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[Lumsden]

A complete contrast to last Saturday.

The opposition skipper won the toss on a wet wicket but I thought made the strange decision to bat first. Anyhow unlike last week when I barely touched the ball, I was bowling first change in just 5th over (opening bowler apparently didn't like bowling from that end) and I picked up 4 wickets for 16 runs. However as I was classed as a loan player, I could only bowl 7 overs but a 14-year-old spinner who replaced me was equally as effective picking up 3-19 and we bowled out the opposition for just 94. 

After tea I had settled nicely into scoring but suddenly we went from 15-0 to 20-5 which is when I came in to bat at No. 7. A couple more wickets fell quickly but then I put together a half decent partnership for the 8th wicket with the aforementioned picky opening bowler before he somehow got run out watching the ball. I had hit the ball down to long off and I was literally walking through for a single. Then batted with the 14-year-old young spinner and it looked like we would be pulling off an unlikely victory but the opposition opening bowlers returned and one especially gave me absolutely nothing to hit. Perhaps a bit of fatigue set in as I started to play some lose shots before being adjudged LBW for 26 with the score on 77 but the final pair still made the opposition sweat adding another 10 before the last wicket fell.

So close yet so far but in hindsight the run out was the key wicket because he was just starting to get stuck into their off spinner, going deep in the crease and pulling him. Still an exciting game of cricket to be involved in and personally speaking, I would much rather play in a game like this than a boring one-sided victory.         

[Gurujames]

We had a weakened side, bowled terribly, fielded poorly and they got to 230 ish in a reduced 30 over game.
We were bowled out for 150 ish. I was run out for 4.
Lovely ground, decent tea and our first loss of the season.

[Woodyspin]

Bloody love cricket!! 3 to win off the last ball and our 18 yr old opener goes and hits a 4 for an unbeaten 94!!!

[Big Mac]

Can't buy a bloody run this season. Second ball duck, pull shot tickled the glove down the legside where the keeper took a one handed catch diving at full stretch.

Oh and the cherry on top, I hadn't even got halfway to the boundary before the heavens opened up and everybody started legging it back to the safe confines of the clubhouse.

Half tempted to just go "sod it" the next time I bat and close my eyes and try and switch hit it for six off the very first ball. Couldn't be any worse than trying to bat properly.

On the flip side of this, what if you have a settled side with only 1 player unavailable?
Do you upset the regulars to give the loanee a game, or do you focus on winning the game with your regulars filling their usual roles?

If this is what happened then that means that side has a specialist #11 batsman 

[NT50]

Wasn't looking forward to today, playing a terrible bunch of blokes who proved no different today.
To put it into perspective, these lot had no qualms about bowling bouncers to 13 year-old girls in a development league a few years ago, and seem happy to blatantly cheat when umpiring. 

We won the toss and put them in on a wet deck, and our opening bowlers had reduced them to 36-2 off 10 before we came off for rain. Then me and my fellow spinner came on and i took the wicket of their mouthy batsman who pumped me for a massive 6 on his second ball, and then edged to slip on his 3rd, leaving the pitch moaning about my "(No Swearing Please) spin" (Says wicket in the scorebook though?) My fellow spinner took 2 good wickets, before i took another one with a horrible full toss. We had them 105-7 when we finally came off for rain, and we never got back out there.

As mouthy batsman (who was now umpire) pondered taking us off, one of our loan players suggested staying on whilst it was just spitting, but was met by a barrage of abuse. He was told to F off and that he could pay to repair the wicket if he wanted, before another volley of swearing (bare in mind we had 2 colts playing). Our loan player responded by telling him to be quiet, he started to walk over saying "what you going to do then" before wisely retreating when he realised he wouldn't have won that particular fight.

We then took an early tea, the rain got heavier and made the pitch and outfield unplayable. But they told us they wanted to take the full hour before calling it off, despite us saying we wouldn't be going back out on an unplayable pitch, and the 4 forecasts we looked at suggested it was only going to get heavier for the next 7 hours (which it did). We then called it off, and they retreated back to the changing rooms without as much of a handshake or thanks for coming.

No idea why idiots like this play cricket, i know a few of them from football and they're equally as bad there. Then again, no idea what we expected from a group of players who find it morally justified to bowl bouncers full pace at little girls.

[Northern monkey]

We were looking good for a much needed win yesterday before being dragged off for rain

Reduced the overs down to 25 per side before the start and our captain chose to field after winning the toss.
We had them 7 down for 100ish ,
They were happy to call it a draw,(I certainly wasn't ) as they are top of the league
Anyway, not that I'm still peed off about it

[jblowe]

We were looking good for a much needed win yesterday before being dragged off for rain

Reduced the overs down to 25 per side before the start and our captain chose to field after winning the toss.
We had them 7 down for 100ish ,
They were happy to call it a draw,(I certainly wasn't ) as they are top of the league
Anyway, not that I'm still peed off about it

@Northern monkey, you suffered the same as the rest of OXON, only three games complete in the OCA, one of which was in the next village to you.  Were Britwell lost by 110 runs in a 28 over match (per side).

[Northern monkey]

We'd played in the rain whilst they batted
It was only because we'd almost bowled them out cheaply, that they didn't want to continue.
We could have played on after tea mate

We only have a few games left now, so surely every effort should be made to complete a game??

[jblowe]

wolvercote did not start their game until 4.30 and both sides got 25 overs in.  A lot of the time the umpires have been paid and just want to leave, or they are just incompetent and/or don't know the rules.

[Seniorplayer]

The club Not playing yesterday hasn't  cut our lead  we are still 31 points  ahead of the second place  team the decision was made as regardless of being top we did not want to risk our county standard track where as other clubs  in our division have  played every match we are the  only club to have cancelled  2 home games this season not playing  these matches with 4  league games left though  could ultimately cost us the title.

[jamielsn15]

Rained off after 11 overs yesterday. Its a measure of my season where i was happy with a 10 not out! Also now captain for the remainder of the season,  very much reluctantly.

[six and out]

As like most people the rain played its part in my game yesterday.

It was a shame in a way because as i have said in another thread I had a massive game yesterday, 1st vs 2nd to go a long way to decide the league.

We won a really great toss and bowled 1st and were amongst them straight away our opening bowler finished with 5-20 off of 10 overs straight threw. We had them 60-6 when the 1st rains came. We then go back on and for another few overs and they get to 86-7 before we have to come off again for alot longer this time.

So we are going loopy thinking the rain has done us. However it completely flipped because it eventually stopped enough to get back out there and they only had 3 overs left with all the time we had lost!! They got to 106 off 29 overs.

We now knew what we needed to get and the rain had slowed up loads and got them 4 down in about 19 overs.

Oppo really weren't happy but they are the rain rules and to be honest we were all over them.

League title now in our hands as we are 7 points ahead.

[tom line]

Fantastic double win this weekend,
Saturday got put in after losing the toss with pitch having a few damp spots, recovered from 30-3 to 220-9 after our 40, number 5 and 6 both got good 30 odds to hold it together before a well constructed 54* from our number 9 including some big hits took us past 200 a great effort from where we were. Their opener went after us from the start thinking rain was coming as they were 30-0 off the first 3 overs before the number 9 who'd hit 50 took 5-23 off his 10 and the first change bowler from the other end took 4-30 and our opener came back on to wrap it up for 110 AO. In truth they are a one man team who rely on their opener every week as he averages 80

Today put the oppo in bowled tightly to get them all out for 126 then chased it 4 down in 25 overs with the skipper getting a quick fire 50 to finish before the rain got to us

[pablomarmite]

Called off yesterday so cup semi final will be played next Saturday. Hopefully a few will be back from holidays.

[SOULMAN1012]

Played Bury St Edmunds Cricket club today (sat side is EAPL) and turned up weather was good at the ground 5mins later heavens opened, didn't start until 4pm so ended up 25 overs a side. We bowled really well, personally had a little trundle today and bowled 5-2-3-14 and got it going both ways which is good timing as our keeper is back for back end of the season to give my knees and fingers a break. Bowled them out for 136 in the last over.

In T20 I bat lower order as not really my game all this big hitting and was down to come in at 7 and not required, lost our opener 2nd over but good partnerships between 2 & 3 then 2&4 won us the game with all scoring 30 or 40 odd, puts us 2nd in Sunday top division, pretty good for a little village side against some of the really big clubs in Suffolk.