Andrew Rees' penance continues...

As further punishment Mr Clarke has again asked me to do the match report on the exciting Full Toss Cup final match at Blackweir on dreaded pitch number 4, the Blackweir Oval.
 
We had a good crowd in again despite the inclement weather. Mark and Neils partners, Mr Clegg and Master Clegg, pay for play Imran and a special mention to Danny from the Highways had all come to watch an intriguing cup final.  Clarke won the toss and put us into bat, Rhys and Gwyn could not contain their excitment, so much so Gwyn put his trousers on the wrong way round. Most amusing! Off with the pads to turn them around.  The Centurions were well up for the clash excitable in their gleaming kit.  The CBBss had turned out all in white for the occasion too, Gwyn was pleased.  If only Darren was around to bring the show down with his lucky trousers.
 
Neil and Dai opened the batting on a pitch that had little bounce and an outfield of long grass.  It was a difficult pitch to score on and only a couple of boundaries were scored all along the ground in the whole game.  The buoyant Centurions bowlers were steaming in greeted by cheers of enthusiam from Shearer's faithful band of troops.  Neil and Dai really got to work, and Dai was demolishing the bowlers with some glorious sixes to please the crowds.  Dai did give one slim chance away but was dropped.  Neil managed to injure one fielder with a skied catch, and was dropped 3 times to difficult chances.  Despite both openers retiring after scoring 30 runs the bowling was tight.  Rhys was in to bat next and extra excited after not batting last week despite being number 3. He went for a huge swipe and was bowled for 0. Gwyn added some very useful runs, and his now trade mark dab and go was in force for the crowds. The ungloved Nimesh also batted well.  However the star of the middle order was Mark Mullins.  He's had an excellent season and has many times been the rock in the middle order.  Somehow the marshal Shearer managed to claim 5 wickets from his bowling as the lower order collapsed (I was stumped) well bowled mr Shearer.  A difficult yet tempting target was set of 109 to win.  I noted 5 dropped catches in the innings. 
 
A team huddle from skipper Clarke and the cup was in sight.  The dream of the triple still on.  No pressure then!  The message came from the captain, no funny buisness.  KP and Dileep opened  the bowling and bowled well.  Dileep earned a wicket as did KP i believe, and a few decent lbw shouts.  No funny business was being had, but not the electric starts we've had in some games this season.  Rhys and Dai Thomas came in and for a time the game looked to be in doubt.  Dai had the batsman in knots with his excellent bowling, but he didn't take any wickets.  Rhys wasn't in his rhythm and was being dispatched in his first two overs all around the oval.  It was looking touch and go and  Clarkie under pressure dropped a catch (the first time I can recall seeing him drop a ball) the pressure was on.  It was getting quiet and the Gwyn and Rhys were ordered to raise the moral of the team.  Rhys came back with an excellent last over and it was here the game was clinched, reporter Rees saving the day. The batsman looked to grab a greedy second, the moral brigade were shouting to get it in.  Myself remembering the captains words calmly trickled the ball in, and Nimesh did the rest. They were now left with quite a fun runs to get in a short space of time. 
The meat and drink of the club was sent out to "have a swing" and have a swing he did, mainly at thin air thanks to Neils bowling full of groans and ooo so close from the slip cordon just like the England team.  Everyone was sent to the boundary and i had a nice little chat with imran for the last few overs and Clarke and Neil did the Rest.
 
We won by about 20 runs! Champagne all round, (im holding the remainder in the team photo).  Excellent work Barbarians. Now to decide who will win the big prize...the Full Toss League Title.

Andrew Rees observes...
 
A nice game on a sunny evening at blackweir was had by all the cbbies who were on a high
after winning plate annd cup.  The evening marked what the full toss league is really about.  Turning an uninteresting friendly into a good game where the pressure was still on, however everyone was given the opportunity to shine with either ball or bat.
To cut a long story short the German and his team managed a fair target of 100.  The jerry's were shouting at their leader on the last few delivers to get on with it, but in true mackintosh style he resisted the urge. 
 
The mackintosh only had 9 players and we were all urged to find the gaps and not to get bogged down.  We slowly accumlulated but it wasn't until nimesh got out in the middle that we really started our own blitzkreig. Just as i thought the star of the mackintosh show wasn;t going to bowl he came on to finish an over from an injured bowler.  This year it was rather unentertaining.  In Sam's 4 deliveries i dont recall a wide, no ball, or his special quadrople bouncing delivery. 
Gareth and and Peddle came in and smashed the winning runs leaving reporter rees and rushby pads on without having a bat, how rude. Only one batsmen failed scoring 0.
 
This is one of my favourite games every year, alongside the games against Glendwood.  Well done Cbbies, role on next match.  Player of the day? Darren for his shinny new Flannels.  What would we do without women.

Dart Rh reporting...

CBBies win the Plate!

Vice Captain R Dart Esq paints the following landscape...

Three big games in three days for the CBBies began with the Consmen at Blackwier.

Andrew Rees...
 
Having disgraced myself by abandoning the CBBs recently i was given the punishment of writing the match report, (I think you'll agree harsh punishment indeed).
We had an excellent squad out and even had too many players. Jerry was sold off to the Hurricanes for a worthy price and we were to open the batting. N Rusby and Clegg opened, a proffessional looking pair both in helmets. They started accumulating runs in the now usual CCBs manner and things were looking rather good. Cardiff Uni only had 9 players in the field aswell. I was dreaming of fish and chips whilst watching the darts and Craigs brolley was looking all but useless. Why would such a thing be needed. Next over Craig was playing servant  whilst the team huddled under it, Phil and myself trying to keep the scorebook dry. Neil was refusing to come off and even the stumps were left up.
I didn't know Wales had a monsoon season, but apparently we do. The stumps had to be retrieved by Clubman, it was raining cats and dogs. Neil furious as losing his excellent start. Well done for trying skipper, but even Noah himself would not have braved that pitch.  Match Abandoned. 

Craig Payne opines...

 

The CBBs faced Sully for the second friendly of the season on what turned out to be a hot day where both sides were eager to be home in time to watch the World Cup final.

 

With only 10 players including newbies Luke and Nimesh it was always going to be an uphill task for the CBBs in a 36 over game.  Sully won the toss and chose to bat, a good decision as it turned out.  Their batsmen looked comfortable at the crease and were able to pick up regular singles to keep rotating the strike.  They were completely unaware of Wenvoe etiquette where the side batting is supposed to struggle with uneven bounce and speed, as they demonstrated with a solid 101 second wicket partnership.  They did manage a mini collapse near the end losing their last 6 wickets for less than 25 runs, but by the time they were all out they had reached the safety of 222!

 

I think it is fair to say that it was a very good batting performance by Sully, they punished the bad balls and stole singles where they could and even when they couldn’t resulting in 4 run outs!  We had three different wicket keepers throughout the game (Tom injured, Nimesh had to bowl & Rhys at the end) and it was a struggle with the reduced number of fielders.

 

Our batting line up was looking a little light.  Tom had injured his hand while keeping wicket and couldn’t play on, so we only had nine players available to bat.  Nimesh and Craig opened but only started what was a steady fall of wickets...  We were 110 all out.  Nimesh and Neil had put up some good defiant batting.  Sully fielded very well and bowled with a lot more accuracy in general than we had.  We got ourselves out with a mixture of rash shots and in a couple of cases bad luck, but all in all the CBBs inexperience of batting for longer than 20 overs showed.

 

Sully deserved their win to make it one each for the season.  I’m sure if we could both get 11 players out it would be a much closer game against a good bunch of lads who are keen to play again next year.  Also a mention goes to Tom who came back on to field when really he didn’t need to after hurting his hand.  Good CBBs spirit but perhaps you need to think more about yourself next time.  Get well soon.

Captain Clark reporting...

On a warm evening at the ideal cricket setting of St Fagans, we turned up in force to play eclipse print, i duly lost he toss (again!!) and we were invited to bowl first.
 
Their skipper and opening bat Collyer decided to swing from the first ball, if Gwyn had been on time he would have pouched the first ball at slip as it was he was late and the first ball edged for 4, this started a pattern many edges and some luck, for the batting side and not us.  however much credit must go to the batsmen as they were on 75 for the first wicket stand, finally following a good catch from Dai Jay took their captains wicket for a well hit 52.  Mark mullins then bowled our only maiden, and followed that with another good over during which he shouted at the batsman who was the other opener and well set "are you going to hit the f@~+&$g thing or what" batsman took it well and got out LBW to mullins two balls later.
we managed to drop three catches again.
number 5 batsman soon came in "Fari" this is our luck, he can only play every third wednesday, and not on at tues or thurs, he plays for Cardiff Sri Lankans on a sunday.
well on his display he could play for the real Sri Lankans!!
50 from 23 balls or something stupid like that.
a total of 195 for eclipse print.
Plus points for the CBB's were the keeping of stand in keeper Rhys Dart only 2 byes, bowling of Dileep, and the fact that as a unit we didnt give up and gave 100% at all times, must catch those catches though!
 
when we batted we were able to hold our heads high notable performances from Rhys Dart completeing a good game for him (29), Craig Payne who opened his shoulders more than once to good effect (36), and Dai who kept the fielders very busy (36), mullins a solid 11no at the end we totalled 148 for 7, on many other days a match winning total. so good effort and well done even in defeat.

Captain Dart reporting....

Andrew Grills waxes lyrical :-

Driving along on a glorious summer evening.

A secluded gateway in a leafy lane opens upon the idyllic setting of St. Fagans cricket club.

Walking up past the well manicured main pitch.

In the distance the nets with a gaggle of exuberant children being barked at by attendant headmaster-cum-juniors coach to the middle pitch.

Short boundaries close cropped outfield and a flat wicket.

 

Despite tremendous efforts from both Sandeep and Dai bowling and everyone in the field St. Fagans get of to a decent start making the most of every nick and edge which all too often run away to the rope.

43 off 7 for no wicket.

In his second over Imran makes a well needed breakthrough by taking our first wicket.

Unfortunately that is nearly the only high point of the innings as the batsmen pile on the runs.

The Captain does the decent thing and bears the brunt of the now confident batting attack, bowling four of the last overs for figures I unfortunately don’t have to hand at present.

Rhys Dart makes (arguably) the best catch of the season to save six runs and take our second wicket.

Leaving the home team with an impressive 189 for 2 (S Edmed 100 not out).

 

With a huge task ahead of them Dai and Rhys take to the field for the CBB’s.

After a slow start Rhys finds the middle and scores a cracking four only to be caught off the next delivery.

7 off 3 for 1 wicket.

Whilst Dai is hitting the ball sweetly all around the ground to rack up the boundaries Gareth on the other hand wielded the willow as well as anyone on the day but could only find the St. Fagans’ fielders of which I’m sure I counted 15 at one point.

CBB’s hopes suffered a huge blow when Dai was undone by one which kept low having scored a blistering 41.

Gareth’s efforts should have been rewarded with much more than 18 when he was stumped by the very sharp keeper.

Mark took up the challenge and scored well while Gwyn gave the home team some catching practice.

Which it appears they badly needed, dropping at least four good chances.

After some time watching the skies Mr Walker briefly confused at to which sport he is playing reverts back to his early days as linebacker for the Cardiff Rhino’s and fully flattens the St. Fagans’ bowler with a bone jarring body check.

Much to the relief of the bowling attack a catch is eventually taken and Gwyn leaves the field for 6.

Imran was also caught, unfortunately without bothering the scorers two balls later.

Phil takes the field brimming with confidence (with 2 balls to go) and the CBB’s end the day 103 for 5.

 

Upon reflection the CBB’s should be pleased to have seen out the 20 overs with plenty of batting still to come.

Dai was unlucky not to go on and make a really big score and had his aggressive bowling been suitably rewarded with a wicket or two early on the game could have been very different.

Everyone worked really hard in the field on a hot and humid evening.

Unfortunately we came up against a couple of batsmen in the St. Fagans’ side who could easily find a place in a team* placed much higher than the willows league.

*(possibly the one they were co-opted from)

Still a lovely summers evening, great setting, good company and some top drawer cricket.

Special mention to Nathan, 12^th man and scorer (a hectic job in the first innings).

by Craig Payne

11 CBBs turned up to play GE Healthcare at Pontcanna Fields. We began the evening with a lovely tour round all the pitches at Pontcanna and soon identified that we hadn’t gotten a pitch to play on. The council had dropped a bollock by booking us to play on one of the mystery pitches that doesn’t exist. According to our red faced and shirted council employee there are six pitches there which is surprising as there are only counted four, on our tour. Clarkie seized the initiative and we all walked round the pitches some more while the midweek league teams (amateurs if you ask me) all started their games.

Mr Red Shirt / Face wasn’t coming up with much. Maybe it would be a wasted journey and the game would be off? We found out that Blackweir was fully booked so that was ruled out and then someone suggested Llandaff, so off we went to play on the plastic.. Thankfully someone had mown the outfield recently and there was a boundary line so play began at 6.45 with GE going in to bat in a game reduced to 16 overs. Their innings was an interesting one. Jay and Rakesh opened the bowling for us and their openers seemed to be struggling to hit the ball in front of square. It turned out there was a good reason for this as the cross wind and some on target bowling very quickly had them 6 wickets down! Rakesh had taken 5, his victims mainly bowled and surprised with some vicious inswing, the first CBB to have a 5 wicket haul this season! Jay got in on the act as well with his outswing and bowled a guy with a boomerang around the back of his legs. A bit like Shane Warne’s first ball to Gatting years ago except Jay wasn’t bowling spin and their batsman didn’t eat all the pies. There was a little flurry of runs towards the end of their innings as the last batsmen came in and had a swipe edging a couple of fours but it was too little too late. By the time 8 overs had gone their last batsmen had been run out leaving us with a target of 21 to win!

Surely not even the CBBs could f***, (I mean balls) this up! Rhys and Craig went in to bat with the idea that we would get maximum bonus points if we didn’t lose more than one wicket! Rhys took an aggressive stance with a moo at the third ball which would have disappeared if he hadn’t been caught! 0 for 1. In came Amogh, looking a little surprised that he was getting a bat so soon. I then had to call for a runner only to be told to hit fours until Rhys came back for a bit of exercise. The CBB collapse never materialised though and with the help of a few edges and Mr Wides the CBBs were soon home at 21-1 for a 9 wicket win!

Barely an hour had gone. A great result for the CBBs, who never gave GE a chance of victory after Rakesh’s opening spell.

by Nathan Swain

6pm – Thursday May 27^th. 20 Glenwood players warm up in the sunshine at Blackweir,  while four CBBs look on in frustration and a touch of embarrassment. Eventually Andy Grills turned up with a car full of Indias finest, KP and Sandeep turned up having once again gotten lost (GPS top of the Christmas list I’m thinking?). The match got under way with CBBs opening the batting.

Rhys Dart and Andy Rees opened the batting but were both dismissed for ducks in similar fashion, being caught behind by the wicket keeper/slip. Swain came into bat and looked to steady the ship with a well placed shot to get the scoreboard moving. Only to be run out next ball as he and Amogh looked to push the run rate (credit to Glenwoods Lloyd Sutton for a great run out from long distance).

CBBs were 2-3 and looking like they’d be home in time to catch George Alagiah run thought the headlines.

Amogh and Rakesh came in to save the CBBs blushes, both reaching 30 and looking like they could bat all night long had they not had to retire. KP also knocked up a few runs taking the total to a respectable 99 all out. Particularly good in light of the five players dismissed for ducks.

CBBs knew they were in with a shout of winning if they bowled sensibly and kept the field tight. Matt Clarke and Sandeep opened the bowling and did just that, restricting Glenwood to a few runs per over. Rhys Dart and Rakesh were the next pairing, with Rakesh’s bowling being met with the now familiar batter response of “I cant even see the thing let alone hit it!”. Darts spin bowling caused Glenwood problems and he took a few good wickets, Swain taking a nice catch behind the stumps, rewarding him for the fat lip and assaulted crotch (god bless the man who invented boxes) he had sustained during the faster bowlers.

A tense finish was set up with Glenwood needing 21 from 3 overs. However CBBs switched off at the vital moment and some sloppy bowling and fielding meant that Glenwood achieved this target with 5 balls and a good few wickets to spare.

Some good individual performances with the bat and ball, some players left knowing there is room for improvement, but a good performance nonetheless. With plenty of games still to play the CBBs will be a team to fear when firing on all cylinders.

by Andrew Rees

After a summer shower it was game on. 11 Versus 11 with 2 resevers turning up to watch the game
We fielded first on a bouncy soft wicket.
Media Wales' opening batsman was out for not very many, and Rowlands and a back foot slogger set in. Chances seemed to come and go, and they slowly accumulated. Good overs noted from Gwyn, who opened the bowling and Mr Chair. Jerry and Grills then came on to bowl. Grills later was in bemusement..."how did that happen?". Well i can you tell you all it did. Grills thew up a ball, and the batsmens missed bowled taking a swipe, bowled top of off stump. Next batter in, Grills threw up a tempter. It was clear to see on the batters face, he was thinking to himself, this is my christmas & birthday both at once. He took a hugh swipe at the temper and was clean bowled! Two balls, two wickets. Hat Trick ball, Rhys Dart positions himself at short leg, Darren advises go for the long catch instead, and the ball went popped up straight to where rhys was standing. After this Media Wales seemed to implode with some good bowling from ourselves. They managed to set a reasonable target of 96.
 
The feeling at camp was we would knock the runs off easily. Dai and Jerry opened the batting, and dai smashed a first ball four followed by another four. I started to ponder what was happening in this new decade? South wales echo are now Media wales and CBBIES keep winning games, where was the trade mark CBBIES Collapse? The only sign of the old world was Imran's blazer and trouser combination. Dai retired on 30 exactly and all was cheerie. I was thinking would I be able to catch the rest of the 20/20 on the radio. I had however spoken too soon. Media Wales brought on there two experienced spiners and runs were becoming hard to come by. Mr Chair, Purav, Andy Rees & Grills all fell foul to the tricksters and soon after darren. We needed quite a few, would the rest be able to do it? Rhys dart had a minor ashtma attack finding out. It looked close with 3 overs to go but some quite poor bowling and excellent batting and running from Rhys and co saw us home easily with 5 balls remaining. Well done CBBIES. Media Wales must concentrate on their fiedling (far too many dropped catches) and there closing bowlers deliveries in order to pose a real challenge.

by Lleu Williams...

A sunny afternoon in Blackweir was more appropriate for BBQing with students in bikinis (there were plenty of them about) than playing cricket, but the Cardiff Bay Barbarians had a job to do, and that was to get back to winning ways against Media Wales. With Rhys Dart captaining for the evening, and with his inspirtational if not cheesy team talk, how could we lose? Well our worse fears were put upon us when we were put into bat first, but not before Jon Lansley was sent from the crease as a professional umpire had turned up, which led to Jon’s many accusations that a team of journalists were consistently ‘offside’ and “they should be sent off”, it was jokes relating to media spin apparently.

On a very dry wicket for June, Rhys Dart wasted no time in racing to thirty runs not out with some big hits, and spanking one spinner for three fours in an over, before the compulsory retirement at 33 runs (ICB rule 234.2c I think? Mr Ch can you clarify?). CBBS were going well, and with Mark Mullins at the crease the two spectators and three students couldn’t wait. Unfortunately for us, since Mullins quit smoking he has gone slower and he got run out for something daft like 6.

This led to Jerry Jones and Jon Lansley at the crease to steady the ship, we were sailing, despite not scoring a huge amount of runs, it was enough to keep us in the game. The inevitable CBBs collapse was once again upon us, with us losing many good batsmen for a few runs, before Lleu Williams and Dileep came in to see the CBBs home with some Gilchrist-esque bottom order pinching for a total of 108-9.

The feeling within the CBBs team was that this game was here to win, and after another mediocre team talk from the skipper, the boys were enthused and motivated. The skipper handed the ball to Mark Mullins to open our bowling spell against Media Wales. The first over from Mark Mullins was tight and the omens looked good for the CBBs. Jay took the second over and produced some fantastic bowling around the wicket, and he was unlucky not to take any more wickets. By the sixth over, paranoia had crept into Mullins’ mind and he was forever asking the wicketkeeper Nathan Swain, and slip fielder Lleu Williams, was he getting slower, to which the obvious response was, “yes you are!”.

As the period went one, CBBs produced some fanstatic bowling, without making too many inroads, but the wickets fell at the crucial times that they needed to, with Dileep taking a beauty by clipping off stump, and Andy Rees producing some beautiful bowling to take two great wickets. Special mention has to go to the keeping of Nathan Swain, who had a fantastic afternoon with the gloves. Eventually, Media Wales, didn’t manage to reach the target that was set to them, and lost the game, I guess it will be one story they won’t be reporting on!

Report to follow

by Andrew Rees

After Super Gwyn had organized the entertainment of his future lineage, it was 10 versus 10 on lovely day at wenvoe.  My concerns of a lifeless pitches were soon gone as a few practice balls showed the pitch to be slow but with plenty of bounce. The Cardiff Cougars had a few professional looking young players, and a friend from had advised me they had one or two tasty players.  We won the toss and decided to bat.  I opened the with Nathan.  Some quick singles followed from there two quick bowlers Nathan was just starting to hit out with he got bowled to a decent ball. I scored 19 before getting out LBW after being dropped at midwicket. Ishan was just starting to get going before getting out.  Leaving Andy Grills to marshall the lower order, only to be run out despite a despairing dive, I hope Andy G does his own washing, on the penultimate ball! Gwyn the specialist runner was sent out for the last ball at the non strikers end however he wasn’t needed with Rhys smashing a 4 from the last ball.  The Cougars bowled consistently and had restricted us to 102…would it be enough, would their one or two tasty players notch up 30 each?

The answer became quite clear in the first two overs...some accurate bowling by mark mullins and pace from ishan cleaned up there upper order...the cbbies in there new playing style were leathal and some excellent fielding some lovely slow motion diving stops by the skipper and there last two batsmen were in.  Could we have another batter was the question?  A difient no..."no more mr nice cbbies".  Special mention should go to Tom L who was hardy behind the stumps and managed to stop the ball with his teeth at one point.  Another  good win in the SWFT played in good spirits.

by mr ch

Last night served as a reminder why we did well to move away from here. Fast outfield cracking weather but an awful sponge like wicket full of patched holes and so early in the season. A pitch worth twice as much as a Pontcanna - no. It wasn't the best performance I've seen. Camped down in position 11 I saw my colleagues come and go. Mr Wides top scoring with double figures. 87 for was never going to be enough gentlemen.

And so it proved with them hitting a swept 4 in the last over to get to 88. It was a close run thing in the end with the usual bowling suspects and some bagged catches ensuring a steady fall of wickets. 15 more runs might well have ensured a different outcome. That old grey buffoon who moved like an arthritic oil tanker should be dropped.

Mentions in dispatches go to Gareth Hunt who was excellent deep in the field with a couple of very quick pick up and returns. And Gwynfor was a great fielder great hand eye co-ordination in and around the slips. A joy to watch. Kudos to Mr Peddle too for standing up to a number of our bowlers.

The crowd (Craig) seemed to enjoy himself.

4 Willows games have come and gone 2 wins followed by 2 losses. Plate form.

Craig Payne reports...

This was a 40 over Sunday game that was played at Sully’s ground on what seemed to be the hottest day of the year so far.  Thanks must go to Rakesh and his friends for finding a couple of last minute replacements or we would have begun the game with nine men.

Sully won the toss and went in to bat looking to get some runs on the board and to begin with the CBBs duly obliged by firing down some pacey legside wides to keep Darren busy who was standing in behind the stumps.  Well, I say busy, but he was more of a spectator for the first over.  Our opening bowlers, Rakesh and KP were soon in their stride however and Rakesh was bowling some lovely deliveries that were angling in to the batsmen.  After 10 overs we had Sully on 33-2 and it wasn’t until their 4^th and 5^th bat came in that they got a decent partnership together. 

We plugged away in the heat with a lot of the boys looking quite tired and managed to restrict Sully in the end to 159 for quite a lot of wickets.  (You may have guessed by now that I don’t have the scorebook.)  This looked like a low total to chase down in 40 overs on what was a fast outfield.

I think Darren and Kemal opened the batting and it was clear that Sully had one express bowler who was going to be tricky to play.  Kemal went after the bowler at the other end and played a beautiful looking lofted drive, except he missed the ball and was bowled.  I can’t remember what happened next as I was eating Chocolate Buttons but then all of as sudden I found myself in.  Don’t worry, I did manage to finish the Buttons.  Darren was still there when I arrived and I soon found out that their pace bowler was as quick as he had looked from the boundary.  We managed to see his overs out when he really deserved a wicket and everything else after that was at a much gentler pace.  The scoring rate increased and the CBBs began to take a grip on the game so that by the time Darren had superbly picked out the oppo captain in the covers we were within 50 runs of victory.  Imran came in not long after and did what Imran does, so that we picked up the runs with around 15 overs and 5 wickets to spare.

It was a good victory in a friendly game played on a lovely ground.  Sully were a nice bunch of lads and provided a great tea for us after the game at some caravan park near Cosmeston lakes.  Everyone in the team made a contribution to the win but man of the match goes to Darren for his ability to balance enormous quantities of sandwiches on his plate at the buffet.     

Imran Ahmed to report

10/05/2010 : by Jerry Jones

It looked like we would struggle to raise a team after several selected players cried off, but after some last minutes calls we managed to raise eleven. Would eleven turn up? Yes and credit to those for stepping in.

Again it was cloudy and unsure of how the light would hold so we agreed to a 16 over match. We also chose to use a yellow ball. That was new.

We had not played The Westgate before so we didn’t know what to expect. Gwyn as captain had the massive task to sort out a makeshift team of largely unknown players and remembering the fielding positions “I only know slip and that’s all”.

The Westgate won the toss and decided to bowl first. Gwyn picked Jerry and Vikram to open the batting. Jerry was determined to make up for his duck against the Glamorgan Centurions. It wasn’t long before Vikram was given lbw after 4 runs, Tom Lansley's innings was short lived being bowled for 1. KP and Jerry forged a strong partnership. However the run rate was not as high as we'd hoped.  KP was eventually bowled for 27 (4 boundaries) to be replaced by Sunil. Jerry steadily added to his tally until he was eventually bowled for 15 (a personal record btw). Jerry was replaced by Venkat. Gwyn came in and soon showed his class with 6 runs off three balls until the Gazelle was run out. The Westgate’s bowling was generally slow to mid pace but pretty accurate with not many wides given.

We ended our inning with 76 for 7, was it enough?

“Keep it tight” Gwyn said “No silly mistakes now”.

Our bowling was a pleasure and made the fielding easy, although we could not be complacent. The opening bowlers Sandeep took 1 wicket and Jay 2 wicket. Vinkat and Saleem got 1 wicket. Deelip was the quiet assassin with an amazing 4 wickets. B Stevens was proving to be their best and most stubborn of batsmen. He was eventually run out. Wickets fell regularly, our bowlers kept them down to 50 runs

Fantastic fielding from everyone particularly the Indian boys. Their speed and accuracy of returning the ball was a lesson to us all. A brilliant diving catch by Sandeep. Tom and Nathan changed wicket keeping duties mid way and both did well.

All in all it was an enjoyable evening. The Westgate were a good and sporting bunch of lads who on another day may have taken the honours.

SWFTL @ Blackweir
by Jerry Jones

Fresh from our splendid win against Rhiwbina seven changes were made for our first SWFTL match. The weather had improved after the lunch rain although the threat of a heavy shower wasn't far away. CBBs were first to bat opening with Jerry and Rasheev I wasn't long before the writing was on the wall. Jerry caught in the covers after a clean hit. Rajeev ran out; Rakesh LBW after a nice 4 and Craig caught. Purav held tight with some steady batting. It was clear the wicket was playing a large part in the bowling There was no consistancy in the bounce. Gwyn entered the arena looking to salvage the ship which was sinking fast. After a nice boundary and a few quick singles things started to look better. Mr Wides and Gwyn were neck and neck. At the halway stage we were only 33 - 7. However it didn't last long before Gwyn fell to Shearer and the rest of the batting collapsed in similar vein. Mr Chairman, Clarkie and Sandeep all fell before finally Darracott was bowled leaving us with 46 all out.

Were we going to be the Liberal Democrats fail to live up to the hype or the Tories and win by a small margin?

Clarky organised the field to keep it as tight as possible and let the wicket do the talking.

As the game progressed the Centurians began to show similar run results. Whilst their batters stayed put they were unable to fully capitalise. This was due to the well drilled field and notably stand in wicket keeper Tom Lansley who made an impressive display including a catching batting dangerman R Lewis. Watch out the Peddler! Notably Sandeep and Rakesh's pacy bowling unsettled their batsman. At the halfway stage they were 35 - 3. Could we hold out? No. Ball hit the final runs to kill the game off 44 - 4.

All in all clearly not a great batting performance even allowing for the wicket, but the fielding was much better and bowling from the new boys showed exciting promise for the rest of the season.

Pontcanna
by Phil Peddle CBB’s make a cracking start to the season, defeating a quality Rhiwbina side in a match that ends up being completed in almost total darkness.

Having won the toss Rhiwbina took the surprise decision of sticking the CBB’s into bat on the brand spanking new wicket at Pontcanna, perhaps they hoped to steamroller us and get home in time to catch the end of the England vs Ireland 20/20 on TV?

It proved to be a decision that backfired as the CBB’s, bolstered by the addition of some quality summer signings set about racking up a very decent first innings total of 134. The opening pair of the soon to be married Dart and newcomer Dai Thomas put on 33 for the first wicket, Dai looking particularly good in compiling a classy 29.

With the stage set and things looking good Rhiwbina began to get a foothold and the run rate slowed as a couple of wickets fell, fortunately for the CBB’s this brought an inspired Imran to the crease who hit a quick fire 44 not out to ensure we had a solid score to defend, credit also goes to Andy Rees who as a last minute call up chipped in with a rapid 14 not out.

The Rhiwbina reply got off to solid start despite some good bowling from yet another CBB new boy Jay and the irrepressible Imran. After 5 overs Rhiwbina were well within the run rate and looking composed despite the gathering gloom.

In the end it was a historic CBB’s weak spot that turned the game in our favour. In the past the team has been guilty of some glaring dropped catches that have cost us games but this time the fielders were inspired. No less than 6 Rhiwbina batsmen were dismissed via catches, several of which had the batsmen shaking their head in disbelief. The best of the evening was taken by Craig Payne (you guessed it another new recruit) who somehow avoided being decapitated right on the boundary by a ball that came out of pitch blackness to dismiss the dangerous opener who had up till then had scored a fluid 75.

By the time the penultimate over started it was so dark the fielders were comically setting of in totally the wrong direction after hearing bat on ball, at one point I shouted at Rhys to “go this way” only to realise he had no chance of seeing where I was pointing. With the scores getting close the CBB’s had to hold their nerve and ensure the bowling was kept tight to give the keeper any chance at all of stopping the ball in the dark.

I can’t forget to give the Captain a mention as he took a deserved 3 wickets in 4 balls in the closing stages which allowed the CBB’s to hold out for the win by a margin of 11 runs.

All in all a good game played in a great spirit and well done to Rhiwbina who in different conditions (i.e. daylight) may have stolen the points.

Latest indoor report:

In the final round of matches befothe mid season break the CBB indoor team failed to register their first win of 2010 against a slick Creigiau side. Bowling first, the CBBs restricted Creigiau to 85, a decent total for the bar-bars when you consider that three of the creigiau batsman retired with their wickets intact having scored 25 runs. The last three overs in particular were very tightly bowled as the run rate dropped significantly towards the end of the creigiau innings.

Despite not having taken a wicket there was some genuine optimism in the CBB side, Dai - the talisman - was back from honeymoon and Gwyn was chomping at the bit after having been dropped from the side earlier in the day, only to have come back in when illness prevented Andy from taking his place in the starting lineup. After over number one things looked good, Gareth had hit a six and there were 13 runs on the board. Over two was a killer, first Gareth was run out, then Dai followed suit. Gwyn clubbed a six and then was caught going for another. Decent total on the board after 2 overs, but now three down. It soon got worse and Matt's stumps were rearranged by an excellent in-swinging delivery at the start of the next over. Three overs gone, about 30 runs on the board, four down. Rhys and Nathan played out the rest of the overs with spirit but without ever looking like the CBBs would worry the total.

It's not all bad news however, the preservation of two wickets, coupled with finishing within 20 runs of the winning total means that the CBBs recieve their first league points and move off the bottom of the league - now 2 points ahead of university staff. A month now until our next game, plenty of time to get in the nets and practice our technique!

Rhys Dart reports....

Following on from the tense last-over victory over the old rivals 'the Hurricanes' at the end of 2009, the 2010 indoor season began with great optimism for the CBBies. Unfortunately the optimism was short lived.

The league season began in amusing form with the opening fixture snowed off, some feat that... an indoor game called off for the weather!

This meant that the first CBB game was now against last season's league winners, Chartered Trust. Having been twice battered by CT in 2009 it was not looking good for our courageous CBBies when, for the umpteenth time this season, only five players turned up. Bad times.

Despite having to bowl our non-bowling wicketkeeper we actually performed well with the ball, Messrs Hunt, Clarke, Walker and Dart all returning miserly figures. We had a reasonable total to chase, unfortunately the CT bowling was tight and accurate and our numerical disadvantage was telling, we fell around 20 runs short. A spirited but frustrating tale of what might have been.

Some plus points though, the bowling had been controlled and the fielding committed. Club Captain Clarke was superb with both ball and bat on debut, proving that he can translate his outdoor skills to the indoor arena.

Our second fixture against Eclipse Print started well, we had six players! Joy of joys. Once again we fielded first and fielded well. Lleu encapsulated the committment of the side by risking serious bruising to stop a single. Gareth was snappy in the field and the energy levels were high. Hunt and Dart each beat the bat and clean bowled batsmen looking for every opportunity to attack. Clarke and Hagger bowled agressively and tightly. As a team we just weren't able to back it all up and a couple of loose overs had us chasing around 10 an over with the bat.

What followed was the best spell of team bowling we have faced in indoor cricket so far. Eclipse were excellent, threatening the stumps at every opportunity and giving nothing away. The scoreboard was against us, and we had to chase... but this just played into their hands. A proper display of pace, control and team-work had seen us undone and all out for a paltry 33. In truth the Eclipse performance in the field was a real lesson in what can be achieved with concentration and a team all working together.

Hopefully some of that will rub off on us for our next match...

Shiny and new for 2010 Rhys "Indoor Man" Dart offers up a fine opus viz the indoor variety of CBB

Indoor Cricket:
An in-depth report.
by Rhys Dart

Attempting to make the cricket season last all year round Cardiff Bay Barbarians entered a team into this year’s WIC-ket indoor cricket league. Grouping us with some familiar foes and fresh new teams the CBBs entered the 2009 tournament with high hopes and some excitement.

Unfortunately this excitement did not last long as the bar-bars were to end up propping up the table. Too often playing with only five players in a 6-a-side league, performances were inconsistent and the occasional scent of victory was too often pulled from our grasp.

The team frequently showed spirit however, gritting our collective teeth to force teams to beat us (rather than just turn up with the requisite number of players). Indoor stalwarts Gareth, Gwyn and Rhys were joined by firey newcomer Dai who excelled and entertained with both bat and ball. Good performances from Hagger and Stu kept us in games, Imran spilt blood when called upon and indoor newcomers Grills, Swain and Williams showed that the future is bright for the CBB club.

The final match of the season proved to be a massive occasion for all concerned. The CBBs were staring down the barrel of a whitewash. The Hurricanes stood in the way of that illusive first win of the season. They had won some games, they had turned the game around against us in the previous match… and they had Imran. It wasn’t looking good.

We batted first and batted solidly. As usual Gareth got us some speedy runs and Dai scored his now usual 25. Decent total on the board to defend. Bowling was another matter, after our first four overs we hadn’t taken a wicket and they were nicely in the groove. Things were looking bleak. For the first time this season the captain’s luck changed, bringing himself on to bowl Dart struck with his first ball holding onto a sharp caught and bowled chance. That brought Imran to the crease. Two balls later and he was gone, edging to Gareth at slip. It was now game on.

The Hurricanes were edging closer to victory, only a few runs still to get with wickets in hand. Then a runout. Then came two overs from Gareth, who returned 3 wickets with the last coming from his last ball with them needing 2 to win. Clean bowled, the indoor arena went wild. It was done, the CBBs had won an indoor match and finished the 09 season with something to build on for 2010.