22/04/2021
We only went and won !! Many thanks to Oli for the following write-up of the match on Sunday. Feel free to reply with pictures or comments or whatever one does on Facebook. Enjoy guys....
The Star toasted their first win on Sunday away against Old England CC in Long Ashton, south-west of Ashton Gate. Under sunny skies and almost under the Long Ashton bypass, Woody won the toss and chose to bowl, with Rory setting the pace and Harjeet dazzling the batsmen with his Bollywood-length lockdown locks as well as his nagging line and length.
Taking inspiration from nearby Bristol airport, Chris was revelling in his new control tower position behind the stumps and keeping the Star fielders buzzing around the wicket like a menacing ground crew (imagine the airport in Die Hard 2) and the bowling attack gave the batsmen about as much foot-room as a Ryanair seat, resulting in none of the oppo batsmen being able to take off.
Aided by several well-taken catches - including a skyer for Ollie B and a slip catch for Steads (and only one drop for H’s new black-list) Old England collapsed to an all-out total of just 85, with Oli taking a five-fer, Mark bagging three for hardly any, and H and Shaner bagging one apiece. After an early lunch in the sun, the visitors lost a couple of early wickets, but Steads and Nigel showed their ability to handle turbulence on a landing strip where no-one else ever quite seemed comfortable.
Steady’s 44 included some silky square drives, and he was denied a fifty as Nige hitting a winning four to get him to 21 and guiding us to victory with 16 overs to spare.
Celebrations were made at the Crown in Saltford, after Nigel treated his wicket-taking passengers to a tour of several local villages and some top fly-tipping sites on the way. After the game, skipper Woody was asked for his thoughts for the paper: “It was the bowling unit that really hit its straps today with Rory releasing the handbrake and setting the standard early. But it was Ollie's darts that they never got on top of. Mentions too for the Shermanator and Smarty Pants, who both bowled beautifully. Also great to see the team's fielding improving game-on-game under the stewardship of Chris, even if the skipper still looks like a Benny Hill sketch under the high ball!”