England League and Cup Discussion

[wolfberries]

wolfberries Knights Watchmen
Batting - Top Order 7,183 6,479
Batting - Middle Order 6,571 6,838
Batting - Tail 3,926 5,089
Bowling - Seam 5,733 (24) 6,715 (24)
Bowling - Spin 6,989 (16) 6,361 (16)
Fielding/Keeping 9,981 7,869
Overall 127,916 125,010

Result: wolfberries won by 8 wickets

We chased down the total with reasonable ease today.

[spark]

Ruff Royals Snakey's Kent Stars
Batting - Top Order 7,306 6,136
Batting - Middle Order 5,927 5,813
Batting - Tail 3,717 3,493
Bowling - Seam 6,254 (32) 7,276 (40)
Bowling - Spin 6,204 (8) 0 (0)
Fielding/Keeping 9,382 8,491
Overall 123,450 120,131

Snakey's Kent Stars won by 5 wickets

We just didn't score quickly enough probably due to their far superior bowling.

First game ratings:

Egham Town CC : 137,203
Ffoh : 136,503
Relegation reprobates : 134,041
bigsexybarry: 124,310
Ruff Royals : 123,450
Fiery's XI: 123,398
The Dross: 121,833
Snakey's Kent Stars : 120,131

Losing to the lowest rating team isn't great. I fear that our inferior bowling is going to be a problem this season.

[spark]

I. Mureithi (rws) 5-1-18-1, J. House 11 (11b), M. Schmidt 0 (2b)
End of over 27 (4 runs) - Ruff Royals(109-3) RR 4.04

I'm a little worried we're scoring too slowly. It is a slow pitch though.

[spark]

I. Mureithi (rws) 9-1-28-3, R. Schneider 0 (0b), I. Dennehy 0 (0b)
End of over 38 (2 runs) - Ruff Royals(156-5) RR 4.11

Both set batters were out in the same over as we approach the last 10.

[spark]

W. Shahanah (rfs) 8.4-0-24-2, J. Westerveld 9 (11b)
End of over 48 (1 run) - Ruff Royals(198-10) RR 4.12

A bit disappointing; we're going to have to bowl really well.

[Atko]

Very late YOD Report (Did anyone else have site access problems yesterday?) ...

The Raging Speed Horns vs Oxhey Players
League Youth 2.1

Weather Cloudy
Pitch Dry

Result: The Raging Speed Horns won by 25 runs

Nice win to kick off the season. Looks like we're about mid-pack in this league, which is way better than I expected -

The Raging Speed Horns 113,733
Oxhey Players 110,864
Camberwell Carrots 109,960
Dunbrody Academy London 126,404
St. Marks Hill Strollers 114,790
The Chumps CC 109,074
SLBenfica 114,591
South Hill Slammers 128,642

My goal was not to demote, but I might adjust that to a top 3 spot now

Having a surfeit of spinners has prompted a move away from my beloved sticky track this season. Dry is the way to go

[Atko]

Meanwhile, the two newbies in tier 1 are battling it out at wolfie's den.

wolfberries vs The Raging Speed Horns
League One Day 1.1

Weather Windy
Pitch Uneven


So far it's all gone our way -

S. Garland (rf) 6-1-39-0, H. Charlton 26 (43b), P. Labyrinth 51 (66b)
End of over 21 (9 runs) - The Raging Speed Horns(106-1). 80 runs required from 29 overs. RR 5.05 RRR 2.76

Probably another match-winning performance from Max Speed with 5-29 from his 10 overs

[Atko]

Hmmmm... a closer inspection of the wolfster's pack reveals a moderately young team averaging mid-20's.

Further inspection of his squad suggests that his stronger players will be focusing on T20 and probably the MKMC while he bloods his up-and-comers with some juicy tier 1 xp.

A cunning plan ...

[spark]

Danger Hotspurs won by 4 wickets

Ruff Royals Danger Hotspurs
Batting - Top Order 14,102 13,725
Batting - Middle Order 12,561 12,282
Batting - Tail 5,027 6,079
Bowling - Seam 14,751 (30) 13,843 (20)
Bowling - Spin 13,652 (20) 14,229 (30)
Fielding/Keeping 17,630 17,097
Overall 246,180 243,936

We didn't score enough and then we didn't take enough early wickets. A nice 50 from Bullock, a decent 40 from Dickerson, and 3-38 from Patterson was good.

First game ratings:

Ruff Royals: 246,180
Danger Hotspurs: 243,936
Snakey's Kent Stars: 241,916
Relegation reprobates: 240,594
Topmen: 239,376
Gully Boys CC: 237,423
All Leeds Aren't We: 236,793
Bedfordshire Jats: 216,119

We're top of the pack on ratings but there's very little difference between everyone except Bedfordshire Jats.

[wolfberries]

Hmmmm... a closer inspection of the wolfster's pack reveals a moderately young team averaging mid-20's.

Further inspection of his squad suggests that his stronger players will be focusing on T20 and probably the MKMC while he bloods his up-and-comers with some juicy tier 1 xp.

A cunning plan ...

Erm, it's nothing of the sort

[spark]

Division 2.2 first game ratings:

South Yorkshire CC: 236,315
St. Marks Hill Strollers: 235,646
Goondiwindi: 232,160
Camberwell Carrots: 231,732
Bathaloner: 230,855
Sledgingshire: 229,419
C.C.DeVille CCC: 220,214
Knockout Heroes: 213,405

The leagues seem somewhat inbalanced with the top rated side in this league would be second bottom in the league I'm in.

[Atko]

Hmmmm... a closer inspection of the wolfster's pack reveals a moderately young team averaging mid-20's.

Further inspection of his squad suggests that his stronger players will be focusing on T20 and probably the MKMC while he bloods his up-and-comers with some juicy tier 1 xp.

A cunning plan ...

Erm, it's nothing of the sort

Exhibit A -

Match Ratings
wolfberries The Raging Speed Horns
Batting - Top Order 13,019 14,762
Batting - Middle Order 10,876 11,164
Batting - Tail 5,345 4,469
Bowling - Seam 11,423 (40) 14,511 (30)
Bowling - Spin 11,933 (10) 15,167 (20)
Fielding/Keeping 15,223 18,620
Overall 214,914 246,840

Result: The Raging Speed Horns won by 7 wickets

Actually those are pretty good ratings for a young team.

Yep, nice win to kick off our tier 1 tenure. Looking around, there are some strong teams -

South London's Number One CC 248,655
Inchigeela Angels 245,995
Egham Town CC 251,990
Ffoh 250,464
wolfberries 214,914
The Raging Speed Horns 246,840
Trevor Francis Tracksuit 255,930
Pedagogs 235,880

- but I fancy my chances of a crack at the title. My mob will be peaking for the next couple of seasons, so this'll probably be their best chance. As always, I'm letting the B team handle T20 and as much of the early MKMC rounds as possible. Let's hope it pays off in the long run.

[casperj]

If theres grass on the Wicket Crestfallen Sidekicks
Batting - Top Order 12,902 11,409
Batting - Middle Order 10,553 12,623
Batting - Tail 4,359 7,546
Bowling - Seam 12,576 (30) 12,883 (30)
Bowling - Spin 12,055 (20) 14,091 (20)
Fielding/Keeping 14,715 16,043
Overall 212,887 233,728

If theres grass on the Wicket won by 3 wickets

The match engine screws me again!

[wolfberries]

wolfberries South Yorkshire CC
Batting - Top Order 7,691 5,177
Batting - Middle Order 5,228 4,587
Batting - Tail 3,764 2,841
Bowling - Seam 5,733 (12) 5,225 (8)
Bowling - Spin 6,989 (8) 6,409 (12)
Fielding/Keeping 9,790 5,508
Overall 123,517 93,785

Result: wolfberries won by 6 wickets

First win of the season in this league, eased to victory as well.

[casperj]

Crestfallen Sidekicks wolfberries
Batting - Top Order 12,702 13,327
Batting - Middle Order 12,189 11,615
Batting - Tail 4,833 4,382
Bowling - Seam 12,548 (20) 12,419 (16)
Bowling - Spin 0 (0) 15,577 (4)
Fielding/Keeping 15,849 17,113
Overall 224,354 229,508

Crestfallen Sidekicks won by 2 runs

Rarer than an honest politican, the Sidekicks actually manage to win a senior match 'against the ratings'! Can't remember last time that happened! We're going to need all the help I get can to stay in this division so the win is definitely appreciated.
The usual batting issues were evident hoever, with (as often seems to be the case) a mediocre opposition bowler able to cut through the batting line up with ease. Unlike usual, Luckmini had one of his good days and one of the all-rounders remembered that he could bat. Recent signing Bunworth remains a disaster, now averaging a mighty 7.7 from his 9 T20 innings! I'd have been better off sticking one of the development batters in his place.