Green Lung

Cusp

2012-01-28T00:51:00.000Z

Cusp (mp3)

January sails

2012-01-22T23:16:00.000Z

January sails (mp3)

Not a chance

2012-01-21T23:24:00.000Z

Intermittent glitch

2012-01-20T23:08:00.001Z

Intermittent glitch (mp3)

Other people's computer problems are a little like other people's dreams. For the person who experiences them they can be frustrating, absorbing, difficult and time consuming to resolve, if not ultimately impossible, with the best option being to move on and look for the next one. People who want to hear about them are few and far between and some of those who don't glaze over or leave the room might attempt to make helpful suggestions but interpretations and solutions and varied, multiple and confusing.

Leeking

2012-01-17T22:48:00.000Z

Easton sunsets

2012-01-16T22:46:00.000Z

Cheese for supper

2012-01-03T23:03:00.005Z

Cheese for supper (mp3)

Fuelled by an addiction to cutting up beats and speech, a bit of lunacy, even by standards usually heard here.

If you can't play these audioboo streamed tracks and/or see an empty white box, check your java and javascript...or is it yer Flash?

Alternatively, they can be downloaded for free direct from here.

Song for Irene

2011-12-28T22:59:00.001Z

Song For Irene (mp3)

Not a shag in sight

2011-12-24T22:20:00.000Z

Crash and burn

2011-12-18T14:43:00.000Z

There's been a castastrophic failure in the computer room at Green Lung Towers, following the kernel panic back in September. Almost all of the creative software is now unusable and the browsing and email applications are hanging on by their fingertips to a computer which is itself teetering on the brink. Unfortunately, the series of musical sketches posted below will have to be put on hold until a replacement computer and software are found.

At this time of year the allotment's on ice, or rather, there's ice on the allotment, as the first frosts arrive and heavy rainfall waterlogs the predominantly clay soil. There's still plenty to harvest (kale, winter greens, leeks, parsnips) but now that the onion sets and garlic cloves are in the ground, nothing left to plant or sow for several months.

Just time for a small bonfire before the rain soaked everything, after a mild and dry autumn: Sunflower stalks release a useful amount of potash when burned but there's no point in burning everything in sight and incinerating or rendering homeless all the wee beasties.

Not Cricket

2011-12-15T14:23:00.002Z

There's just something inherently wrong with bowling underarm.

December Dub

2011-12-12T22:28:00.000Z

December Dub (mp3)

Still Breathing

2011-12-04T23:37:00.000Z

Still Breathing (mp3)

Multivitamins

2011-11-27T15:44:00.001Z

Blown Again

2011-11-27T15:35:00.002Z

Gardeners have a habit of boasting of their successes and not drawing attention to their failures, but to break the mould, here's the first of the season's brussels sprouts, 'blown' again, instead of being tightly formed buds. Perhaps the roots should have been deeper and more firmly planted and maybe they could have done with more potash. Whatever, they'll still be edible.

Periwinkle

2011-11-26T00:20:00.004Z

Periwinkle (mp3)

"But it's not real music is it?"

On Your Bicycle Maybe

2011-11-25T00:39:00.002Z

On your bicycle maybe (mp3)

The first of a couple of recent tracks, the first produced with Ableton Live, the second with GarageBand, both recorded within a newly imposed 24 hour rule.

Down The Line Mash Up

2011-11-22T20:55:00.002Z

Down The Line Mash Up (mp3)

Blooming Late

2011-11-21T21:01:00.000Z

Green 5

2011-11-05T15:26:00.000Z

Tom Roberts

2011-10-25T09:11:00.002Z

Tom Roberts: 21.02.62 - 25.10.02

Here Tom, you'll never guess what! I came out of retirement and defected to our old rivals and won two rather natty trophies for the best bowling performance and most wickets in the season. Any chance you could make a comeback? Your 7-9 still p1sses over my 6-34.

Late goodness

2011-10-23T22:21:00.000Z

Prowler

2011-10-21T22:20:00.001Z

Squatter's rights

2011-10-18T15:25:00.002Z

This frog made me feel like a bailiff or bulldozing land-grabber as an autumn clear up disturbed its place in the sun.

Feather the bed

2011-10-16T15:15:00.000Z

Dried artichoke flowers make excellent nesting material for small feathered friends.

Isle of Avalon

2011-10-15T15:22:00.000Z

Roots Manoeuvred

2011-10-14T15:41:00.000Z

Green futures

2011-10-05T19:56:00.000Z

Top seeds

2011-10-04T19:52:00.000Z

Second coming

2011-10-03T18:36:00.000Z

Swans & Cygnets

2011-09-30T18:30:00.001Z

Swans & Cygnets (mp3)

Cut short

2011-09-26T22:31:00.002Z

What is it with hairdressers and barbers? You ask for an inch off and they leave not much more than an inch on. Don't they realise that if they did what the customer asked and only took a little off, the customer would return more often and they'd get more business? As it stands, and as I bristle, I won't need to return until late next year.

Television emptiness

2011-09-25T20:45:00.002Z

When your very old Belgian made telly sounds like a motorbike, it's time to banish it to the garden.

Broken TV (mp3)

Dahlia Ring

2011-09-24T22:19:00.002Z

In a pickle

2011-09-19T16:36:00.003Z

The cherry tomatoes self seeded from last year and have finally ripened this month.

But blight has attacked the large 'Marmande' variety, which prefer a Mediterranean climate.

Only thing for it, with many kilos of green tomatoes, is to get busy making pickle / chutney.

Just add:

Apples
Beetroot
Marrow
Red onion
Demerara sugar
Ginger
Turmeric
Cumin
Dill
Fennel
Chillies
Cayenne pepper
Mustard seeds
Cardamon
Garlic
Lemon juice
Olive oil
Vinegar
Sultanas

Kernel Panic

2011-09-18T16:29:00.000Z

The uninitiated might be forgiven for thinking that a kernel panic occurs when a squirrel forgets where it's put its nuts. Then again, perhaps it should be Colonel Panic, a rather jittery army officer.

Neither are in fact true. It turns out that what the Mac Powerbook has been suffering from is 'an action taken by an operating system upon detecting an internal fatal error from which it cannot safely recover.'

Bother.

Living on borrowed time ...

Final frames

2011-09-11T20:04:00.001Z

No cricket

2011-09-10T19:59:00.001Z

More of the same

2011-09-09T15:26:00.001Z

The pie man

2011-09-06T19:06:00.001Z

Back to skool blues

2011-09-05T20:12:00.000Z

Lazy calm

2011-09-04T21:38:00.001Z

No icing on the cake (but at least a cake)

2011-09-03T18:52:00.009Z

Easton Cowboys C.C. Saturday XI v Midsomer Norton C.C. 3rd XI

How far are you prepared to go to get a run? 22 yards? And how would you like to get there? An amble, a gentle stroll, a jog, a canter, a sprint, a horizontal dive that nearly dislocates your shoulder? All these options and more are open to a batsman in the game of cricket, but rightly or wrongly, probably wrongly, the former is more likely to be chosen at the start of an innings, the latter at the end.

And so to Frenchay for the last league match of the season, at stake a firm grip on third place in Division 3 and the slimmest outside chance of promotion. The opposition were clear of the relegation zone and in the fortunate position of being able to inject their team with seven players from their other teams who hadn't played in the season's earlier encounter.

The wicket and outfield was hard and dry but the dense low cloud still suggested that bowling first would be the best option, so it was no bad thing for Budge to lose the toss and to be asked to bowl first.

Far more calamitous was Ange's realisation, mid pitch inspection, that he'd forgotten to do the teas: Before donning the wicket keeping gloves he made a few frantic phone calls to the Cricket Tea Emergency Hotline and moments later the Cowboys took to the field.

Everybody knows how fast the ball can travel across the Frenchay outfield, but it was still a bit shocking to see the opposition get off to a very fluid start, taking Budge and Garner for nearly seven an over for the first few overs. Besides the boundaries, the running between the wickets was purposeful and although the fielding was mostly exemplary, unfortunate ricochets off the stumps resulted in some unavoidable overthrows.

Budge made the breakthrough at 37-1 thanks to a sharp but regulation catch for Justin. RT1 replaced Garner at the shed end (who'd appeared to struggle to execute whichever theory he'd been devising) and had the other opener well caught by DB at slip: 58-2.

DB took a second slip catch off RT1 to have the opposition 78-3, the run rate falling, thanks to a very economical spell, although still just above four an over. Ev had replaced Budge at the top end and the skipper took another tricky variation on one of his many catches at mid-off this season to claim the fourth wicket with the score just short of a hundred.

The drinks interval was expertly stage managed by the spectating, camera clicking SteveO, after which your correspondent took the top end and set to work against the middle order. After being hit for a couple of boundaries, one of them under the foot of a man who believed he was playing for Stenhousemuir, DB held an edge to take a third catch and a while later, Budge took his tenth catch of the season when he pouched a lofted drive: 116-6.

Rog had meanwhile delivered some welcome maidens from the shed end, but then the tail began to wag, punishing him and the returning Ev, not assisted by your butterfingered hack, who spilled a catch in the deep but was reprieved very soon afterwards when he clung onto a possibly more difficult swirler: 165-7.

The skipper returned and got a second wicket when he bowled his opposite number with a slower ball: 171-8, after which Midsomer Norton added another dozen runs in the remaining few overs to finish on 183-8, some way short of what had been feared earlier and, it was confidently stated by a few Cowboys, below par for the ground.

Praise be! The tea had arrived in the final overs of the innings, to a smattering of applause from the field and Ange's undying gratitude. And what a tea it was to behold and scoff, slurp and trough: The inclusion of falafel wraps surely has to make it the tea of the season. Nice one.

DB and Ev went out to open the batting and looked in little danger from the start against a slow attack, but soon fell behind the required run rate of 4.6 an over: After ten overs the score had dribbled up to twenty-three, but then that doubled during the next five overs as the tempo increased, DB found boundaries more often, several times aerially and Ev accumulated singles which the bench urged his partner to inflate into twos.

After twenty overs the score was 62-0, leaving the required run rate at just above six.The following over Ev hit six off one ball, as he sought to push things along without involving his partner in running. Shortly afterwards he was stumped during positive intent for 21, the Cowboys now on 81-1, from which DB had already struck more than a very solid fifty.

The incoming BenP nearly went in a similar fashion after a very confident appeal was rejected by a less convinced Garner at deep square leg, who somewhat inevitably suffered the fallout from this for the remainder of his time as umpire.

DB hit his fourth six around the 26th over to bring the innings total past a hundred, the Cowboys still requiring a run a ball. Had it been cleanly struck, Ben's shot to mid-wicket would have cleared the boundary too, but a top edge saw him caught there. Not long after, DB tried to reverse sweep the spinner from the top end, missed a straight one and was on his way LBW for 84 after a second century of the season had beckoned: 127-3 in the 31st over.

Alan and Justin, the two new batsmen, set about knocking off the required seven an over, not getting very far before Justin was caught for a single: 132-4. Ange joined Alan, walloping a large six over long-on into the road to keep the chase alive, before they were both bowled, Alan by the most outrageous grubber ever to roll instead of bounce: 149-6; seven an over from the final five.

There's never a good time to get out for a golden duck, but the eventual leading wicket taker in the division bowled Rog first ball, leaving RT1, or was it Garner (nerves were fraying then) to face the hat-trick ball, and survive. RT1 cracked a couple of boundaries and the running between the wickets was a little more urgent now than it had been earlier, but then he didn't make it home and was run out in the 38th over with just less than twenty runs still required.

The incoming batsman managed to drill a ball to the extra cover boundary, but the dot balls before didn't help. He and Garner now tore up and down the 22 yards at any excuse, still leaving eleven runs to win from the final over. They both narrowly avoided being run out at both ends, surviving due to fumbles and a painful dive, scraping together six runs from the first five balls, leaving five runs to win and four to tie. Garner's hefty blow straight down the ground was boundary bound, until a fine piece of fielding cut it off, terminating the Cowboys' dreams.

Martinis were served on the lawn as the Cowboys licked their wounds and tried not to dwell for too long on where those missing four runs might have come from. DB received the majority of the Man of the Match votes for his three catches and 84 runs, with RT1's bowling, (most of his) fielding and batting also in contention. Cider Moments included Ange's tea angst and colossal six, fines were too numerous to mention. Later, there was another farewell to the Frenchay staff and possibly the ground, the future uncertain. Less in doubt is the ability, cohesion, commitment and character of the Saturday XI, very ably led by Budge and RT1 throughout a great summer.

Scorecard

Hot

2011-09-02T16:44:00.000Z

Bored of beans?

2011-08-31T16:41:00.000Z

Bountiful

2011-08-29T15:21:00.000Z

Saint Agnes

2011-08-28T15:28:00.000Z

Indigestible pudding

2011-08-27T13:40:00.011Z

Easton Cowboys C.C. Saturday XI v Keynsham C.C. 3rd XI

The young scorer who accompanied the top of the table Keynsham 3rd XI was quite forthright in explaining the make-up of his team (not to suggest that they were all wearing mascara): Apparently, some of them usually played for the 2nd XI but "hadn't been doing very well" and had been demoted, thereby altering the appearance of the side that the Cowboys had managed to beat back in June.

Still, the Cowboys had a new addition too, welcoming back Gary for the first time this season, to significantly enhance an already pukka team playing their penultimate game of the season and still in with a chance of promotion from Division 3.

Torrential rain the previous night had left the wicket at the Fry's ground like an undercooked chocolate sponge. Winning the toss was paramount. Losing it was unfortunate.

Ev and Justin opened the batting and kept the ball out for the first few overs, grabbing a single now and then until Ev lost his off stump. The following over, Ben lost his leg stump and when Alan went to a faint edge in the next one, 17-3 wasn't a good place to be.

After ten overs, Gary and Justin had pushed on to a healthier 30-3, the former masterfully lashing the ball to the boundary several times but then Justin fell and RichG entered stage left. A promising partnership ensued, Gary riding his luck in being dropped two or three times, although bizarrely, it was his good fortune that led to Garner's downfall, when a catch that everybody assumed would be taken was labouriously dropped, by which time Garner at the non-striker's end had turned to stare at the trees, out of his ground and was run out from behind. Not so much a Cider Moment as a Mogadon Moment.

Just before the halfway stage, the Cowboys were 51-5 and in need of some watchful, applied batting to last the distance. It didn't really come. Gary finally holed out, Joe and Gretch tried their best, your correspondent managed to bat out a few overs without hitting the ball off the square until attempting a heave he took a divot out of the chocolate sponge with the bat before lamely connecting with the ball and sending it back to the bowler. Neither Rog nor Rob troubled the scorer much either and the Cowboys' innings spluttered out in the 30th over with only 59 on the board.

It wasn't even considered practical to take tea between the innings, partly because the urn wouldn't have been switched on yet. This could have been a tactical error, as a long walk back to the pavilion and some protracted teamanship might have opened the window on some dark clouds, heavy rainfall and match abandonment.

On the other hand, not being one to mess about and with the wicket still giving a lot of assistance to the bowler, Joe led the Cowboys out to defend the meagre total, hoping for some early inroads into the Keynsham batting line-up.

The left and right-handed opening pair looked solid and powerful, attacking the bowling from the start and punishing the occasional bad, and good, ball.

Joe bowled tidily into the wind, eventually inducing the right-hander into a top-edged pull, the ball looping and spinning high towards square leg where your correspondent was not going to spill it. Roger took a far less regulation catch a while later and earned some Cider Moment nominations for a blinding one-handed diving pluck at a ball driven off Ev's bowling. Your hack had a go after Joe and found the seam movement and swing rare and exciting, but although beating the bat (in between the boundaries) and demanding nods of appreciation from the opposition batsman, he couldn't dislodge him. Gary threatened with the ball too, back in the groove and generating pace from a few steps, thumping the ball into Gretch's swift hands but unable to halt the Keynsham progress.

To be frank, the reporter didn't look at the scoreboard once since shortly before the end of the Cowboys' innings, so unpleasant was the sight: It had been a burden, literally, ever since he'd had to carry it from its usual home at Frenchay several hours earlier (although car transport was also involved). At the time of writing the score hasn't been posted on the website, nor is the scorebook available, but suffice to say, Keynsham reached their target in the 13th over, inflicting an eight wicket defeat and heavy blow to the Cowboys after five wins on the trot.

Refusing to fade away quietly, they returned to the nearby Keynsham home ground, where Gary was voted Man of the Match and the entire team was fined at least once for being rubbish. Post-match analysis continued long into the night for some back at The Plough, one conclusion being that it all went wrong the moment that someone started singing Phil Collins.

Scorecard

Helianthus annuus

2011-08-25T19:58:00.003Z

Beardtongue

2011-08-23T19:54:00.001Z

Roots & climbers

2011-08-23T19:52:00.000Z

Dacha

2011-08-23T15:58:00.001Z

Cloud Roll (Repost)

2011-08-22T17:00:00.005Z

While I'm in animation mode, here's one I did a few years ago to accompany an ambient audio project I recorded under the name 'Placebo Audio'.

Don't watch the birdie

2011-08-20T20:07:00.000Z

Easton Cowboys C.C. Saturday XI v Churchways C.C. 1st XI

With Angelo reportedly by the side of a motorway somewhere having lost his car in a plume of smoke and Kalu inexplicably AWOL, there were a few last minute tweaks to the Saturday XI to play Churchways at Frenchay: Hats off to Wilko and Justin for stepping in and maintaining the fine pedigree of a side still daring to dream of promotion.

Rain arrived around the same time as the opposition who, having won the toss, took a further half an hour to make their minds up while the drizzle fell, eventually deciding, rather peculiarly, to bat.

Budge hared down the hill, theoretician Garner up it, initially strangling the left and right handed batsmen as they tried to get to grips with the swing and vagaries of the pitch. A couple of boundaries raced away across the customarily fast outfield before Ev snapped up a catch in the gully off Garner to make the breakthrough.

It was DaveB whose ornithological interests were first aroused when he noticed an additional fielder on the square, snacking on grass seed. Unaware of the heavy penalties for twitching, the small white and red streaked bird (Crested Zebra Finch?) was soon surrounded by several large white and red streaked humans and sensibly rediscovered its power of flight when Rog 'Birdman of Frenchay' tried to pick it up. Fines for all involved.

Ev replaced the skipper from the top end and commenced bowling one of his most miserly spells to date (eventually going for only nine runs from his eight overs) removing the second opener thanks to Wilko at slip, who later pouched another chance off Garner to have the opposition three wickets down around the time of the drinks interval.

A freak occurrence won several Cider Moment nominations when a ball from Ev passed through the batsman and clipped the top of the bails but left them intact. No glue was found to be present.

RobT ensured that he hit the stumps more directly to bowl Churchways' captain cheaply, then took a catch off the bowling of your correspondent who'd been allowed to skip in down the hill. When Rog trapped the highest scorer to date LBW with a fuller ball, it looked like the opposition might be restricted to not much more than a hundred.

Disconcertingly, the lower order batsmen had other plans and the run rate that had been at below three an over rose significantly as the boundary was found regularly and chances and half chances went to ground. Alan took a catch to ensure that the tail didn't wag too violently, Roger bowled the No.7 and after 40 overs, the opposition No.8 remained unbeaten on 45, from an innings total of 154-8. It was still a modest total for Frenchay, by a side whose strengths purportedly lay in batting

Tea was served by butlers under Garners direction, hand-delivered from Fortnum & Mason's and comprising only the most intelligent deceased animals, a fine wedge of stilton and grapes. Possibly shocked by the absence of cakes and muffins (as many understandably were) DaveB didn't open the batting but walked about looking confused as Wilko and Ev went out to face the music just before six o'clock.

The innings started slowly but all was well until Wilko, having reached double figures, wafted at a wide one and looped the ball up to deep point. BenP joined Ev and by the 17th over the score was a healthily poised 55-1, both batsmen looking in fine and stylish form, glancing, cutting, driving and pulling an array of shots out of the bag. At the halfway stage it had moved on to 68-1 but soon after, Ben pivoted, played back and was adjudged LBW by the presiding Garner for a very useful 33. Alan, sporting a fetching pink hat this week, walked out to bat as the evening drew in.

Having bowled out their overs, the fairly economical opening pair was replaced by an oddly rotated assortment with which the batsmen had few problems. The partnership accumulated runs until a shout of 'great shot' was a little premature as Ev cracked a full toss, allegedly a trap, to the mid-wicket boundary fielder and was out for 28. The same bowler soon got one through DaveB, whose earlier ornithological interests now extended to duck territory.

Justin, now rested from valiant keeper tumbling duties, was a confident late entrant at No.6, intent on seeing it through, joining Alan who appeared composed and capable, whatever lurked beneath. The hundred came up with a wide around the 30th over, the required run rate now up to five after a couple of maidens.

A couple of boundaries in quick succession soon put a dent in the target, but it was getting increasingly dark and there was rain in the air. With seven overs remaining, 27 runs were required. Two runs came off the next over and the rain became heavier. Churchways had little fight left but Alan, on cue, had plenty, lofting a six over long-on for a Cider Moment and bringing victory closer. A total of twelve came from the over, leaving just thirteen needed from five overs: A piece of cake - missing from earlier. The rain eased, a rainbow glowed through a murky sky.

Four overthrows won the match for the Cowboys on the first ball of the 38th over, the batting partnership undefeated in a six wicket victory, Justin not out 20. Alan was voted Man of the Match for his innings of 44 not out, Ev's bowling, batting and catching had been commendable too.

Scorecard

Sweet

2011-08-19T16:29:00.001Z

Harvester

2011-08-17T16:25:00.000Z

GQT

2011-08-16T19:18:00.001Z

Q: When's the best time to harvest Cox's Orange Pippin ?
A: Before some bastard nicks 'em.

Wrung again

2011-08-13T14:48:00.006Z

Wrington C.C. 2nd XI v Easton Cowboys C.C. Saturday XI

The Saturday bunch headed out past Bristol Airport to Wrington. For those unfamiliar with this particular North Somerset parish, a quick look at a Wikipedia entry from last year, allegedly written by a Cowboy who was absent from the match this weekend, would have told you the following:

"Although a lovely village, Wrington cricket ground can be susceptible to it's own little micro climate and suffers from showers and floods and all types of weather and geological conditions, although earthquake and volcano have not occurred in the last few seasons, they are arguably the only reasons left to postpone games. These events normally happen at times of crunch matches and when promotion hopes are high. sometimes they only occur against formidable opposition. they are very localised events, cricket continues most saturdays and sundays in a lot of the surrounding area without a whiff of bad weather, flood poverty or pestilence. My advice to the visitor is to watch your cricket at another village ground if you're after a fair days cricket, if you're a travelling cricket team to have your whits and wellies about you as they'll be up to all shenanigans on and off the field. umbrellas at dawn!"

The doors to both dressing rooms were plastered with freshly printed sheets of paper detailing the nuances of acceptable and unacceptable sporting language, gesture and behaviour, adding to the tension inherited from previous encounters and Wikipedia hacking, although in reality, there were no problems for those who didn't go looking or question umpires' decisions.

After Joe lost the toss, the Cowboys found themselves batting first on a slightly damp and pockmarked wicket, under a slate grey sky. DaveB and Ev faced the new ball and worked hard at keeping out the opening attack, negotiating the variable swing and bounce and finding it difficult to hit the ball off the square. In fact, it was one of the slowest starts to an innings all season and after ten overs there were only fifteen runs on the board. More importantly, there had been no damage from the opening salvo. Oh! Dave's out, caught forcing the pace.

Kalu joined Ev in the middle and after initial caution, the runs started to flow more easily. Ev was then bowled by the first change bowler, bringing BenP to the wicket and together the unbeaten pair from last week built a steadily accelerating partnership, running well and finding the boundary with pleasing regularity. After putting on more than fifty, it all ended in tears when Ben was run out for twenty.

Iggy was caught early on, one of some thirty - or more - catching opportunities presented by both sides throughout the afternoon, much less than half of which (mostly the difficult ones) were taken. Alan came in and provided the perfect foil for Kalu, both looking in cracking form as they welded another partnership against a slightly thin bowling attack, before Kalu was bowled for thirty.

With five wickets down the run rate was now a healthy three an over, climbing rapidly as Ange took full advantage of the balls remaining, finding the middle of the bat and clouting a top score of 34 in quick time as Alan stroked stylishly from the other end. After Ange was bowled, Rog was run out cheaply trying to scamper and maintain the positive momentum against an opposition who by now were snapping at their own heels. Garner went in to hold Alan's hand for a brief while until the end and the well paced collective innings concluded after 40 overs on an above par 166-7 with Alan 26 not out.

After a good though perhaps tactically heavy tea, which wasn't as your correspondent initially suspected laced with ketamine, the Cowboys took to the field, Alan in a fetching / fineable orange 'Mani' hat. Swifts flew inches above the ground, darting about successfully catching insects, utterly unlike the fielding display soon to unfold.

Although one of the regular opposition opening pair (the leading run scorer in the division) was absent, the other, their skipper (also highly productive this season) wasn't. Budge and Garner opened the bowling and apart from rare exceptions kept things tight but couldn't make a breakthrough. That's the trouble with bowling well and making the ball swing. It wasn't until Ev replaced Budge that the young opener was out caught.

>> Note to self: Data absent
>> Insert Appendix detailing all catches taken and dropped; go easy on Rog and Iggy, praise the skipper.
>> Those who didn't stay in The Plough until closing time will be less likely to be suffering amnesia.

Replacing Garner, your correspondent forgot to let go of his first delivery then noticed that he could have run out the non-striker by yards. He didn't, more concerned with the possibility that he'd forgotten how to bowl. He was soon taught an early lesson by having a reasonably good ball clattered to cow corner, where the Friesian spectators chewed. (Other non bovine spectators included Jeff and SteveO - the latter may have some photographic plates of the occasion.)

Not long after, the pinioned new batsman messed up a drive and Budge had a second, tastier catch. He plucked a third after Rog overcame initial radar difficulties and the batsman favoured the aerial route. Kalu beguiled with flight and accidental googlies, earning respect from batsmen falling behind with their run rate and prompting the fall of the next wicket, when Garner swooped to pouch a rebound from Iggy's slippery hands, and in so doing was a worthy winner of the Cider Moment.

The opposition skipper remained, steadily accumulating, reaching his half century as his partners came and went. The Cowboys' skipper rotated the six bowlers expertly, showing a fine head for mathematics. Field positioning was crucial, as was Ange's diving behind the stumps. Alan took a great catch on the long-on boundary, where he appeared little more than an orange dot in the fading light by the hedgerow.

Wrington, bar their captain, were crumbling, despite all the dropped catches, yet they weren't out of the game. Unperturbed by the ability to swing the ball, your correspondent bowled straight and hit the stumps. Budge's fourth catch off Ev at long-off was sublime, as the batsman threatened to chase a run a ball for the last few overs, then, achieving some kind of poetic justice, Ev aptly bowled the batsman who'd previously bowled him.

In the dusk, from some distance, the scoreboard was deceptive and it was unnerving to discover that 38 overs gone was actually 36. Their captain was looking like carrying his bat and possibly capable of achieving their target as Rog sought to contain him, but in the 38th over Ben made no mistake with a fine diving catch and he was dismissed for 73. Not even unexpected localised seismic activity could save Wrington now: Game over, victory by 20 runs.

Budge's catching and captaincy won him an equal share of the Man of the Match vote with the embedded hack who acquired a small clutch of wickets.

Scorecard

Coming up roses

2011-08-08T19:19:00.002Z

Three mixes of Rose Smith's 'Life Changes' but still can't find the '2 Banks of 4 Dub Remix' !

Rinsed

2011-08-06T20:07:00.003Z

Bath C.C. 4th XI v Easton Cowboys C.C. Saturday XI

Arriving at the Brownsword ground in Lansdown, the well-organised opposition appeared to be going through their exercise routines in the far distance. On closer inspection, they were in fact much nearer, but mostly tiny.

With Budge away at Eastnor Castle for the weekend, RT1 took the helm, lost the toss on what looked like a fine batting wicket bathed in sunshine and was asked to bowl.

The opposition captain, one of the few adults in the team, opened the batting with a very competent colt. Together they proved solid against RT1 and Ev's opening overs, finding the boundary several times across a fast outfield. Rob bowled a particularly tight line but it was Ev who was unlucky to have their skipper dropped to a diving chance at point when barely in double figures.

Disconcertingly, the same batsman developed a propensity for hitting a good length ball on off stump across the line, behind square to the boundary. After ten overs Bath were 40-0 and Ev's usual tight rein on the runs had been loosened, so RT1 decided to bring on a bowler who'd been spanked for eight an over last week.

Fortunately, the muscle memory or whatever kicked in and he bowled a tidy line and length which didn't get clobbered, at first, but then their skipper lashed out successfully across the line into a vacant leg-side field to the boundary. It was a risky but effective shot. The ball wasn't swinging and there was little movement off the pitch. In the 17th over he reached his fifty with a six over mid-wicket and the bowler was not amused. Two balls later he attempted something similar and was bowled to much relief.

Rog had replaced RT1 at the other end but not initially mirrored his economy. The new batsman hit an early boundary but the next over Simon covered ground to pouch a great catch - the Cider Moment if memory serves. Rog then immediately struck, trapping the remaining opener LBW and when he removed the incoming batsman in the same manner for a duck in his next over, the screw was starting to tighten on the opposition.

The next batswoman distracted a few Cowboys, not only for the rumour that she'd played at a national level and it fell to your correspondent to, er, tie her down. Eventually, in her attempt to break free, she clipped a ball to leg and was half way down the wicket before she realised that she'd been sent back: Calm proficient fielding and keeping ran her out by miles.

In six overs, the Cowboys had taken five wickets for thirteen runs and reduced Bath to 89-5. Kalu then came on to bowl and without getting much turn, took the remaining five, four of them ducks, in a spell of 5 for 10 causing the innings to capitulate to 113 all out in the 35th over. Given the regularity with which he is mentioned in these despatches, suffice to say it was a fine mopping up job, aided and abetted by keen attention to field placement and a couple of regulation catches. The fielding had been close to excellent, Gretch had coped admirably behind the stumps with a back injury and opinion was divided as to whether batting conditions or performances had deteriorated as the afternoon had unfolded.

Tea was taken just as the rain arrived and sandwiches were postponed as the covers were rolled into place. There were brighter skies in the distance and after an extra wedge of fine fruitcake the showers passed and the Cowboys' innings commenced.

The opening bowling appeared fairly friendly and batsmen Ev and DaveB looked comfortable until the latter fell on the offensive to a sharp catch in the covers, bringing BenP to the wicket. The score ticked along nicely, both batsmen looking in good form, playing straight and picking off the bad ball. The bowling was rotated frequently but rarely threatened and the fifty came up in the 14th over, just as it had for the opposition. The partnership was looking invincible when Ben imagined a second run which Ev had no chance of finding and was run out on n-n-n-n-nineteen.

Simon looked at home and capable of reproducing the bludgeoning witnessed in the nets, until bowled by the wicketkeeper who had taken her pads off to come into the attack. When Iggy was well caught in the covers the following over, that familiar nerve jangled for an instant, despite the depth of the batting to come, but with only thirty runs required, six wickets in hand and Ben and Kalu at the crease, Bath were about to be rinsed.

Ben brought up (not last night's curry) his fifty with a boundary having made the most of a good wicket in a near chanceless innings while Kalu got in on the act and smote three boundaries, both remaining not out and earning Man of the Match nominations for their respective superlative roles in the game as the Cowboys comfortably crossed the line in the 26th over.

Returning to the main ground in the city for a pint, the Cowboys reflected on the afternoon's play and as the match in front of them concluded, dared to imagine the possibility of playing in a higher division.

Scorecard

Ripening

2011-08-04T16:21:00.001Z

Rich pickings

2011-08-03T16:10:00.000Z

Fruity

2011-08-02T16:07:00.000Z

Glad all over

2011-08-01T16:05:00.000Z

Tunnel vision

2011-07-31T15:33:00.001Z

Five Cowboys and a Cowgirl rode way out west to Pembrokeshire to play at a cricket tournament near Narberth and to return a trophy won last year. There was a bit of a delay rounding up the horses and saddling up early on a sunny Sunday morning and after hours of cantering through the Brecon Beacons they arrived late, five minutes after the cricket had been abandoned due to rain.

No matter, they were well stocked up and there was generous hospitality and a barbecue back at a farmhouse, set amidst a lush garden of surprises, with outbuildings and polytunnels to explore as the unrelenting drizzle continued. It rains so much around here that it's not unheard of to use a polytunnel as a cricket net.

KK Kicks

2011-07-30T19:21:00.002Z

Whitchurch C.C. 3rd XI v Easton Cowboys C.C, Saturday XI

The Saturday XI played away against Whitchurch 3rd XI but neither went to Whitchurch nor recognized the team as being their 3rd XI. Arriving in good time at Peasedown St John with a bowler-heavy side, Joe won the toss and elected to bowl.

He and RobT opened the attack, both often beating the bat, the former tightly economical, the latter having the batsmen plum LBW, although unfortunately the umpire didn't concur. The following ball possibly wasn't LBW, but with Gordon Guilt sitting on his shoulder, the umpire raised his finger.

After shortened spells, Ev replaced Joe and last week's most successful bowler replaced Rob, but the Whitchurch top order fought back, finding the short boundary and accelerating the run rate to around four an over. In fact, your correspondent returned his worst ever bowling figures for the Cowboys, just a week after his best, but such is the beauty and balance of cricket. Innit?

Joe eventually broke the partnership off Ev's bowling by taking a great Cider Moment over-the-shoulder diving catch at mid-off and after Rog had had no luck with the ball, Kalu had a go, immediately causing problems and creating chances: He dismissed the No.3 & 4 batsmen both for 32, one to a good steady catch by Ev at long-off, the other to a sharp caught and bowled.

The ground fielding was at times a bit patchy given the good surface of the outfield: Later there were fines for unnecessary and sometimes unsuccessful use of feet and absent or less than well-timed dives. Still, Kalu tied the opposition down and compensated for runs lost elsewhere and the best was yet to come.

The last tool in the box, seventh bowler Garnier ceased his green woodpecker watching and whirred into action. In common with the straight hitting frequent in the innings, after a while the ball was bashed back into the nonchalant waiting hand of the bowler, exposing the tail.

It should be noted that not all bash-backs were successfully held; Justin being hit around the waistband at near point blank range, foolishly / wisely averting his eyes for a crucial second.

Kalu got his third wicket by bowling the batsman with a yorker / full toss, finishing with 3-17 from his eight overs, Angelo was rewarded for his safe keeping all afternoon with a snick off Garnier and the opposition weren't looking like they'd last the full 40 overs with seven wickets down and less than 150 on the board.

Garnier then took two wickets in two balls, one to an LBW appeal and one to Ev's safe hands, thereby presenting a hat-trick scenario. In what could be considered jug evasion the bowler then spewed the ball wide down the leg side, the anti-climax worthy of a Cider Moment nomination or two.

Ev mopped up the No.11 to restrict Whitchurch to a final 154 all out on the first ball of the 39th over, Garnier finishing with figures of 4-20 from six overs.

Tea was had, in a clubhouse now populated by refugees from another sport who had been giving vociferous support to the home side.

The volume increased as Justin and Grover opened the batting, getting louder still as Justin was soon out LBW, Grover toed a wide one for a catch first ball, Angelo succumbed LBW and Iggy - despite taking the attack to the bowlers and scoring three quick boundaries - was caught near the boundary. In terms of Cowboy collapses, 19-4 was pretty dire, fuelling the home supporters' glee.

Ev and Kalu were now at the wicket, both steadying the ship, patching the damage to prevent submersion or submission. The bowling didn't look anything special and it was vital not to lose another wicket to a bad ball.

Better bowling did come, but the pair slipped into their roles superbly and after early circumspection Kalu lashed out as Ev supported, defended and nudged. It was possibly the partnership of the season to date, cruising past fifty, always up with the run rate, taking the total towards and beyond a hundred as, not for the first time this season, home supporters were silenced and started to leave.

Kalu passed his second fifty of the month - and his Cowboy career - driving the field back with his expansive shots, enabling ones and two into the gaps and further frustrating the fielders, who had failed to take a couple of chances that had come their way. Some took their ire out on umpire Iggy, especially when he adjudged Kalu not run out.

The partnership reached a few runs past Nelson - to which Ev had contributed not much more than a dozen runs - until Kalu got a very audible nick behind for an excellent and very useful 83. Or did Ev go first for 19?

(Time for confession: Your correspondent forgot to take the scorebook out of the safe / picture frame to the match after his performance last week - for which he was naturally fined - and therefore some of the finer details are unclear)

At around 130-6 with just under ten overs to go, it was left to Joe and Garnier to maintain the advantage and steer the Cowboys home, which they did determinedly, with good running between the wickets and shot selection.

It had been a good game, better for the Cowboys than for Whitchurch and largely thanks to Man of the Match Kalu.

Scorecard

Down river

2011-07-28T16:08:00.001Z

Invasion

2011-07-27T19:49:00.003Z

Staples

2011-07-26T19:50:00.001Z

Highly favoured

2011-07-24T23:27:00.014Z

Midsomer Norton 3rd XI v Easton Cowboys Saturday XI

As your correspondent left the house on Saturday morning, Geoff Boycott was on the radio wittering on about how cricketers have their favourite grounds where they always seems to perform well - hokum, hogwash and superstition of course, yet it was hard to forget having scored a maiden fifty at Midsomer Norton last summer, as we crawled along in the traffic jam out of the city on another Mendip jaunt.

Joe won the toss on a muggy, overcast afternoon and opened the bowling, more panther than rabbit in his smooth approach and delivery, yet still wicketless after his opening salvo. RobT hopped in from the other end, on the button from the start, making the opposition work for every run.

Disappointingly, despite good efforts, four catches went down in the first ten overs and although the score was well pegged back, the opening batsmen prevailed until Rob made the breakthrough, trapping one of the openers LBW.

There followed a sixty run partnership for the second wicket and although the run rate seldom got above three an over, with wickets in hand, the opposition had built a foundation for a solid total.

Ev replaced Joe from one end and kept things remarkably tight while RobT bowled out his eight overs and gave the ball to Garner, who finally got the second wicket a few overs after the drinks break by bowling the No.3 batsman. Your correspondent replaced Ev and struggled to stop the runs leaking until a straight one kept low and he bowled the remaining opening batsman.

Shortly afterwards, the captain was heard to tell your correspondent that he was going to pull him off and in the shadow of a double entendre he took the ball for another spell. It was round about now that the batsman smashed the ball hard at Ev, whose hands only served to funnel the ball into his groin. As he regained his composure, the umpire enquired whether there was one ball left and another Cider Moment was born.

In his final over, Garner clean bowled another batsman to have the opposition foundation a bit cracked at 96-4 with eight overs remaining. Your correspondent returned for a spell from the other end and as Midsomer Norton hit out, Ev reached high for the sky and plucked down a ball that was destined for the boundary with his Inspector Gadget, Cider Moment nominated hand. Their skipper was the next to go, bowled by a fuller ball, but then as Ev returned for a spell from the other end and tied the batsmen down, the tail wagged and thrashed a little, taking eleven runs from your correspondent's penultimate over, for which there would be retribution, once Ev had taken a wicket in his final over to put the score on 125-7.

Hands up who likes bowling the last over of an innings? They're usually a bit of a challenge and sometimes quite eventful. The third ball of the over was mishit (if you read the word another way, it's still quite accurate) and Grover, blinded by the sun, miraculously clapped hands when the ball arrived in them: 133-8. The batsmen had crossed, the one now on strike had only previously played one scoring shot, hitting Ev for six. He got a thick ballooning edge on the next ball, which looped in Iggy's proximity at slip and as the bowler barked and beseeched, Ian duly obliged and took a great catch at full stretch.

The guttural bovine celebrations for a five wicket haul were met with both incredulity and congratulations, somewhat overshadowing the arrival of the diminutive last man at the crease and another little matter. The field came in but it hadn't dawned on most, including the bowler, what special opportunity that the next ball presented, but when it passed the bat and hit the stumps someone was alert enough to notice that it was not only the end of the innings but a hat-trick.

Besides the accuracy of all the bowlers and Gretch's blemishless record behind the stumps, the long grass in the outfield had taken the momentum out of the ball and restricted the runs considerably. 134 was an achievable target, but only if a few batsmen were prepared to stick around or go over the top.

Back at the main clubhouse, next to the picture perfect wicket, the tea table groaned under the weight of all manner of fayre. Some were too thirsty to wait for the tea to brew for long enough, others got absorbed in the Test match on the telly.

Ev and Grover opened up, safely negotiating half a dozen overs of tidy bowling from left armers until umpire RobT was convinced that Ev had snicked a ball that he hadn't and upheld the hopeful appeal. The score crept along slowly, assisted from the outset by a smattering of wides. The long grass was no help to BenP who often played fine shots for little or no reward. When he eventually tried going over the top of mid-on the fielder made a good backwards tumbling catch: After twenty overs, the score of 53 was identical to the opposition's at the same stage, for the loss of one more wicket.

Alan got his heed down well and tore up and down the wicket, taking Grover along for the ride and making him dive for the line. They both occupied the crease, nudged the score along and sent fielders chasing until Grover was bowled for a valuable 27 and Alan was executed in a similar manner in the bowler's following over: 74-4 in the 28th over, sixty runs to get in twelve overs.

Enter first Iggy, then Kalu. With that much power under the bonnet, would something blow? The pair exercised restraint, surviving a few near misses and initially making do with singles and well run twos. The required run rate still hovered at around five an over, with eight overs to go and five remaining batsmen not at all sure whether they'd be called upon.

On reaching double figures, Kalu had played in the long grass for long enough and went aerial, clearing the boundary ropes for maximum points. Iggy found the boundary too, missed the fielders and struck powerful blows to silence the home supporters. The previously economical opening bowlers returned to have their figures spoilt, Kalu lofting a seemingly effortless six over long-on, which later earned him Cider Moment nominations, scattering the field to make more singles and twos possible.

The 36th over went for ten runs and it was all over, the glory and crowning moment only slightly spoilt by an elderly gentleman driving his car straight through the victorious batsmen and other cricketers as they attempted to leave the field of play.

Kalu rightly received Man of the Match nominations for his accelerated approach, scoring 36 not out from 26 balls and joining Iggy for a sixty run partnership in less than eight overs, but some chancer who got a hat-trick he didn't know about, six wickets and a fine for exceeding four runs per over ran away with the Man of the Match award at Midsomer Norton for the second year in a row. What was Boycott saying?

Scorecard

Hotter than July

2011-07-16T17:42:00.001Z

The physics of flying

2011-07-15T17:24:00.002Z

When I was sixteen, the boy I sat next to at school had a pilot's licence. He was a member of the RAF section of the school's combined cadet force and very good at physics. I was a Royal Navy cadet and could swim.

Our physics teacher, who wore a ridiculous deerstalker hat and smoked a pipe, had no tolerance for boys like me, who didn't understand: He'd fly into rages at our inability to answer his interrogations or produce anything less than perfect homework.

Consequently, to save my skin, I used to copy from the exercise book of the boy next to me, without his knowledge, after he'd placed it in the teacher's pigeonhole. He wouldn't have let me copy it if I'd asked, out of both principle and fear of the teacher's wrath. I took every precaution to avoid being caught by either.

It was an alphabetical friendship, borne out of being made to sit in order of surname most of the time. Outside of the classroom we didn't talk much and when he was off learning to fly I was messing around in boats. When it was no longer compulsory I left the cadet force but he stayed on, intent on a career in the RAF. Naturally I gave up physics and he carried on with it. We left school on different paths and never saw each other again.

In 1995 I saw a photograph of him in the TV section of a newspaper. I'd been out of the country for several years and was unaware of what had happened in June 1994. It was no surprise that he'd become an experienced, well trusted RAF pilot, but to hear of the accident and loss of so many lives was shocking.

The posthumous charge of gross negligence didn't seem right, even before I'd heard the facts. I'd never known him to be negligent of anything, unless you count allowing sneaky cheats like me to copy his homework when he wasn't looking.

Finally, this week, after all these years, an independent review has overturned the MoD verdict, after previously suppressed evidence - which has long been public - concerning malfunctioning Chinook software which the pilots had expressed concerns about, was allowed to be considered.

I'm left pondering the consequences of unswerving obedience and why I didn't have the courage to tell the physics teacher that I just didn't get it.

the guardian
the independent
bbc

military pilots' forum

Spuds up

2011-07-14T16:50:00.003Z

First of the new potatoes - late this year - and runner beans.

New season kale - early this year.

Twelfth

2011-07-12T16:42:00.001Z

Fool on the hill

2011-07-09T14:24:00.002Z

On a hillside amongst the patchwork Mendips, in view of the Iron Age hillfort Maes Knoll, the sweet smell of mown grass and clover in the air, the Cowboys took on Stanton Drew. The covers hadn't been on the night before, apparently for fear of them blowing away, but despite the earlier deluge the pitch was playable,

As the Cowboys got it together, almost all of them showing some enthusiasm for warming up and fielding practice, the opposition captain rode up and down the wicket on a heavy roller, then over-egged the pudding a bit by trying to suggest to Budge that it was a batting wicket. Having won the toss, Joe was having none of it and gave the new ball to his bowlers - well, himself, downhill, with the wind behind him. Garner was left to take off uphill.

The combination of a left and right-handed opening pair kept the Cowboys on their toes in the field and tested the bowlers' line. The score crept along at around three an over but when the breakthrough hadn't come by the eighth over, Budge replaced himself with Evan who promptly got a wicket with his first ball when the batsman drove and Kalu took a smart catch. The following ball, the incoming batsman did exactly the same as his predecessor but Kalu was unable to take an almost identical chance. He went some way to atoning for that by coming on to bowl a maiden with his first over and getting the batsman a short while later, thanks to a good catch from Joe.

An even better, Cider Moment catch eventually came, when BenP dived and clung on and rolled and came up celebrating close to the boundary, where the batsman had tried to loft Kalu.

The score crept along, never too threatening but persistent, aided at times by some deficiency of due care in the field and not helped by the refusal of all LBW appeals. The bowlers - your correspondent included - continued to be tested by the left/right-hand partnership, gradient and stiff breeze. In a return spell, Joe removed the middle order, via catches from Kalu and Angelo, and finally the left-hander for sixty, thanks again to a good catch from Garner after Roger's return to bowling hadn't borne fruit.

The return of your correspondent up the hill prevented the tail from wagging, but after all forty overs, the score had crept marginally above four an over to end on 162 for 8.

A fine tea, including giant baguettes, kept the Cowboys quiet during the break, after which Angelo created an extra quiet zone in the dressing room for some kip while Iggy and Paul went out to bat and solitary spectator Duncan got his binoculars out.

While the bowler from one end bowled consecutive maidens, the one from the other bowled first Iggy, then Paul and in his sixth over Ben: Within a dozen overs the Cowboys were 26 for 3, then 37 for 4 when Alan's resistance ended and he was bowled by the change bowler from the top end.

For the next ten overs, Ev's reliability and stout defence partnered by Kalu's intent and stroke play lifted the run rate above five an over and put the innings back on track. When Ev was the fifth consecutive Cowboy to be bowled with the score on 96 for 5, Angelo's alarm clock went off and he found himself at the wicket but his feet were still asleep and he was LBW for a duck.

Your correspondent had been in the duck pond on his last outing and had no wish to return. Kalu, who'd earlier flicked a ball over the rope behind square for a perfectly timed six, was playing one of his finest innings and in between the well-run singles and twos he cleared the ropes again on his way to his first half century for the Cowboys. The opposition captain barked his orders incessantly and a few got shirty about wides. A new bowler came into the attack and without advancing his score, Kalu mistimed a pull and was caught: Fifty runs to get, ten overs and three wickets left.

Joe came in and was bowled for a single, Roger was caught behind off the returning opening bowler without scoring and now the Cowboys needed a run a ball for seven overs, the opposition, one wicket. Garner helped keep the dream alive and in the process hit the ball high in the air and hurt a child underneath, as the last pair scurried between the stumps. The required run rate crept up, but only just, until with two overs to go and fifteen runs to get, very regrettably your correspondent misjudged an on drive and was caught and bowled, stranding Garner not out at the other end.

Most from both teams then adjourned to the Druid's Arms and garden behind, as the sun hit the Cove of standing stones and Kalu was voted Man of the Match for another great all round performance.

Scorecard

Calendula officinalis

2011-07-07T16:32:00.001Z

Pisum sativum

2011-07-06T16:29:00.000Z

Moth magnets

2011-07-05T19:48:00.001Z

Bath plugged

2011-07-02T08:57:00.000Z

Easton Cowboys C.C. Saturday XI v Bath C.C. 4th XI

Mixed fortunes on the field for the three Cowboy league teams this weekend, with a crushing defeat, a last ball thriller and a wobbly victory. The Saturday XI travelled to Winford for their home (?) game against Bath 4th XI, some preparing for the match by lying under the trees in the shade while the Bath contingent took over the square and performed their well-drilled exercise routines.

Captain Budge nonchalantly shrugged off losing the toss, possibly because the opposition chose to bat first on a warm and muggy afternoon with a lot of cloud cover. Still, those short boundaries at Winford do look appetising.

The leporine captain sprang down the hill and found most of the things that a bowler likes to find, like pace and bounce and swing, but despite keeping it tight, a wicket eluded him. RobT came up the hill from the flightpath end and kept the pressure on, once the autopilot was engaged, but the breakthrough wouldn't come.

The 2G combination of Grove and Gibbons struck first, if memory serves, but it doesn't and it's all a bit of a blur (others promised to help tell the story) but suffice to say, all-rounder on fire Ev's introduction into the attack tugged the zip up further on the Bath innings until something was going to burst.

And if that bowling change worked a treat, then Kalu's first over piled up the jelly and ice-cream, flighting and tempting and ripping the ball until a beguiled batsman walked out of his crease and Gretch behind the stumps made no mistake. Later in the over, the pair served up a plate of deja vu and the opposition innings suffered indigestion.

It was hard work in the field mind and both Grover and RobT had close encounters with boundary fences and hedging, edges occasionally flew and Iggy and Gretch dived but returned with no pearls. At one point, Kalu nearly pulled off a remarkable caught and bowled, but was just unable to grab the rebound, earning him both a Cider Moment award and a fine for the drop. Ev showed off his throwing arm to all on numerous occasions but the batsman must have been looking the other way, as after a while, he attempted a ridiculous second run when Ev had almost gathered the ball, and was run out by miles.

Four or five wickets down and the score was still below fifty, the run rate below three. The batting became more obstinate, stylish and coached but still the boundaries were few and far between. The captain took a remarkable catch, or made a simple one look so, deep and straight, off the bowling of Kalu, and later returned for another spell with the ball and dislodged the eventual top scorer, Beth Howe, LBW for 17.

A young tail wagged and resisted a while, but the innings crumpled, then ended with another run out in the 32nd over, with the score on 105. Behind the feeling of pleasant surprise was the possibility that it could have been even less, sitting next to the thought that perhaps the bowling attack would be deadly.

And so to tea, to enjoy Iggy's excellent provisions, eat melon in the sunshine and make passengers on incoming FlyBe jets sigh at the vision of pastoral bliss a few hundred feet below them.

Iggy and the returning Grover opened the batting to face another new ball that had been agreed upon at the start of the match. Unsurprisingly, it behaved nastily in capable hands and scoring opportunities were very limited. The score crept along until first Iggy, then Ben was bowled from the top end, the latter with a corker.

The as-yet-uneaten jelly and ice-cream had started to wobble a bit. Enter Alan, to partner Grover's stable left hand and create a solidifying toffee coating: All very sweet until Grover went LBW for 25 and Ev came in to face bowling changes.

Bath had responded to pressure and become more vociferous in the field, although the underlying bleat always evoked fear and desperation rather than confidence and certainty. But then Ev was bowled cheaply, Justin went to a good catch and Kalu went out to join anchorman Alan.

Together, on occasions, they threaded and launched the ball around the ground, Kalu scoring a six over long on to scatter the worried fielders and stir a stagnant run rate. When he was caught a few boundaries later, the Cowboys were six wickets down with about thirty runs to get in more than a dozen overs.

As a parent, your correspondent has got into the habit of not smacking a ball bowled by a small child as hard as possible to the boundary, (a la Simon Day's 'Competitive Dad') but rather spooning it up for one of his/her chums to catch in a manner that even granny would be ashamed of. So he did and the toffee coating cracked and the melted cream came out. There were more enthusiastic squeaks from the bottom field when Gretch was run out, also for a duck, but long distance, Man of the Match Alan was still there.

The Cowboys' cause was greatly bolstered by a a large number of wides that agitated and angered a few of the opposition although there was no doubt that the balls were out of reach. With many overs still to go, RobT went out to join Alan in looking in control of the situation, pulling it off with aplomb, hitting the winning runs of a two wicket victory to secure a third win in a row

Scorecard

July Skies

2011-07-01T19:12:00.007Z

Also the name of a fine, wistful, ambient guitar based band from the West Midlands :

YouTube
Last FM

Random beets

2011-06-30T19:11:00.000Z

P.P.S.

2011-06-28T14:09:00.002Z

Future veg

2011-06-27T14:07:00.000Z

Choked

2011-06-26T13:58:00.001Z

Caned some

2011-06-25T19:50:00.006Z

Keynsham C.C. 4th XI v Easton Cowboys C.C. Saturday XI

So, what was to be the manner of execution inflicted on the Easton Cowboys by an undefeated, top of the table Keynsham?

"Crucifixion?"
"Er, no, freedom actually."
"What?"
"Yeah, they said I hadn't done anything and I could go and live on an island somewhere."
"Oh I say, that's very nice. Well, off you go then." (Python - Life Of Brian)

With Joe away at Worthy Farm, RobT stepped in as skipper and proved that there ain't nothing to this tossing business and stuck the opposition into bat on an overcast and windy afternoon at Wellsway School.

Soon the batsmen were disappearing faster than cigarette lighters out the back of The Plough, thanks to some phenomenally tight bowling from Ev, Rob and Rich and despite an early chance uncharacteristically spilled by Ange, a mud-spattered renegede from the Pilton Pop Festival.

Things were going well, even after your correspondent came on to bowl, until DaveB - a late arrival who hadn't participated in the meticulously planned and randomly executed warm-up routines - thought about chasing a ball from point: After falling to the ground, he departed to hobbledom with a pulled hamstring and was fortuitously and competently replaced in the field by 12th man Arran.

The Cowboys' fielding was always committed, if not always successful, with Alan taking one on the jaw at square leg and a couple of catches going to ground. Gretch pulled off a smart stumping off the bowling of Kalu, who provided a nearly unanimous Cider Moment by bowling the batsman around his legs, with a ball that without the tremendous leg spin, would probably have been a wide.

Constant pressure, a fairly unpredictable pitch and some generally less than confident batting led to the Keynsham innings petering out in the 32nd over for 76 runs.

Tea was served half a mile away, back at the main ground - where the home side had already won - and comprised a fine spread of canapes, roast potatoes, pasta and sweet things. The bar was temptingly open and the sun momentarily came out.

With DB absent injured, Iggy joined Angelo to open the batting and soon found that the young home bowlers could extract swing and variable bounce to match the Cowboys' previous efforts. The frequent short pitched bowling, although threatening, also provided opportunities for runs.

Progress was slow, for some time slipping below the opposition's meagre run rate, but with all the time in the world to get the runs, Angelo and Ev built a foundation for Alan to build on after Iggy fell cheaply. Still apparently wearing a ball magnet in his head, Alan did well to evade more short pitched bowling and also exquisitely thread the ball through fielders square of the wicket to the boundary.

After Simon's swift departure, Kalu showed signs of wanting to reach the slowly approaching target with the usual positive intent, but after striking a few blows he was bowled while looking into the middle distance.(Photographic evidence exists)

Gretch joined Alan to see it through and in the 29th over, as the Man of the Match stroked the ball across the boundary again, the Cowboys had achieved a fairly comfortable victory, returning to the Keynsham home ground for some cheery hospitality and to face the skipper's kangaroo fines' court.

Scorecard

Berried

2011-06-23T17:19:00.001Z

Serotonin inhibitor?

2011-06-22T17:09:00.001Z

Feverfew - possibly inhibits the release of serotonin and limits the inflammation of blood vessels in the head, thereby easing fevers and migraines.

Wikipedia

Deux couleurs

2011-06-21T17:05:00.000Z

Ornamental, honest!

2011-06-20T17:23:00.000Z

99 with chocolate flake

2011-06-18T21:05:00.003Z

Easton Cowboys C.C. Saturday XI v Whitchurch C.C.3rd XI

Despite enough rain in the morning to nearly drown a local strawberry grower and doubts about the exact location of their 'home' ground, the Cowboys' Saturday XI started their match on time against Whitchurch 3rd XI at the King George V Playing Fields in Downend.

Contrary to reports last week and to considerable cheers, skipper Budge proved that he can be a successful tosser and asked the opposition to bat. Continuing with a positive assertiveness that was to last all afternoon, he opened the bowling downhill with the wind behind him and was soon exploiting the vagaries of the pitch. RobT opened from the other end in a sprightly fashion, dropping his sails and motoring headlong into the gale.

It was evidently a tricky pitch to bat on and the damp outfield and alert fielders further limited the runs on the rare occasions that the ball left the square. The pressure soon took it's toll on the opposition batsmen; Justin took a sharp catch, DaveB another, stumps were clattered. Gretch's remarkable agility behind the stumps was matched by Ev fielding at point, who stuck out a hand on an elastic arm to catch an uppish cut off RobT's bowling and earn himself the Cider Moment.

Having barely conceded any runs and bagged his long awaited first wickets of the season, the skipper replaced himself with Ev who produced a similarly miserly spell while RichG sprang in from the other end, passing the bat and making light work of the headwind. By now, the opposition No.5 was proving not only stubborn but powerfully adept at occasionally smashing the ball down the ground and so it was with some trepidation that your correspondent came on to bowl. However, aided by an able supporting cast the runs were limited, Iggy's wait for a slip catch was rewarded, DaveB caught a lofted drive close to the ground and it looked like the opposition wouldn't bat out the full quota of overs.

After Ev's precision, RobT and RichG returned to see off the tail who had shown a sliver or resistance, but when the latter hit the stumps for a second time, no disco pose appeal was necessary and the Whitchurch innings was over in the 37th over, two short of a hundred.

Tea was taken a short walk or (if you were really lazy/tired) drive away, comprising rustic grazing provided by your correspondent, aided and abetted by Joe, RobT and Gretch. As crumbs were swept away and cases of food poisoning administered to, DaveB and Iggy padded up and strode out to get the measure of a drying but still tricky wicket.

The ball was still in relatively good condition and atmospheric conditions, the wind and opposition bowlers combined to produce swing through the air, while certain patches of the wicket produced unexpected trajectories. Despite all that, Iggy played with positive freedom on his welcome return from hobbledom, DaveB more watchful and apparently solid. Angelo was just remarking how solid everything was looking when a fuller ball hit the base of Dave's stumps off a thinside edge and Justin went out to replace him.

Iggy played more shots, evading fielders by luck or design but after getting bogged down, played one too many and was bowled for 21. Ev went out to join Justin who was playing the ball late off the pitch in a watchful innings, but the score stalled. Around the 15th over, the bowler from the top end, leaking even fewer runs than Joe and Ev had done earlier, bowled Ev for a duck and Angelo a couple of balls later.

Four wickets down and not yet half way to the target, Kalu joined Justin and Iggy went to umpire. With hindsight, opposition fielders might have gone a bit deeper as Kalu's first scoring shot was a six. A few more boundaries later they did. When opportunities came their way they missed or spilled them and Kalu rode his luck, clattering the ball with a lightening fast backlift and spring action punch.

When a catch was eventually held and Kalu departed for 28, still grinning, the balance of the game had swung back in the Cowboys' favour, although a bowling change and some less than friendly vibes were starting to threaten that. When the other umpire, who had travelled with the opposition, made a bad decision in giving Justin out caught off his arm, off a bowler who propelled the ball to the stumps via the Moon, the mainstay and anchor of the innings was a tad reluctant to depart before confirmation.

With around twenty more runs to get, skipper Joe strode out to join a less than comfortable looking Gretch, the remainder of the tail not feeling very chilled either, except by the wind. Still sensing a chance, the opposition appealed for everything and finally got the only LBW decision of the day from a harangued but even-handed Iggy, Gretch falling without playing a shot.

Like the impatient groundsman, Joe wanted the match to finish, but unlike him, he was passionately bothered that the Cowboys would emerge as victors. With no nonsense straight drives he found the boundary twice, smashing balls from the ultra slow bowler back at your correspondent's head, at the non-striker's end, at many times the speed at which they came towards him. The following over, a straight ball kept low and was kept out, a wide ball was called a wide - and the Cowboys had won by three wickets with eight overs to spare.

The skipper's all round performance (but mainly winning the toss) won him the Man of the Match vote and the appearance of Mr Maroon, aka Dick Emery, aka SteveO at the ground and Plough later was another noteworthy CM nomination.

Scorecard

Into the black

2011-06-14T15:53:00.000Z

Wrung

2011-06-11T19:18:00.006Z

Easton Cowboys C.C. Saturday XI v Wrington C.C. 2nd XI

Well blessed were our souls as the Friday night deluge didn't carry over into Saturday and the Frenchay topography, groundstaff and heavy roller facilitated the prompt commencement of the match against Wrington.

The Cowboys' skipper, it has to be said, is not much of a tosser: Once again he lost and the favoured option of bowling was taken by the opposition but the opening pair of DB and Angelo rose to the challenge, picking off quick early runs against a relatively lacklustre bowling attack.

When Angelo fell to an equitable LBW decision, last week's flashing blade Ev came to the wicket and occupied the crease as DB played shots at the other end. By now, the run rate had dropped from a rosy six an over to around three, as opposition bowling changes revealed depth and threatened.

After Ev was bowled for a long duck, SteveO and Alan stuck around as DB headed towards and just past a half century, but when he was well caught, the innings needed the impetus and improvisation shown by Kalu to muster a respectable total: Time and again, exquisite lofty late cuts evaded fielders and raced to the boundary, but when he was eventually caught for 46, the late order and tail failed to make an impression against tight bowling and worse, left more than three overs unbatted in being all out for 149.

A fine tea from RobT refreshed and revitalised spirits, with the man himself coming out of the kitchen after the break to produce a tangerine with the first ball of a fine spell from the bottom end to bowl the Wrington opener.

Joe tore in from the top end but despite unsettling, couldn't dislodge the batsmen and when Ev replaced him and your correspondent took over at the other end, the Wrington No.3 was establishing himself as the backbone of their run chase.

In bright sunshine the skipper took the first of two good catches, although the real pearler, voted as the Cider Moment and a contender for catch of the season, was plucked, prevented from reaching the ground and presented like a jewel in Angelo's fingertips, diving forward at cover.

After economical bowling and fielding pressure had unsettled the opposition middle order into giving up several wickets, a rotated bowling strategy saw a confident Kalu given the ball and as he started to prise out the first of three batsmen, there was hope in the Cowboys' camp. Most, if not all catches were taken, Gretch kept well behind well kept, recently varnished stumps, but despite good return spells from RobT and Joe, Wrington overhauled the target for the loss of eight wickets with three overs to spare.

Kalu was voted Man of the Match for his fine all-round performance, verging on jug-avoidance, but his post-match tutorial on coin tossing imploded when his demonstrations repeatedly failed.

Scorecard

Between showers and office hours

2011-06-10T19:26:00.001Z

Strawberries abound

2011-06-09T16:07:00.000Z

Nova Red

2011-06-08T16:08:00.001Z

City centre sanctuary

2011-06-06T16:18:00.000Z

Saint Stephen's Cafe

Through the mill

2011-06-04T15:33:00.001Z

Shepton Mallet C.C. 1st XI v Easton Cowboys C.C. Saturday XI

Having lost their home game against Shepton Mallet in May, the Cowboys' Saturday XI travelled south across the Mendips on the first weekend in June in anticipation of a tough away fixture. On paper it was a strong team, but would it hold up on grass, in a field at Oakhill?

The sky was heavy and the outfield thick with buttercups and daisies. Despite the drone of distant agricultural machinery it was not the weather for hay making - or losing the toss - and so it was with caution and watchfulness that the Cowboys' opening pair of DaveB and Angelo strode to the wicket.

The new cherry swerved and bounced awkwardly but tended to die on the occasions that it was stroked off the square. At times the opposition had three slips menacing for an edge. Within half an hour, both batsmen had been bowled and by the time Ben's resistance had ended in a similar fashion the score was still paltry.

Simon and Ev gradually adjusted to the conditions and change bowlers, lifting the ball - and with it, hopes of a defendable total - towards if not over the boundary. After successfully keeping out good bowling, it was disappointing but perhaps predictable that several batsmen fell to bad balls, unable to snaffle their pies without making a mess and causing their unnecessary demise.

Still, the innings was starting to get some colour in its cheeks, largely thanks to Ev (for whom the boundary markers had been cruelly located to deny him a couple of sixes from lofty blows) aided by Kalu's positive intent and Gretch's plucky solidity. Unable to find the boundary himself, your correspondent resorted to giving the opposition catching practice while scampering up and down, eventually finding the middle, of the fielder's grateful hands.

The tail maintained occupation of the crease until the final over, with Rob not out and promising more, Rich and Joe talking to the ducks and the score on 129.

At tea, on being asked by the skipper to open the bowling, your correspondent stuffed some standard fayre white rolls and muffins aside for later and loosened his truss. Kalu echoed an unorthodox attack from the other end.

The Shepton Mallet opening pair had scored over a hundred against the Cowboys in the season's earlier encounter and with bowling conditions less favourable than they had been a few hours before, it was going to be a hard task to restrict their cavalier confidence. It might have been an idea to have hidden archers in the woods into which they despatched the unfortunate Kalu in his first and second overs. Sticking to a plan of spin from one end, the skip then brought DaveB into the attack but the young opposition batsmen continued to go aerial.

On the rare occasion that the batsmen made errors in mistiming drives from the other end, the chances proved too tricky to cling onto and although pads were struck and stumps shaved, the longed-for breakthrough wouldn't come. Rich bowled tidily and got some swing but when he found a top edge, Gretch appeared to step onto an imaginary roundabout from which he emerged with the ball gone to earth. Your correspondent bowled out his eight overs wondering whether the cause might be bettered by another option: We'd be blinkered, apathetic automatons if we didn't each favour different bowling strategies, but it falls to the skipper to plot the course and sometimes walk the plank.

It wasn't until late in the day that Joe brought himself and Rob on to bowl, to no avail, as both batsmen cruised past their fifties, overhauling their target in the twenty-third over.

Ev's innings of 44 deservedly won the majority of Man of the Match nominations and the Cider Moment was either Gretch spinning out, Ev not getting a six, or the moment we drove past the Shepton Mallet cider mill.

Scorecard

Stereo Digitalis

2011-06-02T15:48:00.001Z

10p

2011-05-31T11:14:00.000Z

Demolition Darby and Joan

2011-05-27T17:02:00.003Z

The Saffron Court home for the elderly in Whitehall is being demolished. It was only built in 1993. Dementia care policies have changed and residential building land is scarce.

The cherry trees went a couple of months ago.