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If the Cowfolk are doing it, this is where it’s at…

The End Of Summer

Posted by on Jul 30, 2012 in Results/Reports | 0 comments

Apparently the jet stream has moved again and it is going to start raining again. So is summer over already.

28/07/2012

The Saturday Team lost to Nailsea 3rds by 6 wickets (although it is more fair to say with one ball left). The full scorecard is here. The match repot is below.

29/07/2012

The Sunday 1st Team beat Harptree by 85 runs. The Cowboys hit 229 for 8 as RT2 hit 78 and Dunc hit 43. The foe were all out for 144 in 33.4 overs and Matt D bowled 6.4-1-11-4. The full scorecard is here.

The Sunday 2nd Team lost to Backwell Flax Bourton by 169 runs. BFB scored 263 for 4. Cod Peice bowled 8-1-20-1. The Cowboys were all out for 94 in 28 overs. The full scorecard is here.

Saturday’s Match Report

On arrival at Nailsea we walked from the car park to the pavilion and there in the cricket nets we saw what can only be described as a magnificent Adonis. A beautifully honed physique, an athletic frame, a confident gate. What manor of creature was this? He looked like he could bowl at a million miles an hour and loft sixes with ease. Was he the ultimate ringer forged in the fires of Uranus?

Putting these worries aside the pitch was inspected. It looked firm and flat and there was a stiff one coming straight across its middle. This pitch was not a Badger’s Arse, it was in fact the Stoat’s Bell End (to quote the popular and prophetic Somerset saying). Garnier held forth with a lecture on how drying pitches feel cold even if the air temperature is warm. The rest of the team, not wanting to look like clueless oafs, got down on all fours and fondled the pitch; it indeed felt cold.

Enter Green Gibbo. “Get off the fucking floor you all look like clueless oafs” he said. After his captains innings to bring his merry band home winners last week his chin was held a few degrees higher than normal and he was dressed with coinfidence a little further to the left than normal. “And now I will win the toss”, he announced before losing the toss and getting put into bat. “Bugger” said Green Gibbo, “That is me right out of tactical ideas”. With the Cowboys failing to prove a force with the bat this season bowling the foe out and then chasing a small target is Plan A. Plan B is to stick to Plan A. Getting put into bat had exhausted Green Gibbo’s tactical arsenal.

And so Grove and Green Gibbo strode manfully to the crease, or rather Green Gibbo glided in an ethereal manner and Grove minced rather. Both had a look at the opening bowling: the gentleman of mature years was skilfully drifting it in on the stiff one and the younger buck as wanging it down with gusto. Both batsmen kept one eye on the Adonis to see whether he had started to limber up yet, when the ball went in his direction in the field he certainly seemed to know what he was doing, the power of his bowling must be incredible.

Soon Grove departed after failing to move his feet to the rhythm of the younger gentleman bowler. The very next ball Iggy did exactly the same thing to a very similar ball and was rewarded with a golden duck, from which it took serious cosseting to revive him. Next Wilko was given out due to an “aberration” (see last week’s match report for details of what an “aberration” is and how they should be deployed), although it was apparent on his arrival back at the hutch he thought he had been given out caught behind having not hit it.

Big Nose Pete strode to the crease in a beaky fashion. Coor, what a proboscis! What a hooter! What a conk! In fact although adequate, Pete’s nose is nothing to write home about. As to why he is called Big Nose Pete you would have to ask Green Gibbo. Just as he was getting going the Snoutmeister was stumped for 12. We needed more runs in a hurry and with wickets in hand Angelo went in next and scored a spritely (if slightly consumptive) 27 before being bowled. We had slightly less wickets in hand after 3 were lost in 4 balls; Kahlu and TT getting ducks. Gretch was then run out for a further duck and although Garnier tried to run Green Gibbo out on the last ball the vengeful god of the Eastonites had carried his bat for 81 in another fine Captain’s innings. The Cowboys got  157 for 8 on what they had to admit was probably a 200 pitch.

So how was the Adonis’ bowling? Well, dear reader, he did not bowl. He simply looked chiselled and resplendent in the field for the full 40 overs.

The tea was a fantastic tea in the English Style and an inspiration to us all. Sandwiches made from proper sliced bread and not French sticks or baguettes if you are so inclined. They were of chicken and of tuna and of egg mayonnaise and all manner of proper fillings. There were synthetic cakes in the Sara Lee style. There were mini pasties! Oh, the revelation of a bite sized pasty; so rustic but so dainty. There was, however, definitely no sign of anything as controversial as eggy veg or a Welsh Frittata (which is a Welsh version of an Italian Spanish Omelette).

The Cowboys took to the field to defend their meagre target and the foe got off to a slow start. After Garnier got an early wicket the foe dug in with a more mature gentleman and a kid. Garnier finished on 24 for 1 off his 8 overs, RT1 bowled 23 for 1 off 7 and TT went for 23 off his 8 overs but did not get a wicket.

After having been stumped 1st ball while batting Kahlu also had an odd match bowling. In his first spell he bowled leg spin and was thumped for about 10 runs. Green Gibbo in his finite wisdom took him off. Later Green Gibbo asked him to come back and bowl fast, whereupon Kahlu had the foe in all sorts of bother and he was a little unlucky with streaky edges.

Iggy normally gets under the skin of the foe’s batsmen while fielding at slip, he doesn’t have to do much, he just stands there and gurns at them in the scouse style, occasionally saying “chicken” or “echinacea”. However, this week he needed to be cosseted for the second time in the afternoon as he failed to sledge the more mature gentleman, “He is just too nice” moaned an exasperated Iggy. There, there Iggy.

At drinks the Kid was told to go for it and was eventually caught on 95 by a fine catch from Garnier in the deep who kept his nerve as the ball swirled in the face of the stiff one. It had been a fine and steady innings of great composure… like we all wish we could play.

As Green Gibbo stepped up to bowl the last over the foe needed 6 to win (lets say for arguments sake… I can’t remember how many it was). On the third ball the foe reached 156 for 3 as the more mature gentleman was out for 41 having played a brave inning which consisted of one repeated shot which was a paddled fine of square on the off side: there was the defensive paddle and the slightly less defensive paddle complemented by the genuine edge. The manner of his dismissal was that the batter skied it, it was dropped and then not thrown in very quickly and then as the ball returned to the bowlers end and the foe attempted a third Gibbo ignored the run out at his end and hurled it at Gretch who ran the batsman out at his end. Had the catch been taken the runs would not have counted, however, with a run out on the third the two completed runs counted.

There were now three balls left and the foe needed 2 runs to win. Enter the Adonis. He strode to the crease like a prize fighter. He took his guard and settled into his stance in the most manful manner: legs wide apart, a high confident back lift, a steady head. He looked as though he could simply break wind from his magnificently toned buttocks and get the required two runs. Green Gibbo charged in and bowled him first ball. Now two were needed in two balls. A left hander came in and Green Gibbo charged in to dispatch a second in two balls but let it slip down leg and the foe clipped it for the required 2.

We had lost in a surprisingly low scoring match on a decent wicket. Our batting had not served up enough runs and the foe’s batsmen were allowed to dig in and take them home in a manner that resembled our batting performance last week.

Green Gibbo won man of the match for his bat carrying innings and Garnier’s fine catch won the Cider Moment.

Seconds Vrs. Bechington

Posted by on Jul 23, 2012 in Results/Reports | 0 comments

22/07/2012
it was a long way to go…it was very hot, the skies were clear the sun beat down. from moaning about the frigging or do i mean fucking? weather for months, at the first opportunity i moved the scorers bench into the shade.
after a certain amount of consultation it was decided that batting first gave us a chance to post a score, keep out of the sun and avoid staring down the barrel of 300 runs.
safari so good. we even won the toss, and then the journey began, or to be more exact, the brief outing.  no pun intended.
they bowled we batted, dave and stevo opened, steve having made himself available by being on holiday near the ground and on his way home.
as openers and indeed as any batsman, it is said you wait for the bad ball, punish it then wait for the next one.
there weren’t many, the ones there were were wides…yet again we faced talented kids, accurate talented bloody kids.  it was hard to get the ball away, there were a couple of streaky boundaries, extras and snatched singles, they played themselves in watching every ball. every one seemingly not only to have the batsman’s name on it but the entire batting order.  our honesty as umpires is admirable, excluding last week perhaps, and steve was given lbw on 4, after looking like he was set for a while.  it looked out and there wasn’t much debate from the sidelines.
dave littleton hit a stunning on drive, shot of our innings. 4 runs..he looked set, settled, in and confident. then chased a wide one and edged to the keeper.
the brave, unstoppable, apparently injured angelo bravely unstoppably and showing no sign of pain went in at three.
from there we proceeded to 85 all out.
i felt guilty at tea, we needed more runs.
it was a good tea, the french stick thing is catching on.
i wish we had had the weather for nets and game time this season, attitude, application, team spirit is fantastic. timidity and lack of practice a pain in the ass.
saturday or sunday, don’t matter, there is a core of fun, effort, friendship and collectivity in the twos at the mo and with a dry season we can go places, set new standards and enjoy ourselves.
it’s getting like scooby doo, we might have got away with it, but for those meddling kids.
SO TO THE POSITIVES…
there were some.. i should have mentioned this last week when dylan otterbeck, son of jeff played as a cowperson in what i think might have been his first league game at the tender age of 14? is this right jeff?
this week due to circumstances i really can’t be fucked to go into, we only had ten players…slightly better than the 9 it looked like at one point….
up steps lauren, nellie’s 13 year old daughter, a rounders player of some repute, her school team having just made the national finals…an arm to shame some of us, including me and an attitude to match.
STATO’S, lauren has joined a select group, by my pigeon reckoning, she is one of 7, 8 ? females to have played cricket for us and almost certainly the youngest…hail to our great club.
what else, contributions welcome please…….
oh yeah, they knocked it off in 13 overs, again, no pun intended.
nice pub afterwards, nice drive home…has anyone noticed since road speed has become so restrictive that dc2 always gets to where we are going within 10 minutes of everyone else….? can you imagine the advert………”and that’s why he’s alive today”.
bollocks, i usually finish with a quote or a paraphrase…
 can’t think of any this week, never mind. that’s what i get for being a tawt.
tinx
(continued on page 94)

CACKK At Skullduggery

Posted by on Jul 22, 2012 in 2012 Tournament | 0 comments

CACKK are organising some activities for kids at the tournament. Please do get involved or think of things you could bring to make this area more exciting (outdoor and indoor games, things to do, dressing up clothes, instruments, piratey activities etc).

If you want to run a game or an activity please do!

Or if you can help during the weekend please do! Facepainters and people to run activities and games needed. We also need donations of unwanted kids dressing up for our treasure chest!

Just email Sue on sue.mennear@gmail.com to tell her your plan or PLEASE come to our next CaCKK meeting thursday 2nd August 7.30pm Duke of York pub, St Werburghs upstairs.

So far we have planned….

  • activities with a skullduggery piratey theme
  • dedicated camping area for families
  • footie tournament (for younger and older kids)
  • games – netball shooting, its a knockout, table football
  • flag making, mural painting and arty crafty stuff
  • dance workshops
  • treasure hunt
  • soft play area for younger kids (CACKK in nappies)

Photo From Facebook

Posted by on Jul 22, 2012 in Tours/Tournaments | 0 comments

The Easton cowgirls team at the donegal Celtic anti racist world cup- with some extra special recruits from fc united.

The Cowboys Ride Again

Posted by on Jul 22, 2012 in Results/Reports | 0 comments

21/07/2012

The Saturday Team beat Churchways by 2 wickets. The full scorecard is here.

Ah, Child! Let me tell you of a time when the Cowboys played the away fixture against Churchways, way back before the great flood. The Cowboys were 51 for 5 at drinks and limped to 122. The foe then went out and waved the bat with great flamboyance and gay abandon but in the end they self-destructed and the Cowboys narrowly won the day.

After a run of 6 games which were given to the weather, what is this large shining orb in the sky? What is this strangely pleasant warming sensation on the skin? What incantations had been said to appease Great Green Gibbo? What sacrifices had been made on the alter at The Promised Plough? It wasn’t virgins that is for certain.

Well, it may have been sunny but there was still a badger’s arse where the pitch should have been. Although there had been no rain since Wednesday the Winford pitch was still very soft and beginning to steam in the tropical style. This meant that Great Greeb Gibbo had to win the toss and put the foe into bat which is surprisingly exactly what happened.

Just as the Cowboys had done in the away fixture the foe’s top and middle order self-destructed, faltering to 63 off 7 and then 83 for 9. Garnier was swinging away up the hill and Budge charging down it. Budge struggled a bit with the accumulated cobwebs of the last 6 weeks visibly blowing in the wind. Garnier fared better with 2 wickets and when TT replaced Budge coming down the hill he bowled an incredible 8 overs, 4 maidens, 3 wickets for just 5 runs.

Iggy contributed two stunning slip catches and Angelo, Grove, Toole and Preece held onto more or less regulation catches. The foe’s batsmen did display an odd generosity in that they showed exactly where they were going to provide a catch the ball before they were out. On a pitch where it was proving difficult to get it away the temptation was to hit one and then try and hit the next one harder, lofting it slightly and getting caught.

At drinks Angelo was sent into dry dock for a refit and emerged back onto the field with wicket keeping pads straining at the seams on his trousers and a helmet. The foe’s batsman looked perplexed as Robo Cop moved into position 3 inches from the bat and proceeded to smoke a cigarette from somewhere out of view under his helmet. A few balls later the batsman hammered a short one from Kahlu straight at Angelo’s head but luckily, with a puff of smoke, he took evasive action. The next over Kahlu decided to give up spin and switched to pace, however he didn’t tell anyone and a confused Gibbo hurriedly rearranged the field for the second ball of the over.

This was not the only thing taxing Gibbo’s meagre brain and as the Sun desiccated what little resides in his head he seemed to give up trying to count the overs. Instead he randomly called bowling changes as the scorers waved their arms franticly to indicate that his choices were already bowled out.

The foe put on an epic last wicket stand of 29 which ended in the last over with a run out. They had managed to reach 112 aided by a dropped catch and the fact that LBWs seemed to be proving problematic; or the foe’s umpires were failing to have “aberrations”.

Tea was all a bit foreign with baguettes again and a Spanish omelette which the effete were calling a tortilla.  Any sane person would have just called it eggy veg but there is a disturbing level of pretention in the Saturday team. Even one of our spectators (RT2) turned up with a really thick book which nobody saw him open all day. Ooo, like everyone was so impressed. For Gibbo’s sake man, you have come to watch the exciting spectacle that is cricket! Not prance around like a mobile library.

It was with no small amount of terror that Grove and Preece strode manfully to the crease, or at least Preece swaggered in the Shrewsbury style and Grove minced rather. Would they be able to remember how to bat? Would they keep RT2 from his tome? Would the Foe’s decision to have a new ball for both innings make any difference?

Nobody quite knows how Preece managed to get out; he seemed to execute a perfectly decent forward defensive on his first ball and somehow managed to play on. So it was that Great Green Gibbo arrived omnipotently at the crease decreeing “we shall get there in the 39th over” and that Grove should bat like an Amish: that is without style or finesse and certainly without enjoyment. Plain, very plain. Very very plain. Very very very plain. 34 balls later Grove managed to get off the mark and as the crowd went wild Gibbo almost ran him out going for a second. Even with RT2 threatening to open his book and start pretending he can read Gibbo told Grove to keep Amish. In the 16th over Grove snapped and said, “I can’t take any more”. Three balls later Grove was bowled swinging at a straight one that didn’t get up much; he had scored 3 off 54 balls (which according to the League website was a highlight).

Tall Toole then strode to the crease and hit the first ball he faced for 4. “Fancy arsed Tawt”, Grove was heard to mutter under his breath as the foe tittered. The innings trundled on as everyone wilted under the unaccustomed heat and RT2 used his enormous unread tome to provide enough shade for ten people. The pitch started drying out and as it did so the bounce began to disappear and scoring runs became no easier. Even so all was going swimmingly, or at least treading water, until Grove went out to Umpire in the 27th over and gave Toole out LBW in what was described later by the Fines Führer (Garnier) as an “aberration”. Aberration or not this precipitated a collapse of the middle order with Iggy (apparently out to another “aberration” but this time not Grove’s), Angelo and Gretch getting ducks and TT and Kahlu sharing 8 runs.

With 5 overs to go, having given two batsmen out and getting moaned at by the foe for giving wides Grove snapped for the second time in the afternoon and ran away leaving Angelo (who was nursing a suspected broken thumb) to see the match out as umpire. It looked as though the Cowboys had blown it, needing 20 odd off the last 4 and then 6 off the last over; the ball was still proving almost impossible to get away… But what is this? The Foe seems to have miscounted and a new bowler is having to bowl the last over. Gibbo smashed the first ball for a four then hit a single. Garnier, wondering what all the fuss was about and smelling beer hoicked the 3rd ball over the field for 4 runs and it was all over. “Fancy arsed Tawt”, Grove was heard to mutter for a second time in the afternoon.

So it was that Great Green Gibbo’s prophecy was wrong because the Cowboys got the runs in the 40th over and not the 39th. He did hit an unbeaten 36 off 122 balls though and won man of the match, although the extras had top scored in both innings so perhaps they should have won. Iggy’s catching and Garnier’s winning 4 shared the cider moment.

As the sun set and the Cowboys supped beer from the plastic cup at Winford for the last time this season Garnier sneakily nicked RT2’s massive novel, put some ham that was left over from tea between its pages and scoffed it.

Lions

Posted by on Jul 20, 2012 in Results/Reports | 0 comments

15/07/2012
The full scorecard is here but apparently the match is still in progress.
sunday sunday so good for me….
and, lo and bloody behold it lived up to it’s moniker and was a belter.
time for a game of cricket, which i was beginning to think was a winter sport or even a water sport.
time to play the league leaders, bristol lions, a team full of sri lankans.
i decided to field if we won the toss. i lost the toss and their captain said they would bat so quickly it was almost insulting.
it didn’t matter though, to have any chance in the game we had to bat second and try to restrict the lions to an attainable score.
things started well, really well. our reliable vice captain dave littleton opened one end and upcoming allrounder alfie had the other one.
we didn’t roll the wicket and the first couple of overs suggested that the wicket was still asleep.  then the bowlers found their length
and all sorts of things started to happen.
wickets began to fall, spirits began to rise, we fielded extremely well, the best i have seen from a second team for years. things were going our way.
at drinks we had them 70 something for 5 and looking vulnerable…could we get them out for 120? i think we believed we could and i know we
deserved to be in that position………….
then came the only dark cloud in an otherwise beautiful day.
in the shape of the lions captain, who came out to umpire as we began to turn the screw.
i hesitate to use the c word, not the one that rhymes with punt, the one that rhymes with feet. i still hesitate and after time for reflection i can view
his behaviour as a compliment but nonetheless the game changed from that point.
nonexistent no balls, mobile ringing whilst the bowler is running in, i could go on.  but i wont, well maybe a little bit.
i believe he gave his batsmen instructions to hit out across the line with no fear of lbw, as he was stump umpire when the square leg boundary
was 35 yards away this allowed the batsmen to amass what became 230 for 9 after 40. as i say it really is a compliment to our efforts
and an indication of what some people will do to win a game of cricket.
the rest of the lions were lovely, friendly and noisy, but their captain is a punt.
and so to tea…
the tea competition has been an equal victim in this sodding sodden season so marks out of 10 don’t come into it and it has to be judged
alone…it was a good tea, a very good tea….
then it was our turn to bat….and umpire…..we were all out for 120 in 36…bristol lions are good cricketers, destined i think to storm each division
in succession. they bowled brilliantly, our lack of practice showed and our general feeling towards lbw’s and wide’s mirrored the lions.
i hope we made our point, in a different game they would have had more decisions go their way and probably a lot less extras in the score book.
man of the match went to dave, looked like carrying his bat for a while, held up one end as we resorted to type at the other and bowled his vegan socks off.
8 overs 3 wickets 18 runs, it is a shame the weather has got in the way of his form this year.
BUT,… we played 80 overs of cricket for the first time in weeks, the team spirit is fantastic, the bar was open!!, the sun was out.
so fuck the politics and result, it was a good day.
that all folks

Tourament Meeting

Posted by on Jul 20, 2012 in 2012 Tournament | 0 comments

Another tournament meeting.

 

The Odd Case Of Cricket In The Rain

Posted by on Jul 16, 2012 in Results/Reports | 0 comments

The Saturday Team were rained off again making it 6 lost to the rain on the trot and 7 in total. All of the games in Saturday Div. 3 were cancelled as well, apart from the odd case of Harptree Vrs Avonside which was awarded as a walk over to Avonside because:

“Harptree unable to fulfil the fixture because of bereavement.”

This means that the Cowboys and Stanton Drew have closed the gap and are joint leaders on 32 point with the unfortunate (and it appears very honest) Harptree.

The Sunday 1st Team lost to Stother & Pitt. The Cowboys batted first and hit 153 all out of 39.2 overs. The foe knocked the runs off in 35.1 overs for the loss of 7 wickets.

The Sunday 2nd Team also played but the result has not yet reached this parish.

Nothing Ever Changes

Posted by on Jul 13, 2012 in Club News | 0 comments

This cartoon was published in The Bristol Magpie in July 1891. It was found in the nether regions of Bristol Central Reference Library.

Floodlit Cricket

Posted by on Jul 9, 2012 in Tours/Tournaments | 0 comments

We are planning to send a team to this. If you are interested  in going contact Uberpops or the webgimp.