1st XI match report 24th June v Radcliffe on Trent at GLA
Another sound Calverton performance brought a maximum 20 points following a solid "truncheoning" of newly promoted Radcliffe on Trent at the GLA. Following last weeks "toss losing" debacle at Attenborough, our chief wee man thrashed Radcliffe's skipper in a game of flippy-coin and elected to bat first.
In the absence of the late Pete Crawley (not that he's dead, he just arrived at the ground later than required), DFD opened the innings with the returning (from 10 days of questionable hedonism in Spain) Picko. DFD and Picko added 58 in the first nine overs before the former was caught pulling to square leg for 21.At the time of Dave's dismissal it was looking as if Radcliffe's bowlers were going to experience the same suffering as that of Ellerslie's on the 10th , but with the added dubious bonus of having to bowl at a madman at BOTH ends.
Sadly, this was to be a short flight of fantasy as DFD's pull to square leg was far too girly in it's execution and we were left with just one member of the McBonkers clan at the wicket. Picko at this point was beginning to look very ominous, but he was joined by Creepy who wasn't looking very ominous at all as he contributed 6 in a second wicket partnership of 35 before being caught behind, attempting to repeat the shot he had just been dropped off (by the keeper) shortly before. Picko looked as if he was set for another huge score before he was cunningly snared by a slow wide long-hop outside off stump which he girlied to cover point.
Derek finished just 3 shy of a hundred but in the context of current form, this can only be seen as a failure and captain Scott of the Shire was so outraged he very nearly said something about something or other under his breath to himself.
The author went in to bat confident in the knowledge that he had a reasonably good chance of not being run out this week, given that his brooding nemesis was not waiting for him at the non-strikers end with the faint aroma of red-ink teasing his every sense.
Captain Scott of the Shire shared a 32 run partnership in quick time with the author for the 4th wicket before slapping a far more testosterone fuelled pull to square leg for 25. Author was then guilty of handbagging one to the mid-on boundary for 27.
Jabba smote a lusty blow or two before adding to the growing list of girly shot dismissals by holing out to midwicket for 11.
The pectoraly enhanced Richard Lee shared an excellent 7th wicket stand of 46 with the streaky haired one with a mixture of cultured and intelligent strokeplay and good old fashioned Calvo "biff", Pectoral finishing on a very well crafted 33* and the Streaky one (fledgling biffer in the making) dismissed on 28 one ball from the end of the innings...innings closed on a satisfying 264-7 .
Following a coronary inducing tea provided by Jabba, the Radcliffe openers attempted to get off to a positive start but were pegged back by some excellent bowling by the Streaky one and one-time body hair dysmorphic Tim Haines. Both bowlers beat the bat repeatedly and picked up wickets at regular intervals with proper "grown-up" pieces of cricket, including edges to the keeper off defensive shots and even an edge to slip that was not only caught, but the slip fielder (DFD) even bent down to catch it!!. Tim was slightly less than impressed when a half hit pull to deep square was grassed by Pete Crawley, as the ball left the bat and looped gently toward the fielder formerly known as "buckets", Creepys arms and legs appeared to go into spasms of involuntary and frenzied jerks and flaps, as if his jockstrap had been suddenly wired into the national grid as the ball drifted softly in his direction. However, the ball did manage to hit him, and four runs were bravely saved......
At the end of Streaky's excellent spell, Captain Scott of the Shire decided that he needed someone to "take the pace off the ball".....and if ever the pace needs taking off anything there is only one candidate. Pete Crawley came on from the top end and bowled an extremely well controlled spell with a good deal of variation, Pete even managed to bowl some of the slowest deliveries ever witnessed whilst having to endure barely stifled laughter from both mid-off and extra cover as he ran up. Pete's figures of 13-3-2-44 didn't actually do him justice because he drowned some of his pies in exorbitant amounts of gravy to get the wickets needed for victory.
It has been unfairly suggested that Ian Wright dropped 8 catches at short leg, but having a full blooded pull crashed over your right shoulder does not constitute a chance in my book so I think it is much fairer to report that there was perhaps one very difficult half chance that went Ian's way.
All in all, Calverton bowled and fielded superbly with Tim Haines returning figures of 16-4-4-42 and Matt Wright 7-2-3-21 doing the "seam " damage. Ian Wright was allowed to take his helmet off just long enough to finish the innings with a classic off spinners delivery (through the gate) to end the game 4-0-1-14, as Radcliffe were dismissed for 131.
Man Of The Match: Derek "Streaky" Haines.
2nd XI produce backs to the wall Victory
A depleted 2nd XI made the short trip to Hucknall and gained revenge for a narrow defeat by the same side at GLA earlier in the season by beating rivals Hucknall II by 42 runs. Captain Miller won the toss on and elected to bat first. We didn't get off to the best off starts to our innings as we were reduced to 67-6 after 25 overs. But thanks to a excellent partnership of 78 from Chris Miller (84 not out) and Matt Rankin (31) the innings was rescued and we posted a testing target for Hucknall to chase of 183 from 45 overs. A special mention goes to Terry Lee who contributed a vital 11 runs towards the end of our innings. Hucknall were off to a stuttering start in their run chase as Alex 'Twiggy' Woodward held on to a stunning catch at mid-off to remove opener Caudwell off the bowling of Dickon Perry. Wickets fell at regular intervals thanks to some excellent bowling from Dickon Perry (3-24) and Jarrod Bell (4-29). Highlight of the afternoon was the introduction of Andy Hubbard into the bowling attack, mainly due to thumb injury sustained to Matt Rankin whilst batting, which meant he couldn't return for a second spell with the ball. Andy produced a fine spell of off-spin bowling, with the odd 'Doosra' thrown in for good measure in order to claim figures of 2-28, a fine effort considering it was his first bowl for six years. An excellent all-round team performance in a game that included six L.B.W decisions, secured a vital 20 points and a fourth win of the campaign. Full Match details can be found on the fixtures/results page.
Hodgo follows in Rooney's footsteps...
The dreaded broken metatarsal curse has now struck Calverton CC. With all the talk of Wayne Rooney's injury now seemingly dying down, Tom Hodgkinson is now in the limelight as he currently has his foot in plaster after a freak injury involving a sightscreen at Attenborough on Saturday. 'I was run over by a sightscreen' said Tom, in an exclusive interview with calvertoncc.co.uk. Tom now faces upto 8 weeks on the sidelines after what seemed a straight forward task of moving a sightscreen in between overs during the 1st XI's winning-draw at Attenborough. Best Wishes come from all at the club Tom, and wishing you a speedy recovery. Please feel free to add your 'Get Well Soon' messages for Tom on the comments section of this thread.
1st XI Match Report v Attenborough - 17th June 2006
Another game played in flag-cracking temperatures, brought another positive result with Calverton (197-7) securing 18 points in an ultimately one-sided winning draw over their struggling hosts who were left hanging-on at the close (144-9, 7pts).
Captain Scott started the day by shamefully losing the toss and we were invited to bat first on a reasonable wicket. DFD and Creeps started fairly fluently (with extra's also chipping in the form of wides) and all seemed well until DFD was bowled before really getting into his stride.
Creepy began to look fluent and Callum "Stumpy" Jayes gave another brief cameo of his undoubted ability and improvement before being out to a smart catch at backward point for 12.
The "toss-loser" entered the fray and started to accumulate runs as the worrying Creepy "gearbox" again became jarred in neutral.
The "one who capitulated at the tossing of the coin" was beginning to look quite settled when on 22 he appeared to be undone by a quite respectable delivery.
At 99-3, The two most diametrically opposed batsmen in the club found themselves reluctantly brought together, both knowing that whatever happened, and for however long, this was going to be a bitter and poisonous pairing.
But, as it lasted, the runs flowed very freely at about 6-7 an over until the absolutely inevitable and unstoppable happened.....
Creepy further damaged his already acrimonious cricketing relationship with the author by running him out my mile. Hitting the ball straight to cover, the tormentor of the authors world called confidently for a quick single, a call which was foolishly accorded far too much trust and both Creepy and author were stranded half way down the wicket.
As the chuckling and bewildered fielder threw the ball in to the keeper, the author was aware of a stooping Crawley tip-toeing past him to ensure his own survival when the inevitable departure of one of them was clear.
As the author made his way back to the pavilion for 23 (with, it must be said, an admirable self restraint largely attributable to deja-vu), Niccolo Machiavelli and Field Marshall Douglas Haig were smiling at eachother approvingly from their celestial deck-chairs, both then stood to applaud what Haig described as Creepys' "Heroic sacrifice of others in the pursuit of ones own self preservation", Nicollo replied "Thassa right Dougie-Baby, ya gotta do what ya gotta do...bellisima!". Pete's tea-time defence of his actions were based upon tenuous militaristic philosophy (apparently the author was just inevitable collateral damage in the pursuit of runs in a one day game...felt a nice warm glow all over...and an amusing tickle of irony) and were roundly met with howls of derisory laughter (though for the purposes of balanced argument, the author feels nobly compelled to concede that his own running between the wickets makes Douglas Bader in a coma look like Jonty Rhodes on speed).
The in-form Hodgo came in and struggled to force the pace before holing out and Jabba can feel aggrieved at being given LBW when everything about it just looked "wrong". Matt tried to push the score along as Creepys innings slowed to an almost glacial speed and he too perished in pursuit of quick runs.
The innings closed on 197-9 and the consensual opinion was that we could and should have had 30-40 more runs to bowl at. Pete carried his bat for a determined and single minded 85 not out and his innings proved to be the pivotal contribution and a testament to his (and everyone else's!) endurance.
After a typically excellent tea, the Attenborough openers approached their target in positive fashion, particularly the ever-positive Sam Clulow and the writing appeared to be on the wall as accusing glances were occasionally cast in the direction of the "endurance man". The normally super-accurate Tim Haines (evolving body-hair dysmorphic) was a little off line, partially due to a hamstring pull but mainly due to his concentration (driven insane by the knowledge that hair is CONTINUALLY growing on his body, and it must be shaved off...NOW!).
Fortunately, very, very fortunately, our streaky haired young vice captain finally had some reward for all the good bowling performances he has put in this year. Bowling very straight and at times quite quickly, Matty claimed a richly deserved 5-34 of 14 overs (most of which were bowled) to ensure that Attenborough weren't able to repeat last seasons excruciating victory over us.
Some good fielding and well taken catches enabled Creepy to snare a couple of Attenborough players (ahem) "slogging". DFD bowled a few overs and claimed a wicket with a wonderfully crafted medium pace full-toss LBW...which was surprisingly his only real pie!.
A good day was soured, however , by a bizarre sight-screen moving injury to Tom Hodgkinson. In the absence of a conclusive report into how this happened, it can only be concluded that the mechanics of sight-screen movery were not adhered to (where legs can/can't be placed to avoid snappage) .Tom has reputedly broken his foot (or ankle) and is likely to be out of action for some time. This couldn't have come at a worse time for Tom or the club because he had just started to realise some of his considerable potential.
Everyone at the club wishes Tom a speedy recovery and we all hope to see you up at the ground, talking rubbish and making people laugh.
Man of The Match: Matt Wright.
2nd XI fall just short in dramatic run chase
The 2nd XI were defeated by the small margin of 1 run by league leaders Willoughby at GLA yesterday. Chris Miller lost the toss and we were asked to field first on a hot and muggy afternoon. Willoughby made a decent start as they made their way to 62 without loss from 16 overs. Mark Hasemen (making his first appearance for 2 years) bowled excellently to claim figures of 3-35 from his 12 overs to peg the visitors back to what was a testing target for us of 205. We didn't get off to the best of starts as we were restricted to 32-2 from 12 overs. But then Jarrod Bell and Chris Miller put together a partnership of 74 to get us back in the hunt. Mark Haseman capped a great all round performance by striking a quickfire 38 to get us even closer to an unlikely victory. Needing 4 runs to win from the final ball, Matt Rankin could only manage to hit 2, which left us agonisingly short in our run chase. Full match details can be found on the fixtures/results page.
Picko is a headline maker in the Nottingham Evening Post
Click here to read about our resident record breaker
The day records were broken... A view from the Boundary
Captain Scott maintained his reputation as being our finest and most consistent tosser in recent years, and elected to bat on the latest of "Ron's Roads".
In the absence of DFD, Creepy strode out to open the innings (no doubt contemplating a dour war of attrition with the bowlers) with Picko (no doubt contemplating a frenzied and brief homicidal assault on the bowlers).
So, with each acting as a perfect foil for the other, over a hundred runs were added for the first wicket through largely orthodox means in about 17 overs. Creepy batted in a positive manner (remember all things in this world are relative) in the early stages of his innings before once again being hamstrung by his curious idiosyncrasy of timing the ball progressively more poorly as his innings ensues. Creeps departed for a solid 32 as he finally said goodbye to the remainder of his timing and was replaced by Captain Scott Baggins of the Shire.
Picko was by now in full flow using a broad range of strokeplay, some of which was surprisingly subtle (leading onlookers to suspect he may have had sun-stroke) and played with all the dexterity and grace of a 17th century duelling dandy (the 31 fours).
The run rate picked up even further when the Hobbit began to find his feet (which shouldn't have been too hard since they are so close to his head) and he was typically ruthless on anything short and with Picko typically ruthless on anything that was pitched anywhere else, these two clearly had all the bases covered....hands on hips for bowlers all round.
Sadly, this partnership was brought to a premature end when the skipper overestimated his own stride length and was run out for 21. In came Mbass at number 4, eager to inform Picko that he only needed 7 more runs for a double century.
Sadly for the author of this report, Mr Sewell was no more than a messenger and an object of derision and mirth as he played a somewhat eccentric shot to his first ball and was caught behind. Derek shortly after reached his double century with a towering six onto the Lowdham roundabout and with arms aloft let out some kind of primeval roar...and deservedly so.
Callum "Stumpy" Jayes (27*) brought the innings to a close with a series of lusty blows of his own as Derek continued to smite the ball to all corners with an almost comical disdain (straight six off the back foot was just silly, sometimes I feel you should apologise to the bowler when you do things like that).
If Derek's batting resembled a "Duelling Dandy" in some parts, in others he brought to mind an image of a huge kilted warrior of the McBonkers clan rampaging down a mountain through the heather wielding a huge Claymore, screaming and clefting redcoats in twain (the 13 sixes).
Calverton closed their innings on 338-3 and had some justification in feeling fairly confident about the outcome......however.....
After an eminently edible tea, Calverton took to the field in the belief that they only had to do the "basics" right in order to secure a positive result.
Unfortunately, Samrat Sharma decided that 338 was well within his capabilities and discovered that our brand of "basics" equated to cannon fodder.
As Samrats innings unfolded, our thoughts went from "he can bat a bit and it's nice to watch" to "He can bat a lot and we don't like this anymore" to finally "Has anyone ever seen Samrat Sharma and Sachin Tendulkar in the same room at the same time...makes you think doesn't it?" as a kind of surreal paranoia took hold as our lead dwindled.
Samrat destroyed anything that was remotely off line or length and also destroyed plenty of other stuff that wasn't, just for the hell of it. In true Calverton style, we dropped Samrat a few times, and contrary to the beliefs held by some, these dropped catches were unintentional and not part of some conspiratorial plan to influence the clubs bowling averages.
Just as Ellerslie appeared to be on the brink of victory, 20-odd needed in 2ish overs, Richard "I remind Sewelly of Kirk Douglas in Spartacus" Hunter took a superb low running catch to dismiss the "Little Master" for a quite brilliant 228, the second superb and unforgettable innings of the day.
I believe that this single moment of fielding heroism will prove to have had a huge impact on the life of one Derek Pickering.
In taking the catch, we will never have to hear tails of a bearded and vagrant Picko found wandering the beaches of southern Spain, unable to speak yet open mouthed, pointing to the yellowing pages of Saturdays scoresheets then occasionally throwing himself on the ground to wildly thrust pins into his ten little dolls dressed in little white cricket shirts....Richard Hunter has surely prevented Derek Pickerings descent into madness (well, further into madness anyway). ...Ellerslie eventually closed on 329-7 with Calverton claiming 17 points.....mmmm...comfy..
All in all, a truly fantastic game of cricket, played in a great spirit with memorable and record breaking performances from two guys clearly playing at the top of their game.....though the last ten overs of fielding was excruciating.
Winning Streak Continues for Sunday XI
The Sunday XI continued their fine form by defeating Sleaford by 95 runs. Batting first on a red hot day on a wicket that had the best part of 700 runs scored on it the previous day, Calverton scored 222 for 8 thanks to a fine 53 from Hodgo and 31* from the very stiff Derek Pickering. They were supported by Billy Armstrong(20) and Scotty Andrew(32).
Calverton then bowled out the 10 man Sleaford with top bowling from the two spinners Andrew(1 for 27) and Wright(4 for 18) and captain Matt Wright(2 for 15).
Hodgo and JT make hay in the sunshine
Tom Hodgkinson and Jamie Taylor were the stars for the 2nd XI as we recorded an excellent 25 run win away at Collingham. Captain/Wicketkeeper Chris Miller won the toss on a hot afternoon and elected to bat on a good looking wicket. His decision was fully justified as Tom Hodgkinson played a fantastic innings in the afternoon sunshine. 'Hodgo' hit the ball to all areas of the ground on his way to a 79-ball maiden Century for the club. Other notable contributions came from Chris Miller (39) and Pete Wright (35). We set a testing target of 238 for Collingham to chase after tea. The hosts were off to an excellent start as they reached 86 without loss after 13 overs, thanks to some hard hitting from former Nottinghamshire CCC man Paul Todd. But thanks to Jarrod Bell, he claimed the opening pair in successive overs to bring us back into the match. Jamie Taylor then claimed excellent figures of 5 for 33 from his 12 overs including an acrobatic one handed caught and bowled to help us secure a great win and a second successive victory. Full Match details can be viewed on the fixtures/results page.
Picko 243 - Record Breaker!
Derek Pickering rewrote the record books in a run fest at GLA as the 1st XI gained a winning draw over Ellerslie. Batting first on a 'road of a wicket', Picko & Creepy put on 119 for the first wicket, another big partnership (138) followed involving Picko & 'Captain Scott', and a further partnership of 79 featuring Picko & Callum Jayes, saw Calverton post a huge 338-3 off 48 overs.
In carrying his bat for 243 not out, Picko smashed the individual Club record score of Steve Thomas (220) and also passed the great D.A Taylor's 210 from many years ago. The individual SNCL record of 236* was also shattered, all witnessed by proud father Dick.
In reply Ellerslie looked like they were going to pass the huge target with Samrat Sharma also posting a double century (228). The defining moment arrived in the 46th over when Rich Hunter took the all important catch at Long off, which saw the back of Sharma off the bowling of Tim Haines.
So, 17 more points gained, 667 runs for the loss of 10 wickets in 96 overs, two double centurions in the same match, a truly memorable game of cricket.
Sunday XI in tight victory
The Sunday XI maintained their unbeaten status beating Madni on Sunday. Winning the toss captain Matt Wright decided to have a bowl on a glorious day at the GLA. Tight opening spells from captain Wright and Billy Armstrong set the ball rolling with Billy claiming a early wicket. A good spell from Ian Wright (taking 4 wicket for 25 from 10 over's) and support from Tom Wright and Mark Roberts (playing his final game for the club) restricted Madni to 166 all out. The Calverton reply started well with Rich Lee and Scott Andrew putting on 40 for the first wicket before Rich ran himself out. Mick Sewell(43) put on vital runs. A middle order stumble left the home side needing 20 from the final 4 over's with Robbo and Tom Smithies at the crease. These too led the team home by one wicket, Mark Roberts scoring 23*.
Miller Magic inspires 2nd XI
Chris Miller played a true Captain's innings under pressure for the 2nd XI to help secure a vital win away at Gedling Colliery - it went a huge way to making up for losing the toss on the hottest afternoon of the season so far. We bowled first on a good looking pitch - but Matt Rankin made sure the hosts were restricted early in their innings as he knocked over Gedling's first three batsmen in an opening spell of 3 wickets for just 7 runs off 7 overs. Gedling then recovered somewhat after a shaky start, making their way to 136-3 after 37 overs. Ian Wright mopped up the lower-middle order with ease to claim figures of 4-31 from his 10 overs. Gedling set us a testing target of 174 to win from 45 overs - Enter stage right.... Captain Miller. 'Windy' produced a fine knock of 44 not out to hold the innings together as others fell around him. Tom Hodgkinson chipped in with 23 as we met out victory target with 9 balls remaining. Miller's innings included a huge six onto the 10th tee at Mapperley Golf Course - cries of 'fore' were too late as victory was sealed two balls later. Full match details can be found on the fixtures/results section.
Cope Cup:- Radcliffe defeated....
Qualification to the next round of the Cope Cup was secured with a 21 run away win at Radcliffe on Tuesday 30th May. We batted first on a turgid wicket and scored 102 - 6 off 18 overs thanks to Mick Sewell (23) and Pete Wright (31), who incidentally tried to swing himself off his feet whilst playing some cultured strokes !!!. Radcliffe's reply never got off the ground as we bowled and fielded in superb fashion. Matt Wright claimed 3 wickets and Tim Haines 2 as we skittled Radcliffe out for 81 to claim victory. Highlights of the evening included an excellent catch on the mid-wicket boundary from Tom Wright and a superb display of wicketkeeping from Mr. Cool himself, Richard Lee - Are you watching Geraint Jones ?!?!. Full match details can be found on the fixtures/results section.
Gedling Colliery Beaten - Twice!
In a 'double-header' weekend, both the 1st & 2nd XI's played Gedling Colliery.
At GLA, the 1st XI were in the field first as 'Captain Scott' won another toss. In his first season as Captain, he really is becoming an excellent tosser! Gedling made solid if not spectacular progress, but seemed to be building a base for a big score, with plenty of wickets in hand. But the D.O.T's stuck to their guns and 100-1 dwindled to 189-8, with just 90 runs being scored off the last 17 overs & 7 wickets falling. Rick Considine again was the pick of the bowlers with 4-41 off 14 overs and a good effort by all in the field with most of the catches 'sticking'. The total appeared to be some 40-50 runs short of what Gedling might have hoped for on another splendid wicket.
'Willow & Stumpy' (aka Beefy & Creepy) strode to the crease with purpose & gave us a splendid start putting on 83 for the first wicket. A minor 'blip' followed as 3 wickets were lost for 23 runs, but 'Stumpy' held firm. Support came from Mike Sewell who blasted 28 in no time & Callum Jayes chipping in. At the close the target was reached with some ease with 5 wickets and 4 overs remaining & Creepy unbeaten on a disciplined 64.
Full scorecard available on the fixtures/results page.
It's BBQ time !!!
There will be a BBQ at the ground after this Saturday's 'double header' against Gedling Colliery. Decent weather is forecast over the weekend - See you all there.
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