Trent Bridge Cricket Team

Bunbury Game - Match Report

A chilly Sherwood Forest morning greeted the players nevertheless spirits were high going into the game hosted at Edwinstowe Cricket Club.

The two skippers tossed up, David English winning and electing to bat. Openers, Former Forest Manger Paul Hart and also ex pro cricketer Rob Bailey, settling themselves into a steady start for Bunbury CC.

After some tight bowling by TBCT the opening partnership was broken with Paul Hart departing for ______ caught behind. The run rate began to pick up during the middle portion of play with Rob Bailey at the half way stage raising his bat to the crowd on reaching 50 runs with some lusty blows.  The introduction of Bilal Shafayat to the attack slowed the runs once again due to some controlled medium pace swing bowling.

Wickets eventually began falling with some bowling changes. Dave Foulton falling to a quicker ball delivered by David Knox and in the last passage of play with the introduction of skipper Tom Paterson to the  attack, flight and guile getting the better of 4 of the Bunbury batsmen.

Eventaully Bunbury CC finished with a good total of ___________ for ___ wickets.

The rattling of buckets could be heard from all corners of Edwinstowe as raffle ticket sellers made their way round the boundary and with some superb prizes on offer it didn't take long for those buckets to fill up with money.

The innings interval allowed for some players to grab a bite to eat and replenish their energy stores, no such luxury for David English and Nick Owen who orchestrated the highly successful auction in which some items of cricketing memorabilia spiralled into hundreds of pounds.

TBCT openers walked to the crease confident of getting close to the impressive total posted by Bunbury. A solid start by TBCT, in the first ____ overs not losing a wicket however finding it hard to penetrate the dense ring of fielders set by David English.  With the runs eventually tallying up the wickets fell and things were looking bleak but for the introduction of Kumud Wijayaratna who swashbuckled a rapid ______ before departing. This only lead to the introduction of Matt Croxall who eyed up Paul Harts medium pace and tucked in scoring a quick _________ including _______ sixes, the majority of which heading into the crowds by the pavillion.

Things now looked on course for an upset and the win was definitely on the cards for TBCT  if only they could maintain the gettable required run rate, easier said than done, the remaining TBCT wickets fell cheaply with the re-introduction of Andy Pick to the attack,mopping up the tail and eventually bowling out TBCT for _______ and clinching the win for Bunbury by __________.

Players congratulated one and other then headed straight for the showers to get ready for the raffle draw deliverd by Sir David English, in which over _____ prizes were handed out to the participants.

After the raffle players and spectators alike enjoyed a cold drink from the Hooters Bar and talked about the superb days cricket late into the evening.

Many weeks of hard work and preperation finally culminated into a fantastic days cricket and also a huge success off the pitch raising £______ for the charities.

Paul Johnson Testimonial Game

Match Review

A stunning display of hitting from Notts overseas star David Hussey was not enough to prevent Trent Bridge Cricket Team falling to defeat against Paul Johnson’s All-Star XI.

The final match of Johnson’s 2004 Testimonial saw Aussie batsman Hussey strike six sixes in an over from the luckless Samit Patel but despite that and an entertaining hundred from former West Indies skipper Jimmy Adams, the All-Star XI won by 14 runs.

The two batsmen guested for Trent Bridge Cricket Team against an All-Star XI featuring Notts players past and present, as well as former Nottingham Forest and England midfielder Steve Hodge.

After the day was kicked off with a Kwik cricket tournament involving youngsters from Ellerslie and Plumtree Cricket Clubs, Johnson won the toss and elected to bat. Openers Patel and Will Smith were quickly into their stride against the new ball pairing of Jamie Dickinson and Rob Goodwin but the senior bowler struck back with a delivery that nipped back to trap Patel leg before for 25. Dickinson was removed from the attack and Simon Cleaves claimed a wicket in his first over with a fine delivery, inducing an edge from Smith which was safely taken by Hussey behind the stumps who had donned the gloves for the afternoon. Cleaves had new batsmen David Alleyne and Johnson genuinely playing and missing.

( above - Ellerslie Cricket Club Juniors after participating in the pre match Quick Cricket Tournament )

A double bowling change followed with Paul McCue replacing Goodwin while Adams took over from Cleaves. Johnson survived a close leg before appeal and briefly reminded the watching crowd of his ability with the bat before holing out to Mike Tew at deep midwicket off McCue. His partner Alleyne repeated the trick shortly after to leave Steve Hodge and Bilal Shafayat at the crease and the younger batsman showed his class with some superb sweep shots to the boundary until he was bowled by Dave Terrill’s off-spin for 42. Terrill quickly castled Paul McMahon and then followed up with the wicket of Hodge for 27, again bowled. Rain briefly interrupted proceedings before Cleaves grabbed his second wicket with a full toss hit by Stephen Randall straight to Dickinson at cover. Richard Logan showed little mercy however launching Cleaves for two huge sixes while Trent Bridge Cricket Team skipper Tom Paterson was also milked for runs as the All-Star XI innings closed on 248-8.

  (above - David alleyne enjoys the evening sunshine at the Notts Sports Ground )

In reply, Adams padded up with Dickinson and used all his experience to help the young all-rounder through a testing spell from Notts pacemen Greg Smith and Logan. The pair had made a steady start when Dickinson was defeated by a skidding delivery from Logan that crashed into the stumps. Trent Bridge Cricket Team player of the year Kumud Wijayaratna applied a safety first mentality to see off the opening bowlers but was then undone by the off-spin of Randall. That brought Hussey into action and the 27-year-old Aussie produced real fireworks as Patel’s left-arm spin was sent sailing far over the Lady Bay pavilion. Play was delayed as replacement balls were needed but that only offered brief respite for Patel, who managed to keep a smile on his face at the end of the over. Hussey’s lighting-fast innings of 70 was brought to an end by the occasional off-spin of Alleyne and it was his bowling that would break the back of the Trent Bridge Cricket Team chase.

Adams had picked up the pace of his innings against the spin of Randall, McMahon and Patel and brought up his classy century with another finely played sweep shot before being stumped by Will Smith off McMahon. His dismissal provoked a collapse of the middle order, with Goodwin run out for four, Cleaves playing all around a straight ball from Alleyne and Tew fell in identical fashion three balls later. Terrill tried to hit his way to the target and pulled two sixes off Johnson’s bowling but his dismissal ended realistic hopes of a successful chase. Steve Edwards missed a straight one from Johnson and was also bowled and the hosts ran out of overs just short of their target finishing on 234-9 with Paterson and McCue unbeaten at the close.

At the conclusion of the match the umpires were given the task of adjudicating the man of the match. After much deliberation they decided that David Hussey's inning of 70, including those six sixes in one over, deserved the award.

 (above - Both teams gather before the game for a photo )

Our thanks for a successful and enjoyable day go to Trent Bridge Cricket Team’s Tom Paterson for arranging the fixture and to Johno and his team for playing the game in the right spirit! We would also like to say a big thank you to sponsors All-in-One Windows for making the match possible and Kumud Wijayaratna for looking after them. Finally, thanks to Alex Picker for keeping things running smoothly behind the scenes and for maintaining the bar so efficiently assisted by Nick Murphy.

(above - Ex West Indies Captain, Jimmy Adams and current Australian batsman, David Hussey receive their caps from Trent Bridge skipper, Tom Paterson )

As reported by the Barmy Army website...

After gathering at the traditional Test Match watering hole the Trent Bridge Inn the Barmy Army squad headed off in search of the ground for their match against Trent Bridge CC, the staff team from Nottingham’s Test venue.

After taking a somewhat scenic route via Holme Pierpoint Water Sports Centre and an accidental visit to the grouchy people of Nottingham Sailing Club ( “ Didn’t you read the sign, it says MEMBERS ONLY ”) we arrived at the ground to find a very professional looking Trent Bridge team warming up on the outfield in smart kit all bearing individual names and numbers on the back. Our assortment of Barmy Army tour shirts didn’t make us look the most professional but then again, neither in the end did our cricketing prowess! Having only arrived with 9 players Ricky soon brought the numbers up by dragging two young locals from the nets, giving them each a Barmy Army shirt and cap and suddenly we had two new members!

In true Barmy Army style the opposition were allowed to bat first in a match of 15 8-ball overs per side. The first ball actually beat the bat but this was not a sign of things to come as the Trent Bridge openers signalled their intentions by taking four boundaries from the very first over. A huge score looked on the cards as Trent Bridge put on over 100 for the first wicket before Antony Bullen clean bowled the right hander who had just passed 50. The other opener was still going strong hitting some huge sixes that often threatened to land in the River Trent and we later found out that this guy was the son of former West Indian wicket keeper Deryck Murray. He eventually mis -timed one and was brilliantly caught in the deep off the bowling of Daryl Beardsmore who ended with eventful figures of 1-0-28-1. At around 150-2 from 9 overs we really had them on the ropes! The runs kept flowing and despite a run -out and a wicket from our last minute recruits Josh and Simon the Trent Bridge took their total to a massive 246-4 from their allocation of 15 overs with everyone except opening batsman Ricky Ward getting a bowl. In any run chase a required rate of 2.05 sounds comfortable, unfortunately for the Barmy Army this is what we required per ball, not per over!! The task was made even more difficult when Ricky was bowled early on for 0 although he was quick to point out that “at least it wasn’t first ball. ” It was soon decided amongst the lads that if we managed to get 123, half the Trent Bridge score, and as long as they didn’t bowl us all out, then we would be content with that.

Wickets fell regularly early on but cameo innings from Huw Davies with 37 from 19 balls and 28 from just 14 balls from Adam Green, including 3 huge sixes that matched any hit by the opposition, brought the Army in range of that magical half way figure. John Armstrong chipped in with a valuable 14 before retiring but it ensured that we achieved both of our goals finishing on 128-7 from our 15 overs.

Another defeat for the Barmy Army but the game was enjoyed by all and a couple of beers were enjoyed by all in the Southbank bar.

Thanks to everyone who made the effort to come along, players on the Barmy Army side came from Sheffield , Derby , Leicestershire and Nottingham for the match and thanks to Ricky for managing to get a side together. Also thanks to Trent Bridge CC for hosting us and hopefully we’ll give you a better game next time!

Barmy Army TEAM: James Rhodes (Sheffield), Ricky Ward (Nottm), Stan (Derby), Daryl Beardsmore (Leics), Huw Davies (Leics), Mark Walker (Sheffield), John Armstrong (Derby), Adam Green (Sheffield), Antony Bullen (Nottm), Simon (Nottm), Josh (Nottm).