2013 Fixtures – With Skippers

After what seems like ages, the season is nearly upon us.  We have fixtures and the fixtures have skippers:

	Opposition	H/A	Location	Start Time	Skipper
12-May	Findon	A	Findon	2pm	AE
19-May	Lewes St Michaels	A	Convent Field	2pm	RS
09-Jun	St Peters	A	Preston Park	1:30pm	RT
16-Jun	Crawley Down	A	Crawley Down	2pm	RN
30-Jun	Palmers	A	Hove Rec	2pm	RS
07-Jul	Rodmell	A	Rodmell	2pm	FR
14-Jul	Ditchling	A	Ditchling	2pm	NCh
25-Jul	Smarden – Kent	A	Kent Tour – T20	6pm	TBD
26-Jul	Elham Valley – Kent	A	Kent Tour	2.30pm	TBD
27-Jul	Little Chart – Kent	A	Kent Tour	1pm	TBD
01-Sep	Long Men	A	Selmeston	2pm	DA
08-Sep	Watersfield	A	Watersfield	1.30pm	FR
29-Sep	T&WCC	A	Twineham	1pm	AE

Let joy be unconfined.

A&E

Brighton Beamers Cricket Club – Fixtures 2013

As soft spring breezes gently caress the warm blissful South, our thoughts naturally turn to the season to come.  Which – for those who didn’t read their emails a couple of months ago – consists of the following delights:

12-May Findon  2pm
19-May Lewes St Michaels 2pm
09-Jun St Peters 1:30pm
16-Jun Crawley Down 2pm
30-Jun Palmers  2pm
07-Jul Rodmell 2pm
14-Jul Ditchling 2pm
25-Jul Smarden – Kent Tour – T20 6pm
26-Jul Elham Valley – Kent Tour 2.30pm
27-Jul Little Chart – Kent Tour 1pm
01-Sep Long Men (Selmeston) 2pm
08-Sep Watersfield 2pm
29-Sep Twineham & Wineham 1pm

All of these games are away.

A&E

Age and Cunning Triumphs Over Youth and Skill

It was an interesting ploy by the Findon selectors, fielding an almost entirely youthful side against the usual bunch of Beamer crocks and hangovers; particularly interesting on such a beautifully hot and sunny day.  “Run ‘em ragged”, I’m sure was the cry as their skipper won the toss and invited us to spend two and a half hours in the baking heat.

From the moment he picked Rob and I up and mentioned that he had a, “Well, it’s as bad as a Tour one, to be honest”, to the time he threw up shortly before the start of play, it was obvious that Siddo was just the man to take the new ball, which he did, partnering the red-eyed Tonguester in a hungover pairing from hell.  After some time “focussing” and an early torrent of runs, the incision came, with Tonguester removing two in two balls (including their very handy skipper and opening bat) and Siddo dispatching the other opener, who had lived something of a charmed life before playing across the line once too often.

Things become a little blurred at this stage, as I was feeling rather hot and needed to concentrate on bowling and fielding changes rather than the match report… I think they then put on quite a few for the fourth wicket and got up to around 140, with Rob Nic bowling dry but not really threatening, and with Riggers – in between being punched through the covers, past a cowering Maf and down the hill – inducing a couple of false shots every over but with nothing more than runs resulting.   At this stage, with an hour still to go before tea, Age and Cunning were already considering the Harvey’s in the clubhouse, while Youth and Skill were revving up for a night on the alcopops…

What we really needed to get back in it was an ill-judged run, a brilliant stop but wild throw by Ben and a great piece of keeping by Pete to drag the ball back onto the stumps.  Age! Cunning! Howzat?!

Going up the gears in the approved fashion, we moved smoothly to an all spin attack.  3 wickets for Riggers – a fine result following those early near misses – a couple for Beast – returning to the Beamers’ loving embrace in splendid style – and one for me (crap ball, shit shot, good catch by Ben, since you’re wondering).  All out for 171.  All out, what’s more, with 25 minutes to spare.

Tea dispatched with the same alacrity as we’d cut down the youth of Findon, the top order decided by the simple technique of perming the four who hadn’t bowled or kept wicket, we settled down to see whether Ben was ever going to find any form with the bat.

Turned out his batting form was just fine.  In fact, I suspect that, if he hadn’t played 18 holes of golf in the morning, he’d still be out there.  As it was, his innings was in three parts – a typically entertaining start, Maf partnering him and both hitting some crunching boundaries, a period of exhausted agony as he crawled to 50 and beyond in partnership with Dave – who played well for his 18 before becoming victim to a somewhat controversial lbw decision – and then a late flurry before a tired shot saw his downfall for 78*.

The back of the chase broken, Nick and Riggers at the crease, just over 40 to get and 20 overs to get them in. Not a problem, surely?  And yet, it all became rather tricky as the runs started to dry up.  The energetic and enthusiastic Findon – with their young skipper Harry to the fore – continued to put the pressure on and the overs ticked by with the scoreboard barely moving (although the rate required – to be fair – never got over 3). A couple of wickets could have made it interesting.  They got one – Nick bowled by a beauty which cut back in down the hill – but Tonguester came out to inject a bit of urgency and he and Riggers took us safely home.

Beamers win by 6 wickets with a couple of overs to spare.

A&E

*He shot 78 in the morning too.  Whatever that means…