Drama at Ditton as Jags Do the Double

Jaguars 151-4 (Parrish 25*, Fardell 25*, Wilde 20*, Anderson-Watt 20, Langley 19), beat Sharks 149-3 (Jeeva 30*, Rammers 28*, Marc 21*Sumit 20*) by 2 runs

I want to say it was a balmy summer evening, but it was actually an absolutely murderously hot one at Fen Ditton. This was one of those evening that suggested to me this global warming might definitely be a 'thing' and we should listen to the sciency dudes in the white coats.

We were rocked before the game by a series of selection headaches. Ant had forgotten he was at a major footgolf event (look it up, it's a thing)- . Dan had to prioritise work over cricket (sensible, but also "BOOOOOO!"), and Liam, after a long and punishing season of lengthy spells with the ball, had succumbed to the dreaded hurty-knee-itus that plagues bowlers regularly breaking the 90MPH barrier with their full, fast, yorkers of doom.

Two Histon warriors, Harry Wiles and Zak Anderson-Watt kindly offered to join proceedings, thereby giving us a full XI

Also, this is Ant's new car....

Note the subtle tonal shift near the front. I think it's a special edition.

Jags started off with Parrish and Langley, and both got off to an absolute flyer. Despite Sharks opening with two of their strongest bowlers, Jeeva and their own Zak we raced to 39-0 from 4. Parrish looked in fine touch and Langley re-commenced his glorious biffing action from the previous week. Some sharp running, a couple of beautiful boundaries on the leg side and a lovely offside 4 set the Jags well on their way to a good start.

Sharks decided to change things up with the 5th over, sending on an "academy" find, Will. He had quite possibly the longest run up that has ever been seen in cricket, almost starting his run sitting on the seats near the boundary. He was tidy though, and after going for a 4, he extracted revenge from the free hitting Tobias, putting one nicely on a length to move away slightly to hit the top of middle and leg.

Fardell strolled out, and with this start, you would him to help the free scoring pace continue. You would be wrong. I managed to go a whole 9 balls without scoring, and looked more at sea than Captain Pugwash. Still Matt was playing well, and he absolutely leathered a glorious 6 on this way to a rapid fire 25*. Coslett strolled out to try and not do what Fardell was doing. Briefly leg byes, byes and a couple off the bat were scored, but then Coslett backed away to a full one that turned, didn't offer a shot, and was bowled top of off. Parrish on the sidelines was describing Fardell as the Jags Dom Sibley. Cheers, Matt.

Did I mention it was hot, God it was so hot one of my contact lenses shrivelled up in my eye and I played most of the rest of the game with blurred vision.

Coslett's departure to the dangerous Sumit bought the debutant Zak to the crease. He gave due respect to the dangerous spin bowler first up, and after getting his eye in, absolutely creamed a straight drive back past the bowler to the long off boundary. It was a shot that demanded field changes, and Sharks duly obliged. Footwork was present in abundance, and actual cricket shots were played, a lovely late cut, and some excellent running in the murderous heat, contributed to a very respectable 78-2-10 half way score.

I eventually retired, and I think maybe I should retire - after edging a slow ball cross batted past the missing slip, hitting one ball twice, missing a spin ball that missed everything, and getting dropped scoring the single that got me to 25* precisely. I believe I ran 10 2's, and only one of them came from my bat.

Cob joined Zak for a bit, but was run out in highly unfortunate circumstances. Chasing a difficult second, his bat bounced as he tried to ground it, sending him tumbling, but unfortunately in an airborne fashion. This bough the other debutant Harry to the crease. He played some sublime shots and showed some absolutely excellent running acumen, to push the score along. One legside 4 off the pads was played with such timing it seemed effortless, yet sped to the boundary for 4, bi-secting fielders and appearing to pick up pace as it went.

Zak went well bowled to a very good ball from Pat towards the death for a well made 23. Will and Harry astutely ran and pushed the field, to get the Jags to a very competitive 151-4.

Jags opened the bowling with Sir William of Longstanton once more, and Zak at the other end. Combining rangy pace with wily spin to help keep things thought provoking for the batsmen. Once more the Jags were trying a defensive in-out field, feeling confident in the total and trusting their bowlers to keep their lines. The energy in the field was, once more, absolutely excellent, with lots of hustle and chatter helping keep the scoring rate low to start. The only aberration was an early moon ball that Rammers duly dispatched for 6. 

Fielding pressure brings suicidial tendencies, and despite a promising opening partnership, Ralph the other opener (in the book as Captain Darling, an absolutely brilliant nickname) tried a hasty single to a nudged ball off Will. Will swooped on the ball, picked it up in one motion, and threw down the stumps with an underarm direct hit leaving Darling disappointed.

This bought Jeeva to the crease and a period of more freely hit balls ensued, with Rammers retiring on 28* after a typically brutal innings. Harry and Mann were the bowling changes. The fielding continued with aplomb, Parrish was lively, Cob was diligent and focussed behind the stumps, and Langley, Zak, Coslett, Cam and even Mr Tom Parker gave some excellent efforts in the field to keep the pressure on.

Harry bowled with control, with something North of military medium, but more importantly accuracy and some lateral movement. Mann bowled with his joyous action, all guile and style, - suggesting a gentleman who could have played at the highest level, were it not for his lifestyle predelictions of fine wine, food and women, and travel to Spain for sun worship. He managed to extract one batsman with a decent ball hoiked to Zak at short square leg. Harry's control managed to extract a golden duck from the next batsman, and Harry was then hauled off to be saved for the death overs, having manifestly earnt it with an economic and accurate spell.

Jags looked good at the turn, with Sharks 69-3-10 with Harry having two in the hopper.

This brought Mr Tom Parker into the attack. He bowled with, generally, very good control across a 4 over spell, which apart from one full toss dispatched for 6, helped tie down the scoring. Mann continued, irrepresible as ever and with more fine fielding, we found ourselves looking at 107-3-15, and a rate of over 8 required seeming comfortable with the fielding that had been seen so far. Harry returned to help us through the final 3 overs, alongside Tom P.

Then with things under control, and a fine fielding performance under our belts, we thought, fuck it, let's make this interesting. Sumit and Marc put on a good partnership for the Sharks (although Marc tried a truly bizarre reverse sweep at one point for no reason) and Tom and Harry bowled well, but an ill advised attempt at a direct hit run out, some dubious backing up, and a few mix ups in the field left the Sharks in with a chance, needing 19 off the last over.

Here comes trouble. 

A dot was followed by two fours, one leg side and the other I can't recall, leaving 11 needed for the win from 3 balls. 4 byes then somehow crept through everything. 7 needed from 2. 2 runs scored. 5 needed from one. The field spread, glory beckoned. Then, drama. A wide was given when we thought it was a dot. 4 needed from one ball. The batsmen could only earn single leaving them 2 runs short. Prince Harry had seen us through.

Again a great fielding performance, lovely debuts from Zak and Harry and a brief attempt to spike our own guns, it was a satisfying win which could have gone either way.

It also weren't half hot Mum.

We tried to go to some local pubs, but the heat had clearly tempted everyone out, so people had to decamp to the Waggon and Horses in Milton instead.

Also, here is a picture of Cam's finger, showing the level of fielding commitment that has been demonstrated in our short season to date.

This proves that, A) Cam is well hard; and B) Jags are committed in the field. Respect.

Jags Stun Sharks After Lockdown Layoff

Jaguars 155-5 (Langley 28*, Threadgold 28*, Brolia 27*, Wiseman 25*, Sumit 3-22) beat Sharks 130-6 (Raj 25*, Pat 18, Sumit 16*, Brett 2-10, Threadgold 2-31) by 25 runs

On a balmy Cambridge evening at Fen Ditton, the Jags shook off the post lockdown cobwebs to win comfortably against our old foes and friends, Sharks, with contributions across the board.

Pre-game the chat was about the state of the Ditton pitch, with one set of stumps being at such a funny angle, it looked as though it would fall over in a stiff breeze. There was also a slope that looked as though it turned into a crevasse at one end of the ground, and the track was described pre-game as being "like day 3 at the Somme" by one seasoned observer. Ant is currently car-less, and owing to some questionable career/life choices, he is currently in the process of acquiring a part maroon, part red, Ford Fiesta, which could generously be described as a "runaround". Where's the Merc eh, Ant? Post lockdown beards and bellies were present in abundance varying between hobo (Will) and Bear Grylls (Liam), as a strong team looked forward to salvaging 1 or 2 games of the season before the long, cricket-less, winter.

Parrish wisely chose to bat first this late in the summer, and put Fardell and Langley in to open. Fardell found it difficult against the accurate and rapid bowling of the opener Jeeva, and was struggling to trouble the scorers early on. Langley on the other hand waited only till the second over to bludgeon 3 consecutive 4's on his way to a rapid start for the Jags. In truth both openers tended to treat Jeeva with respect and look to score against other members of the Sharks lineup, as demonstrated by Jeeva's impressive end figures of 12 runs from 3 overs. Respect. Langley continued with fluency, and Fardell did his best to encourage the attendant Jags to support their team, or even just pay attention to what was happening. There was a cheer at one point, more ironic than rousing.

Langley continued with fluency and retired on 28 off 15 balls, demonstrating that a pre-season of nets and training was no substitute for raw natural talent and months of re-watching highlights from the 2019 Cricket World Cup. Parrish's stay at the crease was brief, given out LBW by Liam to a straight low fast one that he missed and was going to hit the middle stump about a foot off the ground. Threadgold game to the crease and struck a few class 4's early on. Fardell and Threadgold both gave the fielders chances, but none were taken in this spell, allowing the Jags to continue scoring at a good clip, getting to 77 for one from 10 overs. Sharks brought Sumit into the attack and he tied the batsmen down for a spell, proving hard to score against and threatening. Fardell fell to him on 24, from 28 balls no less - despite the game being a 20/20 evening game where rapid scoring is important.

Coslett made an appearance at the crease, having rushed back from Southwold on the Suffolk coast slightly late. Threadgold retired on a monster 6 walloped into the trees, making 28 from 20. Brolia then ambled out to the crease, all insouciance and swagger. Coslett presented a caught and bowled back to Sumit after scoring a couple, leaving Cob to stroll in, fresh off a strong leg side sweep showing for Histon at the weekend and sporting a series of fairly impressive bruises. In truth he looks like he's getting weekly beatings from one of his housemates at the moment.

Cob fell early to an absolute class ball from Sumit, with bite and turn, taking the top of off stump. Sumit was the pick of their bowlers on the evening with 3 well made wickets and a couple of dropped catches to his name. Cob's departure brought our guest player for the evening to the crease, Mr Chris Wiseman, who had played for Sharks the previous evening and described himself as a bowler. Ant and Chris put on a strong partnership, with Ant hitting a 6 and taking a shine to the bowling with some lovely strokes, including a nice 4 that he admired in "the pose" for a good 10 seconds. Chris put in some excellent shots, being particularly strong on the off side and committed in his running. We are indebted to the Sharks for providing such a talented substitute.

During this passage of play, I saw something I never thought I would see. Brolia ran 2 2's and even ran a 3 to a ball that actually went for 4. Given that it is hard to get him out of bed at times, this was quite something - I took it as a good omen for the fielding effort ahead. The pace was good and one of the two gentlemen retired, bringing Brett to the crease. He struck a couple of deft shots before being trapped in front LBW. As chance would have it, Mr Parrish was the umpire at this point, and I swear he'd given Brett out LB before the ball had even pitched.

Mann ("I got 87 once") went out to join proceedings and struck a sweet late cut, or super dab as I'm going to call it. He was briefly joined by Will.I.Am, and managed to contribute a 4 owing to some comedy fielding, driving the Jags to a very competitive 155-5. In truth the track was actually pretty true for most of the evening, and pre-game concerns about the strip were not generally justified this evening.

Strolling out to field, the team were full of chatter, always a thoroughly good sign. Will opened the bowling and produced a ball worthy of Histon 3's first up, full length, pace, and the late movement of an in-ducker to send the opening batsman, Jeeva, back to the hutch without troubling the scorers. He's a danger man, so this was quite something. The fielding was energetic and lively and after his first ball, Will introduced some of the famed Longstanton variety to his bowling for the rest of the first over. Liam opened the other end despite being seriously injured, and being marked down as "balding-beard" in the Sharks scorebook. I assume he read this description before strolling out, as he was fired up and bowled very well, taking a wicket caught in his first over. Coslett was the catcher, and he tried to make an easy catch look as physically difficult as possible, but still managed to hold on.

Threadgold, Langley, Parrish and Ant, yes Ant, all provided notable hard working shifts in the field. It was a delight to see, as the clouds rolled in and the darkness began to descend. Brett got a second wicket very well bowled, and was that thing that he can occasionally be, threatening and economical - the perfect 20/20 bowler. Will continued, a little wayward, but in truth he had done so much damage with the first ball that he'd set the Jags up to constrict the Sharks early on. 

Then, disaster - Cob had been tidy behind the stumps, but in the descending light he failed to pick one that went through the batsman from Liam, dived and deflected the ball straight into his eye. It looked nasty. Someone enquired as to whether he was ok, and he said in true Geordie style, "yep, fine lads". When we gathered round the pooling blood suggested otherwise. The batsmen at this point had generously jogged a single to allow the batsman at the non-striker's end, an actual doctor no less (Dr Raj), to get closer to the wounded wicketkeeping warrior. The game paused and the doctor decided to retire to tend to his new patient, with Parrish taking wicket keeping duties and Jags a man light.

Brolia came in to bowl and started by bowling one that strained his side. He also got his customary wide in first over - nice to get it out of the way early, chap. His bowling was otherwise very tidy. At this point the good doctor had finished his inspection, and determined that the best thing was for Cob to go to A&E, sporting a nasty looking cut eyebrow. Mani, the umpire at this stage kindly volunteered to take him, and the game continued. Threadgold, sporting a new reverse Pietersen style skunk hairdo, came in to bowl at the other end. The Sharks batsmen tried to accelerate at this point, so scoring rates moved upwards, but chances were coming.

Ant then bowled one that went through the batsman, and Parrish quick as a flash threw down the stumps, finding the batsman out of his ground, for a smartly taken stumping suggesting a man who did the job week in week out.

As Threadgold and Ant continued, Sharks pushed on. The doctor came back to re-join proceedings when Threadgold secured a wicket, very well caught by Langley in the deep. In truth, the good Doctor was the class act of this half of the innings, helping a fellow wounded player and hitting some lovely shots on his way to top scoring for the Sharks at 25* across two spells. Threadgold bowled the normal Sharks skipper with a full ball, bringing Sumit and Marc to the crease. Wiseman then demonstrated his bowling prowess with 3 economic overs. The scorebook is a little messy on the details, but we will say 3 overs that conceded 12 runs. Langley produced some fine work in the field that I recall, and chirp and chatter was excellent - even if the light wasn't.

Chris was joined by the irrepressible Steve Mann - the only gentleman I know who had legal access to a pub during lockdown. Sumit scored some classy shots trying to get Sharks within sight, but the rate was climbing and it looked a lost cause. Marc pleaded with Fardell to come on and twirl his arm for an over or two, but the experienced Parrish knew better than to risk calamity, and stuck with Chris and Steve. I'm going to take this opportunity to describe Steve Mann's bowling action as languid and erotic, because I can.

In the end, Sharks were never close to chasing it down despite some good efforts from the batsmen - and the Jags fielding and most of the bowling was exemplary.

On leaving the field talk was of the Plough in Fen Ditton, assuming we could find it in the enveloping gloom. I found the below tissue next to my cricket bag, a testament to the heroism and manliness of Cob the helmet dodger.

We received the welcome update that Cob was having his eye glued back together and would be down at the pub soon. Ant took the opportunity to drive Cob's car out of the ground. If Cob had known we would toss his car keys to Ant, it is distinctly likely he would have driven himself to the hospital. The pub was pleasant, with a good turnout and cheer. Cob made good on his promise to attend, fully re-assembled and ready for a pint of the bitter stuff.

We're all most pleased that he looks no less attractive than he did before and are very grateful to Dr Raj and Mani for their assistance.

A good game played in good spirits, with contributions from across the board. It suggests this would have been a wonderful season, but in truth, we are just happy to get a game in after the madness of 2020.

2020 Season - The Jags Blog is Back!

The blog hasn't been in use for a few years, but the team has continued its freewheeling and unique brand of social cricket around the fields and towns of Cambridge.

We're going to revamp this season, with weekly match reports, player profiles and pictures, fixtures and associated tidbits for our legions of adoring fans. We're aiming to have 10 or so games scheduled for this year.

Lots of names have come and left since this blog last posted.  I can't remember them all, so here's the ones I do.

We're sad to have said goodbye to Ginger Rich from Jagex - as he has left to work for Redbull in Vienna (a place I believe is known for its opera, and not its cricket). Rich had a great first season with us in 2018, then he stopped trimming his beard and developed quite a mop of ginger hair, and the added wind resistance meant his second season was more entertaining than professional. He is rumoured to have joined the professional umpire's association over there, to teach them the rules.

We also lost Arun Gowda, the man who would quite literally appeal anything, from anywhere on the pitch. I still imagine him wandering round Cambridge screaming "Howzat" at random taxi drivers and people in the street, probably in December - and looking disappointed when players were not given out. When he left Jagex he also literally ghosted us all, so we hope you're doing well Arun, wherever you have got to.

Piers Morgan sadly left to go and be good at every sport there is on the West Coast of America... hacky sack...beach volleyball, and erm, other sports. Whatever he is playing, he is probably pretty amazing at it, despite having played it for the first time last week. Every game we play is in your honour, chap - unless we lose.

I'm sure others have left, but there is also a rumour that Jamy Nigri might return, bringing high quality triple AAA baseball skills to the hallowed fields of many a Cambridge college. And chat.... lots and lots and lots of chat... To any of our current team who have not experienced this, well, you're in for something of an experience. Several other former Jags have promised to at least join the mailing list, so who knows, it could be a throwback season.

This year we're also shifting grounds around a bit. We do love Queens, but we also love Churchill, and the team vote leaned towards the speedy outfield of the latter. Our corporate sponsorship deal recently expired, so we're either going for pay for all of this ourselves, or secure another sponsor. Details to follow.

If you're interested in being on the mailing list - email me. We're always looks for new players or fans.

More to come. In a piece of news I had to share - whilst putting the fixtures together this season, the AVEVA captain mailed me to say, they'd love to host us if we host them - but he is waiting to hear from the groundsman - as the ground has an infestation of badgers tearing up his outfield which are threatening the very cricket season. Oh the humanity.

He's gonna get you... and everyone you ever cared about...

New Recruit?

I was passed this little news report about a chap who hit 350 off 138 balls.

350. Off 138 balls. Wowsers.

My favourite quote is, "From 100 onwards, I was just trying to whack every ball for six".

Yes you were, chap. Yes you were.

I'll put a call into his agent, and see if he's available.

New Year - New Faces

The cricket team has undergone something of a transition, losing some faces along the way. Piers Morgan has left to take up a role at a web design company where he is the youngest scamp in the office. Jeroen Van Daal has traded Cambridge for Oxford, clearly being a fan of good University cities. Nicholas Cooper is doing an absolutely spiffing job being a dad. Martin Gibbins, Gibby, the Gibbinator, he of the wonderful bowling, who always looks absolutely petrified when batting, has gone back to somewhere that is neither Southern nor Northern (i.e. the Midlands).

However, there is hope. We have new recruits. We're pleased to see Ollie Hind, Mark Chambers, Sajjad Rehman (our first Pakistani team member) and Robert Browning newly on the list, so we're hopeful that new blood will increase our chances of bringing home the bacon.

Following a revolt amongst senior members of the team, disappointed with the chipper genial sense of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct, mainly because it resulted in us losing lots of games; Mark Fardell was deposed as Captain, and Matt Parrish was elected in his stead. Matt was gracious enough to allow Mark to act as fixtures secretary and blogger-in-chief, and might let me bat at 10 if I'm really really nice to him. The king is dead, long live the king.

In warming news for all participants, chicken skewers are on order - so Jagexians can rest easy, knowing that their nutritional needs are being looked after.

This year we're going to win more than we lose. I can feel it in my waters.

2015 - New Year - New Season

Welcome back to the cricket blog, your one stop shop for all information relating to Jagex CC.

This year we have the following fixtures scheduled.

NETS

Thursday 7th May - 18.45 - 19.45 - Leys School
Tuesday 12th May - 18.45 - 19.45 - Leys School
Thursday 21st May - 18.45 - 19.45 - Leys School

GAMES

Wednesday 27th May - Mills & Reeve - Queens
Thursday 4th June - Jagex v Jagex - Queens
Thursday 11th June - Bidwells - Queens
Thursday 18th June - Eversheds - Queens
Thursday 25th June - PEM - Queens
Thursday 2nd July - Sharks - Queens
Thursday 9th July - S-Tech - Queens
Thursday 16th July - Ensors - Queens
Wednesday 22nd July - Deloitte - St Catz
Monday 27th July - Taylor Vinters - Queens

Slightly fewer games than last year, but certainly enough to have fun.

If you know of anyone who might be keen on getting involved, please let Matt Parrish know.

Jagex Lose to Deloitte in Mid-Summer Sun

Deloitte 144-3 (Suckling 28*, Jim 27*, Cumberland 24*, Gibbins 2-23) beat Jagex 140-7 (P Morgan 28*, S Morgan 25*, Fardell 19, Cumberland 3-29) by 6 wickets (they only had 10)

Highlights I recall:

A wonderfully sunny day and evening to be playing cricket on.

A decent opening start, against some pretty good bowling, to get us to a happy 41 from 5 overs.

Fardell fell, chipping it straight up in the air, using the side of his bat, to allow an easy wicket keeper catch. I got to 19, mainly by pinching the strike from Jones for all the easy balls.

P Morgan strolled in and unleashed the dragon – smashing a six with the most unorthodox, Jamy Nigri like shot you are likely to see this year. He bludgeoned his way through an innings with brute force, finishing on a four for 28*.

Jones seemed ill fated to get all the best balls of the innings, but manfully struggled on a through a few partnerships to help keep us going, rotating the strike nicely, before being bowled off stump by a doozy.

N McClarty, sporting his overnight travelling bag, kept one out before falling second ball, to the best ball the chap bowled all evening. It was so good, Neil thought he must’ve been stumped rather than bowled.

Parrish greeted his first ball with a disdainful wallop through mid off. Sadly he perished shortly thereafter, chipping to extra cover.

Coslett keep the innings going, joined by Steve Morgan for a spell. Steve hit his first ball for four using the straightest bat I’ve ever seen from anyone. He then proceeded to biff and bunt his way to 25*.

Steve Morgan got 25*.

Steve Morgan got 25*!!

Tom perished in the same way as I did, top edging to the keeper.

Brett gave it some real hustle at the end, hitting 16 off 6 or 7 balls before being caught.

Hugh hit a few before perishing at the death, bowled by one that cracked one of the bails! Willem strolled in to help run cheeky singles at the end.

Gibbins didn’t get a duck, hitting 2 from 2 – for a 100% strike rate – possibly the best thing that happened all evening.

We bowled well to start, with McClarty doing well behind the stumps and Messrs Steve and Piers Morgan bowling well early on to help keep the scoring under control, despite the dreaded right hand left hand combo.

Fardell, Brett, Parrish and Coslett all distinguished themselves in the field with various decent stops.

We had an – ahem – incident, when the batsman crossed for a cheeky single Tom, despite the batsman being a good six feet in, threw a direct hit at the stumps, but only succeeded in hitting the batsman in the face. The “thunk” was like something out of a cartoon, and the batsman took a while to, admirably, compose himself, and not punch anyone. He then manfully stepped back up and scored some more runs.

Piers finished with a wicket, caught and bowled, always a favourite.

I asked everyone to look happy and smile at this point.

Brett came on to bowl for a bit, and interspersed some ok stuff, with lots of balls that didn’t come near to hitting the track at all. I don’t know how you set a field to those (or indeed legitimate balls!).

Gibbins tied up the other end, with his magnificent, robotic action bowling. He got wickets, clean bowled, in his second and third overs, with decent economy. In both cases he tied the batsmen down for several balls, inducing the wild swipe, and hitting the stumps. The Gibbinator is on fire at the moment. Fourth over, not so good, but let’s forget that. He even fielded well!

Coslett came in for two overs of variable stuff. My sledging – “come on Tom, Liam has kept the track nice and pristine for you, let’s make use of it”, actually saw people laugh. A day to be remembered throughout history.

Parrish came in to hold one end down, whilst Willem took the other. Willem usually starts well and gets worse, but this was the opposite, with his second ball going for four wides (so 6 runs) before he discovered where the ground was and tried to bowl the ball in its general direction. Parrish did well at the end, but Deloitte had plenty in the tank, and had already steered the run chase to within sight.

A few more runs, or a couple of early wickets, and we might have beaten them. They had impressive batting depth though, something that is becoming all too familiar!