26th May 2011 Home To Eyecatchers

Firstly apologies for the lateness of this report but I helped out with the p.a. at the Barefoot in Babylon festival which took place in the Sun Lounge on the North pier at the weekend. As this meant starting at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday morning and finishing at 4:00 a.m. on Sunday morning there was no time to produce the usual Saturday morning report. And those of you who live locally really should have gone as, despite the slightly overcast weather, it was a truly fantastic day out. Ask anyone who attended if you don't believe me !

What a blustery day ! Thursday sees a simply tremendous wind roar through the Fylde coast. It's going to be a chilly night for Eyecatchers visit to Fortress Hodgson. The only good thing being that the midges will definitely not be out tonight. Sadly though neither will Tom who's had to work late and Will who's off coaching the Great Ecclestone youngsters.

Having won the toss we naturally decided to bat and after a decent start we have a slight wobble in the middle of our batting before Ogs and "Cockey%quot; Stu put on a good spurt to leave us with a total of 104 off a educed 16 overs (there was a definite air of rain about the evening so the captains decided to take less overs - ed.)

So Eyecatchers came out knowing they had some work on their hands and they soon got stuck into the fray with some great batting. But we kept getting the wickets and it ended up with Eyecatchers down to their last wicket needing a handful of runs to win. In almost a repeat of last weeks game the ball is glanced towards the boundary, I race along to scoop up the ball, the batsmen decide they can make the third run and I throw at the stumps.

Sadly though this week I miss leg stump by a gnats whisker and the batsmen get in for the winning run. So it's a well deserved victory for Eyecatchers and the first loss of the season for the Jollys.

I'm afraid we'll have to dissapoint you this week though as Tony was unable to be with us so we haven't posted a fancy score card. However we have made do with the next best thing. Pictures of the score book for the first and second innings.


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Well Frosty can't be with us this week as he's got a tram spotters convention to attend (only kidding - ed.) so we need to get one of the squad to umpire. And with the offer of a bag of wine gums on offer it's an easy task as Dave jumps at the bribe !

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With the squad hiding behind the windbreak Dave once again wins the toss and we decide to bat.
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But what's this ? Unfortunately Tom had to work late so is missing which means we've had to change our openers. And change we do as youg Joe and Dave decide to start the innings.

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Well the game's underway which means it must be time for Jolyon to arive. He's nothing if not consistent !
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Dave and Joe are going well out in the middle and the runs are starting to build up nicely. Dave was in especially good form this week and soon retired having scored 27.

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Which brings in Stuey Holloway at number 3. Sadly though a ruthless (but fair and correct -ed.) umpiring sees him given L.B.W. after a quick 5.
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So in comes Ian who wastes no time in smiting the ball around. Unfortunately though he also manages to get Joe run out by going for a single that just wasn't there. but Joe had scored a very creditable 6 so well done !

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So in comes Powelly Sr. but it's not a good day for him as he scores a quick single then skies one straight to a waiting fielder.
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Argh ! It's all starting to go wrong now as Coker comes in and after facing a few balls also manages to sky one straight to a fielder. Botheration... our innings is losing some momentum and we're starting to lose wickets.

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Thankfully Ogs arrives at the crease and soon calms our nerves with some fine cricket shots.
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Oh bums. This really isn't our day as Jolyon comes in to bat and also manages to get himself caught for a mere 2.

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Oh dear. Back at base camp Stu has tried to bite a postman so we've had to put him in the back of Dave's car. Naughty boy !
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Out in the middle Ogs and Stu put on a good show as they take us to the end of the innings scoring 11 (Ogs) and 17 (Stu).

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Well Ez dutifully took some pictures of us in the field this week. However the extreme zoom doesn't work too well without using the tripod so a lot of the pictures are a bit blurry. But at least we got a couple of pictures !
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After a class display of batting Eyecatchers manage to beat our total with a couple of overs to spare. But it was very nearly a repeat of last week's finish as I had a chance to run them out with the scores level. However it was not to be as I miss the wickets by the proverbial gnats whisker and Eyecatchers take the winning run.

So congratulations to Eyecatchers for a well deserved win !

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Cheese, tuna, onions, lettuce, tomatoes ham and glam ! This week it's the delectable Kirsty who rewards us with our after match butties.

(n.b. note the hand in the bottom right trying to get at the goodies before they've even been unwrapped -ed.)
The Blue

Once again some random camera work sees us produce another surrealist "disasterpiece". We call this one "The Blue". (Take off the beret and step away from the canvas before you produce any more of this rubbish - ed.)

biting_midge_small.gif Midge Report: Curses, we know the Jollys are out there but we simply can't take off in this gale force wind. Bzzzt. Bah ! we'll have to wait until next week. Bzzzt. Bzzzt.

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