Tappers - 20th June 2004

A strong looking Tappers team arrived at Babington from London on a sunny day if threatened by the odd dark cloud. Tappers elected to bat first on a wicket livened by a light shower and got off to a brisk start against the combined family attack that is Nick & Jack Wigzell. Nick went for ten off his first over but Jack made the breakthrough having Griffith caught at short mid-off. Turner and Roberts brought up the 50 in the tenth over, before the latter was bowled by Nick attempting one pull too many.

The innings turned with the introduction of Gerry Copsey from the top end and he mixture of genuine, flight, guile and experience soon changed the tempo of the match, Beaven was bowled playing down the proverbial Bakerloo and the free-scoring Turner was dismissed by probably the best moment of cricket in the match. Having creamed Copsey for four, the bowler held his nerve to float the next delivery higher and slower inducing a full-blooded lofted drive; the ball was propelled vertically miles in the air and a rock-like Nicholson never looked like dropping it.

Harry Fentum was clapped to the wicked be it in funereal fashion and didn’t stay long as Copsey bowled him with an “arm ball” – allegedly! Andrew Jolliffe picked up the wicket of Ruxton but the champagne moment of the match was reserved for Copsey. Another floted delivery deceived Wijeratna in the flight inducing a checked drive to Copsey’s left; the bowler dived, extended his arm and the ball lodged unerringly in his open hand.

Potter got rid of Neate and a chaotic run out left the stage set for Copsey to bag his five week haul when he had Brittan well-held by Burridge. A target of 145 seemed under par and Babington took tea in expectant mood.

The innings got off to a poor start when Boulton was castled early on, but Nicholson, in fine form, and Pinnell, not in any form, took the score to 40 odd before the latter was ‘plumb’ LBW. Croucher pulled his first ball into the wheat field and proceeded to crash 37 including two more sixes and three fours giving the innings much-needed impetus. David Horler was equally aggressive and saw the total to 116 for 5 – no panic obviously.

Babington though have a curious knack of making the simple seem impossible and wickets began to tumble; Croucher, Jolliffe and Nick Wigzell departed in quick succession and Copsey was unlucky to be caught at mid-off from a stinging drive. Six runs were needed with Potter, seriously bruised hand, and Jack Wigzell at the crease. Jack showed wonderful calmness and his forward defensive strokes were technically superb as he resisted the Tappers thoughts of victory. Potter, unflappable, encouraged him and a couple of singles left four needed for victory.

Brittan hurtled in from the top end and let fly and wild delivery which sped down the hill for four byes earning Babington a famous victory by 1 wicket. The closeness of the match was fitting as the game was played in a tremendous spirit with both teams content to enjoy the lovely surroundings and the simple joy of playing cricket on a Sunday afternoon.

Mells - 13th June 2004

This was yet another tight match which went right to the wire – the last three balls, in fact. Simon Potter drew the short straw and had a bit of a nightmare getting a team together. In the end, we fielded a combination of six Babington members, one U13 from Frome and four Downside pupils, including a couple of extremely handy South African cricket scholars.

Mells turned up with a much stronger line-up than the one we bowled out last year for 87. We batted first, which was just as well because Garfield rang to say he would be late. Apparently, he’d tried to roast an oven glove instead of the chicken and was having to make tea for half the Somerset Fire Brigade. Nigel Lewis opened with Matt Warriner, one of the SA ringers, and they were pinned down by some accurate bowling. After the first ten overs, four of which were maidens, we’d made only 23.

Then the runs started to flow: Nigel began to time the ball and Matt was clearly a classy bat, falling finally for 34 to a sharp caught and bowled. Nigel was run out for 41 by a throw from the outfield which not only hit the stumps but also broke one of them, and Nick Sinfield thumped a huge six before he skied another and was caught. Ollie Mellotte, skipper of Downside firsts, looked like he was heading for a big score before he was unluckily run out backing up after the bowler managed to get his finger tips on straight drive by Andrew Gilfillan at the other end.

Andrew continued to push the score along with some timely boundaries, as did Garfield, but out total of 158 never looked like being enough.We also had injury problems. Simon Potter, fresh from a lunch engagement, came on as sub for Nick Sinfield, who had been struggling manfully with a painful hamstring.

However, the transfusion of young blood into our bowling attack raised hopes and we started with tight, accurate spells. Mells were 11 for 3 off 11, with their most dangerous bat, skipper J Seviour, already back in the hutch after hammering a straight drive and being caught one-handed by yours truly. Dayne Naidoo, the other cricket scholar, removed their number four with his first delivery (a wrong’un) and at that point we thought a win was definitely on the cards. But their middle order contained some hard hitters and we spilled a couple of difficult chances in the deep.

They needed nine off the last over and I’m afraid to say I probably bowled too straight, allowing their number nine to hit two sixes in a row to win the match.By now, most of you will have heard about the debacle in the bar after the match. To try and avoid this happening again – viz the embarrassment of a visiting team being told they can have one drink and then leave – we’re asking match managers to check with bar staff during tea that a sudden influx of cricketers around 7-7.30 pm is not going to cause problems. If the answer is yes, then we could suggest they draw off a certain number of jugs of lager/ beer/cider before we arrive and add it to the tea tab. Alternatively, if the bar is likely to be as crowded with, say, shy and retiring footie supporters, as it was last Sunday, then we might decide to go instead to a nearby pub, such as the Vobster Inn. We could try The Talbot, but that might depend on how Mells CC react in the next couple of days.

The Deverills - 6th June 2004

Spare a thought for Giles Pritchett.

Giles who? He’s the Deverills No3 who almost had to be helped off the field after hitting a strength-sapping 156 in the blazing sun – and who still ended up on the losing side. Cricket’s a funny old game, as Mrs T might have said.

This was the second match in a row where the odd-on favourite limped in last and what seemed an impossible climb ended up as a stroll in the park.The only sure bet was that it was going to be a run fest. Groundsman Clive Hamblin had produced an absolute belter, the kind of true-bounce featherbed that makes bowlers feel sick (thanks, Clive). Jonathan Boulton, the man with the golden hands and dodgy knees, who cruised back into our lives with a typically cultured but muscular 46, put it in the same league as the pitches he played on at Cambridge.

Deverills skipper Tony Child said it was the best strip he’d seen in years. Matt Ellis won the toss and chose to field because we seem to be better at chasing than defending. It turned out to be a wise choice. We were already one bowler light and then Nick Sinfield pulled a hamstring and couldn’t use up his allotted seven, although he fought through the pain to continue fielding. We got an early breakthrough when their opener fended at a couple before drilling a catch straight to Tom Ellis at mid-off in the first over. He was followed soon after by his partner, who failed to get back into his crease and fell to the first of three lightning stumpings by Mike Rowen.

Then in came Pritchett, fresh from a hundred for Warminster the previous day, and it turned into a one-man show. Spinners Andrew Gilfillan and last-minute recruit Bill Harris managed to get some turn on the dry and dusty track but Pritchett was unstoppable until he ran out of steam just before the end. Bill was the man who bagged him, and followed it with another stumping next ball. He almost got a hat trick when his third delivery found an edge and bounced off the batsman’s head.

Deverills had amassed an intimidating 242 off 35 overs, so no prizes for guessing which was the chirpier side at tea. It later turned out they suspected it might not be enough but a required rate of almost 7 an over was still a hugely daunting task. It required a positive start but no one was prepared for the onslaught mounted by Mike Nicholson and Jonathan, who both found the middle of the bat from the off. They didn’t so much rough up a mediocre attack as kick seven shades of shit out of it. By the time Jonathan was caught at cover in the eleventh over, he was only four short of his 50 and we’d made 85.

Worse was to come for Deverills, however, because next man in was Mike Rowen, whose Strauss-like average for Babington stood at 123 (previous stats: 106 not out and 17). Even those who have had the pleasure of watching the likes of Pinnell, Cadbury, Boulton and Standen McDougal have to admit that no one hits the ball harder or further than Mike and this innings was an exhilarating display of power and clean hitting. Mike Nicholson stayed with him until he dragged a wide ball onto his stumps, having made a fine 59, and he was joined by Bill Harris, who could only watch in wonder from the other end.

They shared an unbroken partnership of 82 and Bill’s contribution was three. The highpoint was Mike’s three straight sixes in four balls, the last of which took him past the hundred mark. His acceleration took everyone by surprise: at 169 off 24, it still looked tight but we made it with five overs to spare. Mike was 116 not out at the end. No prizes for guessing which was the chirpier side in the bar.

Just for the record: Highest individual score on this ground: 156

Second highest total of runs scored in a match: 486 (highest v Mells, 2002: 501)

Highest batting average, Mike Rowen: 239 (?)

The Griffin Inn - 23rd May 2004

First, apologies for not writing a match report last week. I did suggest delegating reports to match managers last year but that idea got an underwhelming response and was binned after Cadbury filed an arcane biblical piece on the Forest Irregulars game, written partly in aramaic.

So you’re stuck with me until someone else puts their hand up and, when it feels like a chore, I’m just not going to bother. There: I’ve said it.This week, however, it’s an absolute joy. Babington last won a match at the end of August 2003 and it was starting to feel like we’d lost our winning ways.

Last week was frustrating because we’d posted a respectable score (185) but just failed to defend it, with Ditcheat scraping home with two balls to spare. Yesterday’s game was one of the closest and most exciting that I can remember. We won against the odds, which made the victory all the sweeter – and it’s always a pleasure to give the Griffin a good kicking, lovely lads though they are.

They chose to bat on a hard, baked strip that’s probably seen more sun than Stringfellow. The omens didn’t look good when the Pullan brothers both opened their accounts with boundaries and Nigel Lewis’s first two balls bounced twice. However he soon found his length and was hitting the gloves with a healthy thwack and Wigzell senior had David caught behind, but only after Matt Ellis tried juggling the ball to show off his glove-work.

Wigzell junior cut James in half with one that both swung and seamed and then had him caught off a skier. Their number three, a hard-hitter with a good eye and a charmed life, was the man who did most of the damage, although he had trouble coping with Andrew Gilfillan’s leg-breaks. He lost partners along the way – Andrew Jolliffe’s hooping in-swinger that did for their number six was a beauty – but he’d made 60 by the time Garfield Austin finally bowled him. Their total of 204 off 35 overs seemed well beyond our reach.

On paper, we were not a strong batting side and things looked even bleaker when the Griffin struck early. First to go was Mark Cadbury, batting with a runner after tweaking his knee in the field. He was looking good until one cut back and made a mess of his stumps. He was followed shortly after by Nigel, who was just settling in when he was undone by a yorker. We were 27 for 2 off 8 and it didn’t look good.

However, appearances can be deceptive, as the Griffin found out when Andrew Gilfillan walked to the crease. Their slip took one look at his battered floppy hat and glasses and marked him down as a rabbit. We made the same mistake last week over the guy with the cockatoo crop. Andrew started to hit the ball powerfully and, with Mike Nicholson continuing his good form at the other end, the two laid the foundations for an unlikely assault. When Mike was out for 39 we still needed more than 8 runs an over; it couldn’t be done – could it?

Matt Ellis joined Andrew and together proceeded to lash the bowling all over the park. Both hit towering sixes and crashing fours but particularly impressive was their aggressive running. They put the Griffin under constant pressure and the wheels started to come off. Catches were dropped, overthrows conceded and tempers frayed as it gradually dawned on them that the impossible might happen. When Andrew was finally out, bowled for 92, we still needed 21 off three; the balance had swung in our favour but there was still drama to come.

David Horler came in and made a quickfire 15 but then Matt was caught for 36 off the second ball of the last over. Bit of a nightmare for Andrew Jolliffe, who was next in and had been pacing up and down like an expectant father. Two more singles and the scores were level but the teams started to come off because they thought it was all over. Back they went and the winning run was a scrambled bye off the last ball. It just doesn’t get any better than that.This was definitely Andrew Gilfillan’s day – a superb innings made under extreme pressure which turned the game on its head – but he had fantastic support from both Mike and Matt. Mike also took two fine catches, one of which knocked him off his feet, and Andrew Jolliffe had an excellent match, taking two wickets and two catches, including a tough one in the deep.

Wylye Valley - 2nd May 2004

Wylye Valley are usually Babington bunnies. In fact, it was back in the last century when Wylye Valley Wanderers, to use their proper title, beat us for the first and only time. It was also BHCC’s first real match and Wylye won thanks partly to a fresh-faced lad by the name of Cadbury, who hit a cavalier 48 and took two wickets.

How times have changed. Yesterday Wylye, as an American friend of mine would put it, cleaned our clock. We were lucky to get a game in at all, given the recent bad weather, and the heavy rain had left the pitch soft and damp. Groundsman Clive Hamblin had done a terrific repair job after some members had played football on the outfield the day before and had apparently brought a herd of cows to watch. Thanks, guys.

Adrian Leng and his team, bolstered with a one or two new faces, were clearly pumped up and determined to win. We batted first and it was a struggle from the start. The pitch was slow and low, the bowling was tight and accurate and it took us 12 overs to reach 20. By that time, Matt Ellis had finally lost patience and was caught in the gully chasing a wide one, and Mike Nicholson, who began how he left off last season, lost his stumps to a jaffa from David Leng.

Gordon Croucher was going really well until he drilled one back at Adrian Leng, who decided to catch it rather than wear it, and Andrew Pinnell was so surprised to get a straight ball in an over of wides that he missed it.Andrew Standen MacDougal bravely agreed to bat despite a bruised back and briefly reminded us what we had missed last year, but after that we just faded away. We were all out for 101, eight overs short of the allotted 40.

It was always going to be tough to defend such a small total and we were probably a couple of seamers short, but at 50 for 2 off 15 there was a glimmer of a chance. An over later, Mark removed the No 4 with his “quicker one” and then Andrew Pinnell bowled a full toss at their lanky opener, who top-edged it into his face and had to retire hurt on 42. A couple more quick wickets and it might have been a different story, but skied shots either didn’t go to hand or were dropped and Julian Matthews decided to break the habit of a lifetime and score some runs at Babington.

It wasn’t one of our better days and Wylye ran out worthy winners by six wickets. And the Champagne Moment? No one could seem to think of one, although my favourite was the animal-loving Wylye fielder who failed to stop a four because he ran round a family of ducks on the boundary. There’s a cricket joke in there somewhere, but frankly . . . .