Wounded Knee

Good morning pop pickers and welcome to my last ever blog. As a single man that is. Some days I sit here searching far and wide in an attempt to dredge some nuggets of interest from the previous days cricketing fayre. This week there was no such problem after a day filled with incident, drama and nearly 600 runs.

We were on the road again, this time at Tiddington. My first visit to a lovely little ground, or at least that is how it looked when I arrived. Little did I know that it hides a dark, dark secret.

Winning the toss for the first time in a little while I had no hesitation in asking Tiddington to bat, a mistake of Hussain like proportions? Maybe.

There were very few highlights in our bowling and fielding performance as Tiddington racked up 310 for 7. There opener carried his bat on his way to an unbeaten 150. A classy knock with shots all around the wicket. He was well supported and made the most of a cracking track. We bowled with discipline and rarely looked ragged with the ball. A couple of spilt chances had they been taken may have restricted the score to under 300. Sometimes you have to give credit where it is due and say well batted.

The whole innings was marred by a nasty injury to Vish. For the first time I saw a cricketer leave the ground in an ambulance. Something I never want to see again. Showing 100% dedication to the Didcot cause Vish chased the ball to the boundary in an attempt to stop 4 overthrows, he slid into what we all assumed were painted wooden boundary boards. They were concrete. The thud was sickening. He didn't move. We all instantly knew it was bad.

Vish is in hospital today. Our hearts are with you little buddy.

Tea was a splendid affair featuring homemade chocolate bon-bons, homemade sausage rolls and ice lollies. Nathans melons were splendid also. (Thame: take note, there are shops not far away that sell food and milk).

Chasing 310 to win sets some challenges. Cookie set off like a train. He was super focused and in great nick. Tiddington weren't quite sure what to do and I felt went defensive with the field placings way too early. 5 fielders on the boundary after 6 overs when you have over 300 on the board is super defensive. Not surprisingly runs dried up. When we did find the boundary a fielder was instantly moved out to cut off the runs. I know that it isn't easy getting the balance right but sometimes you have to risk losing to win a game like this.

We accumulated runs none the less with contributions from everyone in the middle order. Bernard had his best innings in a Didcot shirt and proved that the £2.5M spent on his sojourn down under was money well spent. He mixed solid defense and careful shot selection with powerful clean hitting to notch up 95 from only 84 balls. He was well caught on the boundary, had this gone for 6 his second fifty would have taken him 24 balls. Well done Bernard.

This rousing display of power cricket lifted the Diddy spirits and when combined with Thatchers cider on draft was reminiscent of Taunton in the 80's with Viv and Botham at the crease. Splendid.

Incidentally, can anyone name three Nik Kershaw (star of the 80's) hits? There is a special prize waiting for anyone who actually reads this and posts an answer.

We ended on 268 for 6. Could we have won it? Maybe. Life is full of if's, buts and maybe's.

So, we return to the Field of Dreams next week after an extended break. I am looking forward to returning home. A few questions may be answered next week.

Can Bernards tea match his batting prowess? Will the phantom bunny concealer make an appearance? Who will fill Vish's (tiny) shoes? Will we get to see the wheelchair ramp used?

All will be revealed in a weeks time.....................

Hungry Like The Wolf

I am happy to report that the firsts recorded their first away win of the season yesterday at Thame.

Put in to bat on what looked like a sporting wicket with plenty of grass and some suspicious looking filled in patches didn't inspire much confidence. Two early wickets and the doom mongers were muttering about how we can't win away from home. At 56 for 7 with the ball cutting and seaming around corners combined with low and slow bounce it looked like we would do well to make it past the 68 we rolled Thame over for earlier this season.

It is not often that the skip gets in to bat with time to play himself in, let alone with 27 overs left. He was due a knock after about 4 years in the wilderness. With a sense of timing normally reserved for passing comets (they only come past once or twice every century) he dug deep, relishing the attritional nature and lack of pressure to score quickly. Joined by The Caretaker as the ninth wicket fell at 85 they put on 41 in an unbroken partnership that gave us a a total to bowl at. It was The Caretakers best innings this season and the skips best for more than 15 years.

Tea passed without incident or enjoyment; I mean who runs out of milk so that 3 cups of tea have to be shared? Pathetic.

Thame rarely appear to be 'up for it' and yesterday they looked even less interested than normal. Half their team stayed in the pavilion watching the golf. No supporting from the boundary from this lot.

This lack of interest and dysfunctional behaviour is pure gold for us. Early wickets from Morne and Northern Gravy had Thame reeling and out of the game at 11 for 4. This rapidly turned in to 19 for 7. Morne bowled slow medium pace cutters and was unplayable ending with 3 for 8 from 10 overs. Matt simply bowled full and straight and let the ball do the talking as he ended with 6 for 19.

We didn't drop a catch either. Nice.

Only two of Thame's side offered any sort of resistance with the unfortunate Richard Carr spooning a slow full toss straight to midwicket from Cookie. His departure ended any hope Thame had of pulling off an unlikely win as they were all out for 80.

Perhaps we needed a game like this to put some fire back in our belly. Results elsewhere went our way and finishing second is back in our hands now.

Next week we travel to Tiddington and need to be ravenously hungry for the 25 points. We must fight for every run and wicket like our very lives depend on it.

Nothing less than 100% effort is acceptable. I am looking for proof from every player that they want to win this league. No more excuses.

Frustration

It's back to the 70's tonight pop pickers. A decade that has left a lasting impression on popular culture. Who could forget Sweet, Mud, The Seekers and of course The Prodigy. Happy times.

Beer was about 10p a pint, petrol hadn't even been invented and a mobile phone was actually cemented into every street corner and painted red. You could leave your back door open as well in them days. People actually went to the pub to have a drink rather than a crayfish tossed in a balsamic reduction. I still enjoy a pickled egg in a bag of salt 'n' vinegar; mind, it is difficult to find a pub that sells pickled eggs these days. Progress, pah.

1974 witnessed the peak of The Drifters meteoric career. Born in Braintree before the 1960's The Drifters shuffled about aimlessly for years before Their chart smash 'Kissin in the Back Row of the Movies' sold 58 million copies in a week in the UK alone, it knocked 'Tiger Feet' off the top spot and started a feud between the two bands that was only settled 6 months later in a pub car park with bike chains and cudgels. (Mud won, obviously).

This song was a firm favourite in the Perera household. Viraj was bored of glam rock and had recently sold his platform shoes and silver jumpsuit. The easy listening, saucy, Drifters were an obvious replacement.

History doesn't record whether Jimmy Perera was present to watch The Drifters perform a barnstorming set at Swindon Oasis in 2008. All that is recorded is that a bolster cushion was requested to enable a small boy to see his favourite band. You can draw your own conclusions.

Challow visited the Field of Dreams and ruined a perfectly splendid day. How a side can be buoyed by such negative, dull aspirations is beyond me.

They fulfilled their dreams by not being in the game for even one ball and clung on by the skin of their teeth, nine down and 70 runs short. This sort of toss is what ruins cricket as a sport.

We were invited to bat first on the now traditional bowlers graveyard. Everyone got a few runs, Jimmy going on to notch up another half century. Is it time to kick on and pass that ton? I think so. Cookie and Bernard batted brilliantly and we added 100 runs between over 37 and 47, eventually ending on 257.

We were all reminded of what we missed from Dan Alderson on his return to Didcot.

Tea was spectacular. I have never seen so many varied homemade cakes. A stunning effort from Sarah Broughton that raises the bar to previously undreamed of levels. The Usain Bolt of cricket teas? I think so.

The Challow innings is hardly worthy of note. I wouldn't have bothered writing a single word had it not been for the introduction of Brought Filth for a simply stunning spell of 3 overs that saw him take his first ever First Team Cherwell League wickets. Ending with figures of 2 for 72 from 3 overs. I wish I could say he swung the game our way. I can't. Challow resorted to patting back slow full tosses and didn't even run for leg byes. My only hope is that they broke down or had a puncture on the way home.

After the match Jimmy rushed off to strap on his platform boots and head down the Roxy. The rest of us ate more pavlova and tried to forget a miserable afternoon.

Beer & Sex & Chips 'n' gravy

Good evening blog fans. You find me in a considerably more convivial mood this week. Last Sunday was pregnant with opportunity; everything was lined up ready for a momentous day. Plenty of cold beer and wine, BBQ fired up, outlaws popping round later in the afternoon.

The World Cup really has been dull this year, hasn't it? Or am I just becoming old and cynical? Anyway Capello and his bunch of pampered, under achieving millionaires fulfilled their potential absolutely. Has there been a more inevitable and disappointing end to anything since The Roman Empire slipped into The Dark Ages?

The Field of Dreams welcomed the auld enemy again yesterday as Brackley's finest visited us for the fifth consecutive year. It has been one of the spicier fixtures in recent years. This year was different however. I can't remember a better bunch of players, and has there ever been a better visiting umpire than Dennis? I can't remember one. It just shows what happens when the village idiot misses the bus and spends the day marrying his cousin.

Skip won the toss and invited Brackley to have a bat. We started well with a wicket in the first over, Gravy was quicker than normal and ripped out the off stump. He continued to bowl with vim and vigour, catching the outside edge on at least three occasions. Only one went to hand (actually left breast) and was spilled. A now trademark sharp catch from The Judge and another direct hit from the Lost Boy for a run out and Brackley were 50 odd for 3. Brackleys number three is a class bat and was in great nick until he slapped a wide one to Pritch in t'covers for a sharp catch. 77 for 4. Was there anything to come from Brackley? Yes. But not enough. Cartwright Jnr. batted beautifully for 79 and was the last wicket to fall. His best innings against us, for sure. Nobody could stay with him long enough to post a competitive total. The Judge accounted for the dangerous Cartwright Snr. with a smart catch from Brockett.

Northern Gravy did the damage, ending with 6 for 56. His best spell so far this season. He even carried on after he had split his webbing. The man is an inspiration.

183 was 50 short of par at Chennai. Our run chase was un-eventful. Exactly the sort of run chase I enjoy the most. The Lost Boy anchored our innings. Having been dropped on nought he punished Brackley by carrying his bat on the way to 71. Vish never looked like getting out and was particularly severe on his older brother (bowling for Brackley for the first time).

A couple of (Word Up) cameo knocks from the cod piece wearing Jones and Cook saw us home with an hour or so to spare.

A thoroughly enjoyable afternoon then. I am already licking my lips in anticipation of next week.