Bedouins v Ashby Albion – Sunday 4 August

Ashby Albion win by 6 wickets

Since 2018 this fixture has always been a favourite, for both sides. And this year was no different!

Bedouins fielded a strong 11 including the return of Hill A and Mike George for his first game of the season. A very timely return to the field Georgey! Ashby had a team of 10 footballers, of which only 3 or 4 had played any type of cricket in the past, however for some, it wasn’t just the cricket they had travelled down for, as the weekend started for Ashby at 4pm on Friday evening trying our best to visit every watering hole in Worcester. A few sore heads, but a great weekend.

The toss was won by Hill J, skippering the Ashby side, and it was deemed that Ashby would put the Bedouins in to bat and bowl first. After the inevitable barrage of wides and no balls, Ashby found their range and good balls started to follow.

From a Bedouins point of view N.Smith and Lippitt opened the batting and got off to a very fast start. However, with Lippitt falling to a feather caught behind and Taylor for LBW, Jon Branch strode to the crease at Number 4 and we saw some of his usual lusty blows and not so quick singles. Jon was caught behind by the Ashby Skipper off the bowling of Sommerville for 21, including 5 meaty 4’s.

Other than a lovely knock from opener Neill Smith, the Bedouins batting limped along struggling to read the liquorice allsorts coming from the Ashby bowlers. Bastable (3), Hill (12) and Gregory (7) were the sorry story of the middle order.

A first game for Rob Bell in the Ashby side saw him remove N.Smith for 48 with a devilish ball that kept low and came back in, robbing the opening batsman of his half century – but a great knock. Bell himself then got Robinson out first ball, however the subsequent hat-trick ball to Mr Chairman wouldn’t have even troubled a second set of stumps to the leg side.

Bedouins innings was mopped up by Bullen who bowled 1 over, earning 2 wickets for no runs. Bedouins ended with a total of 131 All out.

Ashby opening batsman were initially cautious in the 2^nd innings with Anslow Senior and Bullen having a look before scoring runs. Robertson and Bastable opened the bowling for the Beds with Robertson once again pick of the bowlers gaining the wickets of Bullen and Bell, ending with figures of 2 wickets for 11 runs off 7 overs.

Taylor joined Anslow at the crease and looked in good nick and a partnership was building until injury took it’s toll to Taylor who retired hurt on 28. The aggressive Makepeace was next out to bat alongside Price who both fell to smart bowling by Lippitt. Special mention to Anslow Senior who retired out with his half century under his belt.

So it was down to Usher and Anslow Junior to finish things off, both carrying their bat, Usher with 3 runs and Anslow with 12. Ashby Albion finished off with 132 runs with 6 wickets to spare.

The day ended with a few drinks and much needed food, the shield was handed over to the Skipper for Ashby for another year.

A huge Thank You for all the donations, including donations from players and friends who were unable to make the day. A grand total of £435.00 raised, with all money going directly to Ovarian Cancer Action. Same again next year!

Bedouins v Austin’s Army – Wednesday 31 July

Bedouins win by 10 wickets

The last Wednesday in July ended with a very hot evening at home against Austin’s Army.

The team was a strong one this week, with Martyn Smith coming in at the 11^th hour after Fellows had unfortunately had work commitments.

The toss was lost by the skipper, and Austin couldn’t get the words ‘we’ll bat’ out of his mouth fast enough, as it was picture perfect conditions for batting, and by the first looks of Austin’s 11, it looked as though a big first innings score could be on the cards. How wrong we were…

When the first ball was clipped through mid-wicket, it looked like a long night, however the wickets soon started to come. Opening bowlers Bastable and Robertson got things going, with Bastable finishing with 1 wicket for 23 off his 3 overs, but Micky Robbo was pick of the bowlers with 4 wickets for just 9 runs off his 4 overs.

It was great to see Ex-skipper Bywater back in the side, however not so much for Robbo. With a chance for a fantastic hat-trick and the field closing in, the new batsman half volleyed a dolly straight to short mid-off where Lee shelled one of the easiest chances you’ll ever see. Head in hands for 11 Bedouins! There was a half excuse for a bump ball, but it was flush off the bat in my opinion, and should have seen Lee at the bar at the end of the game with his wallet open!

Wickets continued to tumble, with Lee himself picking up 1 wicket for 14 runs and Martyn Smith picking up 3 wickets for 5 runs off just 9 balls. Some fantastic bowling, fielding and catching all round. It ended after just 11 overs with Austin’s Army scoring just 52 runs.

N. Smith and Lippitt opened up the batting and after seeing off some fierce opening bowling, saw the Bedouins over the line without losing a wicket within 11 overs.

As usual, a good game against Austin’s guys, on what was a very pleasant evening at Enville.

Bedouins v Pedmore – Wednesday 17 July

Bedouins won by 42 runs

What a remarkable game. This was possibly one of the best Bedouins bowling performances ever and will go down in history together with the time Andy Hill took a hat-trick up in Halifax and David Thomas bowled the perfect spell in Worthing.

Pedmore always provide a stiff challenge and this game looked like being no different. Beds batted first and opened with Lippitt and Stanier (despite needing a hip replacement – we let anybody play in our team). The latter was little unlucky to be given out LBW on 4 when he had feathered the ball into his pads, but off he had to trudge. What followed was a fine partnership with Lippitt being joined by Ludlow. Both batsmen look in fine form and managed to find the boundary several times on what is these days a very large ground.

Pedmore were no slouches with the ball and indeed their youngest player, who looked about 12, had the batsmen playing thin air at times. It was great to see.

Not much of any great note happened during the Bedouins innings. Lippitt and Ludlow both retired; Susman continued his miserable form with the bat; Gregory flourished a couple of balls to the boundary before missing a straight one; and it was good to see Hill A back in the Bedouins ranks. His 6 not out together with Bastable’s 2 got Bedouins to a total of 108 for 3.

On the face of it, that didn’t really seem enough of a total to set a team like Pedmore. How wrong can you be?

With Beds being a couple of players light, Brain Pearsall was drafted in for his second appearance. He fits into the side well like he’s always been a Bedouin. He it was who opened the bowling together with Robertson. We we witnessed then was probably the most brutal spell of Bedouins bowling any of us can remember. By the time this pair of opening bowlers had both finished their  four over spells, Pedmore were reeling at 8 for 5. Pearsall was unlucky to only take one wicket, beating the bat on many occasions. He finished 1 for 5. Robertson brought carnage to the Pedmore side and finished with 4 for 7.

That was effectively game over. Only the Pedmore number 8 showed any resistance to a Beds fielding side that was in fine form. There were only a couple of blips. Hill A dropped a dolly and Susman came out in sympathy and also put one down.

It didn’t matter really. Pedmore limped to the final over and finished on 66 for 7. Well I didn’t see that coming.

Bedouins v Beacon – 12th June 2024

Bedouins lost by 6 runs

On paper Bedouins had a strong side out for this home fixture with Beacon. But scratch beneath the surface and you’ll find a lot of those players carrying knocks and strains, and struggling to be at their best. That was unfortunate against a side where you always need to be at your best to beat them.

Having said that it was a good effort from the Beds and they took it right to the wire. Beacon batted first and as you’d expect their side was sprinkled with decent batters. Bedouins opened with the pacey (compared to the rest of us) Bastable with the Skipper at the other end. The first wicket fell to the former with just 10 runs on the board and things looked promising, another comfortable catch for the skipper. He was unlucky not to take a wicket, finishing with  0 for 22 from his four overs but only had himself to blame, dropping a return catch, though to be fair, the ball was travelling at a fair old speed. Bastable finished 1 for 20 from his 4 overs.

Beacon are a canny side and always find a way to keep the scoreboard moving, and this they did. Smith M and Susman were first change at each end. Smith conceded a few boundaries but castled one of the Beacon boys in his 1 for 27 from 4 and Susman managed the same in his 1 for 17 from 3.

Then Agent Stanier came on to bowl. Usually a bowler to be relied on to keep the bowling tight. But he too is struggling with injury and it showed with his last over going for 19. He finished 1 for 29 from 3 overs and Lippitt at the other 0 for 12 from 2. Beacon finished 130 for 4.

In reply Bedouins got off to a decent start. Smith N is in good form and Fellows at the other end played a few classy shots before being caught on 14. Taylor was controversially run out on 4. Susman joined Smith N and showed a bit of his old form with the bat. He even middled the ball a couple of times, shock. This partnership looked promising until Smith N was clean bowled on 24.

Not to worry, the skipper was coming to the crease with the promise of a display of his big hitting. Ah but he can’t buy a run at the moment and was bowled by a devil of a ball that turned nicely when he had made just 1 run. The Beds didn’t give up hope. Lippitt played his shots, including the reverse sweep and Beds weren’t far behind the run rate. Susman retired on 33 and Bastable joined Lippo to close the game out. But it wasn’t quite to be and after a great effort, Bedouins finished 6 runs short on 124 for 4.

So a pretty even game but the bragging rights stay with Beacon. Let’s hope we can turn them over on their own manor later in the season.

Fossils v Bedouins – 16 July 2023

Bedouins won by 14 runs

Games against the Fossils, a team of 70 year-olds who have previously played at a very high standard, are usually quite sedate affairs. There’s not usually a lot of excitement or cut-throat competition. This game was the exception.

The Fossils welcomed us to the beautiful ground at Birlingham on a Sunday where the weather couldn’t make it’s mind up. Leaving Kidderminster the heavens had opened by the little ground near Pershore escaped the rain and it was game on.

Hill Senior and Susman put in rare appearances this season, and Howells grabbed the reins from the skipper for the day in his absence. It’s not quite clear if the toss was won or lost. The Fossils sometimes tend not to worry about things like that. Bedouins were batting.

The majority of the Fossils bowlers are anything but quick. But don’t let that fool you, they are all crafty old dogs who know where to put the ball for maximum effect. Hence Bedouins quickly fell apart at the top of the order. Branch, Smith N, and Lippitt were quickly back in the pavilion, with the latter suffering the indignity of being run out by his batting partner, Hill junior.

At 14 for 3 it looked like being a short afternoon. Hill junior however redeemed himself by making it to the retirement score of 40. He was supported by Ludlow who played some fine shots until he was smartly stumped on 11.

Stanier came to the crease and he and Hill Junior pushed the score along with a good partnership. Hill Junior’s retirement brought dad to the crease. Good to see him back. However he was disappointed to miss a straight ball and trudged back to the pavilion for 16. Later he was delighted to find the scorer had confused him with Stanier and he had been accredited with 39 not out.

Susman and George added a few runs at the end and the Bedouins finished with 135 from their 35 overs.

Bedouins opened with Stanier and Robinson. Both were quick to take wickets leaving Fossils 12 for 2. Neither could dislodge the Fossils opening bat who was definitely not over 70. He was younger and fitter and boy could he hit the ball. He got to his 40 and retired.

Meanwhile wickets tumbled at regular intervals. Stanier had finished with 3 for 22 and Robinson 1 for 25. Hill junior bowled a few overs with his one wicket being Hill combined effort, with Hill A taking a smart catch. See, he can still do it.

It was spells from Susman (3 for 6 from 7) overs and Lippitt (1 for 13 from 7 overs) that slowed the Fossils run chase down. At this point we should say that Fossils like to play a rule that the opposition have to get them all out to win the game. Beds rarely get near skittling through a whole Fossils side but that was about to change.

Fossils could sense defeat, they could also see a way to win. Much to the displeasure of certain Bedouins, the Fossils started to blatantly throw away wickets in an attempt to get their opener back in. One batsmen even hit his own wicket. Outrageous, but it worked and the opener returned.

He took an instant liking to Hill Junior’s bowling and hit him for a couple of fours and a six. It left Fossils needing 14 from the last over with the big hitter facing. Cue a masterful piece of captaincy from Howells. He brought Branch on. His first ball was a tempting lopping flipper out of the back of his hand. I watched from the square leg boundary as it all seemed to unfold in slow motion. Said batman danced down the wicket for the big hit, missed, and was stumped by Howells to shouts of delight from the whole Bedouins team.

Very dramatic. Just when you think you’ve seen it all… A good game to win.

Pedmore v Bedouins – 21 June 2023

Bedouins won by 28 runs

So it has been very rude of me not to welcome some ‘new’ and not so new names to the Bedouins ranks. Firstly, our left arm wizard Micky Robbo has finally decided he is not that tight and become a fully fledged member. I think he felt bad after winning the bowling figures last year. We told him that you only got the wine if you paid your subs. That’s £45 a bottle then Micky……and i hear that Stanier has still not delivered.

We met Chris Bastable in the last game – talented …..lets not big him up too much. Not hard to look talented in the Bedouins.

Also we had Dave Ellerton settle right in by getting himself injured whilst ‘Dogging’ or at least that’s what he told me. Although he did say the dog is ok. Dave made his debut early in the season and is actually mobile so see you at deep point when you are back pal.

Julian Fellows made his debut up at Pedmore and we will look forward to seeing his batting talents moving forward. I am reliably informed that he was somewhat of a cricket superstar in his younger years. It appears that that talent has followed him into ‘middle age’. See look how i am being nice. Apparently he has a glamorous career which is why I am watching what I say. I am not going to say what he does. I am just going to point out that my favourite tv show is ‘Airwolf’. nod nod wink wink.

Chris Ludlow also made a debut against Pedmore. Although skip restricted his access to the action it is clear that there is a talented cricketer there. I can say that honestly after being clattered around winter nets for two months. You are very welcome.

So…..following on from last weeks improvement what could we do this week with all this new talent.

Well we only went and bloody won!

Skip went out and did as only skip could do losing his 425675638 toss in a row and being put into bat.

Lippitt shocked us all getting a duck and Branch was out soon after on 17. Then my hard rocking amigo’s it all clicked. Smith, Bywater and Stanier all retired 33,31 and 30 to put on a competitive total.

Smith did try to kill Bywater by making him run all of his total but despite a couple of cancelled ‘code blue’ calls, several oxygen tanks and one kiss of life. Bywater made the single he needed…..no i am only joking. Like flying ferrets they were…..back and forth…..Smith hitting five boundaries and Bywater just the three. Not very often the big lad tots them up like that.

Staniers innings was one of class and form. Like a conductor with his orchestra he played a tune that made Pedmore wither.

Fellows joined and showed some sharp running between the wicket, nudging and knocking 13 not out…..we look forward to more.

142 was set. The captain excited and game on!

Pedmore are always ready to go. And go they went…straight at the Beds attack. despite losing Grainger early on 11, both Holt and McGahey retired quickly on their 30’s.

That was as good as got though for the gents. Impressive bowling from all of the Bedouins kept the run rate steady and low. Two wickets from Stanier and Robertson complimented one from Gregory.

With over 30 runs needed from the last couple of overs the question only remained who was bowling.

A batting heavy side and injuries has caused a small dilemma but in the end Skip brought himself on with his bad shoulder to throw some grenades and Lippo tidied up at the other end. Pedmore could only muster 114.

I must give credit to Pedmore. They always give us a game. The pitch is always immaculate and they do not compromise the spirit of cricket just to get a result. Today their skip got a chance to play with his young son. Not more than 12 years old it would be easy to stick him in the deep and chase a result. Thats’s not what Pedmore do….They play like the Beds. So Max not only followed in his dad at 7 in the order but also gave a mean bowling spell from the top end. One for the future lads……watch out.

Great game, great curry, great company and an invite back in a few weeks. Thank you Pedmore for a great evening

Bedouins v Beacon – 14 June 2023

Beds lost by 29 runs

Whenever you go on a bad run you always try to look for the positives. The Bedouins had not been on form but today would be a turning point in the season.

Skip had been practicing the toss this week with a two sided coin. He still managed to lose to himself. Beacon took advantage of his bad form and Bedouins were fielding.

Beacon always bring a competitive side ready for a battle. However, they bring it in the right mentality and play for fun just like the Beds. That’s why we invite them back every year. Today was no exception. Beacon set off like tanks pummelling the opposition and Forster (27) and Gowan(29) got them off to a flyer. Golden (19) and Harvey (15) kept the score board moving.

Bywater was out of sorts. Still suffering with injury to his shoulder. Dr Mike George had previously diagnosed a torn rotator cuff and Skip started to believe that may be the case so after getting tickled all around the ground, withdrew from the firing squad.

Bastable made a bowling debut and looked right at home. I was told he had not played for a while due to ongoing injuries. I assured him he would fit in well with the Beds and was welcome in our 8 man slip cordon. Clearly some talent there. The Beds will beat it out of him eventually.

Robertson, Lippitt and Branch would support the skip with some tremendous bowling. Bedouins had started to take wickets and the mood was lifting. Unfortunately though the Beacon boys scored as they lost wickets, keeping the score board moving.

The Beacon tail wagged and Curtis hit 19 before the 10 men of beacon were finished in the last over.

Robertson 4 overs 3 wickets for 15, Branch 4 overs 2 for 23 and an inspired Lippitt 2 over 3 wickets for 21 finally gave some fight to the Bedouins season.

Beacon had put on 143……an above par score. This would be tough.

Bedouins actually made a good go of chasing that 143 down. Only Six batsmen used. Branch (30) was back on his usual top form. Lippitt went early on 12. Smith battled to 27 with some tight bowling coming his way and Stanier showed us all how to do it by retiring on 32.

Encouragement was the word i had found here. Yes we only got to 114 but our heads had not dropped and we showed some fight. Enough to impress another potential new recruit…….more of that later

Much socialising and stories ended the night and we look forward to seeing Beacon again later in the season. Well done to them on today’s victory.

Bedouins v Kinlet – 31st May 2023

Kinlet won

Some of the older Bedouins fixtures really get the adrenaline flowing and its fair to say that Kinlet would fit that category. Legendary matches with tight finishes and competitive but friendly summer evenings. We all look forward to this game despite the fact that Kinlet seem to get the better of us slightly more than we do of them.

Skip has given up with tosses. He can’t win them. Skip had clearly been feeling the pressure, unfit, lacking the answers to change the flow of the season so he decided a new tactic again at this match. This time it was “be late from work and let someone else try to win the toss and pick the batting order’. It worked….almost.

I’m not sure who won the toss as I didn’t make that bit but Jono had set everything up which i was very grateful for. He had even sorted the batting order. I was impressed……makings of a future Skipper? Maybe….

Bedouins were in to bat and the outfield was…..slightly shorter than last week.

Branch unusually went early on for just 8 runs. Lippitt though followed his recent good form probing the boundary on his way to another 30 retired.

Kinlet mixed up the bowling as they usually like to and the wickets were evenly spread. This seems to be a winning formula. Bedouins would adopt this tactic if half the teams shoulders and backs were not out….

Contributions from Hill (20) and Stanier (9 not out) were the highlights of a rather steady Bedouins total. The low light was a first ball duck from the Skip……again rushing for the buffet.

Bedouins came up with a below par 84 and Kinlet had victory in their sights.

Bishop and R Crook led the Kinlet chase and both made batting look easy. Bishop retiring on 30, crook on 33. It didn’t take many overs to be honest. Bywater nursing a torn shoulder, Gregory, Hill and Robertson managed to stretch the punishment out to 16 overs with Robertson being the most effective. 4 overs 2 for 18 not a bad return considering the conditions.

Unfortunately that was about as exciting as the resistance got. 84 was ‘never enough’ and Kinlet knocked them off with ease.

Skip was left scratching his head and rubbing his arm…….wondering when things would improve.

Great game Kinlet, we look forward to seeing you again soon.

Bedouins v Oldswinford – 17th May 2023

Beds lost by 49 runs

And so another year of Bedouins fixtures begins. Full of confidence from the recent nets, new team mates and freshly cleaned whites. Unfortunately the smell of defeat was all too familiar.

You may have noticed these match reports are a little well…..late. That will be because our main man Ade has had to have some time off to tend to Mrs S. Sometimes there are more important places to be than at cricket and i’m sure we all wish Nikki a speedy recovery and will assure her that once she is fed up with bed side service, Ade doing all the housework, tending the garden, cooking, washing, ironing…………Hang on we are never getting him back! In all seriousness, we miss you pal and hope you come back and win the bowling stats again………even after giving us a head start.

So….anyway, you got Skip for a few games. Wallowing in self pity at his lack of results and complete lack of fitness. Poor grammar, terrible sentence structure and slow not just in moving but also in typing. Lucky you!

Our good friends at Oldswinford turned up full squad and raring to go. Bedouins also made a slight mis-calculation with the opening fixture managing to arrange 12 players. All good though with a rotation system in place that gave everyone the chance to play. There was clearly something in the air tonight, heightening the senses, bringing tears to our eyes and sending the blood to places its never been, thanks again to our team sponsor………….deep heat!

The game begins after Skip loses the toss……again! We are fielding.

We are back to the late 90’s with an opening partnership of Bywater and Gregory. Gregory starts tidy with 4 overs for 14 runs and Bywater, despite appearing to have eaten his way through a small factory and wearing an extra small bedouins crop top….bumbled in to give impressive figures of 4 over 2 wickets for just 9 runs. A marvellous start. I do distinctly remember a stunning catch in the slips from Branch. Never in doubt.

Staniers Snr and Jnr both chipped in with steady spells but it was Branch who stamped his Bedouins authority and made inroads into the Oldswinford middle order. 3 overs 2 wickets for 24 runs had the Oldswinford on the back foot at least for a few overs.

Brett Brigdale had been and gone making a quick 30 runs for Oldswinford. Griffiths also hitting 33 very quickly and well supported by Farnsworth Snr with 23. Bedouins realising that despite a good start and splattering of wickets that a steady total of 125 would be tough.

Bedouins were actually forced into a tactical change due to the potential outfield impacting our very own Usain Branch. It’s true that he is not as mobile as he used to be…or that’s what he says. How is always first to the bar though?

The length of grass in the outfield did cause us to consider consider putting in a sheep at no.1 although he would not be allowed in the clubhouse afterwards. Apparently bbaaaahhhhd. (come on…..you didn’t get this quality before)

Lippitt and Gregory started up our reply. Lippitt making 30 ……almost. Falling on 29. Gregory and Smith falling cheaply. Overs flying by……

Bywater was in a rush to get to the buffet and smashed a quick 22 although the long grass was even slowing the big boy down.

The Beds that followed didn’t have time to impact unfortunately and we ran out of overs just like the Enville groundsman had run out of petrol.

Well done Oldswinford, a sterling effort played in the right spirit.

Beds finish on 76….must do better.

Bedouins v Ashby Albion – Sunday 7th August

Bedouins lost by 36 runs

We play our game ‘seriously for fun’. But sometimes there are things more important than the game, as in the case of our final fixture of the season. For several seasons now this fixture has traditionally become a fundraiser to help fight ovarian cancer, something instigated by Jonathan Hill, and the reason why he brings his Ashby Albion side to Enville. This year saw a total of £445 raised for the charity, the largest total yet.

On a hot summer’s day the one thing Bedouins needed was a full team to face the young and fit Ashby side. Most of them play football. It shows, they are no slouches in the field. However, after Jon Stanier was struck down with the squits, Bedouins were left with just 10 players.

Ashby batted first and it wasn’t long before it was evident the two opening bats were quite capable of demolishing the Beds bowling attack. Bywater (0-45-7) had his figures ruined with three fours off his last over but at the other end Robertson (unusually for him) was struggling to keep the runs down. Things weren’t helped by Susman dropping Pilbro on the square leg boundary when he was about half way through a knock that amounted to 46 runs. At the other end Anslow made a fine 50 made up mostly of boundaries.

The momentum was knocked out of the Ashby innings when Spears and Susman came on to bowl. Susman (3-32-7) had revenge on Pilbro, having him stumped with his very first ball. Spears was unlucky to finish with only one wicket in his spell (1-38-7). Bedouins took the upper hand with Mugglestone (2), Makepeace (4) and Price (14) all departing quickly. However that brought Jon Hill to the crease. He’s been in fine form for the Bedouins with the bat this season, and that continued for Ashby.

It was amazing that Jono was on the pitch at all having been in bed with the same problems as Stanier all weekend. In fact, he was so bad, he missed the traditional pre-match night out in Worcester with the rest of the Ashby team. So the fact he played a captain’s innings and just managed to make his 50 in the last over, despite looking like he could collapse at any moment on a baking hot day, was testament to his determination.

It looked at one point like he might run out of batting partners with Lippitt (1-26-4) and Smith N (2-24-4) bowling the final few overs and getting amongst the wickets. But he made it and Ashby Albion finished on 215 for 7 from their 35 overs.

Bedouins innings got off to a fine start with Branch and Lippitt looking in confident mood but with both looking set for a big innings Branch went C&B for 18, and Lippitt was caught by Jon Hill when on 15. You can’t keep Jono out of the game, and that proved to be a running theme.

He did the same to Smith N who felt aggrieved that he had middled the ball so well, only to see Jono take another blinding catch. He then went and repeated the feat, accounting for Bywater for 30. Lad,s lads, note: Don’t hit the ball at Jono.

Spears showed his experience with a fine knock of 56. While he was at the crease it looked like the run chase might be on. Susman at the other end was still looking a little rusty with the bat and with Spears having retired, the Bedouins tail end was struggling to wag.

Of course, Jono came onto bowl and sent Susman back to the pavilion after he missed a straight one trying to find the boundary. Jono’s 2-12-3 and Anslow’s 3-26-6 were the pick of the Ashby bowlers. Although Spears came back to the crease Bedouins were left needing too many runs in the closing stages.

So Bedouins succumbed to the youthful Ashby side, but at the end of the day it was the charity that turned out to be the winner thanks to the generosity of all involved. A fine spread was put on by the Bedouettes and a very pleasant day was had by all. Let’s hope we can do it again next season and raise even more money. After all, in the words of Smashie and Nicey “it’s for charity mate”. And if you don’t know what I’m talking about, see below.