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!

Jagex Beaten by Hadcock's One Man Team

Mills & Reeve 93-5 (Lanceman 27*, S Morgan 2-14, P Morgan 2-17) beat Jagex 91-9 (Nigri 23, Parrish 17*, Hadcock 4-7) by 5 wickets.

It was a weird, topsy turvy game last night with highlights including.

About as good a start as we could have dreamed of, with 27 runs plundered for no wicket by the 3^rd over, courtesy of Jamy “Batter Up” Nigri.

Jamy being bowled, which bizarrely resulted in our biggest batting collapse in years.

Van Daal pushed hard and kept the score ticking over before falling caught.

Jones perished for 3 hitting a wide one to a short offside catcher.

Piers Morgan chipped in with a couple of 4’s, before he managed a very strange top edge to a short offside player.

Richard was cleaned up by the stand out bowler on the night, Hadcock, and possibly by the ball of the game, pitching on a length outside off and then seaming in to take leg stump.

Justin stuck around for a bit before being bowled by the same chap who had Richard.

McClarty stuck around for a bit before returning a caught and bowled chipping one gently back to the bowler.

Steve Morgan bopped in with a streaky as a bacon sandwich four, before being bowled by the irrepressible Hadcock.

Parrish chipped in with a decent score, although was dropped twice. Charmed life.

Fardell and Parrish did their best Boycott impression at the end to add 20 for the last wicket. They couldn’t see the team to the 20^th over, with Fardell bowled off his pads by a straight-ish one.

Hadcock managed to secure 2 wicket maidens. Someone (Neil) said before the game that we had way too much batting…

We had to do really well to have any hope of winning this one, and so we started off at something of a flyer, with brothers S and P Morgan opening. Both secured early wickets by teasing an edge behind to Jamy Nigri behind the stumps.

Steve saw one caught, Piers also saw one caught. Neither of the brothers wanted the other to do better.

Chirp in the field was high, and at one point the opposition were 4 wickets down after 4 overs with ten runs on the board. Batters 1, 2 and 3 didn’t trouble the scorers, and batsman 5 chipped in with 1.

Pickett and Lanceman for the opposition bedded down and built their first partnership. Pickett led a charmed life, offering two difficult caught chances, and almost playing a wild swipe on. Lanceman didn’t offer a sniff.

Fielding was generally good, tough catches aside. Van Daal prowled the boundary well, and mostly people picked up and threw in effectively.

Edwards bowled a decent couple of overs, bowling Pickett with that dreaded ball that is straight at the middle of the stumps.

Parrish also had a decent spell at the other end, although the partnership, and the following batsmen (including Hadcock) had managed to steady the ship and keep the scoring up so that the target was easily in reach.

Neil said something nasty about my mum, and said he had to question my captaincy decisions at the end: lovely.