Jagex Survey Wreckage of Last Over Defeat

Savills 159-6 (McGahay 41*, Simkins 41, Fardell 19-3) beat Jagex 158-4 (Scott 27*, Fardell 26*, Van Daal 26*, Parrish 23, Hodgson 17-2) by 1 wicket

Jagex were indebted to ringer central this week, putting a team together at the last possible minute from assorted waifs and strays. This week's opponents were Savills, and we were once more at Queens on a splendid evening for cricket.

Jagex won the toss and elected to bat. Fardell and Bridle got us off to a quick start, taking apart from ordinary bowling, and taking advantage of a lovely flat dry track at Queens. Having ticked along nicely, Bridle fell when a ball got big on him, and he shipped it up into the air from the splice, high as you like. Fardell eventually retired by caressing the ball straight back over the bowler's head for 4. 

Scott strolled out to the crease and taking his usual approach, biffed 27 not out, including a monster 6, our only of the evening. He was joined by Jeroen Van Daal for a bit, who took a while to get going, but then found his full range of shots (i.e. smashing it to long on), hitting 26* in a narrow pie segment of an area.

Parrish took a position higher up the order than normal, and contributed a useful little 23 of a knock before being caught. The score book tells me that he was caught by Jonty Rhodes, so no shame in that then, Matt. Lee Maplesden chipped in with a few runs and some keen running before seeing a decent off break take off stump - a ball that would have dismissed good, average and poor batsmen alike.

Tom Coslett strolled in and gave us a useful little 11*, despite not having played in years. He was joined briefly by Amoraal. In usual form, Willem tried to spank the leather off all the balls he faced, missing 5 on the bounce, before being bowled by the full ball on the stumps. He had tied bricks to his feet again, to remind himself not to move his dainty toes.

Simon "Milky" Au Lait chipped in with a useful little 12* at the end, taking Jagex's total to a lofty, 158-4, our highest so far this year.

Savills started the run chase slowly, with Parrish and Gibbins (once more described as Gibbon in the scorebook - he's hairy, but he's not that hairy), doing well on economy to start with. Gibbins got a wicket, caught by Parrish at mid-off. 

Dowsett strolled in and bowled a very decent spell, probing in the right areas before taking off stump with a middle pace man's favourite weapon, the off cutter.

The Savills middle order bedded down for a bit, and then one of them went crazy literally swinging wildly at everything that he saw. Scott's single over cost 15 runs to the brute, and Willem saw his 2 overs plundered for 18 runs. Lait came in to try and arrest the scoring rate, with his tidy left arm round the wicket bowling. Bridle was doing very well behind the stumps, and conceded only 1 bye in the whole innings.

Lee Maplesden, once more determined to put football skills to use on the field of cricket, pulled off a daring and dramatic sliding stop, to prevent a 4. Fardell then rolled into the attack, and despite bowling badly, saw one batsman fall bowled off his pads, one given plumb LBW, and one of the returning batsmen chip a catch to Parrish at short cover.

Parrish returned to bowl a mixed bag of an over, which the Savills batsmen took apart a bit. Scott, Fardell and then Dowsett tried to arrest the rate, but Savills had 9 players, so were able to bring their top order batsmen back in, in accordance with Cambridge rules, following Dowsett's dramatic direct hit run out.

Last over, 8 needed with one wicket, Dowsett into the attack. First ball, the batsman biffed it and at short midwicket, I missed a full length diving catch (sorry chaps) that would have won us the game, the batsmen when rotated the strike, and need 4 runs from the last two deliveries. The batsman swung hard, and saw the ball fall behind point and stop to Martin Gibbins. Martin somehow stepped over the ball, fell over, and then picked it up to throw it past the stumps, allowing the batsmen to run the four they needed with one ball to spare.

Sad doesn't quite describe the face I pulled. Still, a good game, and even losing a tight one is more fun than a spanking either way. Special thanks to our guest players this evening, who all chipped in with useful contributions.

Jagex Control Finance Men

Jagex 99-3 (Bridle 26*, Van Daal 21, Parrish 16*) beat Ensors 98-7 (Riding 31*, Patch 16*, Lait 3-5, P Morgan 1-13) by 7 Wickets



Scrabbling around to get a team, right up to the last minute, with 7-8 cancellations on the day of the game. Thanks chaps!
Nick Lawrence catching the opener out at mid-on, first ball, on his debut, to Milky Au Lait’s creamy bowling.
Milky’s bowling. 3 Overs, 5 runs conceded, 3 wickets, and most of it being genuinely unplayable. He bowled one top of off, and then threw a rank ball into the mix, which was played uppishly for Matt Parish to catch.
Steve’s decent opening spell at the other end, economic, wicketless, but tidy in both his opening two and his last two overs, going for 16 from 4, helping us immeasurably.
Piers Morgan taking over from his namesake, and bowling one of those luckless overs, missing the stumps by millimetres, seeing an edge behind sneak through then serving up some variance to allow the opposition to score. He bowled one batsmen next over, with a bit of a peach.
Tom Coslett bowling a lovely little spell, going for 5 runs from two overs, and seeing a wicket caught, I believe once more by Mr Parrish, the ball magnet. It’s not quite the same as being a babe magnet, but it’s good for the team.
Some spiffing glove work behind the stumps from Mr Bridle, including some great legside stops and wide prevention. Sadly he wore one on the toe -
Me rolling into bowl – I was called Fardaze in the score book, and I bowled in something of a daze, serving up juicy pies to give them 16 runs from 2 overs.
Steve’s comedy misfield, going down with one hand, missing the ball, rolling over and then just lying there as the ball sped away to the boundary. He didn’t even attempt to chase.
Ben Holliday strolling in to bowl with a medium ish action – dusting off those school cobwebs and putting in some dangerous balls.
We effected un out from a mix-up, which was nice of them.
Parrish and Jazzy both pulled some decent end of the innings spells, with the Jazz man with the Jazz hands effecting a wicket by pushing one outside off, and seeing it chipped up to Milky at backward point.
An all round, all action, fielding performance, with only Steve’s misfield being worth noting in the comedy department. Van Daal, Nick Lawrence, Parrish, Milky and Ben Holliday all doing well in the field to keep the singles down.
The wicket, which saw some real variance in bounce, pace and carry, which seemed to not be at all in proportion to the bowlers effort.
With the total of 98, Jagex felt confident of chasing it down. Holliday and Bridle got us off to a decent start, scoring early. Bridle in particular was playing some lovely shots all round the wicket, and has been something of a find, finishing on 26*.
Holliday was unfortunate to fall to the best delivery the opening bowler, smashing leg stump.
Van Daal strolling into the crease, and engaging in his unorthodox technique of swinging through the line like a golfer, and getting 21 decent little runs before being bowled. He did cause some controversy in the field, padding up to one, not offering a shot, and running a leg bye which the scorer and the fielders appealed to be called a no ball. Sadly, not having my copy of Widen’s laws of cricket with me, I allowed the leg bye to stand.
He was joined for a while by a very orthodox high elbowed Tom Coslett, who played some lovely shots, including a lofted on-drive, before being bowled by a mystery ball that looped up and somehow came down again.
Parrish and P Morgan saw out the chase in comfortable fashion, with Jagex romping home in the 14^th over. Morgan biffed a four and Matt biffed four of the same to finish the chase comfortably.
A big thank you to the ringers, who helped us put a team together, and to the IT team, responding promptly to an email asking for players. If only desktop support replies were that quick, eh chaps?

Jagex Lose in a Garden Playing Against the Sheds

Eversheds 105-8 (Cooney 27*, Morris 23, Coslett 2-2) beat Jagex 101-8 (Parrish 20, Amoraal 19, Van Daal 16, Holliday 15*) by 2 wickets.

It was a surprisingly close game in the end, not least given the horrid pitch conditions and the shortened format. Also, losing players at 4pm and 5pm most certainly didn’t help, so a special thanks to Ben Holliday and Tom Coslett for helping us put a decent competitive side out.

This game saw the entire day being sunny until about 3pm, and then the skies opened. I received the standard barrage of afternoon emails, "the can't be on", "can I go to the pub instead", "I'm disappointed with the weather conditions, Mark, the God of Weather" etc etc. Several people even helpfully sent me repeated links to the BBC Weather site for Cambridge. Ah, the joys of organising cricket for our meteorlogical bunch is neverending.

The CASS centre has a wonderful pavilion and has been a second home over the years. The track was absolutely wrecked and sodden, so we had tea before the game to give it a chance to dry out. It's odd to get your chat in with the opposition before the game, but there you go, that's what the British weather occasionally brings for us. We shortened the game to 12-8 ball overs, given the gloomy light.

We opened with Fardell and Brett. Neither got going, sadly, with Fardell falling to an LBW early on to a slow loopy one. McClarty gave the decision with no hesitation. I'm normally one to protest an LBW, if I'm honest, and this one may have pitched outside leg, hit me high and not turned towards the stumps, but Mr McClarty holds the club record for ducks, so I shall defer to his experience and judgment in this department. Brett got a few, before being clean bowled by the slowest ball ever bowled in cricket. He could have hit it twice. The conditions were hard to read, with some balls keeping low, some bouncing, and others literally sticking solidly in the muddy pitch. 

Van Daal and Parrish came together to steady the ship and put on a decent little partnership for the 3^rd wicket. A couple of sixes were good to watch, and watching them both fall over trying to completely cheeky singles was very entertaining from an umpire's point of view. I actually so sorry for Matt that I handed him my spikes a couple of overs in. I've seen umpires tie bowlers laces for some reason (which is weird, isn't it?!) but never swap footwear.

Van Daal was eventually bowled by one “Ivan Moriaty”, whose names sounds like a cross between something from Sherlock Holmes and a Bond villain. He contributed a useful little knock beforehand, so the team felt buoyant. Parrish found his range this week, and pluckily got himself to a spritely 20, before he fell to a wonder single handed catch at cover, with the Eversheds' skipper plucking it from the air nonchalantly, then pulling a face of complete surprise.

Our IT contingent was boosted this week by Ben Holliday, coming in on debut in a black wife beater and black shorts. I’m not sure what the fielders made of it all really - but it wasn't regulation kit. I'm not sure he'd get into the MCC dressed like that. Despite the conditions, he contributed a decent little knock of 15*, rolling back the years to his no doubt Tom Brown-esque schooldays. 

Amoraal came in and got some runs forming an IT partnership. It's actually the first time two chaps in our IT team have listened to each other or worked together in any form. Willem even scored first ball on his way to a handy 19. Sadly he got out turning the widest wide in history into a caught behind – possibly the only time I’ve seen him move his feet when batting. He gently top edged it to the keeper, and I had to stop my wide umpiring signal mid stretch, and point my finger skywards. His face was a picture - and he will no doubt never move his feet again.

A sad little run-out mix-up between McClarty and Holliday – where each managed to stay more silent than the other, saw the unfortunate McClarty depart.

Coslett tribute a handy little 7 and some pushed runs at the end, before falling LBW, to another shocking decision from yours truly. I was moved by the appeal. Steve Morgan was out dancing down the wicket and getting stumped to the slow bowler. 

Gibbins contribution at the end was to swing the bat in slow motion and repeatedly miss the ball. 5 times in a row. From the last 5 balls of the innings.

101-8 - felt a little short, but not horrendously so. Sadly however we were playing catch up from the first over, when Parrish conceded 17 from what could generously be described as a "mixed bag" of rubbish, crap, pies and poverty.

Gibbins opened at the other end and had more luck, extracting one opener with another threatening spell of the slow stuff, accurate and deadly. Steve Morgan, taking over from Matt, had a decent little spell, economic, and helping to arrest the rate.

Some cracking fielding from Ben, Tom, and latterly Liam to keep the total within reach for a good while, including sliding stops, chases, and compulsory banter.

A batsman offered a chance, but Parrish dropped. Thankfully he had the presence of mind to pick up the ball and then run the fellow out with a direct hit. The batsman was, officially in my book, out twice to the same ball. 

Brett had a good spell turning it this way and that. I'm never convinced he knows where it will turn, but that quality means it's also hard for the batsman to pick!

Fardell had a reasonable spell behind the stumps, but bizarrely was more comfortable taking full length diving stops down the leg-side than taking the regulation stuff that came straight through.

Parrish, clearly gee'd up by his direct hit, did exactly the same thing again. It was a joy to watch, but Eversheds were reeling in the total comfortably at this point.

Willem wanted to make full use of the track, and bowled short, wide, full, straight, you name it. I don't doubt he was just trying to find a less than muddy patch. For some reason, that defies belief, his figures in our scorebook ain't too shabby.

Fardell then tossed the ball to Coslett, and goodness he made me I wish I'd done this earlier. His splendid little over at the death brought two wickets in two balls, one bowled for a duck, and the next, the Captain no less, bowled for a golden duck. We should have brought him on earlier.

We pushed them to the last over, but sadly they were well ahead of the rate for most of the innings, so our little flourish to arrest them near the end only meant we dragged them into the last over. Still, a decent game, that went to the wire.

Shark Attack

Sharks 136-3 (Rob 29*, Michael 25*, Gibbins 21-1) beat Jagex 119-5 (Colledge 28*, Brett 27*, Bolton 22-1) by 17 runs.

Jagex took to the field against one of the auld adversary - Sharks - a team we have never managed to defeat. They never seem to be short a player, and are as competitive as you like, taking teams like us to the sword on a weekly basis. No wonder they've chosen a highly specialised apex predator as their mascot.

It was a pleasant evening at the improved ground of Girton, now sporting a rather spiffing new pavilion - where once there was a mouldy park bench. It's amazing what Cambridge colleges can achieve. We lost two players before the start of play, both around 5pm, so had to scrabble around to put two players in place in the last hour. By some miracle, I found two available souls, but it never helps having last minute shuffles, and no shows.

We lost the toss and started in the field. Parrish opened at one end and Lamble at the other, and things were initially quite tight. Missing a wicket keeper, Fardell had to fill in behind the stumps, using his hands, or ample frame, to stop balls in less than orthodox fashion.

The opening batsmen dug in for the first few overs, with one (Rob) scoring, and the other (Michael) choosing to bide his time - always sensible in 20/20.

Gibbins came in at the change, and bowled an exciting little spell full of dots. You could see one batsman in particular (Michael) was getting quite upset at missing slow paced ball after slow paced ball.  

Edwards also came in, and bowled a, well, eventful first opening over. A couple of dots were followed by a no ball that hit the batsman in a (ahem) delicate area. He took some time to compose himself, but his response was quite something, hitting two consecutive sixes to allow himself to leave the field and get some ice on the offending injury. Sadly no-one offered to provide a pain relieving massage as well. 

Sharks continued to score, but Jagex were fielding well, and several players distinguished themselves in the field. Lee put in a splendiferous springing sliding stop on the boundary to save a certain four, and was lively throughout. Hugh dropped a tough chance at mid-on, which would have gone through him had he not bravely put his hands to leather.

Gibbins continued in the same vein, and was joined by Brett. Brett saw his first wicket when a batsman tried to hook it round the corner, but instead gently chipped it up to a startled looking Richard Colledge to catch easily. The next batsman was bowled by a ripsnorter from Gibbins, which swung and removed the top of off. He's acquired a few new nicknames this season - Gibbins the Gibbon, Old Fart, and my personal favourite (given his body is crumbling) the 6 Million Dollar Man.

Shark's batsman Michael dug in throughout, demonstrating some wonderful forward defensive strokes, and engaging in liberal use of the exaggerated leave to preserve his wicket. He eventually retired on 25 not out, facing between 42 and 45 balls, depending on which scorebook you believe. In some ways, he was our 12th man tonight.

Edwards came back to bowl one of their batsman with a great ball to remove leg stump. He also acquired a new nickname courtesy of Richard Colledge - Jazzy.

Fardell let a fast ball go straight through his legs behind the wicket. Whoopsie. Other fielders did well, with Jeroen, Juzzy and Hugh all stopping decent balls that were racing away to the boundary.

Sharks finished on 136-3. We felt pretty pleased with this, as the wicket felt like it had 150 in it.

Fardell and Colledge opened. I'll be honest, wicket keeping is tiring and I was knackered. The Sharks opener was young, ran a lot before he delivered the ball, and was quick as well. I prefer pie bowlers if I'm honest. I managed to get dropped twice on my way to edging behind to the keeper for 7. Spectacular form for an opener.

Colledge, clearly not impressed by my shambolic display, hit some wonderful shots all round the ground, including the on-drive, and the cover-drive over the in-field. He even did some footwork, on his way to a top little 28*. Jones joined him for a bit, but the light had faded and the clouds had come in, making batting more difficult, so he scrapped and scraped around to eventually get 7 before being bowled.

Jeroen returned to the team, a welcome sight, and contributed a useful, if rusty, little 12, before also being bowled. Colledge retiring saw Brett and French play together for a spell, with contrasting styles. French playing orthodox and dealing with some tough bowling, whilst turning over the strike and letting Brett unleash the dragon, sisqo style, with some smashed 4's. 

French fell, bowled, allowing Lee to pop in. Jagex were still in it, but a touch behind the rate. Lee, not one to hang about, targeted the best Sharks bowler, Brown - and hit him for consecutive fours straight back over his head. The scorebook says he got 10, but he definitely scored more.

With the game lost, Brett was briefly joined by Parrish for the last two balls. Parrish had two consecutive golden ducks to his name so far this season, our equivalent of a king pair, and was keen to avoid a third - not least as Wisden's anthology of cricket terms doesn't include a phrase to describe 3 in a row. He broke his jinx in fine form, hitting a massive single, and finishing with a massive 6 last ball. We finished on 119-5, so made a decent fist of the chase. Getting bogged down in the middle overs didn't help the chase though.

Sharks, as is tradition, kindly provided us with food and beers afterwards, and we reminisced about all of the fixtures that we've lost to them in the past.

Jagex Biffed by Bidwells

Bidwells 138-2 (Bennett 29*, Stanton 28*, Watt 28*, Scott 26*) beat Jagex 136-6 (Morgan 28*, Fardell 27*, Edwards 17*, Watt 20-2) by 8 wickets

Jagex returned to Queens for the first time this year, and boy was it a welcome return. A pleasant evening, a spiffing ground, and the promise of a lovely tea. Our opposition on this evening were Bidwells, a team who are famed smashing all and sundry before them. I feel a bit like the nerdy kid at school being asked to participate in UFC 2014 when contemplating facing them.

Jagex won the toss and opted to bat. Colledge and Fardell got things off to a decent start, with an opening stand of 31. Fardell scored behind the wicket, including a deliberate guide to 3rd man, which prompted Jamy to cry, "really good crickety stuff". Richard was in fine form, scoring in the midwicket and long-off zones with a couple of cracked 4's.

Sadly the partnership was ended when Fardell, having being tied in knots by the slow bowler, decided to call Richard through for a suicidal single. Sorry Rich. In fairness, his bat got stuck in the ground as he tried to slide home, and Gibbins gave it - with umpiring not his strong suit.

Fardell was joined by P Morgan, who showed fine fettle to get the game crackling, using some splendiferous biffing techniques to send the ball everywhere. Fardell then retired on 27* with his first ever 6, over the square boundary. The fielder jumped and then clapped at the same time.

Morgan was joined by Brett for a spell, and managed to keep scoring commendably, including scoring 3 consecutive 4's down to fine leg. Not to be outdone, he also finished on a 6 to find himself 28*. Brett and Edwards then pootled along for a while before Brett was bowled by something of peach, splattering the stumps.

We had our substitute fielders in on the action, and Piers Morgan dropped an absolute dolly of a catch to give Bridle another life. He tried to redeem himself by scoring an almost direct hit run our of Jamy. Easy Piers. Not to be outdone, our other substitute fielder, Brett, tried to do exactly the same thing a few balls later. Lee Maplesden understood the role of a substitute fielder better, and dropped one catch early in the innings. Piers, Liam - take note.

Bridle and Jazzy Edwards kept things moving, with Bridle on debut dealing with some tough stuff but keeping the scoring rolling in the manner of a nuggedty opening batsman. Jazzy hit some nice shots, before he retired with a groin related injury - he's clearly not seeing enough action in that area.

McClarty stepped in, but was sadly felled first ball by a decent one. Bridle had Nigri as company for a spell, before falling run out trying to up the scoring rate. Parish strolled out, and was adjudged to have edged behind first ball, adding to his burgeoning duck count for the season. Lee Maplesden strolled in and spanked a four right at the end, but was then sadly run out. This gave Jagex a decent, 136-6, although it felt as though 150 plus was warranted on a very sedate track.

Parish opened the bowling and had a very decent spell, economic and testing with a cracking first over. Gibbins had a not so good start, not being helped by the brutish batsman at the other end, and was rotated out of the strike with Morgan brought in. Morgan did fantastically well. With both putting on pressure, Piers eventually induced and edge behind, which bald wicket keeper Jamy held onto well. The first 5-6 overs, and Jagex looked well on course. Then the wheels came off.

Brett, usually Mr Dependable, got the yips, and bowled an entire over of half track stuff, which Bidwells gobbled up gratefully. Gibbins recovered to come back for a spell, but Bidwells kept scoring, gleefully at times, and with swashbuckling strokes, biffs, and no wickets falling. 

Some decent fielding from Bridle, Fardell and McClarty did help to arrest the rate, as did Brett in the deep. One catch was agonisingly just over Jazzy Edwards' head. He then came in for a spell and ramped up the pace, putting Jamy through his paces behind the stumps.

The game was all but lost though by about the 12th over, as we just couldn't stop them scoring, no matter what field we set. Colledge bowled well, and saw a wicket when Parrish caught an absolute stinger at short cover, which he quickly through upwards, no doubt to help with the pain.

Bidwells cruised home with a few overs to spare, and could have easily put on 170. In truth, they batted so deep, that we would have needed 20 immaculate overs of bowling, and another 30 runs scored ourselves, to even have a chance.

Chicken skewers were back this week. Ah Yeah. I know I'm somewhat obsessed with these, but honestly, come along to one of our games and you'll see who. 

We spent a bit of the early evening trying to convince Jamy that the cricket term "Yorker" was in fact "Yorkie". I don't think he bit. We also were quite generous in our provision of 2 substitute fielders, and I take full responsibility for wanting to ensure the game is fair and even.

Jagex v Mills & Reeve - Cancelled

We lost this one to the weather, again. It seems to be the cursed fixture for us, as we last played Mills & Reeve when first scheduled in 2011.

It might have looked like this.

Jagex Taken Back to the Old Skool

The Leys School (145-6, W Earl 30*, S. We 29, P White 25, Morgan 32-2) beat Jagex 123 (Brett 42, McClarty 16, Coe 18-3) by 22 Runs

Jagex lost in a pleasant pre-season friendly in the pleasing environs of The Leys School. The game looked all but certain to be called off with the weather on the day, but the school runs a tight ship, and use professional quality covers to keep the square in top condition. It was very kind of the school to host us on this occasion, and this is a virgin fixture for us - having never played against them before or at this lovely historic school in the heart of Cambridge. Imagine if you will, an immaculate square, a gloriously maintained outfield, all surrounded by the imposing red brick facade of a Victorian style school on a sunny May evening.

Jagex opened the bowling and got off to a cracking start. Gibbins (or Gibbons as the scorebook has chosen to label him) managed to extract one opener clean bowled, with a decent one that turned and took off stump. In truth I felt for the batsman, as it bordered on the unplayable. Gibbins bowled decent lines for his 2 over spell, and was hard to get off the square.

Parish (or Churchy as we are calling him) started with a faster skiddy spell from the other end, and was rewarded early with an LBW, one that kept low and was certain to demolish the stumps. The remainder of his spell was tight, although his pace did mean that any hint of width was at risk. Two wickets in the first two overs, and Jagex were buzzing.

The Leys School then really knuckled down for the third wicket, and Earl and Coe played some really quite lovely stuff to get Leys back on track. I remember a genuine late cut from Coe and a couple of lovely pulls behind square from Earl - who honestly looked a class apart in his batting. There were some unfortunate shelled catches which might have made the difference. Piers Morgan dropped a really tough chance, a steepler which caught snow on its way down. I dropped a much easier one from his bowling at mid-off.

At some point Morgan bowled another over, and McClarty took a great catch on the run to offer him a wicket. Jamy was wicket keeping, and went he wasn't chirping, he did a very good job of keep the extras down to a minimum, with his new shiny Kookaburra gloves on display. He did forget to the take the field with his wicket keeping pads though...

The opener retired on 30 to warm applause, and whilst the scorebook is a total mess, it looks like Morgan ended up with 2 wickets. Cooper bowled a cheeky, rusty little over, before Brett tied up one end and Fardell tied up the other. At this point, I have no statistics for you whatsoever on Brett's bowling as the score book has all-sorts of excitement in it, but doesn't afford any clarity to the statisticians amongst us. He bowled a good spell, suffice to say, and some things happened, that probably didn't involve wickets. Probably.

At this point, a few hundred kids wandered out from recess at the school and sat around watching the cricket. In all honesty, they really supported their teachers - something you wouldn't have seen at my school. We've never had such a crowd in any form of the game, least of all a hostile one (although hostile perhaps isn't the right word - biased ).

Fardell managed to bowl one batsman with a top of off stump line. He then tied up the school headmaster at the crease for a few balls, before his last ball of the over was thoroughly biffed to the boundary, with enthusiastic cheers from all the assembled schoolchildren. Morgan extracted another wicket, somehow (score book), and bowled a beautiful death over which, forced a late run out from a suicidal call.

Only other points of note were Churchy coming back for a tight last over, Lee Maplesden on debut using his football skills in the field, and Cooper and French in some of the less glamorous fielding positions. The Leys finished on 145, and it felt like they had exceeded the par on a tricky wicket.

Fardell and Morgan opened, and the Leys bowler sported a rather interesting haircut - with his hair tied tightly in a scrunchie above his head, leading to some very confusing side-to-side flopping of his hair when he ran into bowl. Fardell played a four, then a 2, a couple of dots, and then holed out to deep mid-wicket/forward square. Not really what you want from an opener.

This brought Parish/Churchy to the crease, and he sadly perished first ball to an absolute pearler of legspin. The Jagex innings hadn't exactly got going, and even Morgan looked scratchy. Then Brett came to the crease, and spent the evening showing just about all and sundry how it is done. He had Morgan for company for a bit, before he perished caught trying to hit the ball over the tallest fielder the Leys had. Brett then had McClarty for company for a period.

In truth he had to deal with some incredible variation from one of their bowlers, with yorkers, interspersed with head height no balls and wides that didn't manage to touch the strip. He also knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that no fielders were dropping any catches tonight, so the aerial route was risky.

Brett retired on short order for 30, to warm applause, hitting a couple of lovely 4's. French and McClarty then did a firm job of stabilising the innings, with McClarty scoring behind square quite a lot, and French turning over the strike where possible. French hit some lovely defensive strokes to some of the better balls in the innings, eventually falling bowled. 

McClarty managed to defy the laws of physics, cricket and common sense, by using his box (assuming he had one in) to gently tip the ball over the top of the bails - by about an inch. In truth, everyone was so shocked at what they had just seen, that no-one appealed for the absolute dead certain LBW. He eventually fell caught, after chipping in with a useful little 16.

Jamy came in for a spell, but was sadly bowled off his pads without getting going. This brought Lee to the crease on batting debut. He chipped in with a useful 5, and contributed some enthusiastic running between the wickets, before falling bowled. We were then treated to the sight of a Gibbins duck, going big no less.

The failing May evening light saw the introduction of the pink ball. Cooper was in for a spell, and was joined by the returning Brett. Brett hit a magnificent six, and Cooper helped rotate the strike nicely. There was a small possibility of the game being won in the final over, but it would have required something really special. Sadly a little mix-up saw Brett run out pushing for 2. He finished on 42, with Jagex all out for 123.

Everyone retired to the Panton afterwards (sadly the school doesn't seem to have a bar), for nibbles and drinks.

A respectable pre-season friendly. We're grateful to the Leys School for kindly hosting us in a good tempered and enjoyable game, made all the better for the introduction of a crowd.

If we’d held a couple of the catches that were shelled, and got off to a slightly brighter start, I think we would have had the better of that time. Likewise, if my aunt was called Steve, she’d be my uncle.

Still, a good all round performance, with everyone involved at some stage. It’s also the first game I’ve ever turned up to where we were joined by a blind dog in the pub afterwards.