Tag Archives: Bedouins

Oldswinford curry favour – Beds favour curry!

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Bedouins v Oldswinford at Oldswinford, August 10

Bedouins won by 4 runs

After two abortive attempts to get a new fixture under way between the Beds and Stanier CC – also known as Oldswinford CC –the weather finally turned favourable enough, if somewhat gloomy, to enable the teams to meet at OCC’s Stourbridge home on July 10th. Once again, the Bedouins did their bit by arriving in time for a prompt 6 p.m. start – well done, lads!

Thank heaven we did finally get the game on; it turned out to be just the kind of fixture we like, against a side determined to enjoy themselves but still playing the game “properly”. This could be the start of annual meetings, we hope.

Batting first, the Beds suffered a couple of early setbacks, with Ian Woodhouse making an unusually early exit, and Paul Lippitt following immediately for an unlucky first-ball duck – thanks for coming, Paul! John Branch was doing his best to avoid running at all costs at the other end, and he was joined by Jon Stanier, who was determined to make a decent score against his old team-mates. Both did well, the skipper finally dismissed for 28, and Stanier going on to retire with 33 to his name.

A couple of quick exits followed, before Lee Bywater and Austin Gregory came together and put on 34 priceless runs in the last four overs to take the final score to 107 for 5, Bywater finishing on 16 not out and Gregory on 19 not out.

Josh Lemm had the misfortune to find himself bowling to an in-form opening batsman as Oldswinford began their innings. He was hit for a number of boundaries in his second over, as the Oldswinford opener scored a rapid 33 before retiring, having hit five fours and two sixes. But Josh more than made up for it, with two catches, running back towards the boundary, off the bowling of Spratters – doubtful if any other Bedouin would have got near either of them. Richard Spratley therefore finished his three eight-ball overs with 2 for 7.

There were also wickets for Jon Stanier, Austin Gregory, Lee Baywater, and Adrian Susman. The latter had turned up for a nice restful evening, snapping a few unsuspecting Bedouins (photos here). With one no-show member of the team, he found himself nabbed by the skipper, to come and join in, so that he could contribute a few overs of leg breaks. He did so, to good effect, with two wickets for eight runs. One of those was a superbly rapid bit of stumping by John Howells, who had another a little later.

In the gathering gloom (and with the Bedouins scorer rapidly losing the will to live), it was left to Austin Gregory and Lee Bywater to come together again, this time as “death” bowlers, to see off the Oldswinford innings just four runs short of the target.

Then it was back to the pavilion, for a most acceptable curry and chips, happily rounding off an excellent evening’s entertainment and a season for the Beds that was finally rescued by some late-season activity, as the weather relented somewhat, and a few good performances with bat and ball.

Bedouins 107 for 5 (Stanier 33, Branch 28, Gregory 19 not out, Bywater 16 not out)

Oldswinford 103 for 8 (Spratley 2 for 7, Susman 2 for 8, Stanier 1 for 18, Gregory 1 for 12, Bywater 1 for 11)

Fossils fixture falls by the wayside

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Very disappointingly, the Bedouins fixture away at The Fossils on Sunday 12th June has had to be cancelled. We were in the ridiculous state of having only three players available for the game with ten of the squad stating they were unavailable. A great shame as having played The Fossils for a couple of seasons now, they have proved to be a very friendly and hospitable club. We are now hoping to arrange a home and away fixture with them next season, as long as we’re not all washing our hair those days.

This follows on from the cancellation of our last planned fixture against Oldswinford. Heavy rain during the day prompted Enville to call the game off to preserve the ground, a decision which we of course as tenants have to respect from our landlords. It was of course Sod’s Law that that evening turned out to be rather sunny and pleasant. Hey ho.

“ Extra, extra – Read all about it!”

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Bedouins v Kinlet at Enville – Wednesday, May 4th

Bedouins won by 7 wickets

The geeks in the Enville score box were getting pretty damned excited. In the Beds’ opening game of the season, Kinlet’s innings had ended without a single extra being recorded – not a single bye, leg bye, or even a wide or no-ball. Surely some kind of record! The Bedouins innings had started off, similarly extra-less. And then, halfway through the hosts’ innings, Mike George (umpire) had to go and ruin it all by calling “leg bye”, and compounding it a few balls later with a “wide”.

As if all that weren’t enough for geeky record spotters, all six wickets to fall in the Kinlet innings had been clean bowled. Not one catch taken – not even the early straightforward one missed by ….. no, too early in the season to be casting stones, but he knows who he is. Two lbws and a clean-bowled in the Bedouins innings resulted in a match of 38 overs in which not a single catch was taken.

Phew! What excitement …. for the scorers.

To the match itself. It was a pleasure to be opening the 2016 season by welcoming our good friends from Kinlet to a beautiful Enville evening, with bright sun the order of the day. All facilities were in place, which was an improvement on last season when beer crates had had to be used for stumps, and the game was rained off halfway through.

For this year’s opener, the Bedouins bowlers were in miserly form, giving away only five boundaries in the Kinlet innings, in which Mike Mooney (30) and Simon Guest (25) led the way. The former included no fewer than 20 exhausting singles in his 30 retired, prompting some to call for early installation of the new defibrillator at the Enville ground.

There was a wicket each for Spratters (re-christened Splatters on the night as he had been vomiting for three days previous) and Mick Robertson (Jon Stanier’s mate – yes, he does still have one). Adrian Susman took two wickets late on, and Neill Smith finished the final over with two consecutive wickets, so we’ll be keeping a note of that, just in case he ever gets another chance to bowl for the Beds, and might just be able to record a beer-buying hat-trick.

The Bedouins required “only” 85 to win but managed to spin it out until the end of the 19th over before getting the win by seven wickets. John Howells looked pretty assured in reaching the 30 retirement point, and there were also good contributions from Ian Woodhouse (28 not out) and Jon Stanier (18 not out).

With skipper John Branch away on business, captain of vice Lee Bywater was down to lead the Beds for the evening. Except he never made it, instead spending the evening leading a prisoner – in fact, handcuffed to him – from hospital to hospital for treatment. He managed to make it (prisoner-less) for a sandwich and a pint after the game, still kitted out in prison officer uniform and, in spite of Adrian Susman’s on-field efforts as stand-in, quite prepared to take all the plaudits as victorious skipper.

Kinlet:84 for 6 (Smith 2 for 9, Susman 2 for 10, Spratley 1 for 24. Robertson 1 for 11)

Bedouins: 86 for 3 (Howells 30, Woodhouse 28 not out, Stanier 18 not out)

Merch

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Following the unanimous vote at the AGM for new gear, we have now taken delivery of the extra club shirts and new baggy caps. If you want one, t’other or both you will need to cough up £15 for a cap and £20 for a shirt. The caps are mostly one size although we did get a couple of smaller ones for those of you with little heads. Shirts are mostly large and extra large for obvious reasons. If you want any of this club merch, bring cash and we’ll do a deal out the back of my motor.