Slimbridge V Minchinhampton

Slimbridge kicked off their season with an emphatic cup home win against Minchinhampton. Electing to bat first the home side were wobbling when C.Browne took 2 wickets for 12 reducing Slimbridge to 38 for 3Alex Tait joined Theo Rummer-Downing and the pair put on 51 Tiat eventually holing out for 14. Jake Williams 14*joined Rummer-Downing 44* and the pair upped the run rate and Slimbridge finished on a healthy 116 for 4. Minchinhampton gave a spirited performance in the field. However the visitor’s batting quickly came unstuck against Ben John 2 for 6 and the wily spin of Jake Williams 4 wickets for 1. Backed up by the super catching of “Buckets” Jake Paget who took three fine catches, Minchinhampton were bowled cheaply.

Slimbridge V Frampton

After the euphoria of their cup win the Slimbridge batsmen appeared distracted when their came up against a well organised Frampton team. L. Swattridge ripped the heart out of the Slimbridge batting taking 4 for 14. Only Theo Rummer-Downing 15 and a defiant 21 from Alex Tait saw the home side eventually stumble to a paltry 55 all out. Frampton paced their innings carefully with Tom Warren holding the innings together with a well crafted 20.L.Merchant riding his luck accelerated at the right time against good bowling. Theo Rummer-Downing (1 for 4)bowled with great fire for little reward and Jake Williams 0 for 17 had no luck with his well crafted spin. Tom Smith on his debut took his first wicket and skipper Steve Dakin led the side well. Frampton must be congratulated on a good all round performance winning by 7 wickets.

Frampton v Cam

ON A OVERCAST EVENING FRAMPTON WON THE TOSS AND ELECTED TO BAT AND WERE SOON STRUGGLING AFTER SOME ACCURATE BOWLING BY THE CAM OPENING BOWLERS OF B.PEMBERTON AND S.HALE. AT 24 FOR 2, LIAM SWATTRIDGE JOINED LEE MERCHANT WHO PUT TOGETHER A PARTNERSHIP OF 55. LEE WAS THEN BOWLED BY A. HIGGS FOR 15. JOINING LIAM WAS SAM WARREN AND WITH SWATTRIDGE IN FULL FLOW AND HITTING SOME MIGHTY BLOWS THEY INCREASED THE SCORE TO 118.WARREN THEN FELL TO J.HIGGS FOR 12 SHORTLY FOLLOWED BY SWATTRIGE WHO HAD MADE AN EXCELLENT 62.TWO OF FRAMPTONS UNDER13'S TOOK TO THE BIG STAGE FOR THE FIRST TIME, KIERAN TRACY AND SAM BATEMAN, BOTH LASTINGWELL TILL THE END OF THE INNINGS.CAM WERE LIVELY AND ENCOURAGING IN THE FIELD WITH THE PICK OF THE BOWLERS BEING PEMBERTON 4-0-18-1HIGGS 4-0-25-1 , HALE 4-0-10-1 AND BALLARD 4-0-22-2
THE SECOND INNINGS STARTED WITH THE FRAMPTON CAPTAIN , MATT CAYLESS OPENING THE BOWLING AND CLAIMING A WICKET IN THE FIRSTOVER.CAM THEN SETTLED IN WITH TOWNSEND AND BALLARD MAKING STEADY PROGRESS. TOM WARREN WHO BOWLED TIGHTLY FROM THE OTHEREND MADE SCORING DIFFICULT AND AT THE HALF WAY STAGE CAM WERE 35 FOR 3. THE BIG SHOCK CAME ON OVER 13 WHEN A MAGNIFCENT PEICE OF BATTING SAW THE SCORE LEEP BY 26 IN ONE OVER BRINGING CAM RIGHT BACK INTO THE GAME. D.HOBBS MADE A WELL CRAFTED 23AND M. PEMBERTON SCORED A WELL EARNED 21 INCLUDING 2X 6'S AND 2X4'S . AS THE LIGHT FADED AND THE DRIZZLE CAME DOWN THE FRAMPTON BOWLERS CAME BACK AGAIN TO CLOSE OUT THE INNINGS WITH I WICKET REMAINING.PICK OF THE FRAMPTON BOWLERS WERE MATT CAYLESS4-0-12-4, LEE MERCHANT 4-1-9-1, AND CONNOR MILLIN 3-0-25-1. WELL DONE TO SAM BATEMAN WHO KEPT WICKET FOR THE FIRST TIME AT U15 LEVELAND TO OLLIE AND SAM HOBBS FOR THEIR EXCELLENT FIELDINGMANY THANKS TO THE CAM PLAYERS, THEIR COACH AND UMPIRE FOR A GREAT GAME OF CRICKET

Stroud A v Slimbridge (submitted by Slimbridge)

Stroud “A” team and Slimbridge both dodged the rain to put on a batting extravaganza in this keenly contested quarter final. Slimbridge put in to bat with rain clouds looming and the game reduced to 15 overs lost Richard Joyce early. Simon Thomas (35)and skipper Steve Dakin (25) put together a bright 49 run at a healthy run rate. Jake Williams, Alex Tait and Luke Manuel all chipped in with some great running between the wickets to leave Slimbridge on an impressive 99 for 5. Mills was the pick of the Stroud bowlers with 2 for 23.
When Stroud batted they lost a wicket first ball to a fine juggling catch by Stephen Thomas –a real “champagne moment”. Mills (17) and Hewer (23) put a rapid 34. this brought Chillingworth to the wicket who stroked an impressive 50. Stroud reaching their target for the loss of 3 wickets. Ryan Mann was the most successful Slimbridge bowler with 2 for 22.

Slimbridge v Kings Stanley

Slimbridge faced another nerve racking game this time against Kings Stanley. Stanley batted first and scored at a consistent 4 runs an over. Useful scores came from Jones 14, Landsdown 11, Clutterbuck 13 and Cook 10* saw Kings Stanley reach 91 for 9. Theo Rummer-Downing ripped the heart out of the visitors batting with 3 for 12 and was well supported by Ryan Mann 1-15, Ben John 1-12 and Jake Williams 1-17. Tom Smith with his wily flighted spin narrowly missed a hat-trick getting 3 wickets in his first over including a stumping by Luke Manuel and finished with3 -12.
When Slimbridge batted Jake Williams (10) and Simon Thomas (35) put on 20 for the first wicket before Williams holed out. Skipper Stephen Dakin joined Thomas and the pair were fairly untroubled taking the score to 61. Then came an extraordinary over from Carmen-his first ball saw Thomas caught. His second ball saw poor Theo Rummer-Downing run out without facing, the third and fourth balls saw two more wickets fall. When a sixth wicket fell at 67 Slimbridge were facing a mountain needing 24 off four overs. Intelligent running by Ben John (9*) and Stephen Dakin (24*) saw the home side scramble home with a ball to spare. It was harsh on Carmen who took 4 for 9 for the visitors

Frampton v Stroud B

FRAMPTON WON THE TOSS AND ELECTED TO BAT. TOM WARREN AND MATTHEW CAYLESS GOT OFF TO A FLYING START WITH 73 RUNS BEING SCORED IN THE FIRST 9 OVERS. CAYLESS THEN DEPARTED AFTER BEING WELL CAUGHT BY POWELL ON THE BOUNDARY FOR 32, THIS BROUGHT LIAM SWATTRIGE TO THE WICKET. WARREN WAS PLAYING SOME MAGNIFICENT CRICKET,WITH SHOTS GOING TO ALL 4 CORNERS OF THE FIELD. AFTER LOSING SWATTRIDGE FOR 33, TOM WARREN WENT ON TO MAKE 100 N.OF, MUCH TO THE DELIGHT OF THE CROWD. HE THEN RETIRED UNBEATEN WITH FRAMPTON LOSING ONLY ONE MORE WICKET TO AN EXCELLENT STUMPING BY DAN TROTT.THE PICK OF THE STROUD BOWLING WAS K.SMITH CLAIMING 2 WICKETS


STROUD STARTED THEIR INNINGS WELL WITH SOME STEADY BATTING FROM K.SMITH(14) AND N.POWELL.(13). AFTER THESE TWO WERE DISMISSED DAN TROTT CAME TO THE CREASE. HE STARTED POSITIVELY AND CONTINUED TO GIVE THE FRAMPTON BOWLERS PROBLEMS WITH SOME EXCELLENT SHOTS.HE FINISHED THE INNINGS WITH AN OUTSTANDING 78 N.O .STROUD'S FINAL TOTAL WAS 138 FOR 7
PICK OF THE FRAMPTON BOWLERS WAS MATT CAYLESS WITH 4-0-10-3 WITH SAM HOBBS, OLLIE HOBBS AND SAM WARREN EACH TAKING A WICKET APIECE. WELL DONE TO BOTH TEAMS FOR AN EXCELLENT GAME AND THANK-YOU TO THE SPECTATORS FROM BOTH SIDES FOR COMING ALONG

Malmesbury v Frocester

Frocester won the toss and fielded. Malmesbury made a better effort to score quickly than in the cup match, on a pitch with pace and bounce, and were 30 - 2 after 4 overs, the first a maiden, then 61 - 2 after 10. This should have been converted to 130 or more but Whincup, Whyard and Beese all bowled well, showing that on the night, the Frocester slow medium seam and leg spin proved more difficult to hit. After Pickering (27) and Eaton (16) were bowled, only Blundell with 17* reached double figures (along with Extras and Sundries), the rest getting a few runs but at too slow a pace. The final 102 - 7 was a fair reflection of the effort by both sides and the 3 short stoppages for rain, plus regular use of towels to dry the ball.

After a quick turnaround Pickering and Eaton bowled with pace using what now resembled a bar of soap. Pickering collected the wickets - the first slighly lucky as Beese attempted to turn a low full toss and gave a return catch. Reed was bowled by a ball that pitched leg and hit off. Bailey worked a short ball off his hips to mid-wicket and was caught. Rain and darkness meant the introduction of leg spin and a young seamer. Pinker was run out. Pritchard was bowled by the leg spin of Thomas. Nicholson induced a catch from Woodmason (11) and the score was 55 for 6 after 12 overs. The next over produced a run out and ended at 62 - 7. By now the umpires had consulted for a third time, and probably the 6th time on the night. Both sides wanted to play one more over after the end of each over. The depth of the visitors batting combined with the later bowlers being unable to control the wet ball, let alone the wicket keeper and fielders, meant runs, wides and byes started to flow. The score became 69, 80 and 90 in 3 successive overs and suddenly Whincup (16*) and O'Doherty (11*) sensed a victory not likely just 3 overs earlier. The home captain naturally wished to bowl his best bowlers just as the rain started once more, and the only sensible decision was to call a halt as the light was poor. Unable to bowl his last over, Pickering had the outstanding figures of 3-0-7-3. (This Marling cricketer is playing for our 1st XI at 15, averages 50 with the bat, and is the most exciting fast bowling prospect I have coached for many years. Why is he not playing for Gloucestershire?)

A good game played in the right spirit and a credit to 22 cricketers (and 2 wet umpires!).

Frampton v Kings Stanley

Frampton took to the crease after being put in by the Kings Stanley captain.The openers of Matt Cayless and Tom Warren set about their task facing some accurate bowling from T.Cook and R.Jones. The score increased steadily with a total of 68 from the first 8 overs until Warren was well caught by Cook for 27.Lee Merchant was next in but failed to trouble the scorers very much amassing just 2, bringing in Sam Warren.Cayless's game was then turned up a notch, striking some mighty blows to all corners of the Green. Both players contended with some good one the spot bowling but managed to put on an excellent stand of 83 with Cayless finishing on a magnificent total of 96 n.o including 6 x 6's and 11 x 4's. Pick of the bowlers was B.Carman 4-0-30-2

Kings Stanley started positively with opener G.Matthews scoring 16. Unfortunately they also lost several wickets to catches which saw them on 43 for 4.The next player in was Russ Jones who had bravely decided he would bat after hurting his hand whilst fielding. He showed no pain and held the latter end of the run chase together, ability assisted by some strong batting from B.Carmen(24) and K.Pritchard (10). Jones ended the game on an excellent 54 n.o.Pick of the Frampton bowlers was Lee Merchant with 4-0-21-3. Both umpires commented on the spirit of the game, well done to both teams

Stroud A v Malmesbury

Malmesbury won the toss and batted. There was slow but steady progress to 23 - 0 in the 8th over when Royle was bowled by Tyzack in his 4th over. The major partnership of the innings then followed with Thomas (42, 7 x 4s) and Pickering (30, 3 x 4s) taking the score to 74. The slow start changed when successive overs went for 10 and 18 runs. Powell 2 - 27 and Mills 2 - 20 took some wickets in the last seven overs, all bowled, LBW or caught behind, but the score progressed to 108 - 5 at the close. The odd ball kept low in the dusty patches but there were also scoring opportunities on what remained a good pitch with pace but also turn, and a quick outfield.

Pickering and Eaton opened the bowling to the Stroud duo of Foran and Wellington. Once he got his line correct, Pickering ripped out the off stump of Wellington and finished with 1-9 off 4 overs. Eaton bowled Foran (11) with a no-ball but the same batsman gave a catch the next over. Sam Thomas bowled his leg breaks on the spot and was rewarded with 4-1-10-3, all caught spooning. His brother Ollie then had the remarkable figures of 3-1-5-4, mostly bowled with some good off cutters. Eaton took 3 catches, one struck hard at him. Only Cullingborth (12) and young Camp (11) came to terms with the bowling. The final wicket fell at 49 when Camp hit Hurford to mid off in the 16th over.