the domain of singledom, speed-dating and the like, I've been forced to relent - and pass it all off as an elaborate joke, claiming to have been fully intending on being there for her special day from the outset. Anyway, I'm sure Ed will make an excellent skipper for the day, and hope that you boys can set us out on a new winning streak. Good luck, I'll be ringing Ash for updates no doubt! S J Smith | |
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