Dan's Dynamo's beat Matt's Marauders at Histon Haven

Dan's Dynamos (124-2, Fardell 25*, Stu 24*, Jones 21, Mann 1-11) beat Matt's Marauders (120-10, Parrish 32, Brolia 27, Jack H 4-17) by 8 wickets

This was going to be a Histon v Dobblers fixture, but owing to some difficulty getting the requisite number of players, we searched far and wide for recruits to get a full 22 in to play. The Histon 3rd team comprised a lot of the players in attendance tonight, played in lovely conditions on the 1st pitch. Dobblers and Jags made up the rest in two invitational XIs.

Ant showed his pre-game athletic temperament by consuming what we approximately believe to be north of 4000 calories, none of which comprised any fruit or vegetables. This diet might explain his lack of enthusiasm for 2's and singles when batting. Dan and Matt had spent the day carefully selecting two finely balanced XI's from the deep array of talent on offer. This included some actual blasts from the past, as Messrs Kris Jones and Neil Tween, two founder members of the Jaguars no less, dusted off the cobwebs, broke from retirement and returned to the field of battle. Brett, despite being seriously injured, turned up to spectate and engage in beard maintenance tips with the other hirusute warrior, Tom Parker. Bear Grylls would have been proud.

The pitch was very green, suggesting that fast bowlers who bowled full and straight would get a lot of lateral movement and backing away to leg was going to be a bad idea. I fancied making this point early in this report, given what followed.

 

See that green tinge, that means you need to be forward to fast bowlers.

Matt's Marauders (I write the reports, so I get to pick the team names) opened the batting on a lovely evening on the Histon ground. Wilde opened the bowling one end, and after a quick scurry of runs, found his range to dismiss Langley with a ball that moved in slightly to the left hander and dislodged leg stump. This brought Coslett to the crease early to support Mr Parrish. Parker was the other opening bowler, a considered choice from the skipper, Dan, who was taking duty behind the stumps and adjusting the field studiously throughout. Dan's gruff instructions and disappointment at people not carefully following his precise fielding intructions were an ever present part of the innings. Matt enjoyed the Parker bowling more than Ant enjoys beef jerky, and hit two large 4's before launching into a monster 6, straight down the ground and back over the bowler's head. Coslett found his range for the first time this season, plundering a couple of 4's.

 

Matt doing a typical Matt there. Wallop.

Matt was in typical swashbuckling form, true to his team name. Harry was economic and focussed throughout, and probably justified more than a single wicket with a targeted and direct opening spell. Parker was Parker, and Matt enjoyed his bowling immensely - he even thanked Dan behind the stumps for giving him a bowl. Matt's team had raced to a good start, 55-1-5, and a big total loomed with these long 8 ball overs taking their toll on the bowlers. Matt's retirement bought Ant to the crease, with Dan setting a very offside field to contain him.

Then came the 6th over. In truth, this over was probably the high point of this or many a season and turned the game completely on it's head. Jack H was tossed the red cherry, and thought that perhaps bowling full and straight with the seam up would be a good idea. It certainly was. Coslett was clean bowled, backing away to leg, as the first full length ball crashed into the top of off stump. Zak saw out one ball, before trying to tickle one to leg and being clean bowled from a full straight one that hit the top of leg stump. Cam came in, backed away to leg and was bowled by a full straight one that took the top of off stump. Joe strolled in and saw out the hat-trick ball before backing away to leg, and being bowled by a full straight one that hit the top of off stump. 6 balls. 4 wickets. 2 dots. Being 8 ball overs, to earn his maiden, Jack had to bowl two more dots, which he did with the minimum of fuss.

A four wicket maiden. In 20/20 evening cricket. I would have loved to have known what Ant, watching helplessly from the other end, was thinking at this point. I would wager it was somewhere between, "I can still taste my lunch" to, "it's a shame we're losing wickets, but at least I haven't had to run for an over". From 55-1-5 to 55-5-6 - Jack, whatever fine Ales they serve at the Dobblers, I need to partake.

Here is Zak's dismissal. Note the contrast in girth between the batsman and the fielder lurking in the background.

There was some fielding that was good and Dan shouted lots at fielders to move where he wanted them and put effort in, but honestly my memories of these points are all erased by a 4 wicket maiden, with all clean bowled.

Luke and Ant then hung around for a spell, with Ant demonstrating that even if you set a field to him, he will still score in his favoured off side area, with some lovely cut shots and excellent poise. Once he became aware of a distant photographer, he started posing more and looking more regal and balanced

Hold the pose.

Luke and Ant did a rescue job on the innings, helping Matt's team start to claw its way back to a total. Jack continued, economic throughout, and Oscar bowled a tidy spell. 84-5-10. Ant retired, and then some more excitement happened. Nick was briefly in before Sam came in to bowl, and enticed an airy shot which was well held by the fielder at deep point, Oscar I believe, making good ground to clutch the ball close to the turf. Neil Tween managed a cheeky 4 from the outside edge of his bat, streakier than bacon, before being clean bowled. Steve Mann then entered the fray, and perished bowled top of off, after managing an elegant pull for four, again from the normal Dobbler's Captain, Sam. 

Luke was briefly rejoined by Matt, who managed another 5 runs, before being bowled by, you guessed it, a full and straight one that hit the top of off. Madness this bowling at the stumps malarkey, who would have thought it?!

A Dobbler's bowler had absolutely begged Dan for a slip fielder in response to a streaky edge. He duly got one, and Ant obliged, by top edging a sweep over the keeper's head and into the waiting arms of the slip, which is quite clearly why you need slips. Matt's Marauders finished at the start of the 14th over on 120 all out - 14 balls short of the total potential balls bowled. Not batting out the full innings is not to be advised at this level, not least given the number of extras that are often conceded.

The sun dipped below the graceful Histon trees and in the enveloping gloom, Captain Dan decided on his batting lineup. Digging into the annals of previous Jagex teams, he chose Kris Jones and Mark Fardell to open the batting, who had last batted together in approximately 2013. The pink ball made an appearance, given the current light situation, and Matt's team set about terrorising the opener's, needing to be economic and wicket taking to have any chance of defending what looked a low total. Nick opened the bowling from one end, and was an absolute terror, fast and accurate, with good lateral movement, making scoring very challenging from the start. Ant started at the other end, and bowled a venomous single over, before being held back for later in the game.

Kris and Mark both struggled to score at the start of the innings, with a fair few played and missed chances, and lots of chirp from the fielders - well, Ant mainly, chivving Fardell with his "swing badadadada... swing..." chatter. Scoring was proving challenging, as both batsmen clung on against a committed bowling and fielding performance. The bowling change to Zak loosened the shackles somewhat, with Jones punching a nice off side four down the ground and Mr Extras taking his highly valued place in the scorebook with a couple of wides. Neither batsman fancied trying to hit anything Nick bowled, with his 3, 8 ball overs going for a total of 11 runs. He deserved a wicket to go with it, in all truth.

As Nick ran out of balls and Jones and Luke came in to the attack, both batsmen freed up their arms a little and started to get a few runs. Fardell was graciously dropped by his good friend Mr Coslett, demonstrating that the Crocodile catch technique really doesn't work. He eventually made the drop pay, cracking a couple of 4's and retiring, slowly again, at 25*. Jones and Oscar Fry picked up the pace with the scoring, including an imperious straight drive from Mr Jones. Oscar sadly pushed a little too hard on the singles, and tweaked his hamstring, forced to retire hurt. This brought Holt to the crease, and he definitely took his time to get his eye in. Jones fell bowled, having done the hard work against the openers, to the left arm seam of Luke. 

This brought Stu to the crease, who hadn't even got any cricket gear with him and had just been milling around the ground, hoping a game might happen and that someone would be short and ask him to play. The fourth delivery he faced was dispatched for a monster 6 over midwicket, almost threatening the kids in the playground or the assembled spectators, depending on your perspective. Holt eventually departed, caught from Mr Mann's devious and conniving bowling action, leaving Stu and Captain Fantastic Dan to get us over the line.

Ant hadn't read the script, with 19 needed from 3 overs, he combined with Steve to push the game to the final over. Dan and Stu struck a few lusty blows, before Ant took the cherry for the last 8 ball over, with 3 needed for the win. He bowled a couple of deliveries that were fairly wide of off, but Sam in the umpiring hotseat stretched his arms, but didn't give wides as it just wouldn't be how you'd want to win. Apart from a cheeky scampered bye, two balls left and 2 to win, 1 to draw - Ant had done a commendable job of pushing it to the wire, aided by some generous umpiring. The 7th ball offered a tiny bit of width, and was duly dispatched through point for 4, to give Dan's Dynamos the final victory that the assembled throng of spectators were clearly hoping for.

In truth it was an enjoyable game, with some good performances, a lovely setting and some very crickety things happened. Matt's team probably had the stuffing knocked out of them by Jack's legendary over, and not having managed to bat out the overs probably, meant they were 20 shy of a defendable total.

As you might expect with lots of Dobblers being part of the game, pub attendance at the Railway Vue was excellent, with decent chirp. My personal favourite was Ant declaring that he was clearly the man of the match as he had batted and bowled well. This was somewhat disputed by those at his table, but he insisted, "I feel like a winner", to which Kris replied, "did you feel like a winner when your team lost as we scored the final runs off your bowling", "erm no...". He then went home to eat 12 Scotch Eggs, as he had quite clearly not had his daily 5000 calorie intake.

 

Old Jagex faces reunited. Look at that vintage Jagex top Kris is wearing.

So, that's it, season at an end after a paltry 3 games, and not a single college ground graced. At least we got something in this year.

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.