cricket & club news 21 Jul 2006 02:19 pm
Celebrations in the Sunshine
SMCC celebrated 100 years of cricket yesterday with a game against the M.C.C.C representative side. In glorious sunshine a fine crowd witnessed a good game of cricket, that saw the result only decided in the last over of the game as Sheldon lost out by just over 10 runs.
The finer details of the game I cannot recount here as I do not have the scorecard to hand (I’m sure it will appear on the Main Site in due course), however upon winning the toss the MCCC boys took the option of batting first, and as expected got off to a good start. At one stage it looked like they might get 350+ but SMCC picked up wickets at key times and restricted the visitors to 244 of their 45 overs.
In reply, SMCC reached 230 (I think, it might have been 228) all out in the 45th over. Martin Weir and Guy Morris notched up fine half centuries and Jack Hemming and Neal Rughani chipped in too, but we too lost wickets at crucial times and just left ourselves with too much to do.
The result then was not in our favour, but that didn’t matter too much and certainly was forgotten when eyes fell upon the veritable feast of a cricket tea put on after the game. If the crowd had enjoyed the cricket it was nothing compared to the enjoyment of the food, which was first class. The club was rammed till about 11.30 last night and was possibly the busiest I have ever seen the place on a Thursday night.
All in all then a fantastic day for the club - what an achievement eh? - thanks to all of those who made it possible, you all know who you are, and to those who came and put their money behind the bar and cheered on the cricket - good on ya.
7 Responses to “Celebrations in the Sunshine”
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on 22 Jul 2006 at 4:37 am 1.Wendy said …
Well!!! I can honestly say ‘that was my best ever day at the club’.
I felt proud to be part of a set-up that could lay-on such a day, It was perfect, the ground and club house looked great, the team were great ambassadors for the club, the food haute cuisine (apart from the fact that the bloody salmon had been decapitated)
I must admit to feeling a little uneasy over the past months at the prospect of being the club figurehead (if that’s the right term to use) for this match, entertaining a side such as the MCCC and many old club stalwarts on such prestigious occasion, as someone who has in the scheme of things only been at the club a relatively short time and not ever playing a proper game of cricket in his life felt the task a little daunting.
( I shouldn’t have worried, having read and re-read The Blaggers Guide to Cricket Terminology lent to me by one of the Sat 1st XI (he made me promise not to disclose his name) I felt confident to discuss terms such as ‘jaffas’ even with a greengrocer with an NVQ in citrus fruits.
Back on a more serious note, the accolades heaped upon the club by our visitors (players, officials and guests) had me preening my feathers.
Folks, WE HAVE A CLUB TO BE PROUD OF
Can’t sign off without mentioning a few of my own memories of the latter part of the day.
I sat outside on the outfield with Ronny, Jack, Tom & Ben from 12ish to well after 1ish when we had to go home because Clive decided we couldn’t have any another round ( I’d pulled the chairman needs a drink bit twice, a third was pushing it considering the day he had had)
It was so funny, I can’t repeat most of the conversations but it had me in stitches one comment had Tom falling backwards off his chair, all we could see was these two white sticks with trainers on the end.
Comments of the day:
“Rishy’s hair looks like the roof of an Anglican church”
“Dan’s in MI5 he likes going under cover”
“there’s Two there”
Don’t ask me to explain, ask Ronny Jack Tom or Ben
Tom has asked me to send out an appeal to any club members who may have any spare kitchen cupboards it appears he and Gemma have mislayed theirs
on 22 Jul 2006 at 4:59 am 2.Wendy said …
Yes I know a spelling mistake.
to err is human
to forgive is divine
on 23 Jul 2006 at 10:12 pm 3.Ronnie said …
I too was proud to be part of a set up that is able to organise such a wondeful event. I’m sure everybody involved had a quality day… and night!
As for the late night drinking, i laughed til tears rolled down my over-sized, sun-kissed cheeks.
My personal highlight was discussing the laws of inheritance - with particular reference to Gregor Mendel. Who i know now to be a 19th century Austrian monk.
Classic!
on 24 Jul 2006 at 1:01 am 4.Tom said …
NEWS FLASH - Kitchen delivered!
on 27 Jul 2006 at 11:20 pm 5.Wendy said …
Sorry Ronny that should be Hereditary not inheritance, which is under current english common law is either dictated be a Will, (not Will Hemming of course)or by a Probate Court
sorry to seem such a pedant
on 28 Jul 2006 at 12:23 pm 6.Ronnie said …
*blushes*
oh poo.
on 02 Aug 2006 at 1:50 pm 7.kh said …
CENTENARY WEEK 2006-THE SECRETARY’S VIEW
The Club’s Centenary Celebrations cricket week took place last week against a backdrop of clear blue skies, excellent company and fine cricket.
The first event was a match against an Old Boys XI consisting of ex-Sheldon Marlborough players of varying vintage on Wednesday evening. The ground looked splendid with smart new pavilion fencing and pretty flowers adorning the window boxes. SMCC skipper Steve Reynolds won the toss and duly elected to bat first. The hosts posted a useful total of 140 for 6 off their allotted 20 overs, Alex Reynolds top scoring with 34 backed by a hard hitting 25 not out from Pete Westwood late in the innings. Spinner Roger Smith was the pick of the bowlers with 3-22 although what was most noticeable, was the way most of the OB’s bowlers quickly slotted into a line and length as if they had not been away, albeit some had not bowled for 10 or more years! In reply, the visitors got off to the worst possible start losing top batsman Dave Gibson in the first over to Tim Westwood and although Neals Plimmer and Smallwood rolled back the years to play splendidly in a second wicket partnership of 52, the rest of the team could not break the shackles imposed by more regular bowlers and the innings closed on 122-9 in gathering gloom. All in all, a quite splendid game played in tremendous spirit and we offer our grateful thanks to all the ‘old’ boys who took the trouble to turn out, many having to borrow kit and ending up with sore shoulders and legs for their efforts! The evening was completed with a splendid buffet, much drinking and chat about old times.
The centrepiece of the week was centred around the game against a Midlands Club Cricket Conference representative XI on Thursday afternoon. The MCCC side contained a mixture of players from sides in Divisions both above and below us and was managed by Phil Williams of Olton Cricket Club and captained by Howard Clay from Weoley Hill C.C. MCCC were invited to bat first in glorious sunshine and openers Cole from Marston Green and Neale from Olton shared a half century stand before Cole was trapped lbw by Simon Baxter. Neale was joined by young Australian Hill from Water Orton. Neale was eventually caught by Mullard off the bowling of Baxter for 58 and Water Orton captain Harris joined his team mate at the crease. The pair played some lovely shots all around the wicket with Hill in particular hitting the ball hard. The pair put on 66 for the 3rd wicket until Hill was caught off the bowling of Martin Weir just 3 short of a half-century. Harris and Wickson from Shipston then added another 50 partnership and at this stage the visitors looked like posting a total in excess of 300. However good bowling from Weir, Jim Rasin and Viz Parmar in particular, pegged MCCC back and Harris and Wickson fell for 53 and 23 respectively and when Gilbert from Trysull & Seisdon and Day from Water Orton were both quickly out, the innings closed on 244-7.
Sheldon Marlborough’s reply started promisingly with openers Guy Morris and Jim Rasin playing positively. Morris in particular was playing shots all round the wicket and the pair put on 39 for the first wicket when Rasin was out. Weir arrived at the crease and with Morris looked as if they might surpass the MCCC total on their own. However Morris fell to the spin of Harris for an excellent 60 and Tom Hemming quickly followed him, again undone by the same bowler. Jack Hemming quickly got into his stride hitting 2 big leg side 6’s before being fooled by Clay’s slower ball. Weir continued to play well and with Neal Rughani took the score past 200. However when Weir was out for a well made 60, the innings began to fall behind the required run rate as spinners Hill and Harris turned the screw. Rughani offered a catch to the man at deep long off and Simon Baxter and Keith Rondeau fell in quick succession. Captain Steve Mullard found the same man in the deep as Rughani and when Jim Shirley was run out, the innings closed at 228 all out. So an SMCC defeat by 16 runs, but no disgrace as MCCC were pushed all the way.
Off the field, we were delighted to welcome many guests and friends of the club past and present. These included members of the Trusts which own our ground and the Care homes at the bottom of the ground. MCCC President Alan Neale also joined us and was much impressed by what he saw. The day was rounded off by the most magnificent buffet provided by the ladies and the presentation of a plaque to the club by MCCC.
The senior festivities were concluded on Friday evening with a club XI against a Social XI which included a number of female members. The cricket was played in good spirit with everyone having a turn at batting and bowling and although the result was immaterial, for the record the club side won by 11 runs. The evening was capped off by a splendid barbeque cooked by the that peerless chef Stan Redding and much drinking.
Celebrations concluded on Monday with a day for the juniors. An under 13 match took place against Solihull Municipal and mixed match between our U13 and U15 boys sponsored kindly by John Green.
All in all a quite splendid week. However these things need to be organised properly for them to run smooth and be a success and for that we have to thank a good many people who worked very hard to make sure that this happened. Pride of place must go to Marie and Jenny Jenkins, Rose Jones, Sue Redding and Steve McCarthy for their magnicent efforts in the catering department. The food provided at all the events was simply outstanding and did the club proud. To Mark Weir, Roy Westwood ,Alan Coppell and Pat Tarry for making sure the Pavilion and surrounding area looked as smart as I’ve ever seen it .To Steve’s Mullard and Reynolds for umpteen phone calls in pulling together the OB’s team. Our grateful thanks to Keith Hemming who scored impeccably as usual in all the games and we thank also Jim Hartley and Neal Garland for standing in the MCCC game. If I’ve overlooked anyone, I apologise. A great week and I think we ‘ve done the old ground proud on its 100th birthday.
Compiled by SR