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If the Cowfolk are doing it, this is where it’s at…
Three Balls
24/07/2011
The Friendly Team beat Frenchay again.
Midsomer Norton 3rd XI v Easton Cowboys Saturday XI
As your correspondent left the house on Saturday morning, Geoff Boycott was on the radio wittering on about how cricketers have their favourite grounds where they always seems to perform well – hokum, hogwash and superstition of course, yet it was hard to forget having scored a maiden fifty at Midsomer Norton last summer, as we crawled along in the traffic jam out of the city on another Mendip jaunt.
Joe won the toss on a muggy, overcast afternoon and opened the bowling, more panther than rabbit in his smooth approach and delivery, yet still wicketless after his opening salvo. RobT hopped in from the other end, on the button from the start, making the opposition work for every run.
Disappointingly, despite good efforts, four catches went down in the first ten overs and although the score was well pegged back, the opening batsmen prevailed until Rob made the breakthrough, trapping one of the openers LBW.
There followed a sixty run partnership for the second wicket and although the run rate seldom got above three an over, with wickets in hand, the opposition had built a foundation for a solid total.
Ev replaced Joe from one end and kept things remarkably tight while RobT bowled out his eight overs and gave the ball to Garner, who finally got the second wicket a few overs after the drinks break by bowling the No.3 batsman. Your correspondent replaced Ev and struggled to stop the runs leaking until a straight one kept low and he bowled the remaining opening batsman.
Shortly afterwards, the captain was heard to tell your correspondent that he was going to pull him off and in the shadow of a double entendre he took the ball for another spell. It was round about now that the batsman smashed the ball hard at Ev, whose hands only served to funnel the ball into his groin. As he regained his composure, the umpire enquired whether there was one ball left and another Cider Moment was born.
In his final over, Garner clean bowled another batsman to have the opposition foundation a bit cracked at 96-4 with eight overs remaining. Your correspondent returned for a spell from the other end and as Midsomer Norton hit out, Ev reached high for the sky and plucked down a ball that was destined for the boundary with his Inspector Gadget, Cider Moment nominated hand. Their skipper was the next to go, bowled by a fuller ball, but then as Ev returned for a spell from the other end and tied the batsmen down, the tail wagged and thrashed a little, taking eleven runs from your correspondent’s penultimate over, for which there would be retribution, once Ev had taken a wicket in his final over to put the score on 125-7.
Hands up who likes bowling the last over of an innings? They’re usually a bit of a challenge and sometimes quite eventful. The third ball of the over was mishit (if you read the word another way, it’s still quite accurate) and Grover, blinded by the sun, miraculously clapped hands when the ball arrived in them: 133-8. The batsmen had crossed, the one now on strike had only previously played one scoring shot, hitting Ev for six. He got a thick ballooning edge on the next ball, which looped in Iggy’s proximity at slip and as the bowler barked and beseeched, Ian duly obliged and took a great catch at full stretch.
The guttural bovine celebrations for a five wicket haul were met with both incredulity and congratulations, somewhat overshadowing the arrival of the diminutive last man at the crease and another little matter. The field came in but it hadn’t dawned on most, including the bowler, what special opportunity that the next ball presented, but when it passed the bat and hit the stumps someone was alert enough to notice that it was not only the end of the innings but a hat-trick.
Besides the accuracy of all the bowlers and Gretch’s blemishless record behind the stumps, the long grass in the outfield had taken the momentum out of the ball and restricted the runs considerably. 134 was an achievable target, but only if a few batsmen were prepared to stick around or go over the top.
Back at the main clubhouse, next to the picture perfect wicket, the tea table groaned under the weight of all manner of fayre. Some were too thirsty to wait for the tea to brew for long enough, others got absorbed in the Test match on the telly.
Ev and Grover opened up, safely negotiating half a dozen overs of tidy bowling from left armers until umpire RobT was convinced that Ev had snicked a ball that he hadn’t and upheld the hopeful appeal. The score crept along slowly, assisted from the outset by a smattering of wides. The long grass was no help to BenP who often played fine shots for little or no reward. When he eventually tried going over the top of mid-on the fielder made a good backwards tumbling catch: After twenty overs, the score of 53 was identical to the opposition’s at the same stage, for the loss of one more wicket.
Alan got his heed down well and tore up and down the wicket, taking Grover along for the ride and making him dive for the line. They both occupied the crease, nudged the score along and sent fielders chasing until Grover was bowled for a valuable 27 and Alan was executed in a similar manner in the bowler’s following over: 74-4 in the 28th over, sixty runs to get in twelve overs.
Enter first Iggy, then Kalu. With that much power under the bonnet, would something blow? The pair exercised restraint, surviving a few near misses and initially making do with singles and well run twos. The required run rate still hovered at around five an over, with eight overs to go and five remaining batsmen not at all sure whether they’d be called upon.
On reaching double figures, Kalu had played in the long grass for long enough and went aerial, clearing the boundary ropes for maximum points. Iggy found the boundary too, missed the fielders and struck powerful blows to silence the home supporters. The previously economical opening bowlers returned to have their figures spoilt, Kalu lofting a seemingly effortless six over long-on, which later earned him Cider Moment nominations, scattering the field to make more singles and twos possible.
The 36th over went for ten runs and it was all over, the glory and crowning moment only slightly spoilt by an elderly gentleman driving his car straight through the victorious batsmen and other cricketers as they attempted to leave the field of play.
Kalu rightly received Man of the Match nominations for his accelerated approach, scoring 36 not out from 26 balls and joining Iggy for a sixty run partnership in less than eight overs, but some chancer who got a hat-trick he didn’t know about, six wickets and a fine for exceeding four runs per over ran away with the Man of the Match award at Midsomer Norton for the second year in a row. What was Boycott saying?
I have to add that I think TT has been a little too kind to Ev regarding his dropped catch. Basically Ev missed a straight forward catch at waist height that left him pole-axed on the floor clutching at Baggy Cerise in agony for about 10 minutes. With a hat-trick from TT and two magnificent sixes from Kahlu the magnitude of this incident can be gauged by the fact that it won the Cider Moment.
25/07/2011
The Sunday 1st Team lost to Bear Flat by 4 wickets. The only match report that has been files goes thus:
Bear Flat won the toss, game over.
They went back to The Plough for flat beer. For more information the scorecard is here.
The Sunday 2nd Team lost to Peasdown St John by 140 runs. Nothing has been written about this but you can see the scorecard here.
Freiburg
This was posted by Dave on the Messageboard:
The Cowboys reached the Semis in Freiburg… all two of us playing as Kampvende Cowboys International FC. Was a great tournament – the best I’ve been to to date. They are struggling for teams to visit there, so maybe a few teams could enter from this neck of the woods next year… x
Netball Players Wanted
Netball Wanted Poster
Rain
13/07/2011
One game this week managed to escape the rain. Salt Senior reports thus:
Wrington on wednesday night. Having won the toss and against all advices elected to bat first Capn Bri was getting distinctly worried after 7 overs with the score on 18, however in strode our latest star in the shape of Sean who doubled the score in one over! (“Bit rusty hav’nt played for 7 years”) Rob Taylor , Angelo and Ben Salt in his comeback game, all made good contributions to a total of 121.
Taking to the field with the light not at its best our bowlers tore into the opposition with wayne on fire both catching and bowling, Debut cowboy wickets were taken by Matt (3) and Sean leaving the opposition stranded 30 odd runs short after 20 overs. Apologies if I have left any one out, but I dont have the score book. We look forward to next Saturday when Frenchay want their revenge and not forgetting August 6th when Corscombe will visit.
Both the Saturday’s and Sunday 1st’s games were rained off. The Sunday 2ns’s did not have a game.
Rogue’s Gallery
Here are some photos from recent weeks:
Punky In Italy
The Suday 2nd Team
More photos from this match against Temple Cloud can be found here.
Finally here are a few from the CACKK weekend.
Results From The Home Front And The Italian Campaign
Brendan has reported thus from Italy:
Easton Cowboys reached the last 12 at Mondiali Antirazzisti, beating gringos 3-2, and Azerbaijan on penalties, before narrowly losing out to Amici di Pablo. Amazing tournamant, brilliant atmosphere. Smashed it! 🙂
09/07/2011
The Saturday Team lost to Stanton Drew 1st by 14 runs:
On a hillside amongst the patchwork Mendips, in view of the Iron Age hillfort Maes Knoll, the sweet smell of mown grass and clover in the air, the Cowboys took on Stanton Drew. The covers hadn’t been on the night before, apparently for fear of them blowing away, but despite the earlier deluge the pitch was playable.
As the Cowboys got it together, almost all of them showing some enthusiasm for warming up and fielding practice, the opposition captain rode up and down the wicket on a heavy roller, then over-egged the pudding a bit by trying to suggest to Budge that it was a batting wicket. Having won the toss, Joe was having none of it and gave the new ball to his bowlers – well, himself, downhill, with the wind behind him. Garner was left to take off uphill. (more…)
Some Closer Than Others
02/07/2011
The Saturday Team beat Bath IV XI. TT reports thus:
Mixed fortunes on the field for the three Cowboy league teams this weekend, with a crushing defeat, a last ball thriller and a wobbly victory. The Saturday XI travelled to Winford for their home (?) game against Bath 4th XI, some preparing for the match by lying under the trees in the shade while the Bath contingent took over the square and performed their well-drilled exercise routines.
Captain Budge nonchalantly shrugged off losing the toss, possibly because the opposition chose to bat first on a warm and muggy afternoon with a lot of cloud cover. Still, those short boundaries at Winford do look appetising.
The leporine captain sprang down the hill and found most of the things that a bowler likes to find, like pace and bounce and swing, but despite keeping it tight, a wicket eluded him. RobT came up the hill from the flightpath end and kept the pressure on, once the autopilot was engaged, but the breakthrough wouldn’t come.
The 2G combination of Grove and Gibbons struck first, if memory serves, but it doesn’t and it’s all a bit of a blur (others promised to help tell the story) but suffice to say, all-rounder on fire Ev’s introduction into the attack tugged the zip up further on the Bath innings until something was going to burst.
(more…)
Friendly Information
Chas writes on the messageboard:
It’s the local derby to end all local derbies. Yes at the bristol casuals league agm yesterday the draw was made for the casuals league cup 1st round as follows: ultra casual cowboys v Easton Cowboys. Yes your favourite 2 lots of old footballing men will be playing with each other some time soonish (september?). Wembley are interested in hosting (sod them). the coppers are suggesting the game to be played behing closed doors to avoid any crowd trouble. Watch this space.
Brian would also like to point out that I got the wrong venue for the Cricket friendly against Bristol West Indies. It will in fact be at Winford on Sunday 9th July. If you would like to play give Brian a ring on 07990875791.
Patiently Watching
There are two cricket matches happening locally which may be worth watching if the weather is nice.
The Cup Team will be playing a knock out 20/20 on Thursday 30th June at Oldbury Court starting at 6:15.
On Saturday 9th July the Friendly XI will take on the might of Bristol west Indies at The Rose Green Centre on Gordon Road in Whitehall. The bar will be open and there might even be some beer if you are lucky.
A Gap In The Clouds
22/06/2011
The Cup Team beat The Old England by 5 wickets. Jeff “The Fertile Plumber” reports thus.
It has been a while since The Easton Cowboys C C played The Old England/Bristol Sikhs in a competitive match, so Wednesdays rescheduled Butcombe Shield T20 at Harptree was a rare chance to gain serious bragging rights over our beloved long standing rivals from Montpelier. Many of the cricket team have been denied playing in recent weeks due to cancellations, so driving toward the Mendips on a sunny June evening promised anticipation and delight in equal measures.
Cowboys skipper Justin won the toss and opted to bowl on a fairly soft spongy wicket and may have been questioning his own decision slightly as Old E openers Josh Ward & Ferdy Brown got off to a flying start, filling their boots with boundaries as the ball stuck in the pitch a sat up nicely to be dispatched off the front foot. Some shoddy fielding and slight bafflement as to exactly how to effectively bowl (and in my case Keep Wicket) on the pudding pitch were letting the opposition start to run away with it and although Ev came on and tightened things up and Aran (Iggy’s Mate) bowled Ward with a peach, the first quarter of the match belonged to Old E. Their number 3 came in and carried on where the opener left off, but the fielding was improving, Justin was bravery itself fielding at silly mid-off had introduced Kahlu to the attack. (more…)