You have a new scribe for the match reports this week, with the skipper busy sorting plans for a busy weekend ahead……….
Cairns Fudge – 9th August
The Gibbon kept the ball rolling on a very positive 2014 season so far with two more victories.
On a typically damp British summers day the Originals played host to Cairns Fudge for the first time last Saturday. Winning the toss 9-man Fudge inserted Gibbon and looked to make first use of the green wicket due to the overnight storms. Opening pair Joe and Matt started hesitantly with the ball wobbling around, having got their eyes in both openers begun to play more freely until Joe was the first to go for 38 bringing Shippo to crease. Runs started to come more easily for the Gibbon with contributions from Matt (30), Shippo (35) and Stevie (13), with the Skipper continuing his good form with a ‘cultured’ 32 including one colossal six which put the herd of cows in the farmyard in grave danger! Spud (17*) and Crouchy (27) finished off the innings with some impressive ball striking and positive running between the wickets leaving Gibbon happy with their performance going into tea 214 – 7 off their 45 overs.
After another splendid tea as per usual at the Gibbon…………..the homemade chocolate cake a personal favourite! The Originals took to the field knowing that early wickets would put them in the driving seat and with some cloud cover overhead to aid openers Stevie and Crouch that’s exactly what happened. Stevie T taking a wicket in his first over supported by Crouchy and Needy with some excellent fielding all around the park Gibbon piled on the pressure to contain Fudge, taking wickets at regular intervals to stem the flow of runs. Stevie T continuing his impressive form with 2-24 off 9 overs, and with Tommy L, 3-10 & Timmo, 1-5 polishing up the tail to confirm a comprehensive victory for MGCC by 104 runs.
The fines pig was fed as normal for misdemeanours on and off the field………….notably a massive fine for the Skipper, unable to control his temper following a questionable LBW decision where the bin in the changing room brought the brunt of his upset of being given out…………..we have been reliably informed that a new bin has be purchased of the highest quality as a replacement. Celebrations continued at MoorHEN Close for ‘drinks and nibbles’ which turned into a Chinese order of great quantity being delivered at 10.45pm and a competition to see how many prawn crackers Shippo could manage to fit into Needy mouth all at one time…………lets say there was considerable mess to clear up in the morning!
All in all in a good day for the Gibbon with another 30 points on the board!
WANTAGE – 16TH AUGUST
Gibbon continued their winning run on Saturday as they made the journey to promotion challengers Wantage.
Having lost his second toss in consecutive weeks, Gibbon we asked to bowl first slightly lacking in the bowling department with 4 regular seamers out and a total of 8 players unavailable. The Leonard siblings, Tom and Joe were selected to be the makeshift opening attack, with younger brother Tommy L taking the senior role and having the choice of ends, much to the displeasure of his elder brother! Gibbon struck early with a run out in the first over after confusion between the Wantage opening pair, the Inbetweeners, Tommy L and Shippo pounced and whipped off the bails sharply to get Marsh off to a good start. Some tight bowling from the Leonard duo accompanied by excellent efforts in the field, especially from youngster Callum Millard in the covers who was throwing himself all over the square kept the home side under pressure. With the introduction of Briefo to the proceedings, who was busy in Brewers Fayre having an all-day breakfast until 1pm, Joe took care of the Wantage top order including two wickets in two balls, are you talking about yourself again………!?! The scoreboard looked good for the Gibbon at 35-4, however with the opposition punishing anything loose, the standard still needed to be high. With the skipper opting to take the pace off of the ball, on came Satty to keep the board ticking in Marsh’s favour. The Crab proceeded to only manage to bowl a solitary maiden over before injuring himself chasing down a ball in the outfield………..have a blow Granty! Back came Joe to finish his spell , finishing with 5-38 off his 12 overs much to everyone’s surprise and solid bowling by Breifo 2-41 and Satty 2-21 took Gibbon into tea with confidence high having bowled out Wantage for 151.
With Neil doing his reporting for Sky Sports News with a direct line to a pool bar in Antigua to keep the chairman informed of events as they unfold, it was up to Joe and Shippo to try to get off to a solid start. With the score ticking along Joe was the first to go for 13, Briefo came and went at number three without troubling the scorers bringing captain Stu to the crease whose shoulders are thankfully getting less sore over the past couple of weeks. With the Skipper and Shippo at the crease everything looked rosy from the boundary and runs were flowing with the pair never looking in trouble. Nevertheless in trademark Marsh style, never making things easy, Stu went for 23, Spud followed shortly afterwards and with Sat departing for 9, Gibbon took a slight at stumble at 115-5. The ever unfazed Shippo soldiered on dealing with anything loose that came his way steering Marsh towards their target, but after he was gone LBW for 64 in a superb innings of great maturity for the young man it was down to Callum and JC to see the boys home. Jules showed his quality as the highest run scorer ever to play for the Originals nudging it into gaps and caressing the ball through the covers when required. Callum hit the winning runs as he muscled one over mid on for four to the applause from the pavilion and also a discrete fist pump from the Skipper.
Another great 30 points in the circumstances as MGCC look to climb up the division 3 table.
Onto a massive weekend where the Gibbon will host Fringford on Saturday in the league, then onto the big one…………………..the Telegraph Cup Final at Chipping Norton on Sunday!
With a big crowd expected, let’s make this a great day for all!
Joe (aka new opening bowler)