Rain is the main enemy of cricket and days before the 20 May when the Mayor’s Cup Six a Side competition was due to take place, it had precipitated almost continuously. However two days of sun and wind had dried out the ground and the competition was definitely on. At 9a.m. there was great activity outside the Lamb Inn in the Enborne Road. Stores were being loaded onto a van; extension leads, a large barbeque, a gazebo, cricket kit (essential), a barrel of beer (essential), a fridge, trestle tables, table cloths and other kit for the bar and barbeque which would be operating during the day. Once at the Wormstall ground, the bar and cooking area were soon operational and ready for business. The cricket pitches at Wormstall and Luker had been well prepared by the St Bartholomew School’s ground staff and soon the teams assembled for the briefing at 9.45 a.m.
For those not au fait with the rules of 6 a side cricket, I should say that there are some variations from the normal game. These are:
Each side bowls 5 over of 8 balls i.e. each fielder, except for the wicket keeper, bowls one over.
Batsmen can be out in all the usual ways but there is no leg before wicket – LBW.
In the event of a bowler delivering a no-ball or wide, the batting side is awarded 2 extra runs and the next ball is deemed a free hit for the batsman i.e. he cannot be out bowled, caught or stumped.
Even if the batting side has overtaken the earlier batting side’s total, they continue to bat until the last ball of the innings as bonus points are awarded for scores exceeding 30 or more plus points for winning.
In this competition, there were 8 teams, divided into 2 leagues of 4 teams, each playing 3 games. The winners of each league, and this was the team scoring the most bonus points, would go into the final. The runners up in each league would play a further game to determine the 3rd place in the competition.
My team played all three games on the Wormstall ground and I regret that we lost all of them, mainly because of the number of 4s and 6s scored off my bowling and my inability to score more than 8 runs per game. Our best all round player was Ian Grose who was consistent with both bat and ball. I suspect that his school teaching included some net practice!
Time and space preclude any details of each game. Suffice to say that St Barts Teachers team won the cup deservedly with a very consistent performance throughout, winning all their games. For the second year running, the Lamb came second while the Police were a creditable third.
I must thank everyone who took part in the competition. It was played with the utmost sportsmanship and friendliness which is what cricket is all about. I must also thank the members of the Lamb Cricket Club for their organisation of the day, the licencees of the Lamb Inn for providing the bar, the three ladies from the Lamb for cooking the excellent barbeque, Tescos for providing the food, the umpires at both Luker and Wormstall grounds for their unbiased adjudication of the matches and the scorers at each ground whose efforts were absolutely crucial to the outcome of each game. My thanks also to the grounds staff for preparing the pitches which survived the onslaught down to the last ball of the day. Last, but by no means least, a big thank you to all the friends and spectators who came to give their support to their respective teams. With their patronage of both the bar and barbeque, the amount of surplus money which will be donated to support cricket at St Barts School will exceed £400. I look forward to the 2008 competition when I will return to play for the Lamb, assuming that I am selected for their squad.
For those not au fait with the rules of 6 a side cricket, I should say that there are some variations from the normal game. These are:
Each side bowls 5 over of 8 balls i.e. each fielder, except for the wicket keeper, bowls one over.
Batsmen can be out in all the usual ways but there is no leg before wicket – LBW.
In the event of a bowler delivering a no-ball or wide, the batting side is awarded 2 extra runs and the next ball is deemed a free hit for the batsman i.e. he cannot be out bowled, caught or stumped.
Even if the batting side has overtaken the earlier batting side’s total, they continue to bat until the last ball of the innings as bonus points are awarded for scores exceeding 30 or more plus points for winning.
In this competition, there were 8 teams, divided into 2 leagues of 4 teams, each playing 3 games. The winners of each league, and this was the team scoring the most bonus points, would go into the final. The runners up in each league would play a further game to determine the 3rd place in the competition.
My team played all three games on the Wormstall ground and I regret that we lost all of them, mainly because of the number of 4s and 6s scored off my bowling and my inability to score more than 8 runs per game. Our best all round player was Ian Grose who was consistent with both bat and ball. I suspect that his school teaching included some net practice!
Time and space preclude any details of each game. Suffice to say that St Barts Teachers team won the cup deservedly with a very consistent performance throughout, winning all their games. For the second year running, the Lamb came second while the Police were a creditable third.
I must thank everyone who took part in the competition. It was played with the utmost sportsmanship and friendliness which is what cricket is all about. I must also thank the members of the Lamb Cricket Club for their organisation of the day, the licencees of the Lamb Inn for providing the bar, the three ladies from the Lamb for cooking the excellent barbeque, Tescos for providing the food, the umpires at both Luker and Wormstall grounds for their unbiased adjudication of the matches and the scorers at each ground whose efforts were absolutely crucial to the outcome of each game. My thanks also to the grounds staff for preparing the pitches which survived the onslaught down to the last ball of the day. Last, but by no means least, a big thank you to all the friends and spectators who came to give their support to their respective teams. With their patronage of both the bar and barbeque, the amount of surplus money which will be donated to support cricket at St Barts School will exceed £400. I look forward to the 2008 competition when I will return to play for the Lamb, assuming that I am selected for their squad.
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