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Arrangements for Net Practice. (Apr. 2008)
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Under 13 practice will begin on Monday 21st.April, 6:15pm start, using one of the back pitches on the first evening.
Cricket practice for 2008 will then be run as follows from the week commencing Monday 28th.April.
Mondays - u13’s practice.
Tuesdays - Senior practice.
Wednesdays - u15’s and development squad.
Thursdays - Senior practice.
Friday - Friday night kids cricket – up to u11 age group i.e. up to and including school year 6.
In addition the nets need a fair amount of work to make them safely useable
and volunteers are required for 2 working parties to undertake this.
Thursday 17th.April - Putting up new netting and wires on existing frame.
Sunday 20th.April - Digging out and preparation of ground for extension to concrete base
which will be laid week commencing Monday 21st.April to be ready for the following week.
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Meet on the Ledge. (Apr. 2008)
Gents
Any chance of a Northern plaque winging its way to the Hong Kong Cricket club?
I have identified a very nice spot for it by the bar!
Also - the Hong kong International Cricket Sixes will be on November 8 and 9 this year. Come and watch me drink with Shane Warne ! - if anyone needs persuading - ask Bish!
Speak soon and Best wishes for the season from Ledge.
Ill be watching!
ps - has it stopped snowing yet?
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Sign up for Northern Message Board. (Apr. 2008)
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This season we intend to use a club Message Board,
for on-line chit-chat and discussion.
We shall also shortly be publishing teams each week,
to give an alternative to ticking-off on the club noticeboard.
It will be members-only, and you will need to log in under your real name.
So to get started, take this link,
and follow the instructions to register or 'create new account' ... ...
Northern Club Message Board.
When you first use your new account, please set up your Display Name to make it clear who you are, by giving your full name.
Click the 'Profile' option at the top of the screen, which will display your details.
Then click the 'Modify Profile' option at the top of the entry.
Your Display Name will by default be set up as your single-word username. Please alter this to your full firstname and surname.
Then click the 'Modify' button at the bottom to confirm the change.
To make the address a bit easier to remember,
you can also get to the Message Board via ...
www.northernclub.co.uk/messages
.
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Musical Chairs. (Mar. 2008)
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Due to Andy Davies’s commitments as the club's new Vice President,
Phil Cooper has agreed to take over the cricket chairmanship.
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Report from Jezza of Poms on Tour. (Mar. 2008)
As many of you might be aware, the Surrey Hills Cricket Club has been fortunate enough to have the services of a couple of Northern 1st XI players this season in the form of Steve Cole and Jack Woosey.
As the league rules state we can only have one overseas player in the 1st team, Jacko was confined to play for the 2s with Steve in the seniors.
With the loss of half a dozen of the club’s top players over the winter, Steve was afforded a great deal of opportunity with both bat and ball. He certainly took those chances with the ball, snaring 31 wickets over the twelve-game season at an average of just 13.42. Despite these figures, the lazy bugger failed to take a single five-wicket haul! He did manage to fall a wicket short of that milestone on four separate occasions and certainly deserved a bag at some point. Batting on the other hand was a different story. Surprised by the hard pitches with the ball coming onto the bat quicker than he was used to, Steve struggled to post a total early in the season. He did, however, manage to see off the bowling of former Victoria and Tasmania star David Saker when playing against Donvale to reach a score of 5. A couple of weeks later he managed to post a well-deserved century but not before running out poor old Jezza for 13 who was then dropped back to the 2s where he remained for the rest of the year. It was an excellent innings nonetheless (by Steve, not me) in what turned out to be a very important win. The 1sts had a successful season only to lose to Donvale in the semi-final. Throughout the year, Steve bowled a lot quicker than I remember him doing in England. Mind you, he was only 4’ 5’’ back then.
Jacko was a welcome addition to the 2nd team who suffered badly in the first half of the season from the 1st XI taking all of our players. After a slow start by his standards, he came into his own at the spinners paradise of Richmond City with a five-wicket haul whilst yours truly took four up the other end. It is somewhat ironic that two blokes who “couldn’t turn the telly on” (as described by Mark Garcia) would clean up on a wicket so conducive to spin. Another five-for just after Christmas as well as regular wickets over long spells throughout the season ensured the “White Ethiopian” finished with 17 victims at an average of 20.47. With the willow in hand, Jack batted all over the order even once appearing with myself in an unorthodox opening combination. That partnership ended on a successful 62 before I fell for 49 with Jacko still on 8. To everyone's relief, Jack was finally out after the 34th over for an agonising 22. All this on possibly the flattest pitch in cricket history as the team racked up a commanding 334. He was subsequently dropped to number 10 for the one-dayer the next day. In the field he finally took his first catch in the last game, but not before dropping eight catches throughout the season. 1 out of 9 isn’t bad for a Pom, though...
For those of you that are wondering, I started the season as a fielder in the 1st XI before returning to where I belong in the 2s. I barely scored a run until late in the season and managed to take 18 wickets at 8.06 with the ball. Which you’ll notice is much better than Jacko who drank too much on Friday nights and quite possibly Saturday mornings. I was a little more professional about my cricket and made sure I turned in by 2.30am on the night before each game, such is the level of professionalism required at this level.
Cricket aside, the lads spent plenty of time and money at various bars and pubs around Melbourne. Shares in Carlton Draught have sky-rocketed in recent months.
The lads return home in April although Jacko does want to stay on this side of the world. However this isn’t possible as the Australian Government has put a limit on how many malnourished immigrants it allows in each year.
Hopefully we’ll be sending Jack and Steve back as better cricketers and even better drinkers.
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Good luck for season 2008!
Jezza
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Facial Re-arrangement ends Africa Cup hopes. (Mar. 2008)
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Hello everyone
I think it's time for a quick update on my adventures out here in darkest Africa.
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Since I was last in the UK in November, the mighty Expats FC of Freetown have sold our naming rights, appointed a new manager, lost in a cup final and won a trophy. Also, I captained the UK team to a 5-2 victory against the Rest of the World in order to regain our Freetown International Trophy, and even managed to bag a rare goal in a 1-1 draw against the visiting HMS Portland. Not bad going for 4 months.
We are now 'Sports Bar Expats FC' after I struck a multi-million Leone (n.b. 1,000,000 Leone is about £180) deal with the landlord of our local. It is mutually beneficial, as he has managed to hook up to an illegal satellite channel which is showing Premier League football here, after the legal channel lost the rights.
I've also been playing some cricket. I've done a bit of everything, batting, bowling, even a bit of wicket keeping until I picked up a rather nasty finger injury which ruled me out for 3 weeks. Must learn to catch properly again.. The lads on the team are mainly Indian and Pakistani, and it's fascinating to see the differences in styles. The standard is high (yes, I know - it can't be that high if I'm getting a game), and we have a seriously good Sierra Leonean all-rounder, with whom I shared a match winning partnership of 60 odd the other week. Having said all this, the conditions we play in which include a dirt outfield and randoms wandering about in all directions mean that cricket in this part of the worlds is not much fun, and I often find myself longing for the days when I was chasing around at third man and being slogged to all corners playing for Dooley's Sunday XI - Great days indeed.
So, to the mighty Sports Bar Expats FC. We still play the vast majority of matches at the Siaka Stevens National Stadium. We recently took part in a 4 team tournament, where we comfortably disposed of a poor US Embassy side 3-0 in the semi-final. I know what you are thinking, but there were no Americans playing, it was a team of locally employed Embassy Staff.
So to the final against Tigo, a local mobile phone company and tournament sponsors. I'd decided it was the biggest game I had ever played in, and that the same could probably be said for most of the squad. Accordingly, I sent a rallying cry to the 18 man squad via text message the night before the game.
Unfortunately, what I hoped were inspiring words failed to have the desired effect as, in addition to one genuine case of illness, 2 of our squad failed to show up without explanation, and another sent me a text message 20 minutes before the 9.30am kick off telling me he was "in bed with pain." Having resisted the temptation to ask who 'pain' was and what she was doing in his bed, I made enquiries later that day from which I am satisfied that this particular individual didn't look to be in too much 'pain' when leaving a local night-club at 5am that morning. Anyway, I digress.......
20 minutes in to the first half, and we are already 1-0 behind. I go up for a header on the edge of their box . Cue, bang, nasty clash of heads, I hit the floor like a sack of spuds. First thing I notice is a worrying amount of red liquid dripping down from above my left eye. As much as the lads tried to play down the extent of the cut, the look of horror on their faces said it all. My protestations that if they gave me 2 minutes I would be fine to play on were rejected out of hand by the gaffer and before I knew it I was on the way to hospital.
It was an irksome feeling driving away from the stadium knowing the biggest match of my life was in progress, and not a good one.
Anyway, 7 stitches later I was on the mend, but not before the doctors had curiously pulled a big sheet across my face as they were treating the wound. . At this point I was thinking the next stage would see me being put away in a draw before one of my mates was called to identify me, but fortunately it didn't come to this.
Sadly we lost the game 4-1, although my subsequent enquiries left me in no doubt that the opposition on the day included players of dubious authenticity who did not qualify to play for them under the tournament rules, which sadly undermined the integrity of the tournament and their achievements (I'm not bitter - honest.) I now have a rather conspicuous scar on my forehead as a memory of the occasion.
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Our most recent match was also at the National Stadium, was the 3rd renewal of the Unity Cup, the trophy played for between Sports Bar Expats and IMATT Veterans, the football team of the British Military in Sierra Leone. It provided a much needed boost, as our 3-0 win meant we retained our trophy, and it now sits proudly in Sports Bar for all to see.
We are entering another tournament soon, and I won't be satisfied until another big shiny thing is keeping the Unity Cup company behind the bar.
Life in general here continues as normal. I'm still not drinking, and I've also been making an effort to eat more healthily and vary my training to include speed work. I have recently moved house, and will be moving again soon enough. I will probably be here for about another year. After that, who knows, I'm keeping an open mind. One thin is for certain though, I want to remain abroad, and intend to do so at all costs.........
I hope all is well back there. I'm not sure when I'll next be back in the UK but when I am, I will do my best to catch up with you all.
Good luck to all the teams this season, and see you all soon(ish)
Cheers,
Kev.
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Cricketers scoop successful Sports Quiz. (Feb. 2008)
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The cricket section staged a well-supported sports quiz, with Andy Davies and Mike Bishop providing the questions. It was very encouraging to see so many members attending and our thanks go to teams from St Mary's Old Boys, Campion LTC, S&A Golf Club and the Jolly Miller Cafe for their support too.
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The winning team (above) was Never Go Back King Kev, comprising cricketing stalwarts Anthony 'Mongo' Withers, our Mark/Twinny Garcia, CT - Chris Taylor, the Moonman - John Mooney (what is he bad at?? - we need to find out), and new member Rob.
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Pictured (left) is the winner of the raffle’s top prize, guest Jason, who won a golfing lesson with S&A's golf professional Jim Payne (centre). A very nice prize indeed very kindly donated by S&A’s club captain, and one-time Northern cricketer, Neil Leadbetter.
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Jason was heard to say to Jim as he was leaving "I'm off to Muirfield next week so can we fit it in as soon as possible, how about Friday?"
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The wooden spoon was collected by Phil Sloan. Worryingly for the club, the lowest placed line-up included not only our president but also the club treasurer. But it turned out to be a bonanza night, with 15 teams and over 60 participants enjoying the evening.
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The main purpose was to raise funds for junior cricket and once the butties had been paid for and the prize money allocated, the balance along with the raffle and the very successful 'Rum rolling' ensured the evening raised over £170.
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One important foot note for quiz setters everywhere was that on close scrutiny after the quiz all 150 questions, every single one, was answered correctly by someone, somewhere! Even the darts one!
Thanks again to all who attended, and please note that a big night is coming soon - the cricket section race night - get your posh frocks and 50p's ready!!!
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Withering prospect, all in good cause. (Feb. 2008)
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It must be that time of year again, when players of ample stature and a bygone cricketing prime turn themselves to bodily redemption, all in the name of charity.
Plus the vain hope of bending to reach April’s ankle-high slip catch, or of scampering 22 yards before the throw comes in from long leg.
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Last year it was Sloan and Davies, who pledged abstention from their normal indulgences.
This year, a certain Mr Anthony Withers is to indulge himself where normally abstemious.
Anthony asks if you could please please please sponsor him.
‘I am doing a Charity Run to raise money for Sport Relief and get into some kind of shape for the cricket season. The run is in less than 4 weeks.
www.mysportrelief.com/mongo
is the link to my own webpage and sponsors can be added online.
Best regards,
Anthony Withers’
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Pre-season indoor practice. (Feb. 2008)
The times of session have now changed.
Adult sessions will now run from 10am to midday, with junior sessions following from midday to 2pm (U13s from midday, U15s and above from 1pm).
Indoor nets will run through to late March.
Venue is St.Marys sports hall next to P&A Audio on Liverpool Road in Crosby.
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