Bedouins v Beacon at Wombourne – Wednesday, 5 August 2015

Bedouins lost by 6 wickets

The delightful Beacon CC ground at Wombourne has the Staffs Worcester Canal running alongside, close enough to ensure the disappearance there of a few cricket balls during a match; hence the very long-handled fishing net kept permanently at that end of the ground.  For those unaware of cricket balls’ propensities, they will float.

Last season, in the first meeting of Beacon with the Bedouins, balls were being hit for six into the “cut” with monotonous regularity – unfortunately most of them by the Beacon batsmen.  But not so this time.  When the Beds met the Beacon men in early August, the fishing net stayed mostly dry.  Bedouins skipper John Branch put the second ball of the match there, but there were only two sixes during the evening, one to each side, and neither of them into the drink.

Put in to bat, the Beds got off to a good start, with Branch adding two more boundaries before being bowled for 16, and Jon Stanier, hitting four fours and a six in his retirement 30.  John Howells (15) and Paul Lippitt (18 not out) then took the final score on to 99 for the loss of three wickets.

Beacon are able to field a team of more than capable cricketers, and a target of 100 in 20 overs was probably not quite enough to test them.  Although Lee Bywater and Spratters did an excellent job of keeping the opening batsmen quiet (a total of just 16 runs in the first six overs), the home side proved their batting ability by hitting the winning runs with just four wickets down and more than two overs to spare.  There was a wicket for Richard Spratley and one for Austin Gregory.  At the close Stanier finished up with the ridiculous figures of  0.3 overs, 2 for 3.

They’re a good bunch to play against at Beacon, and they have now become an established part of the Bedouins fixture list, both home and away.  They attend to the finer points of the game, by providing an excellent post-match buffet, although some of the more elderly gentlemen in the Beds ranks could do with a few more seats available in the pavilion after a gruelling 20 overs, no less, in the field!

Bedouins 99 for 3 (Stanier 30; Lippitt 18 not out; Branch 16; Howells 15)

Beacon 100 for 4 (Stanier 2 for 3; Spratley 1 for 17; Gregory 1 for 20)