2nd XI

Fine win for 2nds at home against Long Ashton makes it maximum points for the second time!

[scorecard and details to follow]

'You've got to make it tough. No freebies ... target him. Break a finger if you want. That'll stop him getting ten wickets'

Nasser Hussain on how to bowl to Muttiah Muralitharan
Posted by: Sleuth / 10:35 AM "

1st XI: "WIN AGAINST LODWAY
The season's 100% record was maintained with a good win at Horse Race Lane against Lodway, built on a fine 109 from John Bachelor.

[report here?]"

"You've got to make it tough. No freebies ... target him. Break a finger if you want. That'll stop him getting ten wickets"

Nasser Hussain on how to bowl to Muttiah Muralitharan

1st XI: "WIN AGAINST LODWAY
The season's 100% record was maintained with a good win at Horse Race Lane against Lodway, built on a fine 109 from John Bachelor.

[report here?]"

"You've got to make it tough. No freebies ... target him. Break a finger if you want. That'll stop him getting ten wickets"

Nasser Hussain on how to bowl to Muttiah Muralitharan

NOT QUITE THERE AGAINST BISHOPSTON - BUT A GOOD TRY
The 2nd XI went down narrowly against this high flying opposition butthe performance was good enough to have beaten many another side. Mohammed Ahmed was the star with 5 for 40 from 11 overs.

Full scoreboard is at: http://fpcc.play-cricket.com/scoreboard/scorecard.asp?id=10231083

"Confidence is very important but it can be knocked out of you - cricket's all about how well you come back"

Sir Viv Richards

Failand punish Cleeve and get season started
Nadeem Ahmed and Jonus Williams pulverised Cleeve’s top order with 4 wickets in rapid succession posting superb figures of 11-3-19-3 and 13-5-25-1 respectively. Nadeem bowled particularly well in the opening opening overs and was just too much for the Cleeve batsmen to handle.

Had catches been taken the opposition could have been out for a score of around 60. Instead Failand took a leaf out of England’s book and contrived to drop everything in sight, that is apart from keeper Ijaz Shafi who scooped three in his trusty mitts.

In fact Ijaz may have been the only man with his eyes still open after the next 20 overs during which 2 Cleeve batsmen blocked everything on the wickets and left everything else in an effort to post a respectable score.

Boring stuff indeed, but it highlighted the gaping one hole in an otherwise top class bowling attack – the lack of a slow bowler. On this showing we need one Bernard Raines bowling soon and speeding through maidens in the middle period of the innings.

The back up bowling was also excellent (Sid Mistry 6-2-17-2, Mohammed Ahmed 10-2-12-1) but the final wickets just would not come and Cleeve finished the innings just 7 down for 119 at quarter to five.

Apart from the tactical disadvantages not having a slow bowler creates, it also means that it takes us a massive amount of time to get through our overs. This in turn gives an advantage to the opposition batsmen who enjoy long breathers while they catch their breath and recompose themselves.

Furthermore, it seems to de-energise our own fielders as we seem to be unable to keep intensity levels up for the whole 45 over period. (It is worth noting that we are yet to take 10 wickets in a match and our fielding falls appart in the last 10.)

Batting second Failand always looked good for what was a well under par score and Alistair McArthur (29) got the innings off to a good start. Although there was a slight wobble at 60 odd for three, Henry Humphreys (25) and George Humphreys (26) battled through some testing swing bowling in helpful conditions to get very close to the target. (George then savagely ran out his elder brother by calling for a suicidal run.) Ultimately we won comfortably and looked to be a superior side playing some good cricket.

However, more runs are needed from the above three and some others if the batting is going to match the quality of the bowling. Victory must be the aim and there is no reason why this team can’t aim to win the league.

Full scorecard at http://fpcc.play-cricket.com/scoreboard/scorecard.asp?id=10231123

Carsons next week.

2nds crash to Chipping Sodbury in first start

[a report here in a few lines, surely?]

2nd XI Captain’s Report 2005


I said at the beginning of the year that the 2nd Xi would win the B&D Senior Division. Last season I had said that the 2nd Xi would be promoted and, sure enough, we had an extremely successful season culminating in promotion from the league below.

Although my prediction this year did not come true, this season was far from failure. We came 5th out of 10 in the top 2nd Xi league and we were ultimately flanked in the table by some of the biggest clubs in the Bristol area. This is no mean feat as we are a small club with no catchment area, and our first team struggled this year in the league below.

The great shame about this season was that we could have won the league. There’s no point asking “what if”, but, unlike last year, the team never quite gelled as a unit and consequently we struggled to pull together in difficult times on the field.

There were two major reasons for this. Firstly, a small number of the regular players just could not turn up to games in time for the start. I still do not know why this was and I never received a proper explanation.

The second reason for under achievement (perhaps a more understandable one) is that some of the players in the 1st and 2nd team squads seem to have a poor understanding of what it is to play in a team for a season. Inconsistent availability ultimately put pay to any thought of winning the league. Something is going wrong when players turn up at nets for the fist time at the end of May and then go berserk when they are not opening the bowling on the following Saturday.

Notwithstanding these points and the fact that we had few outstanding individuals this season, we generally won our games when 7 or 8 people in the team managed to contribute. Lyndon’s statistics show this to be the case. The exceptions were Alistair McArthur, Chris Smith and Lyndon Prendergast with the bat, and Waquas Ahmed, Nadeem Ahmed and Bernard with the ball.

I will not be continuing as captain next year as I feel that I have given all I can to the team. I have been on selection for 4 years now, 2 as Sunday captain and 2 as 2nd XI captain. A few of you might like to reflect how many players in this year’s 1st XI came through the ranks of the sides I captained.

My only disappointments in that time are the drop in my own form with the bat, and the fact that I was forced to drop Bernard Raines this season when availability was at its peak, a decision made much more painful by the fact that the dropped first teamer who took his place could not be bothered to play properly.

Next year’s captain will have a tough job as this is a very competitive league. The key to success is to keep a core element of around 7, 8 or 9 individuals playing the majority of the games. When things go well it is a great position to hold and, if you are the guy pulling the strings, the upside definitely outweighs the downside. It’s great fun being captain as long as you have a few guys offering you support along the way and I was lucky to have the support of a great vice captain in Bernard Raines.

It is my own view that there is far too much pressure on the captains at this club. I think that we should think very carefully about how to ease this burden. Now is the time to appoint a paid person to look after the club house on Saturdays, run the bar and close up shop when everyone has left. I can hear groans from most of you as I write this, but how many of you are prepared to stay behind every week and close the pavilion? Certainly very few in the 1st and 2nd teams are willing to do this.

I leave you with the transcript of our most famous win last season against the eventual league winners, Chipping Sodbury. If we had played just a few more of our other games with this spirit then I am sure that we would have won the league.

I am confident that the team can continue to perform well next year and there is no reason why another assault on the title cannot be planned and, this time, successfully executed.

Henry Humphreys




FAILAND STORM HOME: Sweet revenge for early season defeat!!

FAILAND & PORTBURY second eleven travelled to top of the table CHIPPING SODBURY and overcame both the elements and the opposition to avenge the early season defeat. In one of their best performances for many years a spectacular finish saw FAILAND come back from the dead to win by two wickets.

It wasn’t long before FAILAND were bowling and fielding in heavy drizzle and with a wet ball, but at least they were playing. With SODBURY reaching 87 for 1 with plenty of overs left a huge total seemed probable. A truly stupendous catch by young HAMED AHMED saw the dismissal of the dangerous M.GRAHAM as FAILAND fought hard to get back into the match.Despite WAQAS grabbing three quick wickets the star of the show was the old warhorse big BERNARD RAINES. In a prolonged spell BERNARD kept one end tied up but amazingly only ended with two for 43 from 15 excellent overs.

The bowling was now of the highest order as FAILAND only conceded 13 runs from the final four overs and this was to prove vital as SODBURY totalled 183 for 7. GEORGE HUMPHREYS did well to well to finish with 2 for 33 despite having to bowl off just a few paces due to the wet conditions.

Typically for a day in July the sun came out while the players were enjoying a sumptuous tea.

FAILAND’S innings started in brilliant sunshine and the drying wicket causing all sorts of problems for the openers. The batsmen struggled to 27 for 1 from 17 overs and any bookie would have given you long odds against a FAILAND victory.

LYNDON PRENDERGAST upped the tempo in this ‘friendly’ league match until controversionally given run out for 48 hard earned runs.Pinch hitter HAMED AHMED was thrown into the mix to crash a mammoth six and three fours in a quick fire 23 as FAILAND fought hard to get back into the match.

Man of the Match BIG BERNIE joined veteran CHRIS SMITH with FAILAND still requiring 44 runs from the final three overs. They chipped away with the former crashing a huge six and four to leave 14 runs required from the final over. FAILAND went one better than the boys at LORDS as CHRIS was caught for 29 off the first ball of the over which brought in the so far run-less NADEEM.

In a dramatic finale a single next ball saw NADEEM on strike and he proceeded to crash the next three balls to the boundary to leave the home side and their cock a hoop supporters somewhat shell shocked as FAILAND cruised home with two wickets and a ball to spare.

Lyndon Prendergast

Hanham youngsters put to the sword.

What a shame we lost the toss.....


The second team game was a much more drab affair than the 1st team humdinger and had a definite end of the season feel about it.

A very poor HANHAM side with a mixture of young and old had huge slices of luck as they scrambled to 135 all out.

Failand took the field with 9 men as our players seem incapable of getting to the ground in time. This has been a major problem all season and its the same players every week. This lets your team mates down and is an unhealthy arogant characterisitc!! Anyway...

NADEEM AHMED bowled with plenty of fire to end with 4 for 34 from his 15 overs. With PAUL TEASDALE absolutely outstanding in the field, the spin twins TONY BAMBER and BOB ANDREWS and 13-year-old CHARLIE WALKER all finished two wickets apiece.

FAILAND got off to a very slow start and soon lost PAUL TEASDALE but skipper HENRY HUMPHREYS joined LYNDON PRENDERGAST to add 62 runs before the former was caught for 28.

LYNDON stroked nine fours in an unbeaten 50 before retiring to rest some aching limbs. CHARLIE WALKER tried to finish the match in a hurry only to be dismissed with a sensational catch.

Veteran CHRIS SMITH has seen it all before as he steered his side to comfortable five-wicket victory with an unbeaten 21.

Hanham is a very nice ground and the 1st Xi should enjoy playing there next year. They also put on the best away tea of the season.

Directions for Hanham:

Abbots Road in Hanham.

Follow the link to Streetmap.co.uk

Or click on the following link:



REMEMBER THAT THE GAME STARTS AT 1.30PM!!! bE THERE BY 1!!!!!

SENSE AND RESPONSIBILITY see Failand to victory.

A strong Failand 2nd XI travelled to Bedminster with the feeling that a victory would keep them safe from relegation. Bedminster elected to bat on a pitch that looked safe enough and not too effected by the morning showers. Technique aside, the openers looked good both reaching 20 before B. Raines removed them both in consecutive overs. Bernard bowled with discipline and patience up the hill completing 10 overs while Nadeem bowled tidily down the hill. A good middle period saw Failand reduce the opposition to 52 for 4, mainly thanks to W. Ahmed who bowled with control and pace taking two important wickets. Drinks were taken at over 30 as G. Humphreys took a wicket with his first ball. He struck again 2 balls later with to put Failand in a strong position going into the last 10. B. Raines came back on to complete his spell picking up 2 more wickets finishing with very good figures. Failand fielded well and held their catches. H. Humphreys and P. Teasdale both taking 2 relatively easy catches, but catches none the less. With 9 wickets down Bedminster reached 188 at the end of the innings, a total that was very gettable in the eyes of our batsmen.

The light was poor and getting worse as A. Vaughan and M. Ahmed walked to the wicket to get the Failand innings under way. Mohamed hit the second and third balls of the innings for four and set us on our way. His pinch hitting style saw him reach 29 of 9 deliveries before he was caught. What followed was 20 overs of consolidation and patience by C. Smith and Arthur. Both were out having attempting to push the run rate up but they had given Failand the platform to take the game. H. Humphreys scored a brisk 24, pushing the scoring rate up, but Failand still needed 5.5 an over entering the last 15. W. Ahmed struck 10 in quick time before being caught in the deep. P. Teasdale and G. Humphreys were brought together needing almost 6 an over from the last 10 overs. Some sensible batting and quick running kept them on course and plenty of extras meant that Failand were almost home. Paul hit Bedminster’s opening bowler for two consecutive boundaries to take Failand to within 1 run. Ironically it was a wide that saw them home in the penultimate over.

Tight bowling and responsible batting gave Failand a deserved victory. Next week we will miss the old yet cool heads of C. Smith and B. Raines who are travelling to Alaska to take part in a bear wrestling competition. Let’s hope the younger members of the side will fill their sizeable shoes.

George Humphreys

2nds literally hand victory over to the Phoenix:

FAILAND & PORTBURY second eleven showed an appalling lack of control with the ball led to them snatching defeat from the jaws of victory against bottom of the table PHOENIX WEST INDIANS.

Batting first on a very unreliable surface the FAILAND batsmen fought hard, and took numerous blows to rack up a fine 202 all out.

WAQAS AHMED led the way with a six and five fours in a top score of 38.
He was ably supported by MOHAMMED AHMED with 23, ALISTAIR McARTHUR 22, CHRIS SMITH 21, TONY BAMBER 18 and 35 extras, but nobody could survive for long.

PHOENIX started with a flurry of boundaries before the AHMED brothers made inroads into the innings. Despite the mounting number of extras the home side slumped to 62 for, 100 for 6 and eventually to 142 for 8.

On such a poor surface a FAILAND win looked inevitable but with the bowling all over the place the batmen didn’t have to do anything as the extras continued to flow alarmingly.

With an astonishing 68 extras including 24 byes and 28 wides and 6 no balls being conceded, it was no wonder PHOENIX crept over the line in the last over.

WAQAS was the leading wicket taker grabbing three vital wickets, but until this area of their cricket improves dramatically any future wins will be hard to come by.
Next visitors to FAILAND are table topping BRISTOL PAKISTANIS.

Lyndon Prendergast

Right.... DIRECTIONS TO PHOENIX WEST INDIES:

Just spoke to their captain and their ground is on Lawrence Weston Lane next to Lawrence Weston House very near to Blaize Castle.

I am pretty sure that this is the old police ground.

MARVIN'S MID-SEASON MESSAGE

Gentlemen of the 2nd XI

This Saturday 16th July is a key point in the season. You must travel to Phoenix West Indians and do battle in the inhospitable wasteland of their home territory. In the opening words of that seminal early 20th Century writer Jack London's "White Fang", a story of man and dog struggling to survive against brutality in a savage Alaskan world:

"Dark spruce forest frowned on either side the frozen waterway. The trees had been stripped by a recent wind of their white covering of frost, and they seemed to lean toward each other, black and ominous, in the fading light. A vast silence reigned over the land. The land itself was a desolation, lifeless, without movement, so lone and cold that the spirit of it was not even that of sadness. There was a hint in it of laughter, but of a laughter more terrible than any sadness -- a laughter that was mirthless as the smile of the Sphinx, a laughter cold as the frost and partaking of the grimness of infallibility. It was the masterful and incommunicable wisdom of eternity laughing at the futility of life and the effort of life. It was the Wild, the savage, frozen-hearted Northland Wild."

Read more electronically at http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/London/Writings/WhiteFang/ .

You must exist in this world, survive and return with 26 points.

Marvin B Straightjacket (OBE)

No sign of last week's never say die attitude....

But

CHARLIE BOY IS THE MAN

Following last week’s tremendous win at CHIPPING SODBURY the FAILAND & PORTBURY second eleven were brought back to earth when soundly beaten at home by ALMONDSBURY by 58 runs.

With the club missing eight frontline bowlers resources were stretched to the limit. 16-year-old JONAS WILLIAMS opened the bowling in the first team whilst the second team were indebted to a superb man of the match performance by 13-year-old debutant CHARLIE WALKER.

Skipper HENRY HUMPHREYS sprung a surprise by asking young CHARLIE to open the bowling. He responded with an immaculate line and length display to concede a paltry five runs from his four permitted overs.

The bowling lacked any direction or penetration and ALMONDSBURY coasted to 82 before a superb leg side stumping from ARTHUR VAUGHAN made the breakthrough. The run rate continued to climb unabated to 134 before CHARLIE was reintroduced into the attack. His first ball went for a maximum but he gained swift revenge with two wickets in his next over. He threw in a direct run out for good measure before having to come out from the attack.

Boundaries were coming thick and fast with no bowler able to stem the flow with BERNARD RAINES who took three wickets also coming in for some heavy punishment. CHARLIE was able to bowl another over at the death and claimed his third wicket thanks to another slick stumping. Unfortunately a sitter was put down to leave CHARLIE’S final figures 9 – 1 – 18 – 3 with just the one boundary as the visitors stormed to 236 for 7.

ARTHUR VAUGHAN and LYNDON PRENDERGAST gave FAILAND a solid start putting on 53 for the first wicket before both were caught in consecutive overs. With the track getting lower and lower no batsman could get to grips with the bowling. CHRIS SMITH battled hard for a patient 26, but it was the batting of PHIL GAY playing his first game for two years that caught the eye. PHIL cracked a six and seven fours in an excellent 48 before being caught on the boundary. The rest of the batting limped along to leave FAILAND all out for 178 in the final over.


Lyndon Prendergast

http://www.bdca.co.uk/

Check out league tables on

FAILAND STORM HOME:

Sweet revenge for early season defeat!!

FAILAND & PORTBURY second eleven travelled to top of the table CHIPPING SODBURY and overcame both the elements and the opposition to avenge the early season defeat. In one of their best performances for many years a spectacular finish saw FAILAND come back from the dead to win by two wickets.

It wasn’t long before FAILAND were bowling and fielding in heavy drizzle and with a wet ball, but at least they were playing. With SODBURY reaching 87 for 1 with plenty of overs left a huge total seemed probable. A truly stupendous catch by young HAMED AHMED saw the dismissal of the dangerous M.GRAHAM as FAILAND fought hard to get back into the match.

Despite WAQAS grabbing three quick wickets the star of the show was the old warhorse big BERNARD RAINES. In a prolonged spell BERNARD kept one end tied up but amazingly only ended with two for 43 from 15 excellent overs.

The bowling was now of the highest order as FAILAND only conceded 13 runs from the final four overs and this was to prove vital as SODBURY totalled 183 for 7. GEORGE HUMPHREYS did well to well to finish with 2 for 33 despite having to bowl off just a few paces due to the wet conditions.

Typically for a day in July the sun came out while the players were enjoying a sumptuous tea. FAILAND’S innings started in brilliant sunshine and the drying wicket causing all sorts of problems for the openers. The batsmen struggled to 27 for 1 from 17 overs and any bookie would have given you long odds against a FAILAND victory.

LYNDON PRENDERGAST upped the tempo in this ‘friendly’ league match until controversionally given run out for 48 hard earned runs.

Pinch hitter HAMED AHMED was thrown into the mix to crash a mammoth six and three fours in a quick fire 23 as FAILAND fought hard to get back into the match.

Man of the Match BIG BERNIE joined veteran CHRIS SMITH with FAILAND still requiring 44 runs from the final three overs.

They chipped away with the former crashing a huge six and four to leave 14 runs required from the final over.

FAILAND went one better than the boys at LORDS as CHRIS was caught for 29 off the first ball of the over which brought in the so far run-less NADEEM.

In a dramatic finale a single next ball saw NADEEM on strike and he proceeded to crash the next three balls to the boundary to leave the home side and their cock a hoop supporters somewhat shell shocked as FAILAND cruised home with two wickets and a ball to spare.

Lyndon Prendergast


Awesome victory lads.... two games against lower table opposition could see us get very near to the top.

Remember to email me availability please (and avert a heart attack on my part.)

Nets Tuesday.

HH

What happens if you drop out of the team on a Thursday or Friday:

Just about every week someone drops out of the team shortly before the match; in fact I think it has been every week so far.

Therefore I spend most Friday evenings on the phone raising another player (or players as is the case this week.)

Please can everyone show a little more respect to those people who make it possible for you to play cricket. If you say that you can play next week after a match then you have committed to play.

Selection is on Tuesday and the team is up on the internet on a Tuesday night. Not one of you emails me without some kind of prompting confirming your availability and I have to then chase you up. Given the frequency with which some of you answer the phone/check emails, this is an onerous task.

The only genuine excuse for droppping out is injury.

Note also that it is not the red circle on the map. Just follow directions below.

Chipping Sodbury Directions:

http://www.thomsonlocal.com/CompanyInfo.aspx?ID=853834&type=4&wtk=481273_fl&mode=map&cobrand=pagebuilder

Type the above in to your browser.

Get onto Wickwar road of the High Street and look out for the Ridings sports ground.

The match will start at 1.30pm this week so get there at 1pm please.

2nd XI

Long Ashton report below from Lyndon Prendergast

2nd XI

A FAILAND & PORTBURY second team visited near neighbours LONG ASHTON and came away with a comfortable 67 run victory.
FAILAND were inserted on a rain affected wicket and soon lost LYNDON PRENDERGAST well caught in the deep for 12. Steady batting by PAUL TEASDALE 16, veteran CHRIS SMITH with a solid 48, skipper HENRY HUMPHREYS ad attractive 28 and a chancy 55 by ALISTAIR McARTHUR saw FAILAND reach 169 for 3 with six overs remaining. A startling collapse saw 6 wickets fall for 16 runs as FAILAND stumbled to 102 for 9 from their allotted overs.
Both LONG ASHTON openers failed to trouble the scorers against some testing bowling from NADEEM AHMED and MARK DAY. After slumping to 29 for 5 the home side were saved from humiliation with a fighting stand by veterans S.TANNER and M.HORCHARD who both hit 36 in a stand of 60.
Obdurate batting by the late order saw the end prolonged, but the innings ended on 134 with a half fit WAQAS AHMED claiming 3 for 11.

2nd XI:

Good victory on Saturday; report to appear here v.soon courtesy of
Mark Day.

Check out league tables online at www.bdca.co.uk

2nd XI
All: please note that there is a club social on Saturday 9th July at Horce Race Lane.

2nd XI:

Heartbreak for Hanham at Horce Race Lane:

Under pressure to bat first from senior members of the side ("we don't wait to bat... we bat!!") stand in skipper Bernard Raines chose to do so on a green top rapidly drying in sunny conditions.

Bottom placed Hanham looked like cannon fodder for our 2nd Xi that seems to get stronger by the week, but Bernard must have been thinking about punching throats when we were reduced to 56 for 5.

However, Chris Smith (55) and Waquas Ahmed (73) put together a match winning score and drove Failand up to 201.

In reply Hanham managed only 158 in better batting conditions (Thomas 60 and no.11 Banks 22*). Babar Khan returned from injury to take 5 - 27, his second 5 wicket haul of the season, and J Williams took 3 - 26 in a typically tight opening spel.

Next week Long Ashton Away.... with a strengthened batting line up nothing but victory will be tolerated.

HH

PUT TO BED BY BEDMINSTER
A weakened FAILAND & PORTBURY second team hosted BEDMINSTER and it had a definite ‘win the toss, win the game’ feel about it.

After being inserted on a rain affected wicket FAILAND were rocked by the spiteful nature of the track and quickly slumped to 11 for 3. Some brave batting by JOHN PARFITT and STEVE PURSEY steadied the innings with the wicket making it a battle for survival against an eager but not dangerous bowling attack.

JOHN took a number of blows whilst helping take the score to 56 before being bowled for 19 including four boundaries. With the wicket noticeably easing, the remaining FAILAND batsmen were not up to the task of batting out the overs.

STEVE was the exception and when he fell to one of nine close to the wicket catches for a fighting 27 containing a six and three fours, FAILAND looked unlikely to reach three figures. Last man Ahmed crashed a six and four to ensure a second batting point for a shell-shocked FAILAND side. The innings folded for 104 with seven overs still remaining.

In bright sunshine, a now easy paced track saw BEDMINSTER race to victory for the loss of just two wickets. The total of 25 extras was testament to the ill disciplined nature of FAILAND’S wayward bowling.

All in all a terrible day at the office for the newly promoted side and it to be hoped the return of their students in a few weeks will strengthen the ranks.

Next week FAILAND are missing some key personnel for their visit to fellow promoted BISHOPSTON.

2nd XI
Saturday Vs. Bishopston

Guys, the ground is at Westbury Fields on Passage Road. (Surrounded by an Old People's Home.)

Copy and paste this into your browser to bring up a map.

http://www.stmonicatrust.org.uk/pdf/st_monica_map.pdf

Its a bit tricky to find the entrance so leave plenty of time to get there.

Aim to get there at 1.15 and no later than 1.30.

HH

2nd XI

League Table:

You can check out where we are in the league by clicking on this link.

http://www.bdca.co.uk/

F & P's Rising Tide at The Lake Grounds!
FAILAND & PORTBURY 2nds visited a very youthful PORTISHEAD second string and came away with a comfortable eight-wicket victory.

On a hard fast track the home side's innings was built around the contributions of two veterans. ADRIAN FISHMAN, who pulled a hamstring and batted with a runner made 27 and a fighting 36 from PETER SAVORY saw PORTISHEAD struggle to 158 all out. Top score was extras, which reflected both the waywardness of the bowling and some very sloppy fielding.

The exception was a superb spell of left arm quick swing bowling from WAQAS AHMED who finished with 4 for 16 from nine overs.

After a few early scares SIMON BACHELOR and LYNDON PRENDERGAST
made the young PORTISHEAD attack work hard for any success. In an opening stand of 97 SIMON was particularly dominant cracking nine fours in his 56. LYNDON was eventually dismissed when leaving a straight one. His patient knock of 48 contained a six and three fours.

HENRY HUMPHREYS 15* and CHRIS SMITH 10* saw FAILAND cruise home to maximum points and end PORTISHEAD’S winning start to the season.

Next week FAILAND host high flying BEDMINSTER.

2nd XI: "2nd XI
Directions to Sat game will appear here tonight....

2nd XI
League Game Away at Portishead Bank Holiday Monday!!

30th May!!

2nd XI
Biggest Game of the Season Next Week!!

Great pity that we were rained off yesterday, but great efforts must be made to get the team fit and available next weekend. Its defending champions Bristol Pakistanis on their own patch....

2nd XI
Can people stop getting injured please!

Seriously guys, stretch out those ham strings every day for minimum of 40 secs at a time... don't bounce up and down (Bernard), just hold it at a decent level of pressure. It shouldn't be painful just feel the stretch. Work on it every day rather than ocasionally beasting yourself! You will improve as a result!

Captain

2nd XI:
Are all the games going to be that tense?

1) Could everybody send their long term availability to failandselection@hotmail.co.uk.

2) Could everyone who hasn't got one please get hold of a Failand & Portbury cap.... Paul Bachelor has them.

3) Nets Tuesday night...... catches win matches and all that !!?!

McArthur unbeaten century sets up win away at Almondsbury

Following last week’s "people's victory" FAILAND & PORTBURY 2nds showed five changes for their visit to ALMONDSBURY.

In a fantastic game of cricket FAILAND came out on top by a mere three runs. Batting first on a difficult green wicket both of FAILAND’S opening batsmen sustained leg injuries. Despite this they managed to give their side a good start putting on 50 before LYNDON PRENDERGAST was dismissed. His partner ALISTAIR McARTHUR, returning after a year out of the game, held the innings together superbly with a little assistance from most of the other batsmen. Batting with a runner ALISTAIR finished with a magnificent unbeaten 115 including three sixes and twelve fours as FAILAND racked up a challenging 237 for 8.

With the wicket now playing much easier the FAILAND beat the bat regularly but were not helped by a number of spilled catches. A win looked odds on for the home side as they raced to 134 without loss off just 27 overs.

BABAR KHAN was brought back into the attack with immediate results. He cleaned bowled both openers in his first over on his return as FAILAND fought back. BABAR finished his spell in devastating fashion by clean bowling all five of his victims and FAILAND resumed pole position.

ALMONDSBURY’S lower order fought back and looked likely victors until a wonderful run out by skipper HENRY HUMPHREYS put the game back in the balance. BERNARD RAINES then produced an excellent penultimate over to leave the hosts requiring 18 from the last over.
They only managed 14 and came up just short. PHOENIX WEST INDIANS come calling next week. How many changes to the team will there be?

For full scorecard go to http://fpcc.play-cricket.com/scoreboard/scorecard.asp?id=10113243

SOD'S LAW APPLIES!
Taking first use of the ball, the F & P II quicks reduced Chipping Sodbury II to 23 for 4. Acting skipper Bernard Raines knew he had to gamble though by keeping them on to the limit of their endurance. Roving reporter Bino Culars observed: "I went past the ground and they were 85 for 5 after 20 overs and things still looked good but when I came past again 8 overs later the Sods were up to 139 for 5."

Little did Bino know that in an acute tactical move the F & P second line of attack was about to offered up for a brutal assault by the Chipping Sodbury batsmen who ended at a massive 288 all out from 43 overs. Suneth Jayaskeria 5-0-42-1, Steve Pursey 7-0-53-0 and Bernard Raines 2-0-11-0 came in for heavy punishment and Mohammed Nadeem despite his excellent opening spell left with the poor rewards of 11-1-49-1.

Throughout the mayhem Paul Nice bowling up the hill turned in magnificent figures of 14.3-1-66-5 in an excellent display that earned him promotion to the 1st XI next week. Culars commented: "He's in my fantasy team!"

F & P had a mountain to climb in their innings and like a punch-drunk boxer circulated backwards around "Linchpin" Lyndon Prendergast who alone stood tall to record 63 in his first outing of the season. "They fell like ninepins" Bino reports as F & P finished on 119.

But all was not as it seemed. F & P left the arena with a valuable 9 points. Like Muhammed Ali in the jungle, they had absorbed the punishment meted out by George Foreman but had struck back to take a "people's victory". The skipper's unexpected tactics had paid off.

Guys... first league game this week and victory must be sought at all costs.

Two things to note:

1) Teams now go up on this website with links to maps for away games. Check out the selection page.

2) There are already more people available early season and there will be more choice for the selectors of the sides. In order to cement your place and improve you game get to nets on a Tuesday!! We have new training kit on the way and a professional coach arriving in late May.

Cheers

Henry

1st May: Tight Finish in Pre-Season Work-Out for 2nd XI
Despite good early bowling from Phil Dungey and Srinath Jayaskeria, a strong Abbots Leigh side amassed 202 for 6 in their 40 overs, helped by robust innings from Andy Read (48) and Dave Grosby (61*) and some slightly wayward change bowling.

Fortified by a capacious tea, Failand were never in the hunt, unable to get the ball away against accurate bowling on a slow wicket. But after subsiding to 75 for 9, a last wicket partnership of 44 between "Dynamite" Dungey and Dick Whittington against the visitors' change bowlers restored some semblance of respectability to finish at 119 all out.

PHOTO: PROMOTION WINNING 2ND XI 2004

2nd XI Captain’s report 2004

This was a great season for the 2nd XI as we have returned at first time of asking to the senior division. However, three games into the season the results were lost two/won one. Not a great start and the pressure was on for me as a new captain.

11 games later the local papers were telling a different story. We had lost only one further game, hammered the opposition to all parts and crucially had secured promotion by achieving second place. Not only did we win our games, but we won them in style.

One game in particular sums up the 2004 season. We were due to play the unbeaten league leaders Bishopston in early July and, even though it had been raining all morning, we managed to cover the wicket. The opposition arrived looking cocksure and arrogant while our boys were all working with buckets and sponges to ensure the game went ahead.

The conservative cricketer would have called this game off and avoided the possibility of suffering a loss. However, down to a man we wanted to beat Bishopston because we wanted to win the league outright. Forty overs later on a very wet track Jon Day and George Fellowes had spearheaded a six-wicket victory with overs to spare.

The ethos that I have tried to install in the team this year is one of unity and teamwork. This may seem an obvious point for what is a team game, but no one can question that this approach got results. Where possible everyone was given a decent go in each game with bat, ball or both and, if this wasn’t possible, that person would find themselves opening the bowling or batting in the top five the next week.

The reason that I did this was twofold: (1) 2nd XI players were keener than ever to play as much of the season as they could, and (2) throughout the season everyone had a similar chance to turn, influence and even win matches.

This policy will continue into next year because in my view if you don’t give people the chance to regularly perform then those people will not get any better, and furthermore they may not wish to play any more.

I hope that those members of the 3rd XI (Steve Pursey, Steve Down, Bob Shepherd, Neil Harrison, Phil Dungey, Colin Williams, Paul Duffey, Mike Young, Dick Whittington) who played during the year felt that this policy applied to them and indeed where called upon they were certainly not found wanting.

In particular Steve Pursey bowled excellently (view averages) and Steve Down chipped in well with bat and ball. I am sure that all these players will be key to further success next year. The door will not be shut to these players should they wish to secure a 2nd XI place on merit next year

The core of the team played exceptionally well with tremendous spirit throughout the season. Chris Smith, Will Humphreys, Anthony Bamber, John Day, Ijaz Shafi, Paul Nice, and Lyndon Prendergast and Henry Humphreys all enjoyed their cricket and crucially all won a game at some stage, whether it was with bat, ball or both.

The bowling of John Day and Tony Bamber deserves a special mention as does the batting of Will Humphreys and Chris Smith who topped the averages. There were also great centuries from Lyndon Prendergast and Ian Simmons. Ijaz Shafi also took 14 dismissals behind the stumps.

However, without doubt the star of the year was George Humphreys with both ball and especially bat. Quite rightly he received the player of the year award and (unfortunately) we may not see much of him next year as he could well nail down an allrounder’s place in the 1st team.

The season was also driven forward by the new players that came into the team. Paul Nice got runs and wickets and we are looking for big things next year. Ijaz Shafi beat off serious competition from more than one quarter to nail down the 2nd XI keeper's spot and he was close to fielder of the year. Waqas Ahmed came in for a series of games and kept up the recent Failand tradition of bowling very fast. George Fellowes also played well in a handful of games and, with Waqas, is another name to watch when he returns next summer to start work in Bristol.

A special mention too for Bernard Raines who was a fantastic man to have as vice captain, especially when others were complaining about the number of slips/lack of slips/cover/why wasn’t so and so bowling/lack of a cover fielder etc etc.

Having been promoted many of you might like to view the teams that we are going to be playing next year, Portishead, Bedminster, Almondsbury, Bishopston, and Long Ashton amongst them.

The aim for 2005 is to win the 2nd XI senior division. Many of you may think that this is unrealistic in that we have won a league where the standard was not great. However, if you cast your minds back to our destruction of the unbeaten Bishopston team and I think that it can be done.

Lastly I would like to thank Paul Bachelor for some fantastic strips to play on during the season, not least when we scored 350 plus against a (shocked) University Staff.


Points for next year:

(1) Non-compulsory Tuesday nets will run through the season and are going to be much more structured and intense.

If you want to break into the 2nd XI team, break into the first team or cement your place then you should be attending these where possible.

There is a big jump in standard next year and we will need to work much harder at our game to win.

(2) Big grounds next year means that the ground fielding has to improve.

(3) We need more runs from the top 5. We were very good this year with lots of big scores, but don’t fall into the trap that 30/40/50 is enough. Scores of 80/90/100 are what win games.

4) Guys down the order will be working in particular on strike rates and speed between the wickets.

This year we were looking at 130 – 150 off the last 15 overs. This year we are going to have to work on more speed between the wickets and better assessment of the conditions in order to work out where to score the runs.

(5) We need two (or more) of our bowlers who are going to work out how to bowl at the end of the innings.

Not much need for this skill this year but during the season in which we were relegated sides were free scoring in the last 15 overs.

This is an area in which someone who can work out how to bowl yorkers to order at various paces could end up winning us a lot of games.

(6) We have to look, as a team, for 2/3/4 new players for the early season or we may find ourselves badly stretched. We got away with it this year with 3 of the early games rained off.

(7) Everyone needs to get F&P kit by the start of next season.

(8) Pre-season nets start 1st February 2005 on Tuesday nights between 8.00 pm and 9.30 pm at The Downs School.

(9) Email me if you want to play indoors at Gloucestershire CC this winter.

(10) Email me if you have any other suggestions.


Guys… we play some big sides next year, but there is no reason why we cannot wipe the floor with them and win the whole division!!!

Henry Humphreys

New safety guidance on the wearing of cricket helmets by young players

The England and Wales Cricket Board has issued new safety guidance on the wearing of cricket helmets by young players. It is recommended that a helmet is worn by young players when batting and when standing up to the stumps when keeping wicket against a hard cricket ball in matches and in practice. A young player should not be allowed to bat or to stand up to the stumps when keeping wicket without a helmet against a hard ball except with written parental consent. Coaches, teachers, managers and umpires should always ensure that a young player wears a helmet if this written parental consent has not been received. Players should regard a helmet with a faceguard as a normal item of protective equipment when batting against a hard ball, together with pads, gloves and, for boys, an abdominal protector (box). There is a British Standard (BS7928:1998) for cricket helmets and it is in the best interests of players to ensure that their helmet confirms to this standard.

The ECB is recommending that this guidance is followed by all players up to the age of 18. It applies to young players in adult cricket as well as to all junior cricket played with a hard cricket ball.

The ECB is requesting that the new guidance is communicated to the parents or guardians of all young players through clubs and schools, and that parental consent is always obtained before young players are allowed to bat or stand up to the stumps when keeping wicket against a hard ball without wearing a helmet.

ECB Cricket Department
February 2003