Dinas Powys C.C.: The Captain's Blog

AGM

2008-11-12T11:17:00.000-08:00

Evening everybody.

Monday sees another important day for the club, but this time it wont be on the pitch.

The AGM is being held in the rugby club at 8.30 and I cannot stress how important it is for everyone to make it if they can. A number of positions are becoming available and the club will struggle to move forward unless these vital gaps are filled. After so much hard work on and off the pitch it would be a shame to see the club move backwards.

So I urge members old, young and new to come along and see whats on offer.

hope to see you there

Gordy

p.s up the Dinas!

What goes on 'Tour' Quay , goes on facebook!

2008-09-09T12:26:00.000-07:00

Alright all,

Another season finished welcomed a deserved end of season tour, the unsuspecting victim this time round was the town of Torquay. Could the mighty mighty Dinas take on and beat Devon's finest? As the classic commentary went "Frankly who cares"?

The group met at the Cross Keys in Dinas at 12.30 and myself and Statto (Father Hiscocks, thanks for looking after us) were unsurprised to find Pete Colley already there pint in hand. (do you live there mate?) Leaving at 2 we faced horrible weather travelling down and we all thought that not a bowl would be bowled in anger over the coming weekend and the cricket was going to have to be played on the beach.

As for the tour entertainment much would be lost in translation. It is fair to say that refreshments were partaken with and much fun was had by all. As they say a picture tells a thousand words and I would recomend the DPCC website for the tour photos provide by statto. Fantastic work with those!!!

As for the matches we had mixed fortunes. Saturday saw the J Guy captain the side against Stokeinteignhead CC in what turned out to be a rain interrupted day. A Big Big thanks to all involved at Stokeinteignhead CC for managing to make the pitch playable and allowing the game to continue after 2 heavy showers. Originally scheduled for 30 overs the game was reduced to 25 after the first storm and we were bowled out for 96. Stokeinteignhead CC were always in command and ran out easy winners by 5 wickets. Pete Colley produced the funniest thing i have ever seen on the a cricket pitch, i recommend you ask him.

DPCC travelled to Babbacombe CC on the Sunday and it can only be described as the strangest outfield you will ever play on. The boundary is a good 12-15 higher than the square and walking in with the bowler can prove troublesome let alone fielding. Once again we were asked if we would like to bat first in this 40 over match and we accepted. After an excellent showing at no 11 the previous day Mike Lowe opened the batting alongside J Guy. The runs came at a decent rate but unfortunately so did the wickets. We were bowled out in the 30th over for 146 with only Statto offering any real resistance with a tour best 39 and a tour high 2 horns. DPCC were left answer less to babbacombes 68year old L Edgend, who finished with 4-9

However our effort in the field was better and a good containing spell by opening bowlers H Marks and Steve (Teeth) Bussell who had the timbers flying out of the ground. Chi Chi Wilton and Geoff Colley were the change bowlers and the unlikeliest of spin twins continued the damage with Compo taking 2 wickets and Chi leaving with the figures of 4 overs 1 maiden 3 for 52. You do the maths!! It was left to the skippers to smell cheap wickets and Myself and fella finished the Babbacombe tail for a famous 10 run tour victory. Again massive thanks Babbacombe CC, who worked magnificently to get the game on when many would have stopped on the forecast.

On Monday we were meant to travel home and play against ex player and Friend of DPCC Duncan Boffins Hanham CC, who are based just outside Bristol. Unfortunately the game was called off due to the waterlogged pitch and we hope to see them in the future.

Well that's about that for the cricketing side of the tour. Im sure tales will be told for a long time about the tour but I'll let you all find out in due time. What has mainly been learnt on our time in Torquay is hotels with swimming pools jaquzi's and bars are better than those without, Hot Tub makes excellent A Boards and has learnt how to spell "Powys" and switch hits are harder than they look, 3 attempts - 3 wickets.

Big thanks to Gareth Marks for the organising. Shame you couldn't make it mate!

Thanks to everyone for a great time

Up the POWYC!!

SINGLE WICKET DRAW

2008-08-28T15:08:00.000-07:00

Hi all.

Just been up the club to witness the single wicket draw. The competition draw is below.

It has been set up in to 2 halves, with no seeds and was drawn completely randomly.

Top Half

Steve Hudson V BYE
Gareth Evans V James Hiscocks

Gordon Hannah V I Southwell
M Lowe V S Wilton

Jason Harries V Ian Coughtrey
Tom Brookfield V Upinder Singh

Lewis Clarke V Josh Clogg
Adrian Colley V BYE

Bottom Half

M Wilton V BYE
Stewart Jones V Huw Marks

Ollie Coughtrey V Connor Heatherton
Steve Bussell V Tariq Ali

Andy Smith V Lawrence O'Sullivan
G Marks V BYE

Geoff Colley V BYE
Nick Parker V Peter Colley

I do believe that Paul Marks is doing a book so please feel free to phone him for the odds. Failing that Paddy Power should be able to help

See you there Saturday up the common. Mr Richardson would like us all there by 10.30 so we can get the draw times and rules sorted. Also if anybody has a problem with the draw complain to Huw Marks, he was the drawer.

Let battle begin.

Up the Dinas

Campones Campones OLE OLE OLE

2008-08-28T14:41:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

Well a bit of a anti climax but the battle is over and the war is won. A big thank you to everybody who played in the firsts this year. Its been a fantastic effort by everybody to keep the standards so high, especially when the season has been so disjointed. Even in a season when so many games have been lost to weather, when the final league table is decided next week we will have won as many games as everyone else and lost less. Deserving champions!!

Lots of thanks to the back room staff. Dad (Ken) who has scored every ball for the second year in a row, Sue Marks who has produced excellent teas week in week out and who has even made me like marmite!! Also a massive thanks to Ian Richardson and Miles Wilton who both worked so hard to get the common in shape and keep it that way. I'm sure we all remember the panic to repair the water pipe and the outfield before the season started.

As for Saturdays game our 197 all out was a good score on a difficult track and a slow out field. Caerleon were the visitors to the common and as is customary I loss the toss and we were asked to have a bat.

Myself and Suggy added 52 before we both departed (mine a bad shot, Suggy was just plain unlucky) and it was tough going for a while. A timely return to form saw J Guy score 30 runs ably helped by hot tub and once again, Busty ended not out. Some good lower order batting saw us bowled out in the last over to set a reasonable target of 198 to win but also with the 5 points necessary for champions.

It always looked like it was going to rain and it duly did. After going of once for rain we returned and took the decisive 3rd wicket of their opening batsman and it was immediately decided that it was too wet to continue. The continuing rain ended our chance of finishing with the win and Danny Zaman and Lawrence O'Sullivan's chances of reaching 15 wickets for the season.

With that the champagne was already on ice and the celebrations could begin! The rest, as they say, is history.

Its been a great season for the club, but disappointing that so few games have been played. Hopefully the nucleus of the squad can stay together and we can look to establish ourselves in the higher leagues. Proud of everyone!!

Dad promises me the seasons stats will follow shortly.

Up the Dinas.

Gordon OUT!!!

Champions!!!!!!!!

2008-08-25T14:12:00.000-07:00

Guess the best place to start would be with the thank you's. The list is long and I'm sure to have forgotten someone so apologies if I miss anyone out.

Think I'll start with the players who, despite the frustrations of the weather and a different skipper each week for the 2nd half of the season, have been magnificent. Many times we have been under pressure at times in games but this season a number of players have stood up and ensured we have come through. Notably in both Barry Wanderers fixtures, away from home a fantastic innings from Mike plus big hitting from Upinder (scaring the rest of us to death in the process)saw us across the line. At home we looked well short of runs until Nick Parker hit 55 off 57 to post a total we could defend. Many other terrific performances including 100's for Geoff Colley and Andy Pearce and five for's for Steve Hudson and Nick Parker. Whilst on the subject of players huge thanks go to Simon Wilton for his role throughout the season. Despite not playing as much as I'm sure he would of liked Chi Chi has been an ever present when the 2's have played and scored with his amazing technicolor pens.

In all we used 25 players in this campaign so big thank you to all of you.

When the sun has allowed us to get a home game in Sue Mark's teas have been the talk of the league all season, when Sue has been unable to do them the Wiltons have done a tremendous job. Thanks to you all.

With Bryn-y-don being underwater for most of the season we have managed to get quite a few games on up the common. This is one of the reasons we have done so well and thanks have to go to Ian Richardson, Miles and everyone else who has worked on the common to get games played.
I know I have already mentioned the players but want to say an additional thank you to Mike, Gareth Marks, Gareth Evans and Huw who have all stood in for me as skipper at some point over the season.

I'm not going to give a usual match report on Saturday mainly due to the fact I was so drunk Saturday night I've probably forgotten parts of it, instead I'll just give you the final averages for the season.

Extremely pleasing to see so many 20+ averages with the bat, and so many sub 20 averages with the ball. No-one has manged to run away with the wickets but Nick Parker has manged to finish as leading wicket taker with 15.

Leading runs scorer was Andy Pearce with 215 runs at a strike rate of 96!!!!

Captains Blog ... Supplemental

2008-08-16T05:58:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

Game off again today but at least on a happy note it means we are promoted. Having a few drinks up the club at 5 o'clock and everyone is welcome to join.

see you there.

Up the Dinas!!

A Sunny Saturday at last

2008-07-28T11:57:00.000-07:00

Saturday saw the 1's visit Barry Wanderers in what was an important game for both teams. We needed to keep winning at the top of the table and the Wanderers were looking for a change of fortune at the bottom. For the second week in a row I won the toss (YAY) and decided to have a bat on what seemed to be the first nice sunny Saturday of the summer.

Although we got off to a good aggressive start, I departed off a top edge caught a square leg for 22 which brought Wanderers old boy Stuart Jones to the crease. Following on from last weeks good form both Hot Tub(34) and Ade Colley (27) kept the score ticking along but both fell in quick succession. Fella and Lewis clark both looked in good touch whilst at the crease but unfortunately Fella top edged a catch to midwicket, whilst Lew was adjudged lbw on the front foot, much to his disliking.

Danny Zaman was next to the wicket and pressure was on. Geoff Colley joined him at the other end and the score was 119 for 5. DZ took things slowly blocking the first and as predicted by hot tub, put his next 3 balls for 6. An excellent innings of controled hitting followed, as he reached his 50 off 26 balls. Although Geoff was out for 10 he was part of a 73 partnership which swung the game back in out favour. Huw Marks got a great ball of Jimmy Hassett first up and Snowy was sent back to the pavilion of a tremendous catch at midwicket, by the same fielder who had dropped a regulation boundary catch of DZ. DP's new favourite leg spinner was next to the wicket for his first bat of the year.

Lawrence (DNB) O'Sullivan had assured everyone in the club he could bat (even though he seemed susceptible to a bit of swing in the nets) and in the last week in July finally had his first bat for the club. Excellent shots were played from ball one and he scored and excellent 21 from 14 balls including 2 horns. He was dismissed by Wanderers stand in keeper Gareth Lanigan, one handed diving to his right. Danny Zaman was the last batsman to be removed, finally miss timing a shot to cover. with Gareth Marks stranded at the end we finished out innings bowled out for 238 of 41.1 overs. A notable mention to Dan Bowles who had an great spell which saw only 19 runs coming off his 10 overs for 3 wickets.

With Busty off on his hols Huw Marks was thrown the cherry along with Hot Tub. Marksie filled in excellently bowling a miserly opening spell 08/0/30/0. Tub got opener Gareth Lanigan caught behind and after a decent 2nd wicket partnership, DZ got in on the act taking 2 wickets in 4 balls. Snowy Hudson rolled back the years to produce excellent figures off 10/0/25/2 and didn't bowl a bad ball in the process.

At 96 for 6 we were confident of bowling out the Wanderers. However they continued to bat well and score quickly as the run rate gradually increased. It was only an excellent piece of fielding from Gareth Marks which produced the run out of Jimmy Hassett and effectively ended their chance of chasing the total. Barry Wanderers reached their goal of 175+ not all out despite some excellent bowling at the death from Sundries and Hot tub and a special delivery from DNB, which pitched on leg and turned up the hill to clip the top of off Stump. Despite a good shout off the last over by H Marks wanderers reached 178 for 9 off their 45 overs.

Another professional performance and 25 points in the bag. A massive performance with both bat and ball from DZ which really turned both innings. Another game played in good spirits and again best of Luck to Wanderers for the rest of the season. By no means the worst team in the league and we are all in agreement that one win will really change the season.

Fantasy stats below.

G Hannah 22
A Colley 27
S Jones 34
J Harries 6
L Clarke 8
D Zaman 72
G Colley 10
H Marks 0
S Hudson 4
L O'Sullivan 21
G Marks 0*

Bowling

S Jones 9/1/36/2
H Marks 8/2/30/0
S Hudson 10/0/25/2
D Zaman 8/0/24/3
L O'Sullivan 7/1/35/1
G Marks 3/0/20/0

catches : G Hannah (2), J Harries

Run Outs : G Marks

Big game at home to Penarth III on saturday.

Up the Dinas

Mini Fella

2008-07-23T13:47:00.000-07:00

Thanks for the blog Gord, appreciated all round.

Just to introduce Mini Fella or Teifion, or even Ty if the pronounciation scuppers you, below is the first family pic.

Thanks for all the messages of congratulations we have received and congrats to all involved in tonights win, lets repeat the result Saturday, all being well Dawn and Teifion may pop over as well, I reckon he could do a job for the two's!!!!!!

Arrivals and Departures

2008-07-22T16:02:00.001-07:00

Good news and bad news,

Ali is going back to Pakistan and now that he cannot play on Wednesday night against the Wanderers in the 20 - 2 Cup, Saturday against Brynmawr will have been his last game for DP. Ali will be sorely missed in our middle order, but im sure that anyone who witnessed the 34 in an over against Penarth will not forget that in a hurry. Its because of this that we presented Ali with the club record trophy on Saturday after the game (picture on website) and I hope that when he thinks of his time in Wales that he will think of Dinas Powys Cricket Club and the good times that were had.

And on to happier news,

Congratulations to Dawn and fellow blogger, Jason 'fella' Harries on the arrival of their baby boy, Teifion Tudor Morgan Harries (if that gets to much mini Fella should work)He was born at 18.21 on Tuesday 22nd of July and the whole club wishes mum, dad and baby well.

see you soon mini fella

It's been a while.

2008-07-22T15:25:00.001-07:00

Hi all.

Afraid there has been very little cricket to report on, but Saturday finally saw a game of cricket to finish for the first XI. After 3 overs versus Pontllanfriath and an excellent innings against Christchurch, which saw us bowl out the opposition for 171 (h Marks taking a 5for) we managed to start a game that looked like finishing.

Brynmawr were the oppo for the day and were off the back of an excellent win against title challenging Llantwit Major. For the first time this season (7 games) I did something wonderful. I won the toss and decided to have a bowl hoping the early cloud cover would stay and the new ball would swing.

And Swing it did, with Busty dismissing the opener with middle stump out of the ground. Both Bust and Tub bowled well having the batsman in all sorts of trouble and struggling for runs, but it was Danny Zaman who caused the damage, taking 4 for 18 in his 10 over spell. Brynmawr captain Gary Adlam batted well for his 43 as did D Hartland who had a patient 38 in the middle order but after Danny got both we were confident of boling them out. Some suicidal running resulting in 2 wickets helped the Dinas cause but once again it was Huw Marks who bowled excellently to clean up the tail on his way to 3 for 15. The wicket takers were ably assisted by Nic the tic who bowled a controlled dangerous spell without any luck and Lawrence O'sullivan who had some choice words at the end of the innings regarding chances behind the stumps. (another pint of bow on the way there lozzer) After 39.3 overs Dinas were the happier side after dismissing Brynmawr for 135

After another excellent tea myself and Ade Colley opened the batting to good effect and got us of to the start we wanted. With the score on 42 I was bowled and hot tub and Ade continued, with the score rattling along at 4 an over. Ade departed after scoring 28, but not before showing excellent courage to continue batting after top edging a delivery into his glasses causing a nasty cut above the eye. This brought Ali to the crease in his final appearance for the club before returning to Pakistan. Unfortunately he departed for 0, but did so trying to wrap the game up with a 6 over midwicket which was caught only inches form the boundary. Busty in his true not out style was there at the end after hot tub finished a classy innings in style with a 6 straight back over the bowlers head.

All in all a good win against one of our rivals, with us taking the maximum 26 points and brynmawr only the 4. Hopefully the momentum is just what we need with next Saturday's double header versus Barry Wanderers.Although a league game both teams commented on the excellent spirit the game was played in and the very best of luck to Brynmawr for the rest of the season.

fantasy points to follow

Bowling

S Bussell 8 - 4 - 16 - 1
S Jones 6 - 0 - 31 - 0
D Zaman 10 - 3 - 18 - 4
L OSullivan 8 - 1 - 36 -0
N Heslop 4 - 0 - 15 - 0
H Marks 3.3 - 0 - 15 - 3

Catches - A Nagi
stumpings - G Hannah
Run outs - H Marks, Bussell

BATTING

G Hannah 26
A Colley 28
S Jones 74*
A Nagi 0
S Bussell 1*

Up the Dinas

2nd XI Update

2008-07-19T13:06:00.000-07:00

Sorry we've not had a blog for a while guys. Not much cricket to report on and being in the one's has left me with not much to tell you.

Another comprehensive win over Monkswood and another washout today bizarrely!!!!!

Anyway the averages are updated below, Andy Pearce topping the run scoring charts with over 200 runs at 35.8 and Nick Parker's 5 for against Monkswood making him leading wicket taker with 11 wickets at an average of 10.

Sorry the tables are so spaced out but need some lessons from Statto I think!!!! As always though if you click on each table they will expand so you can read them.

DPCC 2nd XI V Caerleon

2008-06-24T10:38:00.000-07:00

As promised a more detailed report of Saturdays game.

After delays due to the council failing to tell us the game was off down Parc Bryn-y-don we managed to give the wicket a quick roll up the common and agreed a 40 over game.

Stand in captain Huw Marks lost the toss and was invited to bat by the Caerleon skipper. Andy Pearce opened with Geoff Colley and put on 33 for the first wicket before Andy was caught off the Caerleon opening bowler. John Lee came to the crease and batted watchfully with Geoff before calling a crazy run and being run out for 5. Geoff was on 49 at the time. (I know the feeling fella)

This brought Snowy to the wicket both senior players batted superbly to form a 122 run partnership before Snowy fell 27 runs short of that elusive century.

Before striding out to bat I told Danny to enjoy himself and not worry about getting out, he really did take this to heart and promptly heaved the first ball straight up in the air. The Caerleon fielder looked to have run in too far before arching his back and diving backwards to hold on one handed. This left a bewildered DZ looking on wondering how a regulation catch was made to look so difficult!!!!!!

Lowey then decided he didn't want to bat so Huw picked up his bat and set about the bowling hitting 26 not out off 11 balls to add to his unbeaten 54 last week. Geoff completed his century off 108 balls in the penultimate over. A magnificent knock in his first start of the season. Dinas closed their innings on 231-4 off their allotted 40 overs.

Geoff Colley..................103* (117 balls)

Andy Pearce...................11 (28 balls)

John Lee...........................5 (20 balls)

Steve Hudson.................73 (62 balls)

Danny Zaman..................0 (1 ball)

Huw Marks.....................26 (11 balls)

In response as has been the case in so many games Caerleon didn't look like a run chase was in mind. Needing 5.8 rpo Caerleon could only manage 42 off the first 16 overs. With the required run rate up to 7.92 Huw decided to throw the ball to Chi chi in search of wickets. Chi chi did not bowl one of his most controlled spells and proved expensive. The returning bowlers came back well and restriced Caerleon to 172-6 off their allotted 40 overs.

Mike Lowe.........8-0-32-2

Upinder Singh....5-0-20-0

Huw Marks.........9-1-36-2

Danny Zaman.....9-2-22-1

Simon Wilton......3-0-36-0

Steve Hudson.....6-0-39-1

Another 24 point haul means we keep the pressure on Creigau at the top. Creigau amassed 26 points from their game so should be just above us at the moment.

Both 1st's and 2nd's have friendlies this weekend so a chance for some players to show what they can do.

Back to the future (nice one Marksie)

2008-06-22T09:13:00.000-07:00

Apologies for the headline but it was quite funny when we were having the usual off field banter Saturday.

Not you usual in depth blog this week blog fans. Not being able to stay to the end means I've not got the scorebook or any knowledge of the game after 6.30.

Needless to say that in a team featuring two of our junior section it was 2 senior players that stole the show with the bat. Snowy with a quickfire 74 and Compo with an assured 103 not out.

I'll update the stats when I get the scorebook back tomorrow night but just to say both knocks were a pleasure to watch, even though J Guy was talking to me throughout!!!!!!!!!

Story of the ball will have to wait but Caerleon seemed intent to drag things out in hope of rain and only some smart work from Andy Pearce got us a breakthrough. Stumping or run out??? Depends if Miles has Huw in his fantasy team!!!!!!!

Anyway I'll update more tomorrow night but we scored lots and they didn't get enough. Think we ended up with 24 points so depends on Creigau's tally but we should still be close to top spot.

HORN ALERT

2008-06-15T08:33:00.000-07:00

After some nagging by Chi Chi here is the horn count for the season.

Ali 8
S Jones 2
G Hannah 2 (both over extra cover, should count double in my opinion)
H marks 1
S Bussell 1
N Heslop 1
I Southwell 1 (and nice and correct it was too!!)
D Zaman 1

Keep up the hornage chaps

and averages to follow as well

1's back to winning ways

2008-06-15T06:45:00.000-07:00

Afternoon cricket fans,

Saturday saw the 1's make the long trip to Llanarth, looking to show some good bouncebackability after a disappointing defeat to Llantwit Major last Saturday. Meeting at the square at 11.45 should have given us enough time to reach Llanarth, but after some frantic phone calls and establishing that lozzer was going straight to the ground we finally set off at 12.15.

So we get to Llanarth at 1.15 and on queue i lose the toss (5 out of 5, a club record?) and the oppo decide to have a bat. This was upsetting for a couple of reasons. 1) it looked like a lovely batting track and 2) we only had 8 men at the ground. It turned out Lewis was in Abergavenny and was running a little late (" Sorry Gord, its harder to find than you might think") Whilst Ali and Zaman were also a little lost ("the satnav says we will be there at 1.55. But at the moment we are in the middle of a farm") Armed with this information the brave 8 men of Dinas took to the field.

Busty and hottub took the new ball and with all things considered bowled magnificently. Although the first over went for 10 we managed to pull the run rate right back and Busty took the wicket of last years centurion against us Dougie Spencer with a lovely ball which jagged back up the hill clipping the top of off stump. With the cavalry arriving after 10 over we had bowled and fielded well to keep the score to 53 - 1 off 11 overs.

Danny Zaman was straight into the action taking a wicket 3rd ball. with an lbw spearing the ball at middle and leg. Fellow spin twin lawrence O'Sullivan was also amongst the wickets removing the ever dangerous Baxter with a long hop caught on the boundary by Nic. 4th combination this year for that partnership. Both bowled straight through and with Danny's spell conceding only 11 runs and lawrence taking 3 - 34 we had managed to restrict Llanrth to 121 off 35 overs.

However with some wickets in hand and an established batter at the crease Llanarth started to push for runs again. Nic once again bowled well without much luck as did Hottub who also came back on at the end. Short boundary's and good hitting seeing Llanarh reaching 192 for 8 of their 45. Although 30 more than they might have got I'm sure we would all have taken their final score when fielding with 8 men for 10 overs.

After a cracking tea (chocolate cakes with marshmallow through them, pink and white) we began badly in our run chase. I was caught in the covers for 1, my luck finally running out and it was Suggy who stepped up the the plate to fill in for my lost runs. A 54 run partnership between Hottub and Suggy steadied the ship and although Lewis , Andy ford and J Guy all came and went quickly, ( the least said about Fordy's the better) we remained up with the run rate and importantly Suggy continued to bat like a dream.

Ali scored a useful 20 playing the spinner well and choosing the big shots wisely before being caught on the boundary. This brought Busty to the crease who is becoming the specialist 'finisher' in the team. Suggy breezed through the nervous 90's and pushed a cover drive to the off side boundary. Coming back for the second could have seen either batsman run out at either end in the confusion, but busty kept a cool head as the llanarth fielders fumbled the run out attempts to see Suggy home for a flawless and well deserved Hundred. Unfortunately Suggy departed 1 run later, bowled by Powell and Llanarth were confident they were though us. However Danny Z had other ideas in mind.

Beginning slowly, Danny and Busty nudged singles bringing the target ever closer until Danny hit two fours followed by one of the biggest 6's ever witnessed by the Dinas faithful back over the opening bowlers head, sending the cows into hiding .(a cool ground. literally having a cow field at cow corner) Once again however we lost another wicket, that of Dannys and Llanarth had their tails up. But nic the tic showed excellent technique nudging a single leaving Busty to scurry through for the 2 winning runs with 2 overs left and 2 wickets left. The 2 wicket win leaving the villagers with a 25 point haul.

Once again a good close win over llanarth who must be wondering what they have to do to beat us. Good to see a game being played hard but in good spirits, with both teams enjoying some friendly banter. All the best to Llanarth until we meet them again in mid August in what again could be a crucial game for both teams.

The win leaves us top of league and if my calculations are correct the League table should look a little something like this after yesterdays results...

P W T L PA
Dinas Powys 7 4 0 1 22.4
Llantwit Major 7 4 0 1 22.2
Christchurch 7 3 0 1 20.5
Caerleon 7 3 0 2 17
Pontllafriath 7 3 0 2 17
Brynmawr 7 2 0 3 15
Penarth 7 2 0 4 13.67
Llanarth 7 1 0 4 12.8
Barry W 7 1 0 5 12
(not official, just worked out from the scored from WOS)

Quote of the day - Hottub to a local after Dannys 6
Local - "is that a 6?"
hottub - "Think it should be a ******** 12!!!*

Interesting information of the day.
DZ is a bouncer at a favourite club of the chairman.

and not so exciting.
lawrence has a chain of fireplace and surrounds shops. so for all your fireplace needs please feel free to contact lawrence on ....

Scorebook and Fantasy points as follows

S Bussell 10 - 2 - 35 - 2
S Jones 9 - 0 - 65 - 1
D Zaman 10- 5 - 11 - 1
L O'Sullivan 10 - 0 - 34 - 3
N Heslop 6 - 0 - 34 - 1

Catches by Hannah (2), N Heslop, L Clarke, S Jones

G Hannah 1
I Southwell 101
S Jones 7
l Clarke 5
A Ford 0
G Evans 1
A Nagi 20
S Bussell 14*
D Zaman 18
N Heslop 1*
l O'Sullivan DNB

Next week away to Carleon for a top of the table clash,

Up the Dinas

2nd XI Averages

2008-06-15T01:16:00.000-07:00

Guys here are the 2nd XI averages with Horns!!!!!!

Click on the table to open it in a new window.

Andy Pearce leading run scorer in the twos with Ade Colley leading the averages. Good to see Mr Chairman's coaching paying off currently lying 4th with Upinder 5th. Andy and Upinder currently leading the 2nd XI horns league with 4.

Bowling wise it's still Danny and Snowy leading the way but the pack are closing behind. Lowey getting 3 wickets yesterday Upinder to return next week. The race for 2nd team leading wicket taker is hotting up.

Another Huge Victory for the Two's

2008-06-14T14:32:00.000-07:00

Saturday saw us welcome third place Llanarth to Parc Bryn-y-don knowing that a points haul above 21 pts would move us back to the top if the league. Things didn't start to well with the visitors not turning up until 14.10!!!!!

I therefore claimed the toss and informed the visitors captain that we would be batting first. Both openers started well with Matthew Hunt doing well to avoid a beamer that left him on his backside with Adrian Colley halfway down wanting a run!!!!!!

Matthew eventually perished for 17 and Tariq and Ade followed not long after for 14 and 12 respectively, to leave us precariously placed at 45-3. Fresh from his century last week Andy Pearce bludgeoned 35 to put on 54 runs with myself beofre he was caught. Miles unfortunately didn't trouble Chi Chi and his pens but John Lee and myself put on another 49 runs before I called for a silly single that John promptly refused. Having the turning circle of the QE2 meant I was unable to get back and was run out for 49.

This brought Dinas Powys superstar, Huw Marks, to the crease and together John and Huw put on 75 for the 7th wicket before John departed for a well made 47. Despite Mike trying to hog the strike Superstar brought up his 50 with a horn over mid wicket followed by another boundary to close the innings on 265-8 off 40 overs. Huw ending up unbeaten on 54.

After the visitors polished of the cheese and marmite sandwiches (Grrrrr!!!!) we set about taking the 9 wickets we needed for maximum points (they only had 10 players).

It soon became apparent that any ideas of a run chase had disappared as quickly as our cheese and marmite sandwiches (I'm not bitter). Both openers were happy to practise their forward defensive and despite some probing bowling the Llanarth openers moved to 50 without loss off 24 overs!!!!!! Our adoring fan club, well Smudger anyway, had long departed the scene due to boredom.

Eventally I got one to straighten and got a LBW decision. This seem to open the floodgates and we took 6 Llanarth wickets in the last 6 overs. Mike was bowling to 3 slips and a gully at one point!!!!!

Eventually a very long 40 overs were bowled with Llanarth falling 135 runs short at 130-7.

The cards were as follows:

Ade Colley..........................14 (36)
Matthew Hunt...................17 (19)
Tariq Ali..............................12 (15)
Andy Pearce.......................35 (39)
Jason Harries.....................49 (45)
Miles Wilton........................0 (7)
John Lee..............................47 (37)
Huw Marks.........................54*(32)
Mike Lowe...........................9 (8)
Gareth Marks......................1* (1)
Neil Islam.............................DNB

Mike Lowe...............8-4-18-3
Huw Marks..............9-3-26-1
Gareth Marks..........6-1-19-2
Neil Islam.................4-1-15-0
Jason Harries...........9-3-24-1
John Lee...................2-0-6-0
Andy Pearce.............2-0-8-0

Catches were taken by Miles, Huw, Fella and Tariq

A 25pt haul should take us back to the top of the league with Creigau having a friendly fixture this week.

1's suffer first defeat of the season.

2008-06-08T14:38:00.000-07:00

Another Saturday and another loss toss saw us being asked to bat first on what looked to be a decent BYD wicket.

Myself and Suggy started out well bringing up our first 50 partnership of the season. The runs Slowed slightly though and i was out in the 17th over for 46 with the score on 67. Suggy continued to bat well and held the innings together scoring 44.

The middle order found the going tough with the wicket beginning to get noticeably slower and lower with the older ball. Wickets began to fall but after last weeks fireworks Ali was sent in at No 6 to increase the run rate. Proving that last Saturday was no fluke Ali hit a deserved first 50 for the club at more than a run a ball including 2 massive horns to the longest boundary in the ground. He eventually fell for 68 and determined running from J guy, busty and Huw saw us reach 217 for 7 of our 45 overs.

Llantwit did not get off to the start they would have wanted, with hottub taking to early wickets with vicious swing. Although starting slowly Llantwit always kept in touch held together by the ever dangerous Julian Griffiths. All the Dinas bowlers bowled well, with nic the tic bowling a luckless spell and Lawrence taking 3 Important wickets but Llantwit showed their resilience to take the game to a nail biting conclusion.

The Run Rate did get up to 7 an over and despite the best efforts of the DP bowlers wickets were always in hand. With Ali taking 2 late wickets Lantwit needed 21 to win of 3 overs with 2 wickets in hand. This was taken down to 7 of the final over and it was down to the Llantwit skipper to hit the winning runs with excellent shots which went to the boundary of Busty, winning the game with 2 balls to spare.

Although a defeat we put in a good performance in all areas of the game finishing with 11 points. In the course of the season it is likely that we will play far worse and end up the victors, but that's cricket. Chin up lads, heres hoping we can get back to winning ways against Llanarth away next week.

Scorebook as follows.

G Hannah 46
I southwell 44
L Clarke 10
S Jones 8
A Ford 2
Ali Nagi 68
G Evans 7
S Bussell 0*
H Marks 0*
L O'Sullivan DNB
N Helsop DNB

Bowling

S Bussell 9.4 - 2 - 34 - 0
S Jones 10 - 2 -42 - 3
N Heslop 6 - 0 -34 - 0
L O'Sullivan 10 - 2 - 35 -3
H Marks 4 - 0 -33 -0
A Nagi 5 - 0 - 28 -28

Catches N Heslop 2.

Up the Dinas

2nd XI Back on Track

2008-06-08T11:23:00.000-07:00

Saturday saw us take the long drive to Tredegar not knowing what to expect after they beat our conquerors Creigau on the weekend before.

On what looked to be a usual Tredgar belter I won the toss and elected to have a bat.

We opened with the Matthew and Ade, returning from his back injury.

Young Cal Herring opened for the home team and began what was to be a hugely impressive spell by bowling Matthew 5th ball. This brought Tariq Ali to the crease and Tariq and Ade played the opening bowlers very cautiously moving the score onto 38 after 14 overs before Tariq fell LBW for 26.

This brought Andy Pearce to the crease who made it all look very easy. Andy scored 109 off 73 including 4 horns and 13 4's. And we won't mention him being dropped on 99!!!! Ooops!!!!!

Andy was superbly supported by Ade Colley who put his injury behind him to score a career best 72. Andy and Ade put on 172 for the 3rd wicket moving the score onto 210 after 36 overs.

This prompted Danny Zaman to be promoted up the order to give it some long handle but unfortunately the fireworks didn't get started as Cal Herring bowled him with a very good leg stump yorker.

Wickets fell regularly as DP pushed for a huge total, Snowy was done by an outstanding piece of wicketkeeping by 13 year old Cam Herring (talented family!!!!) down the leg side.

We finally closed on 271-9 with Dan Pearce batting sensibly for 3 not out. Cal Herring finishing a great spell with 10-1-32-6.

M Hunt.............................0 (5)
A Colley..........................72 (106)
T Ali................................26 (40)
A Pearce.......................109 (73)
D Zaman..........................1 (6)
J Harries.........................26 (21)
J Lee.................................8 (7)
S Hudson..........................0 (1)
U Singh.............................1 (6)
N Islam.............................1* (2)
D Pearce...........................3* (5)

Fantastic effort with the bat and shows the value of a solid base to work from. After 10 overs we were on 36-1 but had seen off one of the best bowlers we have seen this year and were able to get stuck in. Ade Colley deserves special mention for toughing it out up top before cashing in later in the innings.

In the field Tredegar lost one of their openers early to Waqar before the Herring boys starred again.

The cousins put on 63 for the third wicket before Cal departed for 43 thanks to a good catch in the deep form Waqar off Snowy. Snowy then began to tighten his grip ending up with a 5 wicket haul reducing Tredegar to 104-6.

Tredegar then shut up shop happy to milk as many points from the game meaning the bowlers toiled away without luck. Danny bowled well but with no attacking intent from the batsmen didn't look his usually potent self.

Tredegar ended up 162-6 off 45 to lose by 109 runs.

U Singh..............10-0-31-0
N Islam...............9-0-37-1
S Hudson...........10-2-31-5
D Zaman............10-1-31-0
A Pearce.............2-0-11-0
D Pearce.............2-0-8-0
J Harries............2-0-3-0

Good to get the show back on the road after a difficult week, lets hope the good form continues for the visit of Llanarth next week.

Not bad for a pub team . . . continued

2008-06-05T12:08:00.000-07:00

Alright all,

here's the report in full.

Saturday saw the 1's travelling the short distance to face Penarth 3rds who were fresh of the back of an excellent win against Llantwit major. As per usual I lost the toss and was asked to bat first on what looked to be a bowler friendly wicket, very similar to the one we played on at BYD first game of the season.

We didnt begin well, losing Suggy and lewis Clarke early on to 2 excellent catches. I followed shortly after (to John Clogg, grrrrrr didnt want that) and at 60 odd for 3 we werent in the most healthy of positions. But Hot tubs timely return to form steadied the ship, sharing decent partnerships with Fordy and J Guy. happily J guy played some excellent shots and almost had a smile on his face before being run out backing up after the bowler got a finger tip to the return shot. "when it doesn't rain it pours" was the comment from the returning Jealous one.

Last weeks hero Busty proved that cricket isnt as easy as he made it look last week and got caught after top edging the spinner for 3 which brought Ali to the crease. At the time we were looking at about 160 odd but with batting to come Ali was under strict instructions to try and push for the maximum batting points at 175. What was to come next was a bit of a shock. After starting slowly Ali was eyeing the short straight boundary at one and with the bowler looping it up he seemed to fancy his chances. A 6 followed by a 4 (only 5 yards short) was a great start to the over but the fireworks didnt stop there. Hitting the next 4 balls for 6 and taking the bowler for 34 in an over swung the momentum of the game in our favour and also earned a sanding ovation from the crowd, well us anyway. After returning from holiday the keeper of the Dinas Powys CC legends, Ian Richardson, phoned to claim that he held the previous record of 31, so well done to Ali on the new record. Surely a trophy somewhere for that.

Ali was also ably helped by Nic the tic, who also got in on the horns action and Sundries who both showed how much batting we have down the order and we finished the innings on 196 for 8.

We started well with the ball, with both openers extremely economical with the new ball. hot tub took 2 in 2 and we were confident of achieving a good result. However we knew we had to keep working hard with Penarth full of familiar faces who had proved their worth at much higher levels. Lawrence O'Sullivan took the important wicket of Peter Goodfellow, caught in the deep with an excellent catch from Suggy. At the other end the introduction of Nic also had the desired result. Bowling with pace and menace he ran through the middle order literally sending the stumps flying on a number of occasions. He rounded off his first 5for for the firsts by taking the wicket of the opposition skipper, helped by a magnificent catch by J guy over his shoulder running backwards at mid on. (I know the family were there mate but you didnt need to milk the catch that much)

Sundries had the final say with a welcome return to first team wickets, cleaning up the tail with accuracy and swing. A great team fielding performance saw Penarth bowled out for 83 and a maximum 26 points taken out of the game. A big well done to everyone involved with the day. we had an good attitude in the field and lots of noise was made. With everyone bar Sundries available for the next game lets hope we can take the winning mentality forwards against Llantwit Saturday.

for all you fantasy watchers the results are as follows.

Batting

G Hannah 43
I Southwell 6
L Clarke 0
S Jones 38
A ford 9
G Evans 14
S Bussell 3
A Nagi 46
N Heslop 17*
G Marks 1*
L Osullivan DNB

Bowling

S Bussell 6 - 3 - 9 - 0
S Jones 8 - 2 - 11 - 2
L O'Sullivan 7 - 0 - 37 - 1
N Heslop 7 - 2 - 19 - 5
A Nagi 3 - 2 - 2 - 0
G Marks 1.3 - 1 - 0 -2

Catches I Southwell 2, N Heslop 1, G evans 1

Up the Dians

Not bad for a pub a team.

2008-06-04T07:36:00.001-07:00

Hi all,

sorry the report is a little late in arriving. As most of you probably know my dad went to hospital on sunday night and it has all been a little bit hectic.

The upshot of this is that he has the scorebook at his house and as such i can't write a full report (you just cant get the staff these days!!)

As for the match saturday it ranks as one of the best performances by any dinas side i have played in. Everybody played a part whether it be in the field or with the bat and ball. I know the victory was important to quite a few people at the club and its great to be 3 from 3 and top of the league.

Well done to nic for taking his first 5 for in the 1sts. A great spell of bowling and you really deserved it. As for Ali's 34 in an over well, WOW. I dont believe we will ever see anything like that again at our level. it must be a club record and most importantly it completely changed the momentum of the game and gave us and excellent platform to bowl from.

Full report to follow shortly.

And once again folks, not bad for a pub team!!

... i would like to thank everyone who has rang/text/emailed me regarding ken. All the mesages have been passed on and have been appreciated be him, me and the rest of the family. He hopes to be fit and able to score on saturday but Si might still have to be on standby. could be the first time we have ever needed a reserve scorer

up the dinas

2nd XI taste defeat

2008-06-01T14:22:00.000-07:00

Disapointing result at home to Creigau losing by 76 runs. With many players out it was always going to be a tough assignment. Asking the visitors to bat first stand in skipper Mike Lowe and his troups restricted Creigau to 182-8 with Nick Parker the pick of the bowlers taking 3-36 off his 10 overs. Special mention to Dan Pearce who after being called up on the morning of the game fielded superbly throughout the innings.

Bowling figures were as follows:

Mike Lowe.........8....1....26...0
Upinder Singh..10...1....33...2
Nick Parker......10...1....36...3
Danny Zaman..10....0...41...2
Neil Islam..........7.....0...40...1

Catches taken by Nick Parker (2) and Miles Wilton

Dinas set about the chase in poor style when stand in opener Neil Islam fell in the second over with Matthew falling in the next. Wickets fell all too regularly with DP at 39-7 at one stage before Mike and Upinder once again came together to add 54 for the 8th wicket.

Mike and Upinder both scored 31 runs with Mike being the last Dinas wicket to fall with the score on 106.

On a more positive note today we entertained a Stewards XI on the common with 4 Dinas Powys juniors excelling with both bat and ball. We edged a cracking match with the party still going strong when I left.

Tough away trip to Tredegar awaits next week as we aim to get the show back on the road.

2 in a row

2008-05-26T05:32:00.000-07:00

Hi all, here's a quick blow by blow of our encounter against the Wanderers.

As per usual I lost the toss and we were asked to have a bowl first. Luckless spells by Busty and Nic the Tic saw Wanderers reach 63 for 0 of 14 before some sharp fielding by Ade gave us our first wicket with a run out. Then 20 overs of accurate spin bowling from Ali and Danny reduced the run rate, as Danny took 4 wickets and Ali a deserved wicket with the last ball of his spell, leaving Wanderers on 127 for 6 off 36. We knew Wanderers had some big hitters down the order, so it was a difficult time for Hot Tub and Gareth to come on. Both took wickets, but some big shots from Jimmy Hassett took Wanderers to 190 for 9 at the end of their 45 overs.

After a fine tea from Sue, we made a good start to our reply. I opened with Ade, and when he was out to the last ball of the 20th over we were halfway to our target on 95 for 2. Seven overs later, despite 12 runs in 1 over by Ali, we had collapsed to 118 for 8. Not to be outdone, Busty then hit 4 fours in the next over. He and Nik then batted sensibly, eventually adding 38 before Nik was lbw. Last man Gareth arrived at the crease with 35 needed and Busty in prime form. Gareth played a great supporting role as Busty reached his 50 off just 32 balls, then Gareth hit the winning 4 to see us to a 1 wicket win with nearly 7 overs to spare.

Match winning performances by Danny with the ball and Busty with the bat, and a really pleasing win missing a few regulars. My particular thanks to Danny for playing for the Firsts when we needed him, and especially to Fez for the efforts he made to get here from London.

Match stats for the fantasists are as follows:

Bowling: S Bussell 10-1-49-0, N Heslop 6-1-30-0, S Jones 6-1-26-2, M Ali 10-1-29-1, D Zaman 10-1-28-4, G Marks 3-0-24-1.
Fielding: catches G Hannah (2), N Heslop, G Evans; stumpings G Hannah (2); run out A Colley.
Batting: G Hannah 52, A Colley 13, L Clarke 18, G Evans 0, S Jones 0, R Ferrier 1, S Bussell 57*, D Zaman 0, M Ali 12, N Heslop 9, G Marks 8*.

Also good to have a team night out at last. Well done to the 2s on their narrow win. Let's keep the momentum going throughout the club.

And finally, congrats to Gareth and Jodie on their engagement!!

What a week!!!!!!

2008-05-25T02:42:00.000-07:00

Phew!!! What a week in Dinas Powys Cricket Club. Three nail biting finishes in the space of three days. We played Creigau in the midweek league winning a game we looked dead and buried in. Special mention to Connor who made his senior debut aged 12 to bat no. 7 and score 7 n.o including an all run 5 with Mr Chairman!!!! Fantastic effort!!!

Then all eyes turned to the weekend where both 1st and 2nd's met their old foes Barry Wanderers. Sure Gordon will wish to fill you in on all the details of the 1st XI game but I'd just like to congratulate all involved. Personally I'd like to thank Fez, who due to updating his facebook status to say he was home for the weekend, got dragged in to enable me to continue captaining the 2nd XI. Not sure Nic the Tic will be thanking you though Fez!!!!!!

Anyway on the the main event, the 2nd XI took on Barry Wanderers with a very different team from that that had been so succesful in the previous 2 games.

Ade Colley, Garth Marks and Danny Zaman had all been drafted into the 1st XI. Miles Wilton and Neil "Waqar" Islam were unavailable and Tariq Ali carrying a dodgy hamstring meant 5 players having their first Saturday run out of the season. This included DPCC 2nd XI using their 3rd wicket keeper in 3 games, although Andy Pearce did a sterling job behind the sticks.

The game started with me losing the toss and being asked to field, to be honest I didn't feel it was a crucial toss but I probably would have batted if the coin had landed the other way.

We opened up with Mr Chairman and Upinder who both bowled exceptionally well but again without luck. Mike ended up with figures of 10-3-18-0 largely thanks to a dubious umpiring decision denying him a deserved wicket.

The Wanderers batsmen stuck to their task and all seemed to get starts but we always seemed likely to break a partnership. We had good variety in the attack with Nick Parker (10-1-48-3) being hauled off the golf course to bowl his left arm seam to go with Snowy's (9-3-38-2) variety and Mike and Upinders mix of seam and swing. I won't mention my bowling at this stage!!!!!

Anyway we all stuck to our task and ended up restricting the Wanderers to 184-7 off 45 with all 7 wickets being bowled.

Bowling figures were as follows:

Mike Lowe 10-3-18-0

Upinder Singh 10-0-34-1

Nick Parker 10-1-48-3

Jason Harries 5-1-31-1

Steve Hudson 9-3-38-2

Ian Coughtrey 1-0-7-0

Despite the wanderers getting a few more than we would have liked we were confident of chasing down the runs and opened with Matthew Hunt and debutant John Lee. Matthew set about his work in positive style crucnhing his second ball to the fence for 4. John unfortunately wasn't as assured and departed for a duck in the second over.

From here we continued to lose wickets regularly with no batsmen ever looking comfortable against an very slow attack that we all found difficult to get away. Matthew made a well crafted 20, Andy Pearce made a nice looking 28, Fella got to 20 but when Snowy fell for 21 with the score 114 for 6 things were looking perilous.

Then in strode the man of the moment Chairman Lowe. Mike batted magnificently to nurse the tail home, coming in in the 22nd over Mike batted for 17 overs for 27 not out to see us to victory. It was not without a few scares though, Veno's batted diligently for 3 runs though he batted overs very well to stay with Mike for 23 balls, before Upinder came in and batted the only way he knows. Upinder advanced down the track and hit Wanderers Captain Mike Ashton for 4 through mid wicket. This propmted Mr Chairman to have a word, Upinder took no notice and came down again this time hitting the ball onto the beach for 6. Again another word from Chairman Lowe had no affect with Upinder came dancing down again only to miss it, thankfully the Wanderers keeper fumbled the stumping chance and we held on. It was then left for Upinder to guide one through the vacant slip area for the 2 runs we needed to win the match.

DPCC batting card was as follows:

Matthew Hunt 20 (34 balls)

John Lee 0 (6 balls)

Andy Pearce 28 (31 balls)

Andy Smith 11 (19 balls)

Jason Harries 20 (22 balls)

Nick Parker 13 (15 balls)

Steve Hudson 21 (26 balls)

Mike Lowe 27* (55 balls)

Ian Coughtrey 3 (23 balls)

Upinder Singh 13* (8 balls)

Simon Wilton D.N.B

Not a classic for the purists out there but a well fought victory none the less meaning we picked up another 24 points to add to our 2 maximums so far. An average of 25.33 should mean we stay top of the pack but we will have to wait for other results to know for sure.

Updated averages are below and as we found out from the last one if you click on the table it will pop up a bit clearer just to save you requiring a microscope to read it!!!!

Congrats to all involved with DPCC over the last week!!!!!

Early Season 2nd XI Averages

2008-05-12T13:14:00.000-07:00

Just for a bit of fun and for a few side bets the early season averages are as follows:

Sorry it doesn't make the easiest of viewing but need some lessons from Statto I think!!!!!!

Few interesting points though, Ade Colley leading run scorer, Danny Zaman highest strike rate and most 2nd XI horns.

Danny leader wicket taker with Sundries and Waqar close behind. Let me know if it's something you want me to keep updated on the blog and if it is I'm sure Chi Chi's coloured pens and my basic excel knowledge can keep it going.

Excellent start under difficult conditions

2008-05-11T08:07:00.000-07:00

On the softest wicket in Bryn Y Don's history, Dinas First XI had a tough encounter against Christchurch. After everyone telling me that i had to win the toss and bowl first (including being phoned at 7 oclock on a friday night to be told by hot tub that i would be insane to bat) My first duty as captain was to duly lose the toss and be asked to have a bat.

With ball not getting above knee high we were determined not to lose wickets early. Unfortunately Suggy and hot tub both succumbed to the pitch but Statto, ever the optimist, cheered tub up no end by reminding him that his 1 was a 100% improvement from last week. A good partnership by me and Fordy took us to 103 - 3 and left us with a chance of getting to 200, Fordy went on to make an excellent 52.

J guy, Busty, Marksie and Nic all did well to keep the run rate high during the closing stages and although classical shots were not in abundance, and with a little help from extras we managed to close out the innings on 220 for 7.

After an great tea (thanks mum) we started off well, with Busty trapping the dangerous Ross Edwards in from off middle stump in the most comprehensive of LBW decisions. Somehow the pitch managed to get even slower and lower and wicket fell at regular intervals. Nic the tic took two, marksie one and Hot Tub also making up for his dropped catch by coming on to take the wicket himself . Congratulations to new guys Brad, Laurence and Ali who all got their names in the book.

Self proclaimed champagne moment of the day came with a marvelous caught and bowled by new boy Laurence (lozzer) O'Sullivan. Marksie, that's how to take em one handed.

Also a big thanks to Pete Colley who took time out of his drinking hours to come on and field for us whilst Brad wasn't feeling very well. Brad welcome to the red hot heat of Dinas powys!!!

Despite a cracking last over from Ali, Christchurch dug deep and finished on 157 for 9 meaning a win by 63 runs and a great 25 points. After the toss I think we all would have taken that. A great team performance to start the season and long may it continue.

for all you fantasy watchers out there here is the scorebook

G Hannah 60
I Southwell 0
S Jones 1
A ford 52
G Evans 8
M Ali 0
S Bussell 17
H Marks 20*
N heslop 2 *
B Daniles DNB
L OSullivan DNB

extras 60

total 220 - 7

Christchurch 157 for 9
Bowling

S Jones 8 -2 - 14- 1
S Bussell 6 - 0 - 23 -1
N Heslop 8 - 0 - 26 -2
B Daniels 2- 0 -11 - 1
L O'Sullivan 10 - 1- 23 - 2
H Marks 6 - 0 - 36 -1
M Ali 5- 2 - 4- 0

catches by H Marks, Ali, S Jones, L O'Sullivan

run out - jones

Up the Dinas

The Good Form Continues

2008-05-11T02:39:00.000-07:00

Another good win yesterday for the 2's after a trip to Monkswood. They were something of an unknown quantity having been promoted as champions from division 3 and when we arrived to be told that their first team game was cancelled we expected a stern test. For 10 overs that was the way it was looking as well. Fella finally got the luck of the coin toss and had no hesitation in asking Monkswood to have a bat after heavy overnight rain had left the track looking extremely green.

The Monkswood openers batted extremely well and got there side off to a solid start reaching 33-0 after 11 before Gareth Marks took an excellent caught and bowled opportunity. This was the breakthrough we needed, despite having to listen to Sundries telling us how much it hurt his hand for the rest of the game, and the old adage 1 brings 2 was in evidence again as Mikey Lowe got in on the act with Andy Smith taking an easy chance at 2nd slip. That's right 2nd slip!!! We even had a gully as well!!!!!!

Wickets began to fall at regular intervals after that with Danny Zaman removing the most dangerous looking of their batsmen. Upinder bowled exceptionally well without luck to finish with 1 wicket before the destroyer came on to bowl.

Neil "Waqar" Islam came on with an electrifying spell of long hops and full bungers to take 4-12 off 4.1 overs. An exceptional catch from Ade Colley started what was to be a fine day for him.

Also worth a mention was the find of the day, new wicket keeper Tariq Ali who kept superbly standing up to Danny to keep a clean sheet of byes in difficult conditions.

Bowling figures were as follows:

Mike Lowe.................10-1-28-1
Gareth Marks............7-1-20-2
Upinder Singh............9-0-34-1
Danny Zaman............8-4-7-2
Neil Islam...................4.1-0-12-4

Extras posting 23 meant Monkswood finished on 103 all out

For all you fantasy league enthusiasts the catches were taken by Ade Coley (2) Andy Smith, Mike Lowe and Jason Harries

Batting was never going to be easy on a tough track so openers Matthew Hunt and Ade Colley were given the brief to bat overs and we could see how the pitch plays and evaluate from there.

That is exactly what they did and despite a few scares both batted diligently to get through 17 overs before the breakthrough came.

This wicket was called from everyone on the sidelines as Ade called Matthew through for a 3rd run to leave a very red Matthew on strike and fatigued. Matthew then carved one to point to break a solid opening partnership, departing for 10 hard made runs.

Tariq strode to the crease and looked right at home before a quick single tweaked a hamstring and he had to retire hurt for 10. This brought Andy Smith to the crease for his first Saturday knock of the season and he hit some nice shots including a classical on drive before departing for 11.

Fella arrived at the crease needing 24 runs for victory and thanks to some friendly bowling 16 runs were hit off the first over faced. A few singles off the next over left Ade Colley to smash one over mid wicket for 4 to win the game.

Ade carried his bat for 42 not out to go with a fine day in the field having taken 2 catches.

Dinas scorecard was as follows:

Ade Colley................Not Out...............42 (107 balls)
Matthew Hunt.........Caught.................10 (48 balls)
Tariq Ali.................Retied Hurt...........10 (18 balls)
Andy Smith..............Bowled.................11 (17 balls)
Jason Harries..........Not Out................17 (7 balls)
Extras.....................................................16
Total 106-2

Again another excellent team performance and thanks to all who contributed especially those who came all the way to Monkswood not to get a bowl or a bat but it's another big win with 25 points being bagged giving us a extremely healthy 25.5 point average after 2 games.

No game for the 2's next week due to FA Cup Final though I'm sure some of you may be asked to play in the 1's fixture against Brynmawr. Lets hope the break doesn't affect our form as we have a massive game against another newly promoted team and near neighbours Barry Wanderers on the 24th.

Up the Dinas!!!!!!!

Off to a flyer!!!!!

2008-05-04T09:11:00.001-07:00

Before I mention the cricket yesterday can a start by saying thank you to Ian Richardson and the rest of his willing team of helpers who managed to prepare a track to enable us to get a game on, sterling work by you all.

Congrats to everyone involved yesterday, a fantastic start to a new season. A maximum point haul is welcome at any point in the season but to get one an day one really sets the tone for the summer.

Really pleased to see the new faces fitting in as if they've been with the club ages. Ade Colley set the standard at the top of the innings opening in difficult circumstances with a nicely made 16.

Would love to comment on an old face returning to the club and batting at 3 but I blinked and I missed it!!!!!! Good job you can bowl Tub!!!!!

Danny Zaman rightly earned himself favouritism for the horns league with some massive hits, one of which wouldn't have looked out of place in last years Glammy fixture!!!!

Then Upinder took up the reins with some lusty blows and some great running with Chairman Lowe to ensure we got maximum batting points off the last ball.

Lastly many thanks to Waqar for scoring and to Chi Chi and his amazing technicolor pens!!!!! Thanks to Chi Chi I am able to put together the following.

Game Reduced to 40 Overs

1st Innings Scorecard was as follows:

Matthew Hunt Caught off R Hawkins 1 (10 balls)
Ade Colley Caught off R Francis 16 (37 balls)
Stuart Jones Caught off R Hawkins 0 (1 ball)
Gareth Evans Caught off R Francis 18 (40 balls)
Jason Harries Caught off Gogherty 15 (15 balls)
Miles Wilton Bowled by R Francis 5 (24 balls)
Danny Zaman Caught off Davies 47 (27 balls)
Steve Hudson Caught off Davies 8 (25 balls)
Gareth Marks Caught off Davies 3 (12 balls)
Mike Lowe Run Out 10 (12 balls)
Upinder Singh Not Out 22 (14 balls)
Extras 16 (2nb 4lb 8w 2b)
Total 161 All out

The 2nd Innings was largely a dreay affair with Newbridge never looking like they were considering a run chase. With so many bowlers available the most difficult thing was trying to decide which option to choose.

Chairman Lowe and Marksie opened up blowing off the cobwebs with only a few wides in a largely controlled spell. Steve Hudson came on first change and bowled well without luck, Upinder Singh came on the other end on debut and caused the batsmen a few problems on his way to picking up his first wicket for DPCC.

Fresh from a sparkling 47 of 27 balls Danny Zaman fired in his left arm spin to take 3 wickets to return figures of 5-3-2-3. After not performing with the bat and largely due to the fact I was a little bit bored I turned to Hot Tub to come up the hill. Stu returned equally impressive figures of 3-0-4-3 before he was hauled off cos Fella fancied his chances of taking the wicket of the 11 and 12 year olds batting 10 and 11 for Newbridge. Sadly this was not to be and Marksie returning down the hill got one to stay low and rock the middle peg.

All in all a clinical display with special mention to Miles' wicket keeping only letting 1 bye through in really difficult conditions.

2 Innings Bowling figures were as follows:

Mike Lowe 6 - 2 - 9 - 1
Gareth Marks 7.5 - 2 - 7 -2
Steve Hudson 4 - 2 - 5 - 0
Upinder Singh 5 - 0 - 17 - 1
Danny Zaman 5 - 3 - 2 - 3
Stuart Jones 3 - 0 - 4 -3
Jason Harries 2 - 1 - 4 - 0

Total 53 All Out 32.5 Overs

Difficult selection meeting again tomorrow night but plenty of cricket scheduled for the next week. Huw kicks off his midweek season on Wednesday at home to Lisvane then 2 league games on Saturday against Christchurch and Monkswood followed by a Sunday fixture against Blackwood. Please make you availability known to the skippers as we want to see as many people as possible pushing for a place.

Good to see some of the 1st teamers there yesterday showing their support and lets hope this result sets the tone for the rest of the season.

New Season

2008-05-01T00:32:00.000-07:00

New season is finally here guys, went to a really exciting balls meeting last night so got the new cherries for the season together with the Yearbooks.

Would say I'd distribute these Saturday but unless the rain gives in I think it may be next week.

Once again apologies to anyone who has missed out on Saturday cricket this week, it was a really difficult selection meeting and I sure it will continue to be over the next few weeks. Those of you not selected please try to turn out on a Sunday for Miles as runs and wickets on a Sunday will help you push for a Saturday place.

Finally just wishing you all good luck for the season, you'll see the handbooks soon and notice that Doc, J Guy and Smudge made the book for the 2nd's with Lowey and Marksie figuring in the bowling section. Hopefully we will continue to be well represented in next years book.

Best of Luck!!

2008-04-17T15:46:00.000-07:00

After a few weeks of trying I finally have an Internet connection to my house. YAY!!

So unfortunately there goes all the excuses when I don't get in contact with you.

As you may be aware the new season is just days away. A tough away trip to Newport Fugitives to begin and back to back weekend friendlies next week means a hectic pre season schedule. ( Nice work Chi Chi) Hopefully we can all get a few games in and start the season well.

Good to see new faces (and old, welcome back hot tub) at the club and i would like to wish everyone the very best off luck for the season.

Decision time for Smudge

2008-03-10T03:18:00.000-07:00

Congatulations to both Wales and the Mighty Bluebirds for the results over the weekend. It does pose a problem for Smudge however.

Should Cardiff make it through their semi on April 5th and reach the FA Cup final then Smudger's average could take a hit as FA Cup final day falls on 17th May when we are due to play Abertillery at home!!!! For those of you who don't know, for the past two years Smudge has hit centuries against Abertillery (we won't mention the drops!!!!).

After last years terrible season weather wise I shouldn't really wish for rain but if we do get through our semi I vote we all meet at Parc Bryn-y-don on the 15th May and start the rain dance!!!!!!

Nets

2008-03-07T00:57:00.000-08:00

Good net last night guys, almost spoiled by Hot tub nearly killing new recruit Sean!!!!! Think he's learned to keep his eye on the ball as a result!!!!!!

Good to see nic the tic getting above medium pace and Mini Stats and Mini Quickly showing the junior section is producing some real talent for the future.

Don't forget no net next week so hopefully see you all at the race night on the 14th. Chi chi and I are looking forward to a week in the sauna battling to make the weight!!!!!!

Top tip forthe race night is to ignore all tips given by Smudge.

Have a good weekend and COME ON WALES!!!!!!!!!!

View from the 2's

2008-03-06T00:50:00.000-08:00

Whilst I don't share Gord's entusiasm I just want to thank Sundries for coming up with the idea for a blog.

Hope you enjoy your Sunday cricket this season!!!!!!!!!!

captains blog

2008-03-04T14:02:00.000-08:00

wow, a blog....

just learning the system so i shall keep it short and sweet but the temptation to do a star trek is so strong.

see you all soon

gord