Bedouins v Beacon – Wednesday 15 June

Bedouins lost by 7 runs

The good news, the skipper won the toss for the second week on the trot. The bad news, it made no odds – Bedouins still lost the game. SKipper elected to have a bowl in this instance with his decision based on the fact it would make the game last longer, he said. Fair enough. Did Joe Root ever contemplate that tactic when out in the middle?

It looked to be a good move during the first few overs of the Beacon innings. Opening bowlers George and Susman quickly removed both Beacon openers, and then George followed up his first wicket by having Beacon’s number 3 caught and bowled in what was a slow motion low down, on the knees catch. A good one to be fair. Not easy at his age.

It seemed Beacon packed out their middle order with some of their more able batsmen. George had finished his spell with a good (2-17-4) and Susman was expensive with (1-28-4) and that theme continued with Bywater and Gregory both finishing with (0-27-4). They weren’t helped by the fact that the outfield was fast, and most of the fielders were slow on a hot and humid evening. Numbers 4, 5 and 6 all retired on 30 for Beacon and in fact Bedouins failed to take anymore wickets and Beacon amassed a healthy total of 133.

That was a total that Bedouins had surpassed last week at Pedmore, so it was achievable. Branch and Lippitt laid the foundations with a steady start although the latter was visibly frustrated at not being able to get the ball away as he would have liked. More often than not he managed to pick out a fielder. However both finished undefeated on 30 and 32 respectively and with 59 from the first 10 overs it was game on. Smith N and Bywater continued to keep the scoreboard ticking over with the skipper particularly leading from the front and trying to get the run rate up to keep Beds in with a chance.

But when Smith N had gone for 19,  wickets began to tumble. Gregory was bowled for 8 and Hancock was run out for 3. Bedouins needed 10 runs from the last over but it wasn’t to be. Susman went for a golden duck leaving the pressure on the inexperienced Aston. Bedouins finished 126 for 3.

Pedmore O40s v Bedouins – Wednesday 8th June

Bedouins won by 13 runs

A sunny Wednesday evening at Pedmore CC saw Bedouins break two losing streaks. Firstly, the skipper won the toss which was unusual in itself, then Bedouins went on to win a game for the first time this season.

On the winning the toss, skip elected to have a bat and in went Branch with Susman. The former missed out somewhat on some friendly bowling and was stumped for 7. Susman was joined by Hill J with the new man at the crease keen to run twos and his partner not so. While Susman was prodding and pushing young Hill twice lost the ball, sending it out of the ground never to be seen again. One straight six was enormous, with the ball still rising as it cleared the huge trees at one end of the ground. Susman eventually retired on 30 as did Hill J.

Bywater made a quickfire 32 dotted with boundaries and Stanier and JJ Smith rounded off the innings both finishing with 7 not out. Bedouins finished with a total of 139 for 1.

Pedmore’s batting line-up appeared stronger than that of its bowling and both openers retired on 30. Spratters’ bowling (0-28-3) suffered somewhat and wasn’t helped by inept fielding from Susman at mid-off. Stanier too was clobbered a bit finishing with 1 for 26 from his four overs.

Pedmore’s strong start was only halted when Smith M came on to bowl. His mastery of flight kept the batsmen guessing and he finished with 2 for 22 from his 4 overs. In the field the youthfulness of JJ Smith and Hill J helped to keep the runs down with the former putting his body on the line on a couple of occasions.

Mick Body bowled a tight spell (1-18-4) and was delighted to get a wicket, proclaiming it was his first for 20 years! Susman again got some turn from the wicket although he remained wicketless (0-16-3) and the skipper Bywater finished the game off with 1 for 13 from his two overs.

It is also worth noting that there were three stumpings on the night for Howells behind the stumps, one of which gave the impression of a much younger man keeping wicket, judging by the lightning quick reactions to whip off the bails. Pedmore had started their innings well and the Beds bowlers did well to slow them down. A good win, and one that was celebrated afterwards with a beer and a very nice plate of chilli con carne.

Bedouins v Kinlet – Wednesday 1st June

Bedouins lost by 5 wickets

This game with our friends from Kinlet was notable for several reasons: it was a nice warm and sunny evening; we had a very small pitch invader; the game was decided on the last ball; and Lippo outdid Spratters’ catch from last week in athletic fashion. More later.

Francis Englehert of Kinlet communicated the fact during the day that Kinlet were struggling to get a side together and they may not be that strong. He was kidding us. They had their usual competitive side out, with one or two new faces among them.

Bedouins were delighted to welcome Mike Garbett as official scorer. We will hopefully be seeing more of him during the season. It makes a big difference having the scorebook taken care of during a game. Thanks Mike!

Bedouins batted first and started with Branch and Lippitt at the the crease – two old heads who can boast 219 years of cricket experience between them. Branch wasn’t hanging about and counted four fours in his quick fire 20. Lippitt was joined by Smith N and the two set about building a fruitful partnership. When Lippitt finally retired on 30 he was replaced by Hill J, who unusually for him, only made one boundary before picking out a fielder on the square leg boundary and being caught.

This obviously miffed young Hill somewhat. He quickly reappeared to make up the numbers in the field for Kinlet and proceeded to hold a good catch in the deep to remove Smith N, who went for 28. Hill the elder (9 not out) and Stanier (20) made handy runs at the end of the innings and the Beds finished a respectable 121 for 4 not before a teeny tiny pitch invader made her way on the field of play, sidestepping bemused fielders and only stopping to high-five players.

There are two things that always hold true about Kinlet, they are a fine bunch of fellows on and off the pitch, but they also never give any quarter. It was the same this time. The start of the Kinlet innings saw them make hay somewhat, and it was unusual to see Gregory conceding some runs as he opened the bowling again. The Skipper was accurate as usual (1-11-4) but there was a spell where byes were a regular occurrence. There were 23 in all on the night; a total which beat all but one of the Kinlet batsmen.

The introduction of the spinners Stanier and Susman slowed the run rate somewhat. Susman was enjoying a wicket that turned and bounced, finishing with (0-15-4) and Stanier made inroads into the batting line-up with (2-12-3). One of these wickets was the result of an outstanding piece of athleticism from Lippitt who dived to his left at gully to pluck the ball out of the air low down with his left hand. Quite remarkable.

It all made for a tense finish. Kinlet needed 9 to win from the last over. Hill J was given the task of bowling that final over but Kinlet showed their usual resilience and got that down to one run to win from the final ball. The field closed in but there was nothing that could be done as the Kinlet batsmen scrambled the one run they needed to win the game. Not the result we wanted but it was just a joy to be on the ground on such a beautiful evening.

It should also be reported that Kinlet very kindly put some money behind the bar to mark the passing of Bedouins chairman Brian Susman last year. A very lovely gesture from them and very much appreciated.

Next up, Pedmore away for the winless Bedouins.