Walsall Health v Old Moseley Fitmen…Match Tied.

On yet another scorching hot day, WHCC played hosts to opponents of many a year, Old Moseley Fitmen. With no heavy roller to make batting conditions even easier, we got underway on time at 14:30 BST.  Historically, Fitmen always bring a strong XI. Today was no different. Two classy openers, Tom Caesar and Jawad, piled on some early misery and raced to 55 before Dan Dunn took a good caught and bowled to dismiss Jawad. With Dave Stephens toiling away at the other end, our regular nemesis “Mo” ambled out to begin his innings.  Mo would lose his first partner, Caesar thanks to a cool catch by Dan Armstrong off the bowling of Chuck. Chuck then pilfered his second wkt of the day, thanks to a stunning reflex catch by JP. A strong contender for catch of the season. It was so good, Mo immediately paid his homage at the none strikers end with a nod of respect.

Chucky and Chally had applied the brakes with some tight bowling to peg Fitmen back to 111-3. However, Mo (87 off 78 balls) and Harris (46 off 36 balls) then cut loose, to wrestle back the momentum, and pass 200, with 8 more overs left in the bank. Despite several tough passages of play, heads didn’t drop this week, we kept battling away which was good to see. Nathan Reeves, once again setting the standard in the field, attacking the ball like a caged lion. Such good standards paid off, with Dan Dunn returning to pick up two more wkts, Chris Hall and Dan Armstrong snaffled one each at the death, with Fitmen finishing on 246-7.  A tremendous collective effort here, several times Fitmen threatened to post around 280-300, but our application for the full 40 overs, meant we had a chance of chasing this down.

The chase began with an unlucky dismissal for Gort, ball onto boot, onto stumps. Maybe a hint of bat into a tree, the sequel here, the Gort willow was certainly hurled a few yards in disgust anyway. Enter the Chuck brothers, and this partnership was definitely not suitable for Kids TV. Some aggressive batting, with Leo punching the ball through the covers for fun, and Ian bludgeoning the ball to all corners, saw the Elf race to 100-1 off just 14 overs. Great to see Leo bat so well, falling just short of a deserved quickfire fifty. The momentum was all ours at this stage. Dan Armstrong joined Chuck, and continued to dominate the Fitmen bowlers. When Chuck departed for a brilliant 89, we appeared comfortable on 190-3….57 required off 96 balls.

A lot of credit has to be given to Fitmen, from a tough position, they gradually eased their way back into the game, with some tight bowling from Mo (4-17 off 8 overs) and Harris. Scoring became more difficult, as Nath, Rob and Greg went cheaply. With the score at 236-7, Dan Armstrong was still at the crease, after reaching a second consecutive 50. Another excellent knock from Dan, who is really starting to deliver with the bat. Time was running out, so when Dan was caught going for a big shot to ease the pressure, the game remained in the balance. Dave Stephens hit a priceless 4, then was out to another good catch from a Fitmen fielder, they really did catch very well in the key moments. After 79 overs it came down to the final over, with the Elf needing 6 to win. Dan Dunn fell to the first ball, leaving us on the brink. JP joined Chally, and managed to sneak a single, leaving Chris to get 5 off the final two balls. The first of which was despatched to the square leg boundary for 4, to tie the game up after 79.5 overs. With all fielders brought into the ring, Chally couldn’t quite connect to pierce the field, leaving JP valiantly falling inches short of making his ground to complete a dramatic victory. What a game! Nearly 500 runs in a match that came down to the final ball, finishing at 20:55 BST….Match Tied.

All 22 players agreed it had been a superb match, which ebbed and flowed all day.  Everyone contributing, and trying their best, is all any team can ask for. A bit like the John Isner v Kevin Anderson match at Wimbledon last Friday, that would have been a tough game to lose for either team.

Tea update….RIP Victoria Sponge.

Thankyou’s update….Some big efforts yesterday. Rich Fell umpiring for the full 40 overs, allowed a lot of the players to take a rest after a long innings in the field. Nice to see Dan Dunn, Dave Stephens and Leo back in the team, all making excellent contributions. Great support too, from Gail, Fitzy, Nikka, Dai and Roger Moore, with Alex and Rachel sensing a knife edge finish arriving just in time to see the drama unfold.

Novak Update….The great man is back to his brilliant best, Wimbledon Champion 2018.

Stats Update….Ian Chuck’s 89, moves him up to fourth place on the all time run scorers list.

The Verdict….Wonderful contest. Exactly what all sports should be…A contest.  I would happily play in a game like this one every single week. In a game so close, everyone may be thinking of the “If only I’d done this or that moment” which is understandable. But sport is mostly all about split second decisions, all of which a game can be decided on. We should all just focus on being fortunate enough to take part in a memorable game of cricket, on a nice summer afternoon, and celebrate the match for what it was.  We won’t play in many games better than this one.

Written by Chris Hall

Featured image – http://www.susanyounganimation.com/drawings/cricket.html

 

 

 

Batting		Runs
Walsall Health

Bowling	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets

Walsall Health 250-3 (40 overs) beat Oak n Ash 196-8 ( 30.1 overs) by 54 runs

The Elf hosted Oak n Ash today at Aldridge in a game where the sun cream was a must for all those participating.
Rob Hewlitt won the toss and decided to bat first which did not sit well with Ian Chuck who stormed off to put his pads on.
Chuck and Gort opened up on a wonderful deck and the Elf’s solid opening pair piled on the runs and the misery for the Oak n Ask lads by surpassing the 100 mark with relative ease with both of the Elf’s openers securing a half century. However it was Andy Gorton who has been out on 49 twice already this season who was out after scoring exactly 50 with the team total on 151.
Dan Armstrong assumed full all-rounder status by coming in and giving the ball a bit of tap and providing excellent support for Chuck who reached his 100 with a four through midwicket off his legs to raise his bat for the second time of the day.
Chuck was out caught shortly after and Rob Hewlitt who is used to more of a ‘dig in’ after a few captain’s knocks in recent weeks was out caught for two. Hewlitt was replaced by Greg Phillpott who hit three boundaries for his 12 but was run out in the final over pushing for the extra runs.
The final over was dominated by 18 year old Dan Armstrong who hit a couple of massive sixes to reach his maiden fifty for the Elf, somewhat deserved as well after some excellent batting recently.

The Elf began the defence of their mammoth total with Nath Martin and Dan Armstrong fresh from a great knock. Dan picked up the first wicket of Gallen for one and at first change Chris Hall got Bailey and the Elf had the visitors at around 30-2 inside the first 10 overs.
If you know anything about this Oak n Ash side you know they are a great bunch of lads and fight hard to the death and their 3rd wicket partnership was a magnificent one at that. Shepheard and Cochoran hit the Elf bowlers to all parts of the Coliseum in a great display of batting. Shepheard was the first to go bowled by Ian Chuck and Dan Armstrong picked up his 2nd of the day by knocking back Sheldon’s bails.
Cochoran was still their dismissing the ball to all parts but the nervous nineties kicked in and he hit a hard shot back to Chuck and on about the third attempt the man from Durban snaffled the catch and the Elf looked home and dry. The last four batsmen for the opposition hit 23 between them with wickets for Davies, Hall and Armstrong to see the Elf to their seventh victory of the season and also seventh in a row.
A final word for the Oak n Ash boys who played valiantly with nine men in that heat and probably would’ve won with the extra two men, well played boys.

Tea review

No Victoria Sponge. 5/10

Shower club update

The showers in the squash changing rooms are better than the main ones but you can only have two of them on at the same time plus they were boiling. 4/10.

A final mention for Rakesh Mal who turned up after getting asked at 1:30 if he could play, superb effort in the field as well on debut.

Written by Tom Davies

 

 

 

Batting		Runs
Walsall Health

Bowling	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets

Walsall Health CC 189-4 (40 overs) beat Beaumont CC 150 all out (37.4 overs) by 39 runs

The Elf won their fifth consecutive game of the season today against Beaumont, a fixture that has been ever present since the club started in the late 1980s.

The game began on a sad note when the boys heard from the visitors that long serving Beaumont player Rupert Lisle sadly passed away over the Christmas period 2017. Tributes were led by Elf legend Andy Gorton who said some kind words and coordinated a minute applause in remembrance of Rupert.

Beaumont won the toss and put the Elf in. Gort and Chuck started the innings but the two elves were bogged down in the opening overs of the game by Johnson and Grainger who bowled with discipline and were unlucky to not get a wickets. The first wicket game when H.Jandhu came on and Dan Armstrong triggered Chuck for 25. It wasn’t long until Krish (who looked to be throwing it) came on and JP did what he does best and triggered Gort to a ball that looked to be too high from the boundary.

Alex Nunns and in form skipper Rob Hewlitt dug in for a few overs but the second change bowlers from Beaumont could not keep the runs down. The ‘Ginger Lara’ and the ‘Horsham Kohli’ put on an excellent partnership of 91 at a very quick run rate to give the Elf a great chance of winning the fixture.
The game was evenly poised on 92-2 at the end of the 28th over but by the time Al nicked off for 39 in the 35th, the score was 151-3 and the hosts were in a commanding position.
Skipper Hewlitt applied the pressure and went to another 50 this season, finally finishing 63 not out after Rich Fell hit a quick 12 and Leo Chuck finally got his first runs for the club in the last over.

As the evening begun, the Elf defended their total in the Coliseum with dangerous Beaumont stalwarts Hodgson and Johnson striding out to face Armstrong and pacey Leo Chuck with the new ball.
After a few nice boundaries, Johnson was triggered LBW for 16 off Armstrong and Tom Davies got the number three Khrisna for one after Alex Nunns took a great catch at point.
Beaumont’s captain Rands entered the fray and neither Chally or Tom could break the partnership so it was left to Kolpak spinner Ian Chuck who came on to try and break the deadlock.
A great contest over six balls ensued between Chuck and Hodgson who Chuck sledged before he’d even bowled a ball by saying “if he cuts me he’s doing very well”…Hodgson went to cut him 3 balls out of 5 including a nice four through point but Chuck won the battle with a quicker ball yorker to get his side’s third wicket with his final ball of the over.

Chris Hall tirelessly went through the mill for 8 overs on the bounce and finally picked up a wicket when he get Rands caught behind by Gort and Beaumont were 110-4 needing more than six an over to win with their four main batsman back in the hutch back in the squash changing rooms all 22 men were expected to change in* #village

A nice match threatening partnership between Johnson and Jandhu came together before Tom Davies got Johnson caught behind by Chuck.
Elf Heartthrob Greg Phillpott came on and was on full janitor duties picking up the next three wickets for virtually no runs. First Hall  got Esp and Alex Nunns got Parks. Both catches were skied pretty high so some excellent fielding on display. Gort got his second caught behind of the day and Leo Chuck hustled in for the last two wickets in two balls meaning the next time he bowls, he’s on a hat-trick.

Well played lads against always top bunch Beaumont. There’s a reason why both sides have consistently played over the years, games played fair and square and always toasted with a beer after.

Tea review

Aldridge Victoria sponge is back 7/10

Shower Club update

Still no Dan Armstrong and the lads had to leave the chaotic changing room and head to the normal Aldridge changing rooms for the shower they craved but once again piss poor water flow means they may as well have showered under a tap. 1/10

Love Island update

Is anyone even watching this year?

 

Written by Tom Davies

 

 

 

Batting		Runs
Walsall Health

Bowling	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets

Walsall Health 235-2 (40 overs) beat Lichfield Nomads 164-5 (40 overs) by 71 runs

The Elf played their second consecutive game at Rushall this week in a game where an icon was born. Andy Gorton, one of the very few original 1987 Elves left today surpassed Tim Oliver’s all time run record on a glorious day in the English summer sun.

Skipper Hewlitt won the toss and elected to bat on what looked like a road and Hewlitt was not disappointed. Andy Gorton and Ian Chuck absolutely piled on the runs and made the Nomads’ bowlers really work for their wickets. Some revenge for the Elf as they were drubbed by Nomads last June was revenge was certainly a dish better served cold today.

Gort only needed 55 to break the record and there was some muted celebrations when he reached his 50 as the spectators knew the icon was only five away from greatness. Gort did so with a rare two on Rushall’s pitch to a rapturous applause from all watching. Thoroughly deserved to a legend of The Elf who now has his name etched in glory.

Slightly village circumstances before and Ian Chuck who looked about as likely to get out as I am to marry Kelly Brook, retired once he reached his superb sixth ton for the Elf leaving Rich Fell to leave in disgust.
On loan from Rushall Andy Callaghan came in and scored with good time to get some more runs for his second club. Just after Chuck retired he went to umpire and obviously triggered Gort on 64 but who cares?
Calla was shortly out with the score on 222 after Nath Martin refused to put one leg in the air and obviously there was a wicket on Nelson. Dave Preece nudged his way to 16 not out and Rob Hewlitt got a single as the Elf finished on 235-2.

After tea was devoured the Elf began their defence of the score with Dan Armstrong who couldn’t quite get the line right and Nath Martin who both bowled well in the opening stages but it wasn’t until the Iceman Chris Hall entered the fray in the 10th over got a wicket with his first ball and the Elf were on their way.
It wasn’t until the part timers Andy Callaghan and Greg Phillpott came on to bowl did the Elf start to turn the screw. Phillpott picked up Stanley and Calla ran out Westwood after some superb fielding from Dan Armstrong.
Spin King Jonathan Preece came on after drinks and bowled Turnbull and the Elf knew they were almost home and dry with the overs rapidly decreasing.
Nomad Paul Fearon who bowled well earlier came in and gave the ball a bit of a whack to finish on 46 not out with Tom Davies getting the last wicket for the Elf when he got Hutton caught and bowled with a great reactionary catch.

As the sun began the set the Elf were led off the pitch by now iconic Andy Gorton and they have now got their 4th win of the season going into next week against usual opponents Beaumont at Aldridge.

Tea review

Strong tea as usual at Rushall. Sandwiches, pizzas, chicken legs, an array of crisps.  No olives, strawberries or mustard so a standard 7/10.

Shower club

Still no Dan Armstrong in the showers despite turning 18 in May but always a good shower at Rushall and definitely better than Aldridge. 8/10.

Tales from the travelator

Chally and Nath Martin trudged up the travelator for 16 overs and only one wicket between them this week. Chall also been on the track at Tipton Sports Academy this week trying to burn a few extra calories when he reaches the summit at the end of his run.

Love Island update

Every claimed to have not watched a minute apart from Andy Carrick who turned up to support the boys who said it was ‘class’. Dan Armstrong apparently ‘watched 10 minutes and turned it off’. Greg Phillpott only watched because of the ‘high calibre’ of ladies on there. More updates next week.

Written by Tom Davies

Batting		Runs
Walsall Health

Bowling	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets

Walsall Health beat Bharat Parivar by 6 wkts.

The hottest day of the year so far, saw the first visit of Bharat Parivar CC to Rushall.  After heavy rolling duties were carried out, ( to the advantage of the batsmen as usual) and Dan Armstrong and Ian Chuck had finished their 3 hour net, the game began. Tom Davies opened up with the new cherry, only to realise that our opposition had decided to play T20 style, the 2nd ball of the match, crashing into the offside fence for six. It was Dan Armstrong on travelator duty this week, who got the breakthrough, with a low shooter. Tom Davies joined the party from the other end, courtesy of a sharp catch by Rob Hewlitt.

With two quick wkts falling, Parivar continued with their high risk tactics. Captain Hewlitt moved Chris Hall to the long off boundary, sensing a big shot was on the way. Next ball, the No4 batsman payed no attention to the field adjustment, smacking a Nathan Martin fizzer straight down Chally’s throat, to the relief of the crowd, who at one point, feared the ball was coming their way. It was good to see Nath back for his 1st game of the season, bowling at a good pace, and unlucky not to pick up a couple more.

With Parivar losing their top order, the runs started to dry up, but it was Chris Hall, who suffered more rotten luck from his all time favourite end, the Travelator. A quiet word from Gort, mid over…get one to nip away, and we are in business. This proved wise counsel, as next ball, Chally carried out the plan to perfection. Parivar’s batsman had a wild swing, missed it by miles, and was halfway to Pelsall common, when Gort whipped off the bails. Sadly, the square leg umpire was either grabbing forty winks, watching Shakoor Rana’s best bits on youtube, or simply thought a batsmans crease was the length of Hadrian’s Wall. Needless to say, the bowler was not amused.

Despite all this controversy, the Elf continued to turn the screw. With wkts from the ever reliable Ian Chuck, and JP. Followed by Dan Armstrong, fresh from a still irate Chally, yelling at him, (Sorry Dan)  who came back on, to wrap up the tail, including a batsman who had his potty training interrupted, to be the Jack, of 9,10 Jack.  Serious village. Parivar, who early on, looked set for a big score, were reduced to 156 all out. A good effort in the field to peg them back.

After tea, the Elf fancied chasing this total down. Things were looking good after a swift start from Ian Chuck. However, on 20, Chuck had a Haley’s Comet moment. Missing a straight one. Following a 10 minute rant to his girlfriend about getting out, he swiftly went out to umpire and trigger Gort, who had been busy ship steadying. With Alex Nunns getting out to a ball that trickled back onto his stumps (unlucky) followed by a bout of batting glove kicking, the result was in the balance at 70-3. However, this side is made of strong stuff, and doesn’t roll over easily. So it was Captain Rob Hewlitt and experienced campaigner Richard Fell, who calmly put together the match winning stand. Steady, no panic, the best partnership of the match, which caused Parivar’s Junior player to run off the pitch and do a fine impersonation of Gazza at Italia 90. Or maybe he just needed his nappy changing again.

The final Chapter of the match, saw Nathan Reeves enter the game, after the departure of Richard Fell for 25. Nath doesn’t believe in having a look at the first couple, and simply blasted a quickfire 10 off 5 balls, to the delight of the supporters. Rob Hewlitt, rock solid at the other end, with a Captain’s knock of 57 not out, knew the job was done. A good win in the end, against a side that were potentially dangerous opponents had they been allowed to get into the game…..PS…Three wins on the bounce.

 

Final analysis…this report was written a week late, it turns out that Bharat Parivar hit 275 to tie a high scoring game the following week against a strong Sportsman CC side, which included the destructive Kris Ali and Vijay Chandramani. So maybe this was a pretty decent performance from the Elf lads.

Samaritans update….Chris Hall, Ian Chuck and Alex Nunns could all be seen glued to their phones in a darkened corner of the changing room after the game. Too close to call who spat their dummy out the furthest today, but it was roughly the same distance that Alex Nunns kicked his glove after getting out.

Tea update….Victoria Sponge from Aldridge is sorely missed. A good supply of Farleys Rusks for the Pharivar Number 11 though.

Village moment of the day….Dan Dunn, seen strolling round the boundary, with his 3rd bottle of Becks, despite his History exam being less than 24 hours away. Too which Greg Philpott commented, lets hope question B is all about Prohibition…..Brilliant.

Written by Chris Hall

 

 

 

Batting		Runs
Walsall Health

Bowling	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets

Lapworth CC 123-9 (40 overs) lost to Walsall Health CC 124-7 (31.2 overs) by 3 wickets

The Elf made their second consecutive away trip this week down to always good hosts at Lapworth in rural Solihull.

The sun was well and truly out and in the absence of Rob Hewlitt, Ian Chuck hastily went out to the middle and became Nasser Hussain reincarnated when he WON the toss and decided to BOWL first on a glorious day. Tom Davies and Chris Hall’s faces were of sheer disbelief (the result will tell you that Chuckie was right but hey-ho).

Dan Armstrong and Dave Stephens opened the bowling for the Elf and looked to be toiling away to no avail until Dave trapped  Marsden lbw for 1 in his third over. Some real tight bowling from the Elf pair saw Armstrong dismiss the other Lapworth opener Lewis for four runs.

The scoreboard didn’t get any better for the hosts as Stephens bowled Agnew for five and the side from Warwickshire’s backs were to the ropes.
Tom Davies replaced Armstrong in the 11th over and with his first ball served up a pie that monsuiers Blumenthal and Ramsey would have been proud of. The Lapworth batsman couldn’t believe his eyes when such a beef & merlot pie was headed his way  but he hit the shot straight to Greg Phillpott in the covers and the Elf were coasting.
In his seventh over, Stephens picked up Williams and Lapworth were in disarray at 30-5.
The home side then had a massive dig in from Carr and Buckle who put on an excellent 50 run partnership to steady the ship but ever reliable Ian Chuck got Buckle for a well played 16 and the Elf were looking to wrap things up. However, Gallacher had different ideas and hit a quick time 17 including a big six over cow corner into a tree.
Dan Armstrong finally picked up the 7th wicket of the innings and should have had the eighth when Carr who was on 45 at the time nicked off to Gort but the umpire said not out.
The incident clearly played on Carr’s mind as he couldn’t get the ball off the square and in JP’s first over hit a sweep straight to Tom Davies on the 45 degree and he was out.
JP got Faber for two caught by Rich Fell who was sporting a suspected dislocated thumb but the Elf could not get the final wicket and Lapworth posted 124 for victory.

In the late afternoon sunshine, Gort and Chuck got the Elf’s innings going. In tricky batting conditions the usual opening pair looked undeterred until Chuck nicked off to Smith and the Elf were 39-1.
Alex Nunns on the back of his superb 30 not out last week did the same as Chuck and the Elf were 51-2 approaching drinks.
Captain Rob Hewlitt decided to take matters into his own hands and smashed a boundary laden 24 to give the visitor’s innings the impetus it needed. Rob departed on 86-3 when he was bowled by Buckle.
Greg Phillpott joined Gort and the two men saw the Elf past 100 and almost into cruise control territory you’d think? However, despite Rach and Tom balling at JP to lift his leg in the air with the score on 111 he did not and Gort spooned a catch to mid wicket, the away side still 13 runs from home.
Greg Phillpott looking comfortable on 14 then got caught off the impressive looking Choudry and Lapworth smelt blood. Dan Armstrong had a brain meltdown (probably still pissed from turning 18 on Thursday) was caught behind and two balls later Chris Hall notched his second quack of the season and the Elf looked to be snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.

Step up Ben Stokes wannabe Tom Davies, with wickets tumbling around him the Elf bowler smashed ‘Carr’ for four through square leg with his first shot and then with his third played the most exquisite cover drive you will ever see. The Lapworth fielders just watched as the ball raced to the boundary and all of a sudden the scores were level and with the second ball of the next over Dave Stephens scampered a single and the Elf were home for their second victory of the season.

Tea review

Exceptional tea as ever at Lapworth. Variety of sandwiches, pizzas, pork pie, cakes, tea and even some fruit at the end to give it a solid 8.5/10 (no olives, no 10).

Shower club

7 for a shower this evening and the showers at Lapworth even came with their own curtain so the Elves aching bodies were not on display. Decent spray and temprature 6/10.

Tokyo update

No rowing feats this week however with Chally coming off ‘non fer’ I feel for the concept twos in Tipton Sports Academy Monday evening….

Written by Tom Davies

Batting		Runs
Walsall Health

Bowling	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets

Walsall Health CC 203-4 (37.3 overs) beat Peopleton CC 199-8 (40 overs) by 6 wickets

The Elf made their usual springtime journey down to the village of Peopleton to play away for the first time in the 2018 campaign.

The Elf were fielding first on a warmish day in the countryside with Dan Armstrong and makeshift opener Tom Davies opening up proceedings for the Elf. Tom had a couple of catches go down but it wasn’t until Elf icon Chris Hall replaced Armstrong at the ‘cow end’ that the Elf were on the board.

Davies was replaced by Chuck who toiled away for no reward as Peopleton’s 2nd wicket

partnership of Deeprose and Blatherz piled on the runs almost getting a 100 run stand but Chucky bowled a corker in his penultimate over to knock back Blatherz’ off peg for an excellent 71. Within the massive partnership, JP took a bit of tap from Blatherz and his three overs went for 44

Dan Armstrong got Deeprose for 30 when Greg Phillpott (or Phil Pot as he was in the oppo’s book…brother of Pol) and the Elf reigned the hosts back in with some tight bowling. Greg came on and took two wickets in his two overs to boost his bowling average with Alex Nunns taking an excellent catch at long off to get Greg his second wicket. With the game evenly poised Rob inserted Tom Davies back into the game and Davies produced a jaffa to get Peopleton skipper Smith out for an excellent 28 which included a couple of lusty blows into the cow field.

In his next over Davies got two wickets in two balls but didn’t manage to deliver on the hat trick ball. Trig and Chall kept things tight until the end but Peopleton would have been disappointed to set 200 for victory after being 128-1 in the 25th over. After Tea and picnics were demolished (see tea/picnic review) the Elf looked to chase down the 200 run target for victory. Two youngsters opened up for Peopleton who kept things relatively tight and the Elf were 48-0 after 10 overs with very few chances to speak of. Gort was going along nicely and Chuck was looking to get some big runs on the board after failing in his first hit of the season. The boys brought up the 100 partnership in the 19th over and the outfield was very quiet until Smith steamed in and trapped Gort LBW for 49. The Elf legend will be disappointed to have not raised his bat today as he batted well very well in tricky conditions to see the Elf to a wonderful start. Alex Nunns came in at three and needed a score after he average of 0.5 so far this season was not giving the man from Wednesbury the confidence with the bat. Al and Chuck saw the visitors past 150 but Chuck having not given a chance all game, spooned a tame shot up to cover when he was on 99 to get out one short of a deserved ton. The Elf nerves were jangling when Nath Reeves was out for a duck and skipper Hewlitt out for 5 but with Al providing good resistance at the other end he looked comfortable to lead the Elf home. Greg Phillpott did just that after hitting two boundaries in his 10 not out to see the Elf to victory with 15 balls remaining. Alex Nunns also finished with 30 not out including a six over fine leg to give him some much needed confidence with the willow. First win of the season boys! Get in there! The lads travel to Lapworth next week to hopefully get their win/loss record at even par going into the second May Bank Holiday.

Tea/picnic review

Much better teas at Peopleton this year, with some wonderful cheese sandwiches and Swiss Roll to boot. HOWEVER. Gail was on chief picnic duties in the sunshine and delivered a spread of champions. Three words – Olives, strawberries, mustard. Eat your heart out Aldridge. Lizzie (Mrs Chuck) who was also on chief photograph duties, provided two superb key lime pies that athletes Rich Fell and Chally tucked into several times (see pic) and also some homemade sausage rolls which I believe did not get the credit they deserved, sensational. 11/10 picnic.

 

Shower club update

Decent showers today but only two of the three could be on before the pressure subsided. Chuck found some ‘Ginger anti-dandruff’ shampoo which Al and Tom denied any knowledge of. This was after Al did his best Torvil and Dean impression on the way for a shower. With Dan Armstrong turning 18 in the week, the boys are already discussing what shower gel he is going to bring on debut next weekend in Lapworth.

Tokyo update

Tom smashed through the 500m barrier in the gym this week posted 1.35.2 to leave Chall metaphorically eating his dust. The Elf ironman declined to comment on such an achievement accept from saying ‘I need to work harder’.

 

Written by Tom Davies

Batting		Runs
Walsall Health

Bowling	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets

Walsall Health 140 all out (39.2 overs) lost to Sportsman CC 110-4 (26.3 overs) by four wickets via Duckworth Lewis method

The Elf played their first fixture of the season, a direct replica of last season’s opener except they were on the losing side this time.
Rob Hewlitt won the toss and gave the ‘soft signal’ from the square, which was about 150 yards around from the pavilion which left Dai scrambling for his binoculars.
‘Ian’ Chuck (as he is now known) and Andy Gorton opened the batting for the Elf and in true Billy Ocean fashion the going was tough in the first 10 overs , the hosts barely scraping past 2 an over.
The first change brought about two quick wickets for the visitors when Adrish got one to nip back through the gate and ‘Ian’ was out for 2.
Alex Nunns was in at three but was immediately triggered by Dave Stephens for the first Elf quack of the season.
Token Yorkshire man Andy Carrick was in at 4 and a steady partnership with anchorman Gort saw the Elf creep their way towards 50 before Andy chipped a cut shot straight to point for 12 hard fought runs.
Skipper Hewlitt hit three boundaries on his way to 13 to give Abeer his first scalp of many for the day. Rich Fell then came in and dropped a second anchor alongside Gort who was now gradually eking his way towards a first 50 of the season. Two Elf veterans who have over 50 seasons of experience between them certainly put that on display and a fine 55 run partnership saw Gort get his first 50 of the season before being caught off the bowling of Williams and Greg Phillpott following shortly after scoring the same amount of runs as Al.
Rich dealt in singles for his innings of 10 and Dave Stephens joined him for a short cameo of 16 laden in boundaries before both men were out in the last few overs of the game going for runs with the Elf in and around the 130 mark, about 40 runs short of a decent total. Chris Hall, Tom Davies and Jonny Preece or as Chally himself described them ‘nine, ten, jack’ scrambled six runs between them including a fine cover drive from Tom Davies for his first boundary of the season.  A six for including four wickets in four balls for Abeer was mainly the difference between the sides today with the ball.
The Elf posted a meagre 140 in the last over and with one boundary only 35 paces from the wicket it would take some good bowling to limit an always strong Sportsman side to below that.

After tea was demolished The Elf went out to defend their total, Zinger bails in tow. After some really tight bowling in the first 7 overs – which coincidentally went by quicker than Dan Armstrong bowls one over, the wheels came off a little bit.
‘Ian’ Chuck and Dave Stephens had more or less kept Sportsman to a run an over but Dave suffered some real tap by going for 39 in two overs, including 6 sixes in 12 balls from Sportsman slogger ‘Waqas’ who found the very short boundary to his and his bat’s edge’s liking.
in the ninth over of the game play was significantly delayed when Andy Carrick who bravely dived to cut off some runs fell awkwardly and appeared to have dislocated his shoulder.
Good news on that front, after the delay and later update Andy is recovering fine however some of the day’s finest moments came in amongst the delay.
Firstly Dan Armstrong went and waited on the main road with a pint in his hand for the Ambulance crew who came and really took care of Mr Carrick (lots of love for the NHS here) but also a hilarious moment when one of the female paramedics asked Andy ‘if it was okay if she touched it’ which left Tom and Greg scrambling for a suitable innuendo.  Armstrong also was left in charge of the medical kit (see photo, and also see the tight grip on the pint) before Andy was treated.
In all seriousness, everyone at the Elf wishes Andy a speedy recovery and hope he will be back in time for the weekly Love Island Updates when ITV’s show returns in the summer.

Chris Hall and Tom Davies came on in the 11th and 12th overs after the score was revised by 10 overs and 30 runs as the light was fading due the delay which couldn’t be helped.
Chally who claimed he hadn’t bowled since September picked up where he left off, taking wickets.
A catch in the deep from 2017 fielder of the year Greg Phillipott saw the back of Waqas who hit 54 out of the 62 Sportsman had posted at this point including 7 sixes.
Hall quickly dispatched Hembo back to the hutch after Gort snaffled a catch standing up to Chally. Sportsman’s skipper Walder and Maz scored a few runs before Gort was razor sharp once again and got him stumped. Tom Davies toiled away for 5 overs and only went for an economical 6 runs but no real chances of note. Jonny Preece replaced Davies and picked up a wicket off his first ball when Walder’s eyes lit up off a J.Preece beef and merlot pie, Walder swung everything at it and got his bails knocked back and JP was off the mark for the season.
Experienced Sportsman batsman Calvin Williams came in and steered his side home with 3 and a half overs to go without much trouble.

Tea review

Lots of sandwiches on display along with pasta, sausage rolls and the usual Victoria Sponge. There was even some left over for fines, good tea. 8/10

Shower club

An array of wonderful smells emanating coming from the home dressing room this week. However Greg’s ‘Cherry Bakewell’ and Al’s ‘Foamy Banana’ win best shower gel this week. Imperial Leather certainly coming up trumps this week. A slight complaint is that the showers at Aldridge really have slow water flow, the lads are praying for some away games soon so they can take advantage of some good showers.

#Tokyo2020 update

Regular gym goers Chris Hall and Tom Davies have been working hard in their respective gyms this winter trying to get to full fitness for the 2018 campaign. If you are willing to test your cardio with the best there are three challenges to take up:

Challenge 1 – simply 500m in the quickest time you can. Resistance on level 8 on a concept 2 machine. Chally has the current record of 1.36.6 but Tom is only half a second behind on 1.37.1.

Challenge 2- row 200m in under 40 seconds with only a minute break in between. Chall has managed 7 successful 200ms and Tom has reached 6. This challenge is A LOT tougher than it seems.

Challenge 3 – 1000m as quick as you can. This is really the big fish. Tom has set 3.31.4 and Chally is floundering behind around the 3.37 mark.

 

Written by Tom Davies

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