20th July 2011 Away At Blackpool

This week see us play on the splendid Blackpool wicket. But one look at the pitch tells us that the groundsman simply has no mercy as, despite the wicket being up near the far end of the pitch the boundary is still the edge of the ground. Well one thing's for sure there aren't going to be many boundaries in that direction today.

The game starts well with Dave winning the toss and, naturally deciding to bat. Despite the huge boundary we're able to make good progress and thanks to some keen running between the wickets we manage to keep ticking the score along runs nicely... Until we get down the order where the tail performs a traditional Jollyboys collapse and we lose our last wickets for only 7 runs and with an over and a half still left. Which means that the end of our innings sees us manage a reasonable, but slightly dissapointing, total of 117.

So we come out to bowl knowing we've got some work on our hands. The Blackpool openers waste no time in getting a few runs on the board but we're unluckly to have a good early run out chance turned down. However all is not lost as a couple of overs later we get our man with another excellent run out. A couple of overs later and their other opener is caught following which we get right back in the game by taking another couple of quick wickets. By now we're right back in the game and a positively splendid spell of bowling sees us take wicket after wicket with only Blackpools number 5 managing to keep scoring.

Having retired after 25 their number 5 has to watch the resof of his team mates lose their wickets until he finally returns to the field to accompany their number 11 with about 25 runs needed and with several overs to play. So it was a tense last few overs but despite our best efforts (including a disastorous run out attempt -ed.) Blackpool managed to bat their way to victory with 4 balls to spare.

So once again the game goes down to the final over and, sadly for us, once again it's the opposition who are victorious. As usual you may view the Jollyboys score card and the Blackpool score card.

Special mention must also go to Ogs who tried to go for a one handed catch off his bowling and ended up with a horrible ankle injury. As he went for the ball the rest of the team clearly heard a loud "crack, crack" as he went down and we feared for the worst. However he managed to get up and limped off the field for a quick inspection after which he returned to the boundary where he saw out the remainder of the game by making a few hopped stops.

Stop Press: You'll be glad to hear that following a quick X-Ray all is well and Ogs has escaped with a bad sprain.



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Well the evening starts with a pleasant suprise as Pete turns up with "Charlie Woo" who is quite frankly more interested in the dog treats thatn the cricket !

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As the team prepares to bat Dave asks if I can take a picture of him where he isn;t holding a can of cider. Sadly this proves too much of a task even for this intrepid reporter.
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So onto the cricket where Tom starts us off with a good knock, finally ending up getting caught for 21.

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And this weeks other opener is Powelly who is unlucky to be stumped after a quick 4.
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Which brings in Coker at number 3 where he emulates Tom by getting a splendid 21 before getting bowled.

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And if you think Ian is going to let Coker or Tom top score you're mistaken as he manages to hit 27 before being bowled. Shame really as if we'd have realised that his last 4 had taken him to 27 in time he would have been recalled before the fateful ball !
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Fine shot sir ! Jol once again show us how to play proper cricket shots. But it wasn't going to be Jols week this week as he found himself hitting the ball straight to a fielder to get caught on 9.

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Down at the other end is Ogs who gets off the mark with a quick single.
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With Jol having been caught Dave comes to the crease and plays some good strokes befopre getting bowled for 13.

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Disaster just after getting 4 quick singles Ogs gets a wicked bounce and his wickets are sent flying.
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So it's getting to that time where your humble scribe as to get padded up and, before I can even get my pads out of my bag, "Cockney" Stu is coming straight back having been bowled for 0.

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Even worse I manage to get my first pad on and now Baz is coming straight back with another duck. Even Dave hasn;t had time to get his helmet on !
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But with the prospect of a hat trick looming Dave manages to keep his wicket after which he plays some good shots to try to get the tail wagging.

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With your humble scribe having joined the fray it's going to take a miracle for us to get many more runs. But things start well as I get a quick single to get off the mark.

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But that was it. A misplaced shot later and we're coming off the field with Dave looking pleased with himself for keeping his wicket intact and with 117 runs on the board.

But sadly that didn't prove to be a defendable total as despite some good bowling Blackpool narrowly win in the last over with their last two batsmen at the crease.
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So once again it's all back to the Old Town Hall where the delightful Kirsty once again graces us with a splendid tray of assorted sandwiches !

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Oh good grief Ogs ! I know you're injured and you should be keeping your foot up but you could find somewhere better to put it than right next to the butties... No wonder there's not another Jolly in the picture !
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One quick shoe swap later and Lisa is trying to get Ogs to show us his new dancing moves. But his expression quickly lets us know that he's not going to be dazzling the fans tonight.

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With a support bandage now holding his damaged ankle in place the Jollys obviously decide to autograoph Ogs' "plaster sock". (They're absolute idiots I tell you - ed.)
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And speaking of injuries this might not be a direct cricket injury but it is cricket related as one of the horse fly bites your humble scribe received at Great Ecclestone during the Twenty20 finals day trip has become horribly infected. Let's just hope the Hodgson midges don't get any ideas for next weeks game !

biting_midge_small.gif Midge Report: Another away game ? Bzzzt. It looks like we're only going to get one more bit at the fools next week. Bzzzt. Bzzzt. Best start training now so we can make sure we get a good feast in next week. Bzzzt. Bzzzt.

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