North West Water - The Cricketers

Woodburners get their revenge

2009-09-03T07:10:00.002+01:00

Having missed the final midweek fixture of the season, my arch cricketing rival, Neil Morely, kindly stepped in with the following report from North West Water's clash with The Woodburners at Llandrinio:

I don't recall signing on any dotted line to agree to write a report on our devastating triumph last week, after your deplorable no-show.

However I can, for a substantial fee, tell you what I remember.It was, in fact, an excellent game played in a good spirit but terrible, though temporarily dry, weather. Your lot chose to bat first, correctly assuming that most of our age-impaired batsmen would be unable to see the ball after about 7.30.

A cunning tactic that almost worked. You were without Carl and Justin but, to make up for that, you weren't playing either.Dan sat it out through injury but umpired (very well).

Basically, as I recall, NWW batted well after a sluggish but steady start. Star man was Ian, who carried his bat for (I think) 49. Whacked the ball with great abandon on the leg side. A couple of the young lads also did well (Steve's son?). Steve himself hit a few of what can only be described as lusty blows, including a big six.

His dismissal was a bizarre classic. Ian hit a Dave Harris ball hard back to the bowler. Dave tried and failed to take what would have been an excellent catch, but in so doing inadvertently diverted the ball on to the stumps at the bowler's end, where poor old Steve was out of his ground.

We bowled quite steadily, and nobody got hammered (well, not before we got to the pub, anyway). Final score (approx): 114-5 after 15 eight-ball overs.Luckily for us, Dave Chirk (where he comes from: don't know his surname) did an Ian and (I think) carried his bat for 54 or so.

My good self opened with him and made my season's top score - a massive nine. Clearly the major player in an opening stand of 36.Run rate-wise, we started and finished well, but in the middle seven or eight overs your bowlers pegged us back and got among the wickets. Alec White and Hal Harries were the main support batsmen to Dave.

In the end, we got there with about 12 balls to spare and about six wickets down.

As usual, it was a close match played in a good spirit. With the weather like it had been all day, it was just brilliant that we managed to get a game. By the end, the light was seriously tricky for batsmen and fielders.

Another victory - and career best bowling figures

2009-08-24T12:28:00.002+01:00

Well, yesterday was a big day for North West Water. The weather held off as we played Shropshire Health Authority at Acton Reynald and thank goodness it did as we celebrated one of the most emphatic victories I can remember.

What started out as two 20-over matches (in that case, we won both), morphed into a 40-over, two innings contest and we came out on top, bowling out SHA for just 31 in the their second innings as they chased 98 to win.

It was a particularly good day for me - Harry, my seven month old son, was there to watch - and, inspired by his support, I finished with figures of four for four off four overs. On a not-so-positive-note, my only innings came to an abrupt end on, guess what, four, when I was run out.

Anyway, we batted first with Carl Dulson and Brian Cole starting positively, before Gareth Cole took up where his son left of to keep the scoreboard ticking over. Carl unleashed a couple of meaty blows including one towering six before having to retire on 25, while Rory Jones produced another fine knock on the way to challenging total of 98.

I opened the bowling and started with a wide. Next ball, though, I pegged back the openers off stump before removing SHA's number three first ball thanks to a scrambling catch from skipper Justin Evans square on the offside. After a dot ball, Justin held on to another, slightly more comfortable, catch in the same position. I could hardly believe it.

My next over went for one run but, despite beating the bat a couple of times, I didn't pick up any more wickets. Needless to say, I was pretty pleased with proceedings though.

SHA fought their way back into the game but we chipped away at them, picking up regular wickets, with both Brian and Huw Jones causing plenty of problems. Our fielding, and catching in particular, was sharp all afternoon - even I managed to cling on to one.

SHA ended six runs short of our total on first innings and, after the tea break, we batted again, with Justin reversing the batting order. This meant wicketkeeper Dan Powell and I opened. Dan looked in fine touch from the start and, after I'd departed for four, he moved serenely to 25 before retiring. Jamal Penrose then proceeded to make an excellent 25, with Huw Jones providing excellent support, as our lower order proved themselves to be no mugs with the bat.

Some late hitting from Rory lifted us to 91 in our second innings, setting SHA a target of 98 to win.

We started well with the ball, and I picked up another wicket with my first delivery - again caught by Justin, this time fielding at square leg to a left hander. Despite a couple of marginal lbw shouts, I didn't pick up my fifth wicket, though.

Ian Lloyd, opening at the other end, took two quick wickets as SHA started to falter immediately. To their credit, they too had reversed the batting order but, despite our fears that they would suddenly start building a partnership, we carried on taking wickets.

Jamal produced a fine spell to pick up two scalps - one caught quite brilliantly on the leg side by a diving Brian in what must be one of the summer's champagne moments. Rory then produced some seriously rapid deliveries on his way to two wickets, before Brian stepped up to finish the job with three wickets, including one that took the edge, was parried up in the air by Dan, only to caught by an alert Carl at slip.

When Carl rearranged the stumps of the final SHA batsman, we'd managed to bowl them out for just 31 with ten overs remaining.

Incidentally, there was the small matter of the Ashes being decided at The Oval while we were playing. Jamal had brought his radio along and we all cheered when the final Aussie wicket fell. Perhaps that's what inspired us to wrap the game up so quickly.

Steve's back with a bang

2009-08-20T11:23:00.004+01:00

I wasn't able to play on Tuesday, versus BT at Oswestry School, but I have received the following message from the talismanic Steve Daulby who, as you will gather from the extract below, returned to action after a six week injury lay-off.

I think I was 2nd highest scorer with a massive contribution of 8!!! ( Justin high 20’s) but what a return with the ball, three for circa eight off 4 overs with the chance of a hat-trick - batsman just played a “dead” bat surrounded by close fielders!

“Daulby is back; Daulby is back” the hordes of fans were screaming from the packed stadium [Editor's note: there may be a little artistic license in this description].

As you may have gathered with me being second highest scorer on eight, we lost. We got 80 but it took BT to the last over to surpass with only one or two of wickets left.

So there we are - now we're all busy preparing for Sunday's 40-over clash with Shropshire Health Authority at Acton Reynald. It's time we rediscovered our winning ways.

We've won - again!

2009-08-13T10:25:00.003+01:00

Well, we notched up only our second win of the season last night in pretty murky conditions against the Woodburners at Llandrinio.

Fine performances from Gareth Cole (with both bat and ball), Carl Dulson (bat), Dave Ryder (bat), Geraint and Huw Jones (ball) saw us to an unexpectedly comfortable victory by a margin of 20-odd runs.

Our total of 87 batting first looked a little bit short, but our bowling and fielding restricted the Woodburners to just 25 off the first 10 overs and, together with the fact we regularly took wickets, they were simply too far behind the run rate.

Admittedly, we did have the best of the conditions. We batted first while the light was relatively good and then bowled as became increasingly cloudy and dark. There was also quite a bit of movement for the bowlers which, combined with the slow outfield, made scoring difficult.

The game was also notable for the number of injuries suffered - Dave retired hurt after making 21 with his troublesome Achilles; Dan Powell, our evergreen wicketkeeper, suffered a back spasm and had to be replaced behind the stumps midway through the Woodburners' innings; and Carl also managed to pull a muscle while batting, which restricted his mobility in the field.

After losing skipper Justin early on in the innings, Dave and Gareth established an excellent partnership. Gareth in particular managed to score freely, hitting a couple of fours, before finally falling for 21. Dave kept the scoreboard ticking over, while Carl produced some meaty blows at the other end, including one towering six over long on.

A clatter of wickets in the last few overs kept our total down, and I went in with an over to go but failed to get off the mark as Woodburners finished strongly, conceding only two runs off the final over.

I opened the bowling in, frankly, horrible style, with successive wides. After one good ball, I then served up another wide, before finally finding my radar and conceding only one more run off the remaining 11 balls of my spell. It was pretty frustrating as, apart from those three wides, I beat the bat a few times and almost got a wicket when one of the openers very nearly chopped on to his stumps.

Ian Lloyd was in form at the other end to keep the scoring in check and Geraint then made the first breakthrough, with Gareth taking a fine catch in the gully. We continued to restrict the scoring - the Woodburners only hit one boundary, a six, in the innings - while picking up wickets through Huw, Brian Cole, Carl, Gareth (two clean bowled), and, bowling at the death, Justin.

After reaching 25 at the halfway stage, we were always in control and, as I said, the conditions, particularly the light, definitely helped. Our fielding was also sharp throughout and that certainly played a major part in keeping us on top.

I should also mention my friend, former work colleague and Woodburner Neil Morley who, when umpiring, gave a controversial LBW decision against a team mate who was adamant he'd got an inside edge. It all added to the highly charged - but friendly - atmosphere in which the game was played.

Next Tuesday, we play BT at Oswestry School - hopefully our fine form will continue.

Three Peaks

2009-07-16T12:01:00.002+01:00

A slideshow of our Three Peaks in 24 hours challenge. Enjoy.

We managed it with about 15-20 minutes to spare. Hard work but very enjoyable, and we've raised over £500 for Hope House.

There's even a video diary of our trip if you're really bored:
http://www.eveningleader.co.uk/news/VIDEO-Evening-Leader-team-complete.5452813.jp

Daubly out for the season?

2009-07-16T11:49:00.003+01:00

Rumours persist that all-rounder Steve Daulby's season could be over after suffering a freak achilles injury while moonlighting for Gresford.

The pacy left-armer and hard-hitting batsmen didn't turn out for North West Water last night, with sources close to the player claiming he might not play again this season.

It follows a series of controversies involving the player after he failed to turn up to a team bonding session. Daulby claimed he had to spend time in the garden instead, sparking rumours of dressing room unrest.

But one player, who asked not to be named, said today: "We're gutted for Steve. On his day, he's our Andrew Flintoff, even if his running between the wickets is a bit suspect at times. Hopefully he'll be back before the end of the season, we could certainly do with him."

Twenty runs short... the story of our season

2009-07-16T11:20:00.003+01:00

As you can probably gather from the heading, we lost, this time to Shropshire Health Authority - and again it was our batting that let us down.

Skipper Justin Evans summed things up when he said: "Twenty runs short - that's the story of our season." On this occasion we bowled first against a strong SHA side on a pudding of a pitch at Whittington that offered plenty in the way of variable bounce.

We started off pretty well. I opened the bowling and despite figures of 0-12 off my two overs, I wasn't too unhappy with my performance as one of the two boundaries I conceded was very nearly caught at slip by a stretching Dave Ryder.

With Gareth Cole also opening the bowling, we kept the scoring rate down before Geraint Jones removed one of the opening pair and Matt Daulby weighed in with two wickets courtesy of brilliant catches at point from Justin - the first of which he managed to juggle first before hanging on. Rory Jones again produced a quick spell which helped keep a lid on the scoring rate.

The visitors reached 53 at the halfway point of their innings and, with Brian Cole bowling superbly - and picking up a wicket - we managed to restrict them to 101 off their 20 overs. Credit should be given to Dave Ryder, who bowled the final over, kept it tight and picked up a wicket despite having an achilles injury.

Our reply got off to a fine start, with father and son Brian and Gareth reaching 30 without loss off five overs, before Brian was given out lbw in what looked a pretty harsh decision. Gareth moved to 18 before getting out and North West Water's mid-order collapse had begun.

Matt Daulby departed for six while Justin, after playing a few meaty blows, was bowled by one that kept very low. We were still in at after 10 overs - 43 for four - but the regular loss of wickets meant we fell well behind the asking rate as the innings progressed.

I went in at number seven but we continued to lose wickets and ended on 85 for nine, 17 runs short of victory. It was disappointing and I was frustrated with my batting again, failing to hit a boundary despite my best endeavours (I fininshed on 11no). Ultimately, we needed a few big blows in the closes stages which I just couldn't provide.

Anyway, we'll be looking to get back to winning ways against Cae Glas next week. Hopefully we won't end up 20 runs short...

Defeat

2009-07-09T11:42:00.002+01:00

Many thanks to Neil Morley for the following report from last night's clash between North West Water and teh Woodburners at Whittington. Unfortunately, I was unable to make the match, but it sounds like it was another nail biter.

Wednesday July 8, 2009: the day cricket lovers all over the world had been waiting for with bated breath. The day that two legendary adversaries came head-to-head once more.

At last the hype, speculation, wall-to-wall media coverage and nervous anticipation was over, and the battle between these cricketing giants could commence.

Yes, NWW were taking on the Woodburners.Whittington was bathed in sunshine: a far cry from the last time the two teams met at this venue, when mud was the dominant theme.

Bowlers, backed by good fielding on both sides, were on top in a low-scoring game. The variable bounce made for tricky batting.NWW won the toss and put the Woodburners in. Five of the visitors had played the previous night, in a narrow defeat by BT. Skipper Hugh Curteis was absent.

Alan Bothwell and Neil Morley put on 17 for the first wicket, before the latter gloved a rising ball from G.Jones and was caught behind in the fifth over.

Hal Harries and Bothwell then added 25 for the second wicket, including a six by each batsman off H.Jones.

Youngster R.Jones (NWW's man-of-the-match: 28 and 2-1) then bowled Bothwell (Woodburners' man-of-the-match: 17 and 2-5).

Harries was run out (excellent fielding) shortly afterwards for 18, and when skipper Alec White was also bowled by R.Jones for 2, Woodburners were struggling at 49-4.

Phil Edwards and Rob Birkett saw the visitors through to the close without further mishap, but sharp bowling and good ground fielding kept a tight grip on the scoring rate, and in the eight overs they were together the fifth wicket pair were only able to add another 33 runs, resulting in a final score of 82 for 4 after 20 overs.

The visitors felt they were at least 20 runs short of a competitive target, but their spirits quickly soared when Bothwell dismissed both openers, left-handers B.Cole and G.Cole, in the very first over, Phil Edwards taking both catches.

Dave Ryder and M. Daulby then attempted to steady the ship until Daulby, who was threatening to cut loose, was caught off the leg-spin of guest 11th man (thanks, NWW) Dominic Powell.

R. Jones joined Ryder at the crease, and played the innings of the match, pulling and driving with power and authority, after a careful start. But the required run rate had started to creep up: after 11 overs, only 21 runs were on the board.

Two fours by Jones off Phil Edwards' first over kept the target in reach, but by the time he was caught behind off Graham Stroud for 28, 25 were needed off the last three overs.

I. LLoyd was caught by Morley off Hal Harries for a duck, bringing skipper Justin Evans to the crease. He struck some hefty blows, so that by the start of the last over, 13 were needed for victory.

But despite his best efforts, and those of the steady Dave Ryder, who had been in since the first over, NWW just fell short on 76-4, losing by six wickets.

A close match, played in a good spirit, followed by quality chip butties. What's not to like?

Three Peaks madness

2009-07-09T07:21:00.008+01:00

For the benefit of the many thousands of readers of this blog, I'm taking part in the Three Peaks in 24 hours challenge at the weekend to raise money for Hope House children's hospice.

Our NWN Media team consists of Christian Dunn, Carlotta Ercolani, Rick Matthews, and me of course, with Jon Barnett taking the driving duties.

We're leaving Chester in the early hours tomorrow and hopefully setting out up Ben Nevis at about 5pm. Obviously the idea is to reach the summits of Ben Nevis in Scotland, Scafell Pike in England and Snowdon in Wales all in one day. The reality may be somewhat different, especially given the weather forecast at the moment.

Anyway, if you would like to sponsor our foolhardy mission, please http://www.justgiving.com/NWN3peaks/

Thanks for reading - and now back to the cricket.

The above picture shows Rick and myself on a recent training climb up Snowdon. The weather was good that day; unfortunately, Saturday this week isn't looking quite so promising. Below are Rick, Christian and me at the summit of Snowdon.

And, finally, Rick and Christian enjoying a well-earned cuppa at the bottom.

We won!

2009-07-05T18:47:00.001+01:00

Well, we finally got our season under way with a hard fought victory in a close encounter with a new side – the Ellises.

Our victory was largely down to two fine individual performances, one from the increasingly important Rory Jones and the other from skipper Justin Evans, whose three wickets late on turned the game decisively in our favour.

We batted first, having only managed to assemble a team of ten and I was an unwilling starter having come down with a nasty dose of man flu (and of course I was feeling very sorry for myself, snorting and sniffing my way through our warm up.

Anyway, we got off to a decent start through Mike Stokes and Geraint Jones, before Rory, who had suffered a blow to the head during a school match earlier in the day, went in at number four with Steve Daulby. Steve rattled his way to 15 with a succession of boundaries before losing his wicket.

I then joined Rory, who was playing well against a real mixed bag of bowlers. Although I was still feeling sorry for myself, I made 14 before attempting a suicidal second and running myself out for the second time this year. The score was around 90 at that stage with around three overs to go and, thanks to fine attacking shots from Rory, we ended our innings on 123 with Rory going for 40 off the final ball of the innings. That gave us our largest total of the season and definitely something to bowl out.

I opened the bowling with Huw and, after a decent first over, I had a horrible second (going for 10, I think). Fortunately, Huw was more successful taking a wicket in each of his two overs as we started to put pressure on our opponents.

Jimal then produced a fine spell and, along with his brother, Liam, who turned out at very short notice, we made sure were still very much in the game at the half way point. However, we were having difficulty with one of their batsmen, who escaped three difficult catches and while he was at the crease, they always looked favourites.

Thankfully, Justin – who had been keeping wicket – stepped up to remove him, quickly followed by two more wickets to give us victory by 10 runs.

It was a great win – hopefully to be followed by a few more....

Gardening or cricket... that's the question

2009-06-05T08:53:00.003+01:00

Well, our scheduled match against JT Hughes at Whittington on Wednesday failed to materialise after the opposition failed to raise a side.

So we decided instead to organise a practice match involving as many of our own players as possible. In the event, 10 of us turned up and we enjoyed a decent night's cricket.

There was, however, one very notable absentee: Steve Daulby, who chose to garden - that's right, garden - rather than play cricket. Now I'm all for gardening, it's almost certainly the new rock and roll, but in a choice between cricket and gardening there can only ever be one winner. And it's definitely not gardening.

Thankfully I'm not North West Water's skipper, but I'm sure Justin will want to sit down with Mr Daulby and have a serious chat about his commitment to the sport. If you think Andrew Symmonds has problems...

Anyway, as for the game itself, we batted in pairs for eight overs. Top score when to father and son duo Huw and Rory Jones, with Rory displaying some very imaginative shots in a swashbuckling performance. They waltzed their way to a total of 60, beating mine and Dave Ryder's 57, the next best score. As you can imagine, any partnership that involves me is somewhat more sedate, but Dave showed a more flamboyant side to his batting, unleashing a series of fine straight drives.

Other highlights included Brian Cole's return - and a fine spell as wicketkeeper which resulted in half a dozen stumpings courtesy of Dale Penrose's willingness to charge down the wicket. Justin batted with his usual aggression and struck some meaty blows in his innings, while I committed the cardinal sin, dropping a sitter after Geraint Jones - who bowled very impressively - failed to connect properly with one of his brother's rapid deliveries.

Speaking of Rory, I faced him during my innings and I can confirm that he's developing into a very nippy bowler indeed; it bodes well for the future of North West Water.

All in all, it was a thoroughly enjoyable and useful evening. It's just a shame Mr Daulby couldn't join us...

And it's off

2009-05-21T19:36:00.002+01:00

Disappointingly, our fixture against Cae Glas fell victim to the rubbish weather we've been 'enjoying' for the last couple of weeks.

And even more disappointingly, I didn't get the message - and proceeded to spend half an hour sat outside Whittington Cricket Club wondering where on earth everyone had got to. Still, it might yet turn out to be my most consistent performance of the season...

Hopefully the weather will improve in time for our fixture at Acton Reynolds - scene of Rory Jones' memorable hat-trick last season - next Thursday. I'll keep you posted.

The curry night

2009-05-16T11:55:00.002+01:00

As promised, a picture of our curry night at the end of April. I always find it helps to put names to faces so, from left, are: Dave Ryder, Justin Evans, Steve Daulby, Ian Lloyd and Huw Jones.

The curse of BT

2009-05-13T14:49:00.005+01:00

I used to play for BT in my (much) younger days. They're a good side and, since I've been playing for North West Water, I can count the number of times we've beaten them on one hand.

It was with some trepidation then that I approached last night's encounter at Oswestry School, my first outing of the season. My worries were well-founded, we ended up being beaten comfortably despite getting into a very good position half way through their innings.

Again we fielded a slightly weaker side than usual - Gareth and Brian Cole, Carl Dulson and Huw and Geraint Jones - were all unavailable, which meant our task was that much harder.

I have to say that I was pretty nervous before the game. I blame my brother. A couple of weeks ago we had a conversation about how sensible it is to keep taking part in team sports as you get older. Basically, my brother Baz - who plays football not cricket, by the way - was saying he was worried he had lost his pace. I know the feeling; as I said in my final blog of last season, it's not much fun struggling to find any kind of form and it does make you wonder if you've lost whatever scrap of ability you once had. So when the first ball of my spell disappeared back over my head - landing just short of a six - I almost retired on the spot. More of that later...

Back to the game, we won the toss and batted first with the ever-elegant Dave Ryder and rising star Rory Jones starting strongly. They added 30-odd for the first wicket at a decent pace before Rory departed and our collapse started.

First Mike Stokes and then a helmeted Steve Daulby were dismissed, before skipper Justin Evans attempted to steady the ship with some powerful strokes. Unfortunately his time at the crease was cut short and I arrived at the wicket with Dave still holding the innings together.

Dave was the next man out, our eagerness to take quick singles leaving him stranded in the middle of the pitch, as I went on to notch up 11 before attempting one quick single too many and finding myself a few yards short. To be honest, I felt pretty good at the crease - better than I had done for some time - and, if I could just work out to score off my legs, I might have made a useful contribution.

By this point, Jamal Penrose and Dave's son Dominic were at the wicket and we limped on, edging towards 80 before Jamal was out and Ian Lloyd - a late arrival due to confusion over dates - arrived and took us to 83 before being caught out with the last ball of the innings.

That total didn't look like being enough, especially when I opened the bowling and my first delivery was smashed to long on. However, I managed to redeem myself by bowling four dot balls before having Phil James caught by Jamal at square leg. As if by magic, all thoughts about retirement disappeared, even if it wasn't the greatest dismissal of my career.

Ian took the new ball at the other end and bowled their other opener with his first delivery. It was a great start and we suddenly sniffed a chance. I bowled another couple of overs - ending with figures of 1-11 - while Ian was even more miserly at the other end.

When Steve picked up a third wicket leg before - beating their man for pace - we were looking good. After 10 overs, they were 35-odd for three and we were in a promising position. Steve was bowling as well as he has done for some time - he's quick and, being left handed, he causes problems for most batsmen.

Justin was unlucky not to pick up a wicket with his teasing leg spin, but BT consolidated through brothers Ant and Gareth James, before the latter unleashed a flurry of boundaries to take his side to victory with three overs to spare.

It was a desperately disappointing end to the match for us. We'd done well for so much of the game but our total was again a little bit below a decent score and, to be fair to BT, they paced their innings just right.

So it's on to the next game - Cae Glas at our home ground, Whittington, next Wednesday. Hopefully our fortunes will take a turn for the better.

The season's under way

2009-05-07T07:12:00.004+01:00

Well, after around seven months of inactivity (with the exception of a couple of curries and a net session), the season got under way last night against the Orthopaedic.

Unfortunately - or fortunately, depending on your point of view - I didn't make the game (it's a long story, but essentially it boils down to the fact that I can't use a fax machine). And I'm not being unduly modest when I say that I'm pretty sure my presence would have had no impact on the result. Having said that, our team was without several other key players, including the likes of star batsmen Brian Cole and Carl Dulson and Brian's ever-reliable father, Gareth.

On an extremely windy evening and with the usual early-season uneven bounce of the Orthopaedic wicket, we struggled to 65-odd all out. According to my sources, we only managed a couple of boundaries in our innings - courtesy of our two big hitters, skipper Justin Evans and the mercurial Steve Daulby.

In reply, we bowled well but the total was 25 runs short and the Orthopaedic made it with overs to spare and eight wickets in hand. Jamal Penrose, who opened the bowling with Steve, and Justin took the wickets. Justin's was (and I quote from Justin here) 'a beautiful piece of leg spin bowling'.

Next week we play BT at Oswestry School on Tuesday night. Hopefully we'll kick-start our season with victory...

Annual curry night

2008-12-12T14:46:00.002Z

Why am I blogging about cricket in the middle of December? Well, I thought it was worth drawing attention to the fact that last week marked our annual North West Water Cricket Club curry night.

In truth, the turnout was a little disappointing; only five of us braved the cold weather. Still, the company was good, and watching Justin tentatively sampling his first ever vindaloo made it worth the effort.

But on to the cricket, we made our usual pledges to socialise more, try and get in a bit more net practice, and generally be a better team. I doubt it will happen but it's always nice to have good intentions.

We also talked about the way the club is run. At the moment, Huw (Jones) has to shoulder most of the organisational workload, supported by Steve (Daulby). Steve made a very sensible suggestion - that we operate a pyramid system whereby Huw phones two people, who each phone two people and so on.

If it works, it would at least relieve some of the pressure on Huw and allow him to concentrate on his on-field performances. If last year was anything to go by, he'll be our leading strike bowler next season.

Keeping up with the Joneses

2008-09-08T14:50:00.003+01:00

Incredibly, and in spite of the torrential rain during the latter part of last week, we played our final game of the season, a 30-over match at Acton Reynalds on Sunday - and we won in emphatic fashion.

Our victory was really the story of our very own cricketing dynasty, the Joneses - dad Huw and sons Rory and Geraint.

Rory stole the show for us, claiming a hat-trick which included Acton Reynald's star batsman, Fran Hick, and taking two splendid catches.

Huw weighed in with two wickets, while Geraint (who was run out by me in dreadful fashion during our innings) also chipped in with an important wicket.

All in all, it was a superb performance from North West Water. We batted first on a pudding of an pitch. The artificial square was soggy and slow and the outfield almost ruled out the prospect of boundaries unless they were sixes.

We started solidly enough, with Pete Danby and Rory putting on 20-odd for the first wicket. Two of our new recruits, James and Lloyd, then continued in the same manner, with Lloyd - who went on to make 29 - in particular playing some lovely shots.

Wickets fell, but we managed to maintain the momentum and skipper Justin Evans raced to 30 (we'd agreed beforehand that batsmen who reached 30 had to retire).

His innings featured some tremendous hitting, including an enormous six that was simply majestic.

We ended on 135 off our 30 overs, and I ended on six not out after going in with two overs left and the bowler on a hat-trick. I played all round the first ball and was expecting to hear the stumps rattle but somehow survived. It was the most exciting thing that happened while I was at the crease.

After too much to eat during the interval, I took the new ball and bowled a decent first over, before spraying it all over the place during my following two overs. I blamed the slippery conditions; in truth, I think the roast beef sandwiches had more to do with my eratic performance.

Anyway, I ended up going for nine runs off my three overs, while Gareth Cole was similarly tight at the other end.

Huw's introduction saw us grab a couple of wickets, one coming courtesy of a tremendous diving catch from Rory.

At the other end, Matt Daulby made amends for being hit for six (well, it was more of a full toss that hit the batsman's gloves and ballooned for six) by clean bowling one of the Acton Reynalds' crew.

Justin then joined the party with two excellent wickets, including one with his first delivery, and Geraint removed another of their batsmen, while we continued to look sharp in the field - well, most of us did. I just slipped and stumbled around due to my lack of spikes, and at one point fell flat on my face while trying to field at point. Very classy.

Then Rory arrived with Acton Reynalds on 85 for five. First he removed Acton Reynald's best batsman, Fran Hick, clean bowled. Next up he got a plumb lbw. Two in two balls and the hat-trick was on. Rory was right on the money and his next victim had his stumps rearranged.

That little episode prompted the umpire (one of their openers) to ask Justin why he hadn't opened with Rory "rather than that other rubbish". Cheers.

Anyway, Rory was now looking for four in four and to mark the occasion Justin posted four slips and me at gully. I've never seen a field like it in all the time I've been playing for North West Water. The delivery was spot on again and struck the batsman on the pad, prompting a massive appeal from the slip cordon. It wasn't given, but it reduced the umpire to hysterics as we closed in on victory.

The last couple of wickets soon fell - with Lloyd taking the final wicket courtesy of a smart catch from James - and we were home with 30-odd runs to spare.

It was a great way to the end the season - and hopefully the spur to greater things next year.

Legal action?

2008-08-22T07:03:00.001+01:00

The latest correspondence from Neil Morley concerning the Woodburners' fortunate victory over North West Water at Whittington on Wednesday.

Mr Wright:

My solicitors advise me that, bearing in mind the Cutting And Pasting On To Blogs Without Permission Act, an out-of-court settlement of, say, 10k, should embarrassing legal proceedings no longer necessary.

Actually, we were very very lucky to get a game. It was rain-free during play, but it was cloudy and threatening. We cut it down to ten 8-ball overs, which proved to be a good decision.

Modesty forbids me to mention the part played by a elderly gent of this parish in a 41-run, (all-run, boundary free) opening stand by the Woodgeezers. But what the hell, I'll mention it anyway.

Cheers, Neil

A sorry and soggy end to the season

2008-08-21T13:49:00.003+01:00

I missed last night's game between North West Water and The Woodburners at Whittinghton - our final fixture of the season - due to being stuck in a queue of traffic on the M6 at Birmingham.

However, my former colleague Neil Morley - a Woodburners' stalwart - helpfully sent in this summary of proceedings. I can only assume he's being sarcastic when he refers to me as 'star all-rounder'. Regular readers of this blog will recognise this as a blatant misrepresentation of my lack of talent.

It sounds like it was a fitting end to a season that has been disrupted by bad weather throughout. Our form fell away as the season went on - probably due to the frequent postponements - and we also lost last week in the 17th over to our other arch-rivals, The Orhtopaedic last week. Still, we do have a 40 over game pencilled in for the 7th of September. Things can only get better!

Anyway, here's Neil's match report:

Fuming NWW cricketers blamed their star all-rounder Martin 'Wrighty' Wright for their latest devastating defeat against arch-rivals the Woodburners.

''If only Wrighty had turned up, we might have lost by a run or two less,'' said a rueful NWW spokesman after last night's Whittington debacle.

Gleeful Woodburners took full advantage of the absence of NWW's much-vaunted iconic talisman, romping home by the huge margin of a few runs, on a pitch that was later described as 'a trifle muddy'.

...but seriously, shame you weren't there, we were two short as well. It was a good see-sawing game on a surreal strip (I went a**e-over-tit the first time I ran).

Rain, rain and more rain

2008-08-12T07:17:00.003+01:00

Both of last week's fixtures were called off due to this wonderful summer we're enjoying.

At a rough guess, we've now lost about four or five matches due to rain this year, making it the worst year for North West Water I can remember.

To make matters worse, we've only got two scheduled games remaining - although hopefully we'll have a decent September and we can sneak in a couple of Sunday fixtures.

Well, I like to be optimistic.

A battling defeat

2008-07-31T14:11:00.002+01:00

As I said in yesterday's post, North West Water lost to BT on Tuesday evening on a difficult pitch at Oswestry School.

We won the toss and batted but made slow progress in the first ten overs, despite some dogged resistance from our opening pair Pete Danby and Rory Jones.

Rory continued his fine form with the bat, producing a couple of superb boundaries, while Pete showed a deft touch to keep things ticking over in the face of some accurate, hostile bowling.

The pitch didn't help. There had been plenty of showers during the day and the pitch cut up pretty quickly, which made the bounce more uneven than usual. One delivery even reared up and hit Rory on the helmet.

We continued to struggle throughout the innings, despite a cameo innings from Steve Daulby, who crashed a couple of boundaries before departing. I ended up going in with a couple of overs left and ended on four or five not out, but not before almost gloving a catch to mid on and then falling flat on my face trying to set off for a quick single. I really must invest in some spikes.

We ended on 78 and, in truth, it was always 20 short of a competitive total. We bowled tightly for most of their innings, with our skipper, Justin Evans, bowling economically and taking another wicket with his increasingly effective leg spin.

I opened the bowling and was given four straight overs, taking one for nine. It was the best I'd bowled for ages, although my wicket came from a wide ball that was knicked through to the agile Pete Danby behind the stumps. It was probably my worst delivery, but as I'd beaten the outside and inside edge of both batsmen a couple of times, and had one ball sail over middle stump, I felt I'd earned it.

Steve Daulby also bowled a good spell, taking one wicket and instigating a run out, to leave BT needing 26 off the last four overs. At this stage it looked like it could be a close finish, but BT hit back through a tall left-hander, who simply demolished our attack. They ended up winning with two overs to spare.

It was a disappointing end to a decent match. We're now turning our attention to the rematch with BT next Tuesday, followed by Shropshrie Health at Whittington on Wednesday. We need a win.

Strike rates and updates

2008-07-30T16:49:00.000+01:00

Just a brief update on North West Water's recent progress... or rather lack of it.

I missed a game two weeks ago due to work commitments, away at the beautful Acton Reynolds ground against Shropshire Health Authority.

We managed 94 chasing their total of 114 which, according to reports at last night's game was a decent effort, "we just lacked a few boundaries".

Last night, we also lost, failing to defend a total of 78 against BT. I'll post a full report on that match shortly.

However, I would like to boast about my strike rate so far this season. Now I have a quite deserved reputation as being the most negative batsman in our team. I admit that I possess very few scoring shots... in fact, I'm struggling to think of any.

Instead, I prefer Mr Boycott's high left elbow, no need to score runs today, approach.

But last night, our resident statistician Jamal produced a spreadsheet not only showing that my batting average for the year is 32, but that my strike rate is a frankly remarkable 84. In fact, it's the third highest in the team, behind Rory on 110, and Justin on 100. It's obviously inaccurate, but I'm still going to have it framed. In fact, I'm seriously considering retiring on a high...

No cricket

2008-07-17T16:00:00.004+01:00

The disappointing British summer is continuing to disrupt our programme this year - hence the lack of updates recently.

Tonight's game is scheduled to be away at Acton Reynolds against Shropshire Health Authority. I can't make it due to work commitments but I'm not sure whether it will be on anyway judging by the view from my desk in Mold.

Next week is fixture-free, followed by two games the week after - weather permitting.

So I'll be watching the Test match intently instead. At least the return of Freddie Flintoff adds spice to the occasion. I just hope his injury troubles are behind him because, on song, he's one of finest bowlers in the world. And, if fit and in form, he could make the difference against Australia next summer.

The great British summer strikes back

2008-07-07T07:09:00.000+01:00

The dodgy British weather saw off last week's scheduled fixture against the Orthopaedic at Gobowen.

Although it was disappointing, at least we were able to retain our 100 per cent record over our arch rivals - for another couple of weeks at least.

Anyway, in more important news, our skipper Justin is now a proud father. I had a text on Friday evening (while sitting in a pub in Maidenhead, of all places) to say his wife, Sally, had given birth to a baby boy. Congratulations Justin. Does this mean you won't be available for this week's match against The Woodburners?

A thrilling victory

2008-06-25T21:23:00.000+01:00

Picture the scene: we're almost down and out. Cae Glas Ladies, thanks to an onslaught by somebody looking suspiciously like a man, are ten runs from victory with 14 balls remaining. Surely there's no way back. Is there? Just like Mr Stallone in the Rocky movies, there was.

Step forward our heroes, Rory Jones and Dave Ryder, with honourable mentions to Geraint Jones, Rory's elder brother, Matt Daulby, and our stand-in wicket keeper (again) Brian Cole. Thanks to this quintet, we somehow snatched victory - by five runs.

After batting first, we struggled to 83 all out. That represented something of a recovery after we had been reduced to 2-2 off four overs, then 20-odd for four. Only a handful of our batters made double figures - Dave Ryder, Mike Stokes and Steve Daulby, I think - and we were probably 20 runs short of a good score on another flat Whittington pitch.

Our innings certainly didn't lack drama, though, and one fielder needed the first aid kit for a split finger after one diving stop, while Huw Jones gloved a ball on to his own face.

I went in at number seven or eight and ended not out on two or three, Jamal being the last man to fall LBW in the final over. Jamal's innings was notable for the fact that it was the first time I had seen one of our adult players wearing a helmet. I think he'd seen the Huw incident and decided he didn't fancy a trip to the dentist.

Anyway, our reply started well even if we didn't take wickets. I was grateful to Brian's agility behind the stumps as I struggled to find a decent line opening the bowling, but I didn't go for many runs and even induced a couple of edges that almost carried.

Mike Stokes produced a miserly spell, and after 10 overs, Cae Glas had only made 33. It was the skipper Justin Evans (who's asked me to point out there's a lot more to him than a pair of expensive Puma pads) who made the breakthrough, bowling their Kiwi opener (another male) with his increasingly effective leg spin.

However, their number three (another male) was an accomplished player, who proceeded to play with a great deal of authority. Our total looked worryingly low.

We took a couple more wickets - courtesy of Steve Daulbly, who also opted to bowl slow left arm rather than his usual pace - to leave Cae Glas with 14 balls to make 10 runs, with seven wickets in hand.

And that's when it all happened. Rory bowled the penultimate over, removing the number three courtesy of a smart catch by Matt Daulby. Two balls later there was a run out - courtesy of a brilliant throw by Matt and smart work by Brian to whip the bails off - followed by another wicket for Rory, this time clean bowling the hapless batswoman.

This left the game poised on a knife edge going into the final over. Dave Ryder was bowling with Cae Glas now needing six to win. His first ball produced a wicket, clean bowled. Crucially, it was also a dot ball. Next up, a dot ball, followed by a scrambled single. Then another run out - this time Geraint Jones throwing down the stumps from eight or nine yards. It's a good job his throw hit - they probably would have won it off the overthrows, the ball was travelling so quickly.

Another dot and a run out off the final ball - this time courtesy of Brian behind the stumps - saw us to victory. With hindsight it was an enjoyable. At the time, things were pretty tense, particularly after I managed a couple of inexcusable misfields. I'm just glad they didn't cost us victory...

An apology

2008-06-25T21:20:00.000+01:00

Before I post on the most important subject - our match with Cae Glas Ladies last night - I have been asked to apologise to our stalwart statistician and swing bowler extraordinaire, Jamal Penrose.

I've actually referred to him as Jamahl for the entire existence of this blog - so I'm now happy to put the record straight. One question, though: why haven't you read the blog sooner?

A humbling defeat

2008-06-11T21:29:00.000+01:00

Well, I was back in action this week when we took on a team made up of youngsters and fringe players from Frankton Cricket Club at Whittington. I rather wished I stayed in Zakynthos.

Not only did we lose - we were all out for 112 in the 18th over chasing 143 to win - I ended the game wicketless and with a golden duck for my efforts. Brilliant. In fact, my main contribution was retrieving a ball that went through the hedge and ended up floating in a brook the other side of the boundary fence.

North West Water skipper Justin won the toss and decided to bowl first, although the decision did prompt one or two dissenting comments from some members of the team.

I was handed the new ball and proceeded to spray the ball either side of the stumps, leaving our unfortunate wicketkeeper Pete Danby with an impossible task. I went for 11 off my two overs.

It was the first time we had played the Frankton side and although we expected one or two to be pretty handy, we weren't quite prepared for the onslaught from the opening pair.

After eight overs, they were 82-0 - including a succession of brutally dispatched boundaries. Thankfully, their team-mates took pity on us and called them off before they could inflict any further damage on our battered egos.

Thereafter, we retained more control - Huw continued his fine form with the ball, picking up one wicket and just missing out on a sharp caught and bowled chance. Gareth and Jamahl also struck, while Justin opted to bowl leg spin and picked up two wickets in a superb spell (he might have had three if I had been able to take a catch on the boundary; instead I did a pretty convincing impression of a headless chicken).

Two run outs also helped our cause - one courtesy of a searing throw from Brian Cole from fully 20 yards, the other from the consistently accurate arm of Ian Lloyd.

Bowling at the death, Brian went on to produce a hostile spell that went for only a couple of runs and included a wicket courtesy of great catch from Mike Stokes at slip.

In reply, we started brightly enough, with father and son pair, Gareth and Brian, picking up a number of boundaries as they put on 30-odd for the first wicket in the face of some useful bowling. But when Gareth then Pete Danby departed, we were tottering, having fallen well behind the required rate.

Brian continued to score quickly until he was dismissed after reaching the mid-20s. Steve Daulby reached six before sportingly walking after gloving a delivery to the keeper, before Rory Jones and Justin launched a counter attack that saw both of them score a succession of boundaries. I should mention that Steve ran another three - his second of the season - which we believe is a new record.

Unlike most of our team, who spent the winter months getting a little bit older and slower, Rory is rapidly developing into a very promising bowler and an attacking batsman. His 18 also included a leg side six - the only maximum in our innings.

Unfortunately, Rory's dismissal brought me to the wicket. I played all around a straight delivery and umpire Merv Hughes (that's his real name, honest) raised his finger.

Justin's 26 was full of aggressive intent, and included one textbook cover drive. But when he was dismissed, our innings crumbled to 112 all out, with Jamahl the last man out. Against very talented opponents, it wasn't a terrible effort; it's just a shame we weren't a bit more competitive in the first half of their innings.

Next week, we're without a fixture. However, a practice match is on the cards. I certainly need it.

We won... and I wasn't even there to see it

2008-06-10T14:24:00.001+01:00

As regular readers of this blog will know, it's not often we win.

Therefore, I was gutted to miss out on our victory last week owing to my week's holiday in Zakynthos.

I'd like to provide full details of our victory over JT Hughes but, unfortunately, the only info I've got to go on is sketchy, having been provided by our left arm fast bowler and prolific batsman, Steve Daulby.

I'll leave Steve to sum up the performance:

"Thrashed em last week!

They had 2 x innings and still didn’t reach our total of 122.

Batting a lot better – off the mark at last. A magnificent seven before being clean bowled by Greg or was it Ryan. It would still be rising now if I’d connected though – two overs to go so start hitting out I said!"

Back to earth with a bump... but Steve's off the mark

2008-05-28T08:45:00.000+01:00

North West Water's winning start to the season came to an abrupt halt at the hands of Cae Glas Ladies last night.

After the elation of last week's shock victory over The Orthopaedic, it was perhaps inevitable that we would struggle. However, despite posting a modest total of 84, we were still favourites to win with around six overs to go; Cae Glas needed 40-odd with three wickets remaining.

Unfortunately, our killer instinct deserted us at the crucial moment and Cae Glas inched home with four balls to spare. We were gutted.

Things stated promisingly. We won the toss and batted first, with Brian Cole and Rory Jones opening on our adopted home ground of Whittington. We got off to a decent start too. Brian, a classy left hander, unleashed a glorious drive through extra cover in the first over, while Rory's good form continued after his heroics against the Orthopaedic last week.

However, Brian was bowled and his father Gareth failed to hang around. Things got worse when Rory, who had raced to 17 with a succession of boundaries, was run out when our skipper Justin Evans called him through for a sharp single.

Justin - sporting very posh new pads - looked in good form before missing a straight one. Mike Stokes, making his first appearance of the season, joined Steve Daulby at the crease - with Steve opening his account for the season after last week's duck in Gobowen.

His departure brought me to the crease with the score at 40-odd for five, and when Mike was caught in the next over, we were struggling at 48-6 off 10 overs.

I was joined by Geraint Jones, and we managed to survive, taking the score to 82 in the final over before I managed to run Geraint out.

Until that point, we'd been making decent progress, even if it was a bit slower than it should have been. I even hit three boundaries in my 26no - more than I scored in total last season. Geraint batted really well for his 14 and really deserved more.

Jamahl Penrose hit two off the final ball and we ended on 84 - probably about 15 short of a decent score.

Our reply started well. I opened the bowling with Steve and we kept things tight (I conceded three off my two overs), before Mike struck and a run out courtesy of Rory Jones put us in the driving seat.

When Justin took two wickets in his spell - one courtesy of a sharp catch in the gully by Greg Stokes - we looked favourites. Huw Jones' produced an impressive spell, taking 2-7 including a smart stumping courtesy of Brian, our stand-in wicket keeper in the absence of Pete Danby.

But the last six overs of the innings cost us dearly. Cae Glas's ninth wicket stand was resolute and, despite one or two chances, in truth we never looked like breaking the partnership.

Cae Glas secured victory with four balls remaining, to leave us licking our wounds and hoping for a better performance against a new side, JT Hughes, next week.

The wonderful British summer

2008-05-27T12:58:00.000+01:00

Well, we're meant to be playing Cae Glas Ladies tonight but, judging by the rain beating against the window at the moment, it may not happen.

I'm gutted. I'm going to miss next week's match so I was really hoping to get a game tonight. Oh well, maybe the weather with suddenly improve and our first fixture at our new home, Whittington, will go ahead after all. Somehow I doubt it, though.

What a night...

2008-05-23T08:02:00.000+01:00

Well, what a way to kick off the new season - victory over our bogey team for the first time in a good few years.

How did we do it? I'm not sure to be honest. When I arrived (late) at the ground, our team looked a bit thin - we were missing our regular captain Justin Evans, while some of our more consistent performers, including Brian Cole, Mike Stokes and Dave Ryder, weren't able to make it.

Did I honestly think we had a chance? Not really, no, especially when our stand in skipper Carl Dulson told me to get my pads on and open with him after we had won the toss.

We started well, Carl hitting the ball with his usual power; me blocking. Unfortunately for me, a miss-timed swipe against a slow bowler ended my stay at the crease for six. I was disappointed because I felt good, particularly against the quicker bowlers.

We then stuttered mid-innings - with Steve Daulby and son Matt both making ducks - but we were resuced by Carl's 24 and impressive performances from two of our younger players, Rory Jones (16) and Paddy Richards (13).

And thanks to a late flourish from veteran member Gareth Cole, we ended the innings on 77. The pitch was playing ok, but the long grass in the outfield meant boundaries were at a premium. It still looked 20 runs short as a defendable total, but at least we knew we had something to bowl at.

From the off, we bowled well and fielded impressively. Ian struck in his second over after opening the bowling with Steve (who made up for his duck with a miserly spell) and the Orthopaedic were under pressure.

Although we didn't take many wickets, we kept the bowling tight and even got away with a couple of missed chances. With eight overs to go, the Orhtopaedic had reached 39 and we knew we had an opportunity. As the pressure increased, we grabbed a couple more wickets as our opposition went for their shots.

Even I chipped in with my fielding, holding on to a catch off Rory that seemed to hang in the air for an eternity, and managing to stop a boundary by sticking a hand out more in hope than expectation. Paddy also produced one stunning stop, throwing himself full length to prevent anything other than a single, while Ian's throwing was perfect all night.

But everybody bowled and fielded well and, with one over to go, the Orthopaedic required five to win. Carl - taking his captain's responsibility seriously - bowled it beautifully and they ended up a run short, sparking scenes of celebrations in Gobowen. Forget the Champions League final, this was the result that mattered.

Next up, we face Cae Glas Ladies at our new 'home' Whittington. Hopefully our winning run will continue...

Breaking news... North West Water win opening fixture

2008-05-22T07:16:00.000+01:00

Just a quick post to say that we won our opening game of the season against the Orthopaedic by one run last night.
It was a close match and an even closer finish as our skipper for the night, Carl Dulson, held his nerve to bowl a tremendous last over to see us over the finishing line.
A full report will follow when I've got a spare five minutes. In the meantime, world domination now surely beckons from North West Water.

The season's under way... and I've missed it

2008-05-16T14:47:00.000+01:00

I can't believe it. The first match of the season and I missed it.

Ok, so it was a warm-up game, but I was still gutted to miss out. I did have a good excuse, I suppose - I was on my way back after a stag trip to Prague and our flight was delayed. And if I'm being brutally honest, after a night on the ale, I doubt I would have been any good.

Still, it does mean I've now dropped down the pecking order for the first game proper next week. We're up against the Orthopaedic so it's going to be a tough start to the season.

On the plus side, I have it on good authority that our pacy left armer, Steve Daulby, has been visiting a gym and dieting during the winter months. Hopefully this will turn him into the lean, mean wicket-taking machine we need.

As for me, I've not picked up a cricket ball since last September so, if I do make the squad, the first ball is going to be interesting. And then there's the obligatory pulled muscles and bad back to look forward to...