Kinlet v Bedouins – Wednesday May 27

Bedouins win.

The Bedouins took a trip to the always picturesque ground of Kinlet for a Wednesday night game on May 27.
Set in the rolling hills around Bewdley, Kinlet’s facilities are not the most sophisticated but the welcome is always warm and the views are very pleasant.

The long drive up to the ground posed an unusual challenge of forcing the sheep out of the way by making slow progress and hoping the wooly obstructions realised there would only be one winner in the car v sheep competition, thankfully they had all read the Highway Code.

Beds batted first and lost an early wicket with the departure of J Branch however new signing Ron Miller (identical twin of Enville CC stalwart Rob) and Austin Gregory made steady progress to keep the scoreboard ticking over.
Ron retired at 30 and batters came and went before skipper Jono Hill and stand-in Bedouin Joe Bromfield pushed the total over 130 which gave the bowlers something to defend.

Robbo and Gregory got the innings underway and made early inroads before Paul Moran and M Smith got into the action and continued to whittle away through the middle order.

Despite a mix of youth and experience, Kinlet could not get a partnership going and struggled to keep up with the required rate.

Eventually it fell to Mike George and J Branch to finish them off with a blistering spell which brought the hosts’ innings to an end some 50 runs short of their target.

During a very enjoyable sausage and chips feast washed down with a pint of ale, Beds stato Austin established the average age of our bowling attack was 64, proving old fiddles still have plenty of good tunes in the playbook.

Bedouins v Ashby Albion – Sunday 4 August

Ashby Albion win by 6 wickets

Since 2018 this fixture has always been a favourite, for both sides. And this year was no different!

Bedouins fielded a strong 11 including the return of Hill A and Mike George for his first game of the season. A very timely return to the field Georgey! Ashby had a team of 10 footballers, of which only 3 or 4 had played any type of cricket in the past, however for some, it wasn’t just the cricket they had travelled down for, as the weekend started for Ashby at 4pm on Friday evening trying our best to visit every watering hole in Worcester. A few sore heads, but a great weekend.

The toss was won by Hill J, skippering the Ashby side, and it was deemed that Ashby would put the Bedouins in to bat and bowl first. After the inevitable barrage of wides and no balls, Ashby found their range and good balls started to follow.

From a Bedouins point of view N.Smith and Lippitt opened the batting and got off to a very fast start. However, with Lippitt falling to a feather caught behind and Taylor for LBW, Jon Branch strode to the crease at Number 4 and we saw some of his usual lusty blows and not so quick singles. Jon was caught behind by the Ashby Skipper off the bowling of Sommerville for 21, including 5 meaty 4’s.

Other than a lovely knock from opener Neill Smith, the Bedouins batting limped along struggling to read the liquorice allsorts coming from the Ashby bowlers. Bastable (3), Hill (12) and Gregory (7) were the sorry story of the middle order.

A first game for Rob Bell in the Ashby side saw him remove N.Smith for 48 with a devilish ball that kept low and came back in, robbing the opening batsman of his half century – but a great knock. Bell himself then got Robinson out first ball, however the subsequent hat-trick ball to Mr Chairman wouldn’t have even troubled a second set of stumps to the leg side.

Bedouins innings was mopped up by Bullen who bowled 1 over, earning 2 wickets for no runs. Bedouins ended with a total of 131 All out.

Ashby opening batsman were initially cautious in the 2^nd innings with Anslow Senior and Bullen having a look before scoring runs. Robertson and Bastable opened the bowling for the Beds with Robertson once again pick of the bowlers gaining the wickets of Bullen and Bell, ending with figures of 2 wickets for 11 runs off 7 overs.

Taylor joined Anslow at the crease and looked in good nick and a partnership was building until injury took it’s toll to Taylor who retired hurt on 28. The aggressive Makepeace was next out to bat alongside Price who both fell to smart bowling by Lippitt. Special mention to Anslow Senior who retired out with his half century under his belt.

So it was down to Usher and Anslow Junior to finish things off, both carrying their bat, Usher with 3 runs and Anslow with 12. Ashby Albion finished off with 132 runs with 6 wickets to spare.

The day ended with a few drinks and much needed food, the shield was handed over to the Skipper for Ashby for another year.

A huge Thank You for all the donations, including donations from players and friends who were unable to make the day. A grand total of £435.00 raised, with all money going directly to Ovarian Cancer Action. Same again next year!

Bedouins v Austin’s Army – Wednesday 31 July

Bedouins win by 10 wickets

The last Wednesday in July ended with a very hot evening at home against Austin’s Army.

The team was a strong one this week, with Martyn Smith coming in at the 11^th hour after Fellows had unfortunately had work commitments.

The toss was lost by the skipper, and Austin couldn’t get the words ‘we’ll bat’ out of his mouth fast enough, as it was picture perfect conditions for batting, and by the first looks of Austin’s 11, it looked as though a big first innings score could be on the cards. How wrong we were…

When the first ball was clipped through mid-wicket, it looked like a long night, however the wickets soon started to come. Opening bowlers Bastable and Robertson got things going, with Bastable finishing with 1 wicket for 23 off his 3 overs, but Micky Robbo was pick of the bowlers with 4 wickets for just 9 runs off his 4 overs.

It was great to see Ex-skipper Bywater back in the side, however not so much for Robbo. With a chance for a fantastic hat-trick and the field closing in, the new batsman half volleyed a dolly straight to short mid-off where Lee shelled one of the easiest chances you’ll ever see. Head in hands for 11 Bedouins! There was a half excuse for a bump ball, but it was flush off the bat in my opinion, and should have seen Lee at the bar at the end of the game with his wallet open!

Wickets continued to tumble, with Lee himself picking up 1 wicket for 14 runs and Martyn Smith picking up 3 wickets for 5 runs off just 9 balls. Some fantastic bowling, fielding and catching all round. It ended after just 11 overs with Austin’s Army scoring just 52 runs.

N. Smith and Lippitt opened up the batting and after seeing off some fierce opening bowling, saw the Bedouins over the line without losing a wicket within 11 overs.

As usual, a good game against Austin’s guys, on what was a very pleasant evening at Enville.

Bedouins v Pedmore – Wednesday 17 July

Bedouins won by 42 runs

What a remarkable game. This was possibly one of the best Bedouins bowling performances ever and will go down in history together with the time Andy Hill took a hat-trick up in Halifax and David Thomas bowled the perfect spell in Worthing.

Pedmore always provide a stiff challenge and this game looked like being no different. Beds batted first and opened with Lippitt and Stanier (despite needing a hip replacement – we let anybody play in our team). The latter was little unlucky to be given out LBW on 4 when he had feathered the ball into his pads, but off he had to trudge. What followed was a fine partnership with Lippitt being joined by Ludlow. Both batsmen look in fine form and managed to find the boundary several times on what is these days a very large ground.

Pedmore were no slouches with the ball and indeed their youngest player, who looked about 12, had the batsmen playing thin air at times. It was great to see.

Not much of any great note happened during the Bedouins innings. Lippitt and Ludlow both retired; Susman continued his miserable form with the bat; Gregory flourished a couple of balls to the boundary before missing a straight one; and it was good to see Hill A back in the Bedouins ranks. His 6 not out together with Bastable’s 2 got Bedouins to a total of 108 for 3.

On the face of it, that didn’t really seem enough of a total to set a team like Pedmore. How wrong can you be?

With Beds being a couple of players light, Brain Pearsall was drafted in for his second appearance. He fits into the side well like he’s always been a Bedouin. He it was who opened the bowling together with Robertson. We we witnessed then was probably the most brutal spell of Bedouins bowling any of us can remember. By the time this pair of opening bowlers had both finished their  four over spells, Pedmore were reeling at 8 for 5. Pearsall was unlucky to only take one wicket, beating the bat on many occasions. He finished 1 for 5. Robertson brought carnage to the Pedmore side and finished with 4 for 7.

That was effectively game over. Only the Pedmore number 8 showed any resistance to a Beds fielding side that was in fine form. There were only a couple of blips. Hill A dropped a dolly and Susman came out in sympathy and also put one down.

It didn’t matter really. Pedmore limped to the final over and finished on 66 for 7. Well I didn’t see that coming.

Bedouins v Beacon – 12th June 2024

Bedouins lost by 6 runs

On paper Bedouins had a strong side out for this home fixture with Beacon. But scratch beneath the surface and you’ll find a lot of those players carrying knocks and strains, and struggling to be at their best. That was unfortunate against a side where you always need to be at your best to beat them.

Having said that it was a good effort from the Beds and they took it right to the wire. Beacon batted first and as you’d expect their side was sprinkled with decent batters. Bedouins opened with the pacey (compared to the rest of us) Bastable with the Skipper at the other end. The first wicket fell to the former with just 10 runs on the board and things looked promising, another comfortable catch for the skipper. He was unlucky not to take a wicket, finishing with  0 for 22 from his four overs but only had himself to blame, dropping a return catch, though to be fair, the ball was travelling at a fair old speed. Bastable finished 1 for 20 from his 4 overs.

Beacon are a canny side and always find a way to keep the scoreboard moving, and this they did. Smith M and Susman were first change at each end. Smith conceded a few boundaries but castled one of the Beacon boys in his 1 for 27 from 4 and Susman managed the same in his 1 for 17 from 3.

Then Agent Stanier came on to bowl. Usually a bowler to be relied on to keep the bowling tight. But he too is struggling with injury and it showed with his last over going for 19. He finished 1 for 29 from 3 overs and Lippitt at the other 0 for 12 from 2. Beacon finished 130 for 4.

In reply Bedouins got off to a decent start. Smith N is in good form and Fellows at the other end played a few classy shots before being caught on 14. Taylor was controversially run out on 4. Susman joined Smith N and showed a bit of his old form with the bat. He even middled the ball a couple of times, shock. This partnership looked promising until Smith N was clean bowled on 24.

Not to worry, the skipper was coming to the crease with the promise of a display of his big hitting. Ah but he can’t buy a run at the moment and was bowled by a devil of a ball that turned nicely when he had made just 1 run. The Beds didn’t give up hope. Lippitt played his shots, including the reverse sweep and Beds weren’t far behind the run rate. Susman retired on 33 and Bastable joined Lippo to close the game out. But it wasn’t quite to be and after a great effort, Bedouins finished 6 runs short on 124 for 4.

So a pretty even game but the bragging rights stay with Beacon. Let’s hope we can turn them over on their own manor later in the season.

Fossils v Bedouins – 16 July 2023

Bedouins won by 14 runs

Games against the Fossils, a team of 70 year-olds who have previously played at a very high standard, are usually quite sedate affairs. There’s not usually a lot of excitement or cut-throat competition. This game was the exception.

The Fossils welcomed us to the beautiful ground at Birlingham on a Sunday where the weather couldn’t make it’s mind up. Leaving Kidderminster the heavens had opened by the little ground near Pershore escaped the rain and it was game on.

Hill Senior and Susman put in rare appearances this season, and Howells grabbed the reins from the skipper for the day in his absence. It’s not quite clear if the toss was won or lost. The Fossils sometimes tend not to worry about things like that. Bedouins were batting.

The majority of the Fossils bowlers are anything but quick. But don’t let that fool you, they are all crafty old dogs who know where to put the ball for maximum effect. Hence Bedouins quickly fell apart at the top of the order. Branch, Smith N, and Lippitt were quickly back in the pavilion, with the latter suffering the indignity of being run out by his batting partner, Hill junior.

At 14 for 3 it looked like being a short afternoon. Hill junior however redeemed himself by making it to the retirement score of 40. He was supported by Ludlow who played some fine shots until he was smartly stumped on 11.

Stanier came to the crease and he and Hill Junior pushed the score along with a good partnership. Hill Junior’s retirement brought dad to the crease. Good to see him back. However he was disappointed to miss a straight ball and trudged back to the pavilion for 16. Later he was delighted to find the scorer had confused him with Stanier and he had been accredited with 39 not out.

Susman and George added a few runs at the end and the Bedouins finished with 135 from their 35 overs.

Bedouins opened with Stanier and Robinson. Both were quick to take wickets leaving Fossils 12 for 2. Neither could dislodge the Fossils opening bat who was definitely not over 70. He was younger and fitter and boy could he hit the ball. He got to his 40 and retired.

Meanwhile wickets tumbled at regular intervals. Stanier had finished with 3 for 22 and Robinson 1 for 25. Hill junior bowled a few overs with his one wicket being Hill combined effort, with Hill A taking a smart catch. See, he can still do it.

It was spells from Susman (3 for 6 from 7) overs and Lippitt (1 for 13 from 7 overs) that slowed the Fossils run chase down. At this point we should say that Fossils like to play a rule that the opposition have to get them all out to win the game. Beds rarely get near skittling through a whole Fossils side but that was about to change.

Fossils could sense defeat, they could also see a way to win. Much to the displeasure of certain Bedouins, the Fossils started to blatantly throw away wickets in an attempt to get their opener back in. One batsmen even hit his own wicket. Outrageous, but it worked and the opener returned.

He took an instant liking to Hill Junior’s bowling and hit him for a couple of fours and a six. It left Fossils needing 14 from the last over with the big hitter facing. Cue a masterful piece of captaincy from Howells. He brought Branch on. His first ball was a tempting lopping flipper out of the back of his hand. I watched from the square leg boundary as it all seemed to unfold in slow motion. Said batman danced down the wicket for the big hit, missed, and was stumped by Howells to shouts of delight from the whole Bedouins team.

Very dramatic. Just when you think you’ve seen it all… A good game to win.