Wednesday night saw a tense, low-scoring match between Southend-on-Sea 'B' and Rayleigh Fairview in a title clash for Southend Indoor Cricket League Division 1.
Prior to the match, SOSCC were sitting at the top of the table with 5 wins from 5 fixtures, with Rayleigh Fairview 8 points behind and having lost just the one match.
Previously we'd put in solid performances with the bat throughout the winter, passing 140 runs on 3 occasions, and one of those in a reduced 10-over match (instead of the usual 12). As such our skipper, Gilroy, really only had one objective to justify his place in the side, and that was to win the toss.
Five minutes later we were padding-up and looking forward to batting Rayleigh out of contention - with our points advantage we could pick-up bonus batting points, lose the game and still finish as division winners. And then we just fell apart with the bat...
Rayleigh bowled a mixed bag, but everything that wasn't hit cleanly simply went straight to hand. The opposition took their chances well and we were starting to bitch amongst ourselves about bottling it, and folding when it really counts.
We failed to even bat out the overs and trudged off on 64 All Out, and suffice to say that Rayleigh were in the box seat.
Gilroy changed the usual bowling order around, and opened with Bells & Gridley. And they kept it really tight, with excellent fielding all round from our side, we managed to restrict them to only a few meager runs each over. Then the wickets started to fall. Both Gilroy and Bells held on to some sharp chances which turned the pressure back onto Rayleigh and we began to sense that we could pull it out of the bag.
Tom & myself bowled the last 4 overs between us, and despite some cleanly hit sixes, we held our nerve and let the recently-replaced ball swing in and do the damage. I picked up the last three wickets and suddenly we had bowled them out for 55 to finish undefeated top of the table.
Great game.
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Tuesday, 9 March 2010
Wednesday, 24 February 2010
Red Menace
Thursday night was boardgames night down at the cricketers again. It was another reasonable turnout with 3 different tables of games on the go, I saw lots of Dominion being played behind me as well as the classic Acquire and Cosmic Encounter from Richard.
Added to this fine pedigree of games was my own Twilight Struggle, which Colin and I had earlier arranged to play. Obviously we came in for some friendly banter for having a private 2-player game of our own, and to be fair we did shun the rest of the group whilst engaged in the race for global dominance.
I played as the Reds for both of the matches we played, with neither of us having a particular preference of sides. The first game lasted barely three turns, with Russia scoring heavily in Europe, Asia and SE Asia, thanks to these cards appearing in my hand early on.
Having played once before I think I had an advantage with understanding the significance of Military Operations, Coups and the DefCon track. In that I realised how they related and how the Russians could Coup first early on to force down the DefCon track and gain Military Operations advantages that resulted in a few VPs coming my way.
The second game ran out of time for a definite conclusion, but Colin was playing well and had a good board position as we finished about 1/2 way though the Mid War period. I felt I suffered from a poor hand at the start of the Mid War, but I definitely made a couple of mistakes with Headline cards and failed to take advantage of a really strong Red hand on the last turn.
I wasted the turn trying to wrest control of Asia from the greedy claws of capitalist pigs because I held the Scoring card. Instead I should have concentrated elsewhere, in locations where I could have made significant gains as Colin was already starting to establish a presence in South America and Africa.
It was a really enjoyable game to play and I'd certainly like to bring it along for more play.
Added to this fine pedigree of games was my own Twilight Struggle, which Colin and I had earlier arranged to play. Obviously we came in for some friendly banter for having a private 2-player game of our own, and to be fair we did shun the rest of the group whilst engaged in the race for global dominance.
I played as the Reds for both of the matches we played, with neither of us having a particular preference of sides. The first game lasted barely three turns, with Russia scoring heavily in Europe, Asia and SE Asia, thanks to these cards appearing in my hand early on.
Having played once before I think I had an advantage with understanding the significance of Military Operations, Coups and the DefCon track. In that I realised how they related and how the Russians could Coup first early on to force down the DefCon track and gain Military Operations advantages that resulted in a few VPs coming my way.
The second game ran out of time for a definite conclusion, but Colin was playing well and had a good board position as we finished about 1/2 way though the Mid War period. I felt I suffered from a poor hand at the start of the Mid War, but I definitely made a couple of mistakes with Headline cards and failed to take advantage of a really strong Red hand on the last turn.
I wasted the turn trying to wrest control of Asia from the greedy claws of capitalist pigs because I held the Scoring card. Instead I should have concentrated elsewhere, in locations where I could have made significant gains as Colin was already starting to establish a presence in South America and Africa.
It was a really enjoyable game to play and I'd certainly like to bring it along for more play.
Sunday, 14 February 2010
In My Element
Friday night was a decent effort - Deano's mate, Jason, came over from Ireland and along with Kano we all got trolleyed out in joyous Southend.
Started off in Saks, which I think is a bit under-par, especially as it was crap music that was gearing up to karaoke.
Went off to The Last Post, mainly to illustrate to Jason how cheap booze is in England compared to Eire. We got distracted by the wallpaper, but bumped into Conner and his pals.
We carried on The Slug & Lettuce - next stop was supposed to be Bar29, but Dean's mate runs the S&L & he hoped to score a cheeky round. Fail.
After finally getting turffed out, we headed to Element, which I rate as a pretty decent club. Music was good and I managed to pour ots of gin into me, as well as do a fair amount of dancing around waving my arms about. I didn't even hit anyone!
Started off in Saks, which I think is a bit under-par, especially as it was crap music that was gearing up to karaoke.
Went off to The Last Post, mainly to illustrate to Jason how cheap booze is in England compared to Eire. We got distracted by the wallpaper, but bumped into Conner and his pals.
We carried on The Slug & Lettuce - next stop was supposed to be Bar29, but Dean's mate runs the S&L & he hoped to score a cheeky round. Fail.
After finally getting turffed out, we headed to Element, which I rate as a pretty decent club. Music was good and I managed to pour ots of gin into me, as well as do a fair amount of dancing around waving my arms about. I didn't even hit anyone!
Thursday, 4 February 2010
Rebel Yell Silenced!
Last night I chose to skip the weekly SOSEMT CC nets session and instead went to the local SOS Wargames Group. I found them via Goggle as they've got a new Blog up and running, and they are very conveniently located on the Grainger Industrial Estate. I was surprised that they've been there for a decade and so close at hand.
As usual, a mix of youth and maturity amongst the gamers but they were welcoming, allowing me to join in with their trial of Warlord's Black Powder rules. We played a 25mm American Civil War scenario, which saw the Confederate attack on our Union town soundly repulsed, despite early weakening of our left flank.
The conflict of the club-night being on a Wednesday at the same time as indoor nets is annoying and will probably mean I don't revisit the wargamers until late April when the cricket season proper starts.
As usual, a mix of youth and maturity amongst the gamers but they were welcoming, allowing me to join in with their trial of Warlord's Black Powder rules. We played a 25mm American Civil War scenario, which saw the Confederate attack on our Union town soundly repulsed, despite early weakening of our left flank.
The conflict of the club-night being on a Wednesday at the same time as indoor nets is annoying and will probably mean I don't revisit the wargamers until late April when the cricket season proper starts.
Friday, 29 January 2010
Cricket Practice
Cricket practice is now well under way - a full month earlier than in 2009. My club (Southend-on-Sea and Ecko, Monarchs & Trojans) started nets in early January and there seems to be a good turnout.
We also have indoor cricket, as part of the South Essex Indoor six-a-side League. The team is doing really well, having won all four games so far, putting us second in the First Division. The last game of the season is against Rayleigh Fairview, who are currently top but having played 5 matches. So that last fixture is looking like it should be a good competitive match.
We also have indoor cricket, as part of the South Essex Indoor six-a-side League. The team is doing really well, having won all four games so far, putting us second in the First Division. The last game of the season is against Rayleigh Fairview, who are currently top but having played 5 matches. So that last fixture is looking like it should be a good competitive match.
Friday, 22 January 2010
Games Night: The Results
Great turnout at last night's Beer, Boardgames and Bellylaughs! with around 17 people, both regulars and new faces. Lots of games on offer; Stone Age, Ticket to Ride, Pillars of the Earth, Cosmic Encounter, Kingsburg, Plague and Pestilence, and more besides. I played the last three of these and was skillful (read: fortunate) enough to win all three games. I may well retire now... looking forward to the next meet on Fri 28th.
Thursday, 21 January 2010
Games Night
Off to my usual Beer, Boards, n Bellylaughs! board-game night tonight at The Cricketers. Taking a selection of fairly light games with me and hopefully will get to play at least one of them. It's usually a good night with around 1/2 dozen people, lots of games (there's always a selection) and pretty good beer from the pub.
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