Barrow Gurney Cricket Club

It was a disappointing week for Barrow teams despite a wonderful hundred from Ed Holdaway on Saturday as he dominated the scoring at the Bristol Cricket Club. The seconds’ game was cancelled due to Hambrook being short of players, which was a good result in terms of points but disappointing to those scheduled to play. Sunday saw the 3rds lose to Portishead.

 

Batting first at Bristol 3rds, Barrow lost their first 5 wickets cheaply due to some fine bowling from the Bristol openers and a couple of poor shots. As a low score beckoned Ed Holdaway and James Riley came together and started to rebuild, cautiously at first against some accurate bowling but as the heat told and the attack tired a few loose deliveries were severely punished as Ed in particular took advantage of the short boundaries hitting 6 sixes and 12 fours in an exhibition of clean and sensible hitting finishing on 112. James Riley provided steady support in his knock of 43 taking the score to 228-8 after 45 overs. Much higher than it might have been but still a bit below par.

 

In reply, Bristol lost an early wicket to Ed, but Mike Love made an unbeaten century of his own in a less flamboyant manner to move Bristol inexorably towards their target. Frank Forge had the No 3 caught behind but there were few other alarms as the home side won by 8 wickets.

At Portishead on Sunday, Barrow were asked to field and put in one of their best Sunday performances against a talented home team. After some tight opening overs from Mel Owen and Paul Gard, Kieran Owen made the breakthrough (2/37 in all). But it was the brilliant run out of Garrett (71) by keeper Jonny Sykes throwing to the bowlers end and removing one bail which resulted in Portishead losing a succession of wickets as Gard (2/24) and Oscar Livesey (1/34) bowled good spells before Jonny gave up the gloves and had his first bowl for over 2 months, destroying the tail with 3/11 in 4 impressive overs. 180-9 was a modest total and Barrow had done really well to restrict the home side as Barrow’s bowlers found good support in the field from young and old.

In reply, Barrow struggled from the off against a youthful attack with only a 54 partnership between Jonny Sykes (31) and Paul Gard (24) giving some hope that the target might still be achievable but despite late order cameos from Oscar (23) and Rod Reeves (23 not out) Barrow folded to 134 all out.

 

 

Rain ruined Barrow Gurney First’s chances of a win against PR Royals, as the heavens opened with Barrow in a strong position but marginally behind the run rate leaving the visitors to Hobbs Lane as victors. Meanwhile at Stanton Drew the rain failed to come quickly enough or for long enough to prevent the seconds losing against a good Whitchurch 3^rd XI.

 

After last week’s defeat to top of the table Bristol Lions this week the Firsts faced PR Royals who were second in the table.

With the opposition only having 6 players at the toss PR Royals decided to bat when they won the toss but Barrow began brilliantly with James Riley picking up the opener to first ball of the match and Ed Holdaway also taking one in his first over too. The dangerous number 3 was next to go as Phil Milton took a bullet of a catch to leave the opposition reeling at 22-3. Wickets fell regularly as Phil brought on Mark Fisher (1/35) and Frank Forge (2/45), leaving Royals 81-7 at one point, and Barrow looking at chasing around a hundred second innings. As has been the case several times this season however Barrow then struggled to either contain or take wickets, despite Ed (2/45) and Riley (2/26) coming back on, and a hundred partnership developed before Ed bowled the number 8 for 34 with the Royals now on 153. Their number 9 (Habib) finished on 73* and Royals finished 212 all out in 38.2 overs. A high score considering their position but still short of a par score.

Will Kerswell and Bernie Forge opened up again and were looking good but Bernie was bowled for 18 with the score on 19. Sam Turner, in at 3, and Will took the score to 76 before Will was bowled for 33. However, the heavens then opened with Barrow on 95-2 from 24.1 overs. This left the home side behind the run rate by about 12 runs and despite Barrow being perfectly set going in the last 20 over this counted for nothing as the game was abandoned and they lost on net run rate.

Overall, Phil Milton felt that Barrow had improved their fielding and batting from last week but that the bowling attack needed to be a little smarter about how to bowl to the decent lower order batsmen.

 

The seconds struggled from the word go at the wind-swept Stanton Drew ground against a Whitchurch team competing for promotion.

Put into bat Barrow were soon in trouble losing both openers cheaply and in fact only Ali Hood (47) and Adam Brace (20) made a significant contribution to a disappointing score of 128. Ben Thatcher was the pick of the opposition attack taking 4/12 with some sharp outswing bowling.

In reply Whitchurch were never in trouble as Ben Lloyd anchored the innings with 62 not out. A dropped catch and a rejected appeal for a caught behind cost Barrow a point but overall the team deserved little from a poor performance.

The overnight rain put paid to the Sunday XI game against Lympsham & Belvedere thus being the first senior league game being totally lost to the weather this season.

It was another sweltering evening at Hobbs Lane for the final T20 game of the season.

The well-supported Misfits team arrived with several Flax Bourton players and, of course, our very own Pete Rooney. Mark Forge won the toss and decided to bat in order to avoid a potential late evening gloom and also because Barrow were missing one player and another was only arriving as Mark Gracey and his skipper walked out to bat.

It was the familiar left arm swing of Rooney at one end which Mark (F) played with the appropriate respect for one over at least. After 2 overs the score had progressed to 12 runs without either batsman scoring. But Barrow could not rely on the generosity of the Misfits for ever so Mark (F) despatched one to the long leg boundary and followed it up with a deft deflection to third man, before being bowled by a much quicker one with the score on 26. With Gracey holding an end (mainly the non-strikers) it was good to have Connor Jones back in action and he looked in good form having not played much this year. He made 18 quick runs before being bowled as then was Gracey leaving Barrow 63-3 off 10. Paul Barnes hit one nice boundary before being caught in the ring, setting the stage for a rare sibling partnership between Bernie and Frank Forge. Managing to avoid running each other out, Bernie made a quick 19 with another lovely straight six before mistiming another lofted shot.

Simon Hudson (“Bomber” to the Misfits, “Cyborg” to the Barrow players) entered the fray to much good-natured abuse from many of his former Flax teammates. They put on an important 61 in the last 5 overs. Before Simon was out to the last ball of the innings for 15, leaving Frank 37 not out, scored mainly through the leg side and (almost) containing his first ever six as the ball hit the board on the half volley! 145-6 at the close.

Steve Owen had an early success against the opening batsman but then Joyce and Burge began to take the game away from Barrow. Connor Jones was the pick of the bowlers, troubling both batsmen and bowling Joyce for a well-made 48. Burge was to retire on making his fluent 50, but the only other success for Barrow was Adam Brace bowling a bemused looking Shah having appeared to have changed his shot twice with a ball that bounced and dropped onto the bails on its way down. Misfits winning in the penultimate over was well-deserved and only a slightly disappointing way for Barrow to end the T20 season.

The evenings we have had this year have been really enjoyable and well-supported and the club would like to thank everyone who has come up to play or watch. The decision to provide something to eat after the game has been popular and thanks to Dave Milton and Pete & Jane Holdaway for their help in organising that side of things. The additional revenue generated will further help the club’s plans for improving the ground and playing facilities.

 

 

As the club looks forward to its annual tour, co-ordinator Rod Reeves is busy making the final arrangements and working out the logistics.

The games against Abbotskerswell, Exmouth, Shobrook Park and Torquay have long been scheduled, but as always it is hard to get everyone to finalise their plans.

Rod has prepared a list of those he has recorded as requiring overnight accommodation which can be found by clicking the link on the main menu for Tour 2018. Please contact Rod as soon as possible if circumstances have changed.

The rooming arrangements are only a guide and of course other players and spectators will be joining us for individual games.

It was an unsuccessful weekend for the Barrow teams but the Firsts can take a lot of credit from giving the unbeaten Bristol Lions a run for their money.

 

The scenic Dunkerton ground had been left derelict for some time before the Bristol Lions took on the project of restoring it. And whilst there is still a lot to be done, they have done an amazing job of preparing the square and getting to grips with some of the brambles which surround the boundary, revealing in some places a babbling brook near which the pavilion stands.

Batting first, the Lions were bowled out for 249 due to some good bowling from James Riley (2/37) Ed Holdaway (3/43) and Mark Fisher (2/28). Paul Glazzard bowled an excellent spell of off spin too, varying flight and pace and his 9 overs 1/40 did not really reflect how well he bowled. Unfortunately this was another game where Barrow’s tendency to drop catches at key moments told heavily as former Barrow player Suresh de Alwis was generously given a life from a regulation catch at long on before he had scored, and then proceeded to punish his former teammates with shots to all parts making 80.

In reply Barrow started positively as Bernie Forge and Will Kerswell (36) found the boundary several times from any overpitched or leg-side deliveries. When Bernie fell for 27 the middle order fell away with one or two extravagant shots and a needless run out in the face of some solid ground fielding on an uneven outfield.

Then Barrow staged a fight back as Riley (46) and Mark Fisher (37) forged a solid partnership whilst keep the score moving at the required rate. After Mark fell to Alwis, who after keeping wicket was now turning his hand to bowling,  Nick Heal launched a couple of mighty blows, one of which landed in the adjacent river before leaving the way for the last wicket pair to provide some entertainment. 43 runs were needed off 7 overs as Riley and Frank Forge chanced their arm including running a 3 during which one or other of them might have been run out on each run before going for overthrows. With 26 still needed, the bowler of the day Benura Hitiyamudiyanselage bowled Riley to take his fifth wicket and leave Barrow to content themselves with maximum batting and bowling points.

At Hobbs Lane, the Seconds had one of the strongest sides of the season out, or at least it appeared that way on paper. Winning the toss and batting first, Barrow though found themselves in trouble losing three quick wickets for 19. Ben Skuse (29) and Jordan Allen (19) set about repairing the damage but when they both fell close together leaving Barrow 64-6, the mission turned into batting the overs and setting some sort of target. Paul Gard, continuing his recent form with the bat marshalled the tail making 39, supported by Adam Brace (19) but the final score of 134-9 looked nowhere near enough on the fast scoring Barrow ground. And so it proved as Old Park knocked off the runs in 25 overs with Jamie Hunter 49 not out at the close. Simon Hudson and Gard took the only two wickets to fall. 

On Sunday another burning hot day greeted the Sunday team as they ventured to Bath Exiles ground up on Lansdown.

The outfield, like so many was brown and hard with barely a tinge of green, the pitch was the same without the green tinge. Barrow won the toss and decided to bat. On a pitch offering tennis-ball type bounce, the opening partnership of Mark Forge and Guy Fisher put on 37 as Guy continued his imperious Sunday form, before Mark fell to a catch of a leading edge. After hitting a lovely 6 to add to his 8 fours, Guy got one which popped and was caught and bowled. Ben Thorne quickly followed to one which skidded rather than bounced leaving Barrow struggling at 59-3.  James Riley was joined by Leo Brace who after a nervy start hit a couple of clean boundaries but then was not alert to Riley’s call for a quick single and run out. Rod Reeves then joined Riley in an all left-handed partnership of vastly contrasting styles. Riley bustling with energy and looking to be positive whilst Rod treated every ball with extreme caution. The partnership used up a few overs with little addition to the score.

James was bowled for 20 shortly after Rod departed and with Steve Webb being adjudged LBW to one he appeared to have hit, Barrow were struggling to build a total.  It was left to Frank Forge to get the total to 147, aided by a couple of boundaries by Mark Fisher and a good supporting innings from Melissa Owen who, although she did not score, survived 18 balls to allow Frank to make 24 before being last out caught in the deep off a top edge.

In view of the pitch Frank and Adam Brace were the unlikely opening attack bowling with a slip and leg slip or short leg for the one that popped. When Adam (2/18) clean bowled the opener and the opposition skipper in his first couple of overs it looked like game on. Frank (2/22 off 8 overs) was bowling with accuracy and turn and ended the innings of the familiarly bearded figure of O’Callaghan bowling him, before the inevitable catch came off one which leapt off a length leaving Riley diving forward to take the catch 47-4 but with Frank bowled out and Adam needing a breather, it was going to be up to others to press home the advantage.  Guy’s leg spin did just that to make the score 60-5 whilst Leo, after a succession of wides in his first over, then kept it very tight at the other end, as did Mel in her couple of overs. But a partnership was brewing between Syed Rivzi and Faizan Asif. Neither was totally comfortable against Guy but they pushed singles, batted time and waited for the full toss to hit.

Mark Fisher ended the partnership by sending Faizan’s middle stump cartwheeling out of the ground but the 67 put on by the pair was decisive. Riley swopped the gloves with Frank to bowl some left arm spin, which soon became quicker and quicker before he floored Syed with one that popped up but there were no other dramas as Bath Exiles recorded their first win of the season.

 

The penultimate T20 game of the season took place against a spirited Babcock International team last Wednesday on a balmy summer night..

The game featured some fantastic fielding on both sides, some dashing strokeplay and some dodgy running and was followed by a barbecue kindly provided by the “visitors”, although of course Babcock are not really visitors as they hire our ground for their own inter-departmental games.

Batting first Barrow put on 117-8 in their innings after Mark Fisher (23) got the team off to a good start, a couple of early wickets was then followed by the arrival of Ali Hood, and a couple of runouts (the two events not being entirely coincidental!) soon left Barrow 58-5. Paul Barnes, sporting full Barrow Gurney kit making his debut was delighted to hit both his first run and first boundary before falling to the second run out. When Ali departed for 13 to one of several excellent catches, it looked as though Barrow would not make a competitive score. Bernie Forge (26*) however made sure they did hitting one glorious straight six and was assisted by quick, if brief, contributions by the rest of the lower order.

In reply Dan Garland launched a powerful assault, but Steve Owen did dismiss the other opener for a duck thanks to Oscar Livesey’s contender for catch of the season (a one-handed diving high catch at short-extra which looked a certain four).  Skipper Phil Milton tried 9 bowlers 8 of whom took a wicket, including Ben Thorne who took his first senior wicket courtesy of a stumping by Bernie. Paul also took his first wicket as Ben took another good catch in the deep. In fact, wickets fell at regular intervals although Babcock’s batsmen kept the score ticking over and were always in the game. The key turning point (apart from the retirement of Garland when he made 25, to return when the 9^th wicket fell) was Frank Forge’s 2 overs in which he took 3/4. Babcock made 110 before Garland finally missed a straight one from Phil to end the game.

A really enjoyable evening once again, and it was nice to see some visitors and friends of players coming to watch the action.

 

In a weekend when Barrow Gurney played Chilcompton twice, the highlight was a thrilling game at Hobbs Lane on Sunday when, in a high scoring contest, Barrow lost by only 3 runs after a magnificent century from Guy Fisher who put on 175 for the first wicket with Paul Gard, brought Barrow to the brink of a famous win. On Saturday, however, the Barrow teams fought hard but were unable to challenge their opponents.

On Sunday at Hobbs Lane the Sunday XI had to face Chilcompton, which in an odd twist of fate, meant that they were facing 3 of the players that Barrow 2nds had played on Saturday plus some of Chilcompton’s first team and other players who play for other clubs, specifically the prolific Alex Nash of Midsomer Norton Methodists.

Frank Forge was skipper and lost the toss on a batting day. No surprise then that Chilcompton batted first.  Nash started like a train, but with the score on 40 (having made 32 of them himself) he was caught by Kian Ware on debut for Barrow.

With the fast-running outfield the score motored along and the hundred was up when Mark Fisher bowled Fudge for 34. As all Chilcompton’s top order made a start, Frank himself came on to take 2/29 aided by some good catching in the deep. Paul Gard took the final wicket but the score of 265-6 would normally be beyond the Barrow Sunday team.

After a Rosemary Reeves tea with some sumptuous cakes, Barrow set out in search of their target. Guy Fisher and Gard opened to incredible effect putting on an amazing 175 for the first wicket against a good attack. 5 sixes and 17 fours do not do justice to the timing, the style and the clean striking Guy displayed. Only one half -chance to slip might have curtailed his inexorable progress and with Gard at the other end also hitting anything loose to the boundary, they were well ahead of the rate.

When Guy eventually fell for 113, Frank continued the momentum making a swift 25 before calling a tiring Gard for a run too many and being run out. When Gracey fell at 245-3 the game was in the balance.  

Chilcompton were pressing for a win, and were perhaps expecting a senior player to finish the job for Barrow, but Frank stuck with the spirit of the Sunday team by sending in young Leo Brace to have his chance of winning a glorious victory. Making 6 off 7 balls he nearly did it, but some brilliant fielding at third man saved 3 runs and then he just failed to clear mid off by 2 or 3 inches to win the game. With four needed off the last ball a weary Gard was unable to deliver but finished on a career high of 91 not out having batted the entire 40 overs. It was a shame to lose but a truly wonderful game from which many will draw confidence in future games.

On Saturday, however, the games were not so close, as the Firsts travelled to Bedminster 3rds and made a disappointing 171 all out. Several players made a start but Phil Milton, the captain, who made 30 was ultimately top scorer.  In reply Bedminster were rarely troubled and made their target for the loss of only 2 wickets, Skeet making 75 not out.

At Hobbs Lane, Barrow 2nds were asked to field and Chilcompton 2nds made 214 which was more than might have been the case if Barrow had pressed home their early advantage.  Adam Brace was the pick of the bowlers taking 3/38 whilst Pete Rooney took 3/50.

In reply Barrow lost three early wickets forcing Mark Forge (top scorer with 25) to dig in and rebuild the innings. When Mark departed with the score at 92 the innings slowly folded leaving the side well short on 139 all out.

It was a really special evening at Hobbs Lane as Barrow Gurney, past, present and future met in a friendly T20 game. A packed pavilion of family and friends came to watch an exciting game which called to mind many memories of yesteryear and showed off how the legacy of former players is being continued by members of the current squad.

The match was the concept of Paul Mizen, Barrow’s long-standing fixture secretary, who tempted players from previous generations out of retirement for this one-off game. Captained by Mick Hardy, the Legends batted first and the skipper led the way taking an early boundary off Adam Brace with a familiar flick of his pads, but his cameo ended as he attempted to loft Frank Forge straight and picked out Mark Brown who safely pouched the catch.

His opening partner, Simon Wallis, was relatively untroubled and, joined by youthful looking Jon Hood, a 50 partnership was put on in quick time to the worry of Barrow’s present skipper Phil Milton. Jon rolled back the years with a stylish cover drive and despatched Paul Glazzard for a lovely clean straight six before being well-caught by the diving Phil Milton for a well-made 30. Phil Febrey had little chance to remind the crowd of his batting skills as he misjudged a straight one from Paul and was LBW.  Tim Patch was then a little too eager to up the scoring rate and was swiftly stumped by Bernie Forge.

Former Barrow captain Geoff Warren then joined Wallis, who by now was well on his way to a half century, and they took the total to 116 before Geoff became another victim of Phil Milton off the bowling of young Leo Brace. 

Leo then finally deceived the charging Wallis for Bernie to take another stumping, departing the scene for a brilliant 59 with 10 boundaries. With overs now ebbing away “Alfie” Alford aimed some lusty blows and connected with a number before skying a catch which saw bowler Phil Milton and keeper Bernie in danger of colliding momentarily.  Chris Warren fell soon after before Chris Patch came out to bat with a runner resulting, perhaps invevitably, in one of those confusing situations leading to a run out without Chris facing a ball. 141-9 though was a tough test for the present-day team.

After a short interval for some liquid refreshment, the present Barrow team went in to bat against some of their mentors, or, in some cases, players that they had only heard stories told about In whispered and reverential tones. Mark Brown fell victim to Alfie early on but then Bernie Forge and James Riley took charge of the Barrow innings. Bernie impressed the Legends with an extra cover drive and being severe on anything short, whilst James gradually overcame his fear of running for anything hit within 20 yards of his Barrow hero, Jon Hood, to score equally fluently at the other end.

Bernie made her half century to only modest applause from the crowd who seemed pre-occupied by the bar and barbecue at this stage, and then gave her wicket away charging the wily spin of Mick to be stumped by Spencer Mizen. Paul Glazzard then joined Riley and was quickly in his stride playing some powerful strokes. Meanwhile the Legend’s fielding was surprisingly mobile, helped by the fact that Chris Patch’s young runner (when he batted) also fielded alongside him in the outfield. Some, in fact, looked more lively in the field than half of Barrow’s second or third teams currently.

With only 12 needed off the last 2 overs, the Barrow team looked odds on. But then came Tim Patch, who bowled Paul sending one of the bails almost half way to the boundary and then trapped Phil Milton LBW, leaving the crowd wondering why he had not bowled before and leaving Barrow needing 10 of the final over. Alfie did his utmost in the final over but Barrow won with 2 balls to spare.

A fantastic evening and a wonderful game with lots of memories shared and friendships forged or re-kindled. Intended as a one-off it may become a feature of future fixture lists – who knows? It certainly demonstrated the fraternity and devotion of players of all generations to this small, but very special, village cricket club.

 

 

On a weekend where finding players was a problem for many teams, Barrow had 28 players unavailable which had an impact on all its teams. Nevertheless the Firsts were in a winning position in their game but failed to press home the advantage as Bath 4s fought hard to the end largely through an excellent innings from Beth Howe. Meanwhile the 2nds and 3rds struggled to be competitive in their games. 

At the scenic Hobbs Lane ground the 1st team went into the match with Bath 4’s still confident of doing the double after their victory in the first game of the season and winning 3 in a row.  Winning the toss in the blazing sunshine Phil Milton decided to have a bat although things didn’t go to plan as the returning Ali Hood was out first ball. Bernie Forge followed soon after leaving Barrow 14-2 but some steady batting from Guy Fisher (36) and Mark Fisher (24) got them to the 100 mark.  Ben Skuse and James Riley batted really well putting on a brilliant 105 run partnership before Riley went for 44.  Skuse finished 61 not out as Barrow finished on a pleasing 227-6 from their 45 overs.  A great all around effort was capped off by a nice Oscar Livesey 6 in the last over.

The timing of the end of the innings was perfect, as the teams  walked off just as the anthems started and the 2nds arrived following their defeat and all settled in to watch the football.

 

In the second innings Barrow got off to a great start, Riley removing the Bath captain for 0 and the dangerous looking number 3 for just 13. Things got better as Guy recovered from dropping a catch to run out the number 2 from a prone position on the ground!  With Barrow short of bowling Phil came on and took a wicket first ball as Oscar took a good catch in the deep but Bath moved onto 106-5; Barrow were definitely in the box seat however.  Wickets though were becoming increasingly difficult to come by as Bath moved to 124-7 before the key partnership of Tom Finn and Beth Howe took them to 211-8.  The return of Riley and Mark Fisher didn’t get the breakthrough Barrow hoped for and during this time the team lost a little composure and the bowlers got a little ragged.  A run out in in the penultimate over and the dismissal of Howe for a well-made 56 took Bath to 9 down but they hit they winning runs with 4 balls to spare.

The 2nds had agreed to play a 30 over match starting early to ensure a conclusion before the England game. With so few players available, Barrow were indebted to Petra Brace, Debbie Forge and Stephen Webb who made their debuts to avoid the team having to default and risk losing 10 points in the league for so doing

 

Mark Gracey won the toss and chose to bat and after the 30 overs Barrow had put on 89/5 with Pete Holdaway(21), and Gracey 24 not out top scoring as the team battled hard against some decent bowling which you would expect from a top of the table side. 

With a 15 minute rest, Barrow tried to limit the Twyford House scoring but alas to no avail with Melissa Owen picking up the only wicket and Twyford winning quite comfortably.

The Sunday team experienced a disappointing visit to Pak Bristolians.

It was very hot, the ground was hard, brown and uneven, the pitch was dusty and Mark Forge lost the toss again meaning another spell in the field for some already very tired limbs.

Despite this Barrow stuck to their task well actually bowling out the opposition for 250 in under 37 overs. Dan Caie (ex of Long Ashton), playing his first game of the season bowled with pace and accuracy taking 3/31, taking the vital wicket of the number 3 who had hit his first 3 balls for 4. Simon Hudson also bowled well taking 3/34 including a caught and bowled when the ball seemed to stop in mid air requiring a final desperate lunge. It was the 6^th wicket partnership which took the innings away from Barrow.  Oscar Livesey,  bowling a mixture of spin and seam took 2 wickets before Paul Gard closed proceedings.

The opening pair of Livesey and Gracey went to the wicket and played nicely until Oscar played too soon at one which might have stopped and was caught and bowled for 11. Thereafter only Frank Forge (9) who was caught behind chasing a wide and Gracey (top score of 13) looked comfortable as the odd ball started to misbehave. The introduction of Azan signalled the death knell for Barrow as he took 4 cheap wickets.

Add in a disastrous run out, there was not too much to take from Barrow’s innings save the shot of the day from Dan Caie – a straight drive back over a young fast bowlers head, but he too fell trying to repeat the dose. All out for 68.