England League and Cup Discussion

[wolfberries]

OU812 wolfberries
Batting - Top Order 12,929 12,953
Batting - Middle Order 10,660 11,525
Batting - Tail 6,318 4,776
Bowling - Seam 13,655 (38) 12,959 (50)
Bowling - Spin 11,359 (12) 0 (0)
Fielding/Keeping 15,145 16,350
Overall 224,267 226,087

Result: wolfberries won by 8 runs

Second spot it is then...

[wolfberries]

Home Stumpy Boundaries
Away wolfberries
Ground Stumpy Boundaries CG
League Youth Twenty20 3.1
Date 01 Aug 22 10:00
Weather (forecast) Hot
Pitch (current) Flat

Toss: Stumpy Boundaries won the toss and elected to bowl.

And so it starts again...

[wolfberries]

D. Devoy (rfm) 4-0-28-2, T. Benneworth 1 (2b), G. Ebeling 20 (10b)
End of over 20 (5 runs) - wolfberries(192-5) RR 9.60

Probably 30 runs short, we need at least a couple of bowlers to step up now. Can't rely on any scoreboard pressure today, we have two quicks and a wrist spinner so we need wickets from them.

[spark]

Well, last season (and I guess a part of this) couldn't have gone much better. Two domestic senior trophies plus being involved in the USA T20 title win.

The youngsters look like they're going to have some problems this season, especially at the start. With my oldest player being 20 years and 6 weeks and my next oldest under 20-years-old there aren't going to be too many changes to my team over the season but we might be slightly weak in ratings.

After experimenting with a sticky pitch at the end of last season, I have moved to slow and I'll cross my fingers for better results with that. We were out in to bat first which is not a disaster for the conditions.

P. Naidoo (rfs) 4-0-22-2, M. Patterson 3 (4b), O. Delap 0 (0b)
End of over 20 (2 runs) - Ruff Royals(164-7) RR 8.20

I'm happy with that total as long as we bowl well. It was a decent effort from most batters but Schwartz really took us to the next level with a new personal best of 44 from 32 balls.

R. Wheeler (rfs) 1-0-8-1, D. Figueroa 0 (0b), G. McGrath 4 (1b)
End of over 5 (8 runs) - Egham Town CC(32-2). 133 runs required from 15 overs. RR 6.40 RRR 8.87

A decent enough start with the ball although we'll need to keep that run rate under control.

[wolfberries]

G. Lampe (rfm) 4-0-31-1, L. Balbirnie 10 (10b), G. Mboya 63 (44b)
End of over 16 (7 runs) - Stumpy Boundaries (129-4). 64 runs required from 4 overs. RR 8.06 RRR 16.00

Going well so far.

[wolfberries]

Stumpy Boundaries wolfberries
Batting - Top Order 6,238 7,336
Batting - Middle Order 5,647 5,508
Batting - Tail 3,557 3,588
Bowling - Seam 7,384 (12) 5,730 (12)
Bowling - Spin 7,029 (8) 7,819 (8)
Fielding/Keeping 6,216 9,439
Overall 113,071 123,285

wolfberries won by 25 runs

Happy with that start to the season.

[spark]

Ruff Royals won by 37 runs

Ruff Royals Egham Town CC
Batting - Top Order 7,602 5,406
Batting - Middle Order 5,442 6,908
Batting - Tail 3,964 3,842
Bowling - Seam 6,838 (8) 6,084 (16)
Bowling - Spin 7,018 (12) 7,827 (4)
Fielding/Keeping 8,792 8,782
Overall 125,178 119,294

A great way to start the season. Three teams are currently rating lower than me whilst The Dross are firm favourites due to their 145k rating with next best Staindrop Lordies on 137k.

[spark]

Home Ruff Royals
Away Pedagogs
Ground Ruff Royals CG
League Twenty20 1.1
Date 02 Aug 22 10:00
Crowd 16,060
Weather Hot
Pitch Dry

Pedagogs won the toss and decided to bat first which suited me fine.

Very much in the balance at the moment but the good news is that my weakest bowler has already bowled his overs.

P. Massey (lfs) 1-0-5-0, E. Anderton 3 (3b), G. Roberts-Thomson 25 (24b)
End of over 9 (5 runs) - Pedagogs(62-3) RR 6.89

[spark]

S. Hodges (rfs) 4-0-27-1, G. Jennings 2 (2b), L. Pham 12 (6b)
End of over 20 (12 runs) - Pedagogs(151-8) RR 7.55

Feels like that might be too many but we'll give it a go.

[spark]

R. Bontempelli (rm) 2-0-9-0, B. Issa 40 (25b), T. Liberatore 33 (30b)
End of over 10 (2 runs) - Ruff Royals(80-2). 72 runs required from 10 overs. RR 8.00 RRR 7.20

We were doing ok but we've just lost 2 wickets and that is looking like it's going to be a huge problem which will lose us the game.

R. Bontempelli (rm) 3-0-18-1, T. Liberatore 35 (32b), A. Clarke 8 (4b)
End of over 12 (9 runs) - Ruff Royals(95-4). 57 runs required from 8 overs. RR 7.92 RRR 7.12

[casperj]

Crestfallen Sidekicks YorkshireTykes
Batting - Top Order 12,952 13,865
Batting - Middle Order 10,246 10,863
Batting - Tail 4,765 5,276
Bowling - Seam 13,010 (8) 13,200 (12)
Bowling - Spin 12,494 (12) 13,181 (8)
Fielding/Keeping 14,954 15,536
Overall 215,455 227,312

Crestfallen Sidekicks won by 8 wickets
F. Johnston (rfs) 2.1-0-22-0, E. Hamilton 36 (43b), K. Luckhurst 8 (3b)
End of over 17 (6 runs) - Crestfallen Sidekicks(101-2) RR 5.94

Great win to start the season. Pretty much everything went right. Chose 3 spinners on a hot/crumbling and my 'third' spinner did the damage; he took 4/24 and got a run-out. My most experienced batsmen both got in and knocked off the total with plenty to spare. For once, choosing a starting 11 based on the conditions actually had a benefit!

[spark]

Liberatore was immense with 74 not out from 54 balls. Issa also had a nice contribution with 45 from 29.

Ruff Royals Pedagogs
Batting - Top Order 14,960 13,749
Batting - Middle Order 11,325 11,997
Batting - Tail 3,895 7,568
Bowling - Seam 13,060 (8) 12,897 (12)
Bowling - Spin 14,835 (12) 13,488 (8)
Fielding/Keeping 17,215 16,618
Overall 239,100 241,211

Ruff Royals won by 5 wickets

I guess we can pretend this is a title defence for a little while but my rating is going to drop once I start playing a younger batter or two.

[wolfberries]

wolfberries Bedfordshire Jats
Batting - Top Order 12,727 13,636
Batting - Middle Order 10,998 10,325
Batting - Tail 4,885 4,809
Bowling - Seam 13,117 (8) 11,672 (8)
Bowling - Spin 12,258 (12) 12,404 (12)
Fielding/Keeping 16,001 15,223
Overall 220,567 216,499

wolfberries won by 7 runs

Another decent win to start the season off with.

[spark]

I've had a look at what the teams in my division have rated in the first game and it seems like it's going to be a tough season. It looks like the lowest rating team was 235k so it's going to be a fun battle!

[wolfberries]

Home Egham Town CC
Away wolfberries
Ground Vicarage Road
League Youth 2.1
Date 04 Aug 22 10:00
Crowd 7,768
Weather Sunny
Pitch Slow

Toss: Egham Town CC won the toss and elected to bowl.

T. Horsfield (rfs) 3-0-9-1, K. Sheehan 4 (10b), T. Minter 25 (48b)
End of over 14 (6 runs) - wolfberries(49-2) RR 3.50

Certainly need to up the RR.