In a low scoring match Broadway produced their best  effort in the field to secure a win against our dearest enemy, with key contributions from two players making their comeback, Warhorse Chris Shaw and Pin up Liam Walsh.

 A return to summer, a CEO batting strip, two young opening batsmen both having hit personal bests this year, a new ball bowling attack not to be afraid of, and a batting line up with Fitz Hamilton at No 7 were all portents in their own way of the schizoid day's cricket that was to follow: 218 runs scored on a belter of pitch for the loss of both sides all out inside 60 overs.  

 Broadway CC won the toss and chose to bat first. After two overs we were up at 6 an over and eyeing the 250 mark. But disaster struck. Triggs walked for the faintest of edges, an edge so faint that neither the other batsman, DTG, nor the umpire saw it or heard it. I did see and hear Triggs bat hitting the ground but I don't think he was out. No worries Triggs clearly had his mind on having some more coca cola(!). Out walks our glorious skipper Michaels who for once failed to cover himself in glory. After some dodgy running calls from Lloyd the skipper decided to get them in fours and was duly bowled by that defilement of nature, a left arm over medium pace bowler. Hish now walks to the crease as the scoreboard says 20 for 2. This is not familiar territory to Hish (aka Billy the Fish) who usually walks to the crease expecting to clobber everything. For the next 15 overs Billy the Fish  and DTG batted like Boycott and Tavare on the opening day of a test. Lloyd was very comfortable with this scenario (i.e; all too familiar……). Hish though deserves to be congratulated for reigning in his natural instincts as we rebuilt the innings around him.

Hish as his alter ego -  Billy the Fish 

 DTG was out on 20 overs. After the drinks break Hish accelerated and carried on accelerating as he ran out of batting partners. Hish eventually fell for 52. But he was ably supported on the way by the lower order,  most notably by Fitz who batted like a proper batsman and was rightly furious with himself after playing across a straight one. Fitz should pay more attention to Fitz's batting tips - "if it's on the stumps play with a straight bat". Broadway were all out for 128 with five overs to spare, a woefully below par score.

 Respect should also be paid to the Shooters hill bowlers who without exception bowled tight lines on a batting pitch which behaved well all day long. There is nothing worse as a batsman than facing bowlers who just spend the whole time bowling at your wicket, except for facing left arm seam bowlers bowling all day long at your wickets……

 After a very long tea break the Shootershill innings commenced. We opened the bowling with the younger Warhorse Steve Tanner and the older Warhorse Tony Arpino. Both snorted into their delivery strides and put their backs into it. They kept the score down but were unable to make the breakthrough. Welcome back Liam Walsh. Liam came on as first change bowler and was clearly determined to make up for lost time. After four overs of serious pace and devastation Shooters hill were 26 for four. They were up with the run rate but running out of wickets. Panther (aka Thurman) came on and carried on the good work as wickets continued to fall. [Ed. that would be had John Garrett ct behind ].

 But for once Broadway as a fielding side (average age 50) were able to match the bowlers.  Panther took a sizzler at gulley. [Ed. dont over dramatise lloyd] Youth policy held onto a flat one at mid on (Luke Arpino). Fitz held a skyer at cover - very nonchalantly it might be added although the rest of us had our hearts in our mouths. Best of all Triggs, determined to redeem himself for walking and now having had enough coca cola,  took a brilliant catch diving forward at mid wicket.

 Not to be outdone though was warhorse Chris Shaw back at first slip where he belongs. Hish got a glove on the edge as it zipped past him. This may have slowed the ball a fraction but also diverted it to the left of first slip. Showing the reaction speed of a warhorse half his age Chris did the flying Teddy Jump. Both feet off the ground, torso horizontal in mid air, head turned and facing the oncoming ball, hands in front of his neck cupping the speeding ball, all in a couple of pico seconds. Then crash to ground and welcome back Chris with ball in hand and another shooters hill batsman on his way back to the pavilion. To a man Broadway looked over in disbelief. And he said he had a dodgy knee!  

 With our foot firmly on the their neck, Shooters hill last wicket pair produced their biggest partnership of the innings. Could they pull it back from here? Chris, back from injury and post the 'flying ted' leap, was holding up an end with some beautiful leg spin bowling to a tight field. At the other end we had some good medium pace dobbing from youth policy and Fitz. But we still could not prevail and so back came Steve Tanner for his last two over spell. He finally bowled the No 10's leg stump and the game was won by 38 runs. Shooters Hill were all out for 90.

 Broadway once again failed to set an imposing total with the bat but came through with the ball. If we bowl and field like this every week we will be a much tougher team to beat. Man of the match jointly to Liam and Hish. Liam to be fined for jug avoidance - he should have been screaming at the skipper for the ball so that he could get five wickets for the game. But most memorable were the two candidates for Catch of the season. First to Triggs for that most awkward of catches - the forward dive. Second to Chris the 'flying Ted' for a truly spectacular effort. Long will they both live in the memory.   

 DTG (aka Dan Lloyd )

Broadway CC v Carlton Sports CC (HOME) 12th June 2011 - LOST

Another defeat on Sunday (by 5 wickets).  A good effort by everyone, but we weren't good enough on the day and Carlton thoroughly deserved to beat us.

After losing Rory MacNeill early on, we took too long to get going - 34/1 off the  first 20, on a pitch that was doing plenty.  We then did well to score 157/6 off the 40 overs, a decent score but we would have to bowl well and take our chances to defend it.  They got off to a decent start batting and we never really put them under enough pressure.  We took a few wickets and made them work hard for it, but with 10 overs to go they were up with the run rate with wickets in hand.  A few short balls got clattered and they were home with about 4 overs to spare. 

That said, there were plenty of good performances to note.

Tony Arpino filled in as an opener, and did well to get through the opening burst with the ball moving around a lot.  Hish scored a quick 33 when the run rate needed a boost.  Steve Tanner hit 16 (with the majority of their  team on the boundary trying to stop him), and then took 2/23 off 7.  Sam Holland and Nabil (who was guesting for the first time) both kept the runs down, conceding around 3 an over.  And John took 2 good catches.

Nuxley CC v Broadway CC (AWAY) 19th June 2011 - LOST

Sunday's game against Nuxley CC was disappointing in a number of ways.  Rain for the 3rd week in a row, a below par performance overall meant we deserved to lose, and an injury to Steve  (Sicknote) Purcell  early on in the game.

At least we got a game though (reduced to 35 overs), and there were a number of good performances.  Also, in terms of getting a full team out, excellent work by Fitz  (who drafted Brian in - last game he played was for us about 5 years ago I think!) and Steve P (who tried about 15
people, without success), cheers guys.

Nuxley chose to bat and were aggressive from the start.  Their opening pair put us under pressure and made it hard for the bowlers to settle.
We dropped a few catches and gave away quite a few runs in misfields. They were about 75/1 after 18 overs I think.  We fought hard and kept them to 163, which was a good effort after the start they had.  Brian bowled well and took 3/26 off 6, but my pick of the bowlers was Steve Tanner (7-1-19-1).

So less than 5 an over required.  Unfortunately after 3.1 overs we had scored 1 run and lost 3 of our top order!  The wicket wasn't that easy to bat on, with uneven bounce and plenty of balls moving off the seam.
Tony Arpino, batting at 9, came in at 61/7 off 21 overs.  We put on about 35 but the run rate was creeping up to about 8 an over by the time I was out.  Fitz Hamilton and Tony had a few big overs to keep our hopes alive, and put on just over 30 which was an excellent effort.  We managed to keep it competitive, but we were really struggling after the early wickets.

My man of the match: Steve Tanner.

Newington CC v Broadway CC (AWAY)  5th June 2011 - WON

As Duncan McCourt would have said, "cricket was the winner" yesterday as both excellent performance from us and back to winning ways.

In a time game, we bowled first under heavy cloud.  I was hoping it might swing about a bit, but within about 5 overs it started to drizzle which didn't help.  In slightly unpleasant conditions the bowlers kept it tight with very few loose balls and we fielded really well.  We took some good catches as the pressure told, John took a particularly important one at deep midwicket to dismiss their opener and Luke also took a good one.  Steve P took one as well, and managed to keep his
shirt on this time!  There were also a couple of great efforts that didn't stick.

We took an early tea at around 90/6 (when the rain got a bit too heavy) and then they batted on.  From the number of cakes eaten, I guess that a couple of our bowlers didn't think we would be going back out (you know who you are)!  But the rain eased up to mere drizzle and we restarted. The pitch had got much harder to bat on (one ball from Ian lifted off a
length to take the gloves for a caught behind), but their last pair put on about 20 I think and they declared on 142/9.  All the bowlers did well, but the pick was Ian with 4/23 off 11. 

Their opening bowlers bowled well and the bounce was pretty unreliable. It was still drizzling.  Chasing a relatively low target, the key would be keeping wickets in hand.  Dan and Simon started off scoring mainly through the slips area (!), but also running some good singles to keep it ticking over.  They began to score more confidently and had put on 72 from about 20 overs when Dan tried to pull a straight one that stayed lowish, leaving around 70 needed from 16 when I came in.  It had stopped raining, to everyone's relief.  At this point Simon really stepped up and took control of the run chase.  He scored particularly heavily from the cut shot, but also scored through the leg side and straight.  The pitch did get a bit easier towards the end as it dried out, so I think we had the best of the conditions.  But it still looked more like a battleground than a cricket pitch by the end!  It was great to watch Simon from the other end, and I just gave him as much strike as  ossible.  He made 96 not out in comfortably the best innings I have seen from him, and in the end we won with about 6 overs to spare.

Overall, a great team effort from us.  Well done to everyone for keeping it up in the field through some horrible weather.  Credit also to Newington, who played positive cricket and also struggled through the unpleasant conditions to make sure there was a result. 

My man of the match - Simon.

 Broadway CC v May & Baker CC (HOME) 29th May 2011 - LOST

Swinging Googlies CC  v Broadway CC (AWAY) 

A good performance for us yesterday saw our winning streak extend to a record 3 games*.

Getting a team onto the pitch was a victory in itself, with only 6 members available.  Thanks to Dan, Simon and particularly Steve P for getting us extra players.  The Note managed to get 3 players within
about 3 hours of me phoning him, which was a magnificent effort. Our guest players acquitted themselves well, and in my view there are some good prospects there for new members.

The Swinging Googlies' usual pitch was not available.  Instead we played at the Alexandra Rec, or is that spelt  or the first time ever.  It was not pretty, unless you're a bowler I suppose... (and even then, Liam didn't get to bowl his full allotment in case he killed someone)

Luckily I won the toss, so we bowled first and had the best of the conditions.  Got them all out for 76 in about 31 overs, everyone bowled well but the best figures I think were Abhi (Simon's mate) with 4/25 and Sam (a mate of John O'Reilly - Charlotte Purcell's boyfriend) who opened the bowling and took 2/10 off 7 I think.  Simon also got a good spell in.  Our fielding was excellent with John, Sam and Paul (the third of Steve's mates) all doing well, and Liam as usual although he didn't get
much ball at midwicket thanks to the bowlers keeping it full. Definitely good to have some more youngsters on board.

76 was a low total so all we had to do was bat through the overs and we would win.  Easier said than done!  We were cruising at about 45/3 when I came in, but lost Rory, Simon, Liam and Sam in the space of a few overs to make it about 50/7 and looking dicey.  But by this stage we had seen off their best bowler.  The next guy on bowled a few half volleys and a few full tosses which I despatched, and we won with quite a few overs to spare.  Good knocks for Dan and Steve.  But my man of the match was Rory - batted for about 20 overs and almost saw off their best bowler, and only conceded 3 byes as well on a horrendous track.

I guess we won't want to play them again as its too far for quite a few of us, but they were a good bunch.  We can discuss where we play away fixtures in the bar after the game or at the AGM, but we do have some fixtures outside our "normal" area this year because we were too late to get fixtures against some of our regular oppo.  Thanks to those who did make the journey.

2010 Match Reports

SDA Greenwich T10 Tournament 2010 - Monday 31st May 2010

Mayday Gardens & Samuel Montague Sports Club, SE3

Broadway finished 4th, the Winners were Blackheath CC

Written by Ian Thurman 

On the back of the skippers wife, Julie Langford's 40th birthday party at Shootershill came the Greenwich SDA T10 competition. But for the hardened BCC tourists among us the late night proved no problem i.e. no one was found sleeping in the scorehut.

This year there were 6 teams rather than last year's 3 - and the fly in the ointment this year were Blackheath CC. Even more so when we found out they were in our group of three! Only the winners from the two groups would contest the final.

[Ed, for the uninitiated Blackheath CC are one of the biggest clubs in SE London. Their first XI are often in the Premier Div of the Kent Premier League but currently languishing in first place of Div 1]

Blackheath CC v Oasis CC were first up in our group and Simon Triggs and Ian (aka MOO)  Thurman as neutrals umpired so we had an early close up look of the Blackheath bowling, as it turned out. Overhearing the Blackheath captain (Will Hickman, S.A. by the way) tell his players to "stick to the plan" it was obvious they were taking this competition seriously. They looked a very good disciplined side, reminiscent of many classy touring sides we have faced over the years. Northwood, IOW; Methley , Yorks; Bath. Whilst umpiring their captain was effing and blinding at their keeper for dropping a catch off his bowling. He also had a go at me, of all people, for giving a wide! "That was never a wide umpire" he said. "It is today" I replied!

Any way Blackheath cruised to a comfortable win against Oasis CC.

Broadway CC v Oasis CC were next up. Broadway with a depleted side were grateful for Sicknote to get a couple of spares. Mike Miller (aka STRETCH) and John O'Reilly (aka future son-in-law).

Kitted out in out team shirts, courtesy of Greenwich SDA, they were gratuitously vandalised by Trewin & Murdoch to include a nickname on the back.

Skipper Hamilton (aka LARA) won the toss and batted. He insisted no balls were to be blocked and 10 an over was the required run rate. Thurman and Trewin opened with 10 off the first over Thurman out bowled. So far so good! Trewin was slapping the bowling, as he does. Jones (aka BRIEFCASE) clipped a fabulous 6 on the leg side, - looked as though it went straight up in the air, but cleared the boundary by 10 yards. Sicknote playing the cover drive again (something not right here). Bish, bash, bosh and Broadway were rattling along. Some great banter and fun on the sidelines as the ball went everywhere off the Oasis attack. Jonesy shouting out, after Paul Trewin was hit "we've had a vote - retire hurt". The Blackheath boys looked on feigning disinterest.

93 for 3off 10 overs - a good score and a winning won. Oasis chugged along but lost wickets and were always behind the rate. Only thing really to note was Thurman having the batsman miss-time a shot straight up in the air - Jones the BRIEFCASE  (keeping wicket) called for an easy catch - stood there and let the ball hit the ground  (a la MacNeill circa 2007ish) to stunned silence. Thurman is used to having catches dropped off him. Murdoch (aka A-Team) somehow fluked a wicket maiden over. Walsh initiated a run out with a throw from the boundary, right over the stumps, even had the Blackheath umpire said great throw - which it was. However, Walsh (aka PINUP) who knackered his elbow throwing earlier did more damage to it and was AWOL for the Blackheath game (bottle job I reckon!) Luckily Jon Garrett drinking at the bar was available to be drafted in discreetly for Liam (against the rules probably but hey ho).

Next up Broadway v Blackheath. Hamilton (aka LARA) wins the toss, elects to bat upsetting the Blackheath's skippers. Mike Miller (aka STRETCH) opens with Simon (aka The Short Fat One) the Blackheath opening bowler literally tiptoed up to the crease then fired the ball through to the keeper head high 20 yards back!  Tight unhittable bowling, superb throwing created all sorts of problems for Broadway.

Garrett (aka RUN OUT KING) was obviously in the pay of Blackheath CC. For 4 or was it 5 run outs later - no names mentioned, you know who you are GARRETT!!  -wait till I see your dad, Broadway finished on 52 off 10 overs. Gladwin (aka Spanner) was run out going to the "safe end" caught out again by good fielding.

The Blackheath batsman were clinical, no wild slogs just class shots with power and placement meant only 5 overs were bowled by Broadway.

Next stop 3rd/4^th play off game after tea versus v Bostall Titans? Played on the Sam Montague ground

I now know what it feels like to be in the World Cup 3^rd/4^th play off game - an anti climax!! What was the point - apart from another game of cricket - which is always good I suppose. Fielding  first Broadway's start was mixed 12 off Thurman's over was not good and edges off Walsh going for four didn't help. Still wickets fell amongst the runs -  very sharp catch at mid-wicket for Triggs  - great confident boundary catch by  Miller - very sharp dropped catch again at mid-wicket saw skipper Hamilton depart the field with some sort of strain allowing Purcell to replace him. Some questionable umpiring decisions by ourselves didn't help matters either.

With 92 to chase it was going to be tough and scoring was slow until Jones the BRIEFCASE cracked 19 off one over including a nice leg side flick for 6. Runs and byes kept coming and down to the last over 19 were needed only getting 8 resulted in a gallant and close defeat. Even the Blackheath boys came over to watch the closing stages and offered us some encouragement.

Over the day all the oppo were sporting towards each other and was good fun. If Blackheath had not been there then it's very feasible we could have retained the Trophy.

Footnote:

Blackheath CC players - Will Hickman; Seb Slater; Jamal Patterson; Ivan Thomas; All play in the Kent Premier 2ndXI !! The rest are all in their other league sides.

Final Match report see -

http://www.blackheathcc.com/exxi/item/77-sda-greenwich-t10

Broadway CC vs Carshalton Athletic CC - Sunday 30th May 2010

Mayday Gardens, SE3

Broadway 259/3 beat Carshalton Athletic 160 all out by 99 runs

Written by Dan Lloyd (batting) and Darryl Murdoch (fielding)

A beautiful day and a return to winning ways for the MFB. Bonnie's second game in charge this summer and his first win but some things don't change. Fitz was one year and 35 minutes late. An improvement.

Panther and Triggs opened the batting but Triggs fell early. On the other hand Panther rolled back the years and showed that he is possibly the youngest and sprightliest of the old warhorses. With a series of crisp cover drives and old man swishes Panther reached 40 in double quick time and laid the basis for the carnage that was to follow. Interestingly during his innings of 40 Panther outscored his more illustrious partner, Posh, who in the early part of his innings was struggling to score fluently.

Liam came in at 4 and blasted a quick fire 23 in inimitable Liam style. A free style hitting technique combined with an orthodox straight bat and great hand eye co-ordination points to a long term future for Liam as a batsman - but only if he can find us another bowler as quick as him. Alas Liam was bowled shortly after drinks. When he left the field the in the 23rd over the scoreboard read 117 for 3. A very healthy postion. Adam had now been in for 20 overs but had only scored 50 runs. AS DTG walked out he could see Adam muttering to himself and it was immediately clear that Carshalton were going to have problems.

Now batting with Adam is at once a joyful and frustrating experience.

Frustrating because at the end of every over he will walk down the pitch to you and

• Let you know what you did wrong

• Let you know what you did well

• Let you know what to do next and encourage you

which is all very nice of him but kind of pointless as he wont give you any of the fucking strike. Adam has the making of a good warhorse.

Joyful because you get to watch from 22 yards away a first class demolition job which is exactly what it was. Adam scored 133 runs, only his second highest score. Lloyd and Michaels put on an unbroken stand of 142 (Lloyd 36 - thanks for being there) to take the score to 259 for 3. Carshalton were a broken team. As their players left the field some complained about our batsmen taking the game too seriously.................. Well what do you expect of would be warhorses.

After another sumptuous tea in the Shooters Hill 'pavilion' the MFB headed back to the theatre of battle to hopefully snuff out any Carshalton hopes of a sustained run chase. Langford opened the bowling with one of the established warhorses, Steve Tanner from the Broad Walk End, and current bowler of the year Fitzroy from the Tennis Court End. The first two overs went without alarm for Goldy and his opening partner, but Langford had obviously been reading the last match report written by DTG as he decided to end Tanner's spell after just the one over. He did the same to Fitz, bringing himself into the attack without even a sniff of rabbit in the air.

Tanner S returned to the attack to pick up a wicket and Bonnie picked one up himself, before he turned to spin from each end. Dave Tanner, returning to the MFB ranks for a one off appearance and Darryl took things to Carshalton and between them picked up 5 wickets - 3 for Tanner and 2 in 2 balls for Murdoch - both bowled. Tanner was replaced by The Note, who picked up the 6^th wicket to fall to a spinner with a Murali-esque off break.

With the rabbits bobbing their way to the crease, Old Potato Head decided it was time for his third spell of the match. He picked up another wicket in his first over leaving Athletic reeling at 85/8. With half a mind on Julie's party and half on him having to wait in the bar for his roast dinner, Ade allowed the game to continue and it was only the introduction of Hamilton at the end which picked up the final wicket - after a 50 stand, to leave Carshalton Athletic all out for 160. A 99 run win for the MFB - a second win over their foes in a row - and to think, this is a team that once dropped Broadway as they felt we were too weak!

The MFB and most of the Carshalton lot (who play the game in the right spirit and are a great bunch) headed into the bar to prepare for Mrs Langford's 40^th Birthday celebrations. I'll leave someone else to report on anything that happened there, but needless to say, it was a good night after a very good day for the Broadway lot.

Crawley Tigers CC vs Broadway CC - Sunday 23rd May 2010

Crawley Eagle Cricket Club, Cherry Lane

Broadway 117 all out lost to Crawley Tigers CC 120/7 by 3 wickets

Written by Adam Michaels

A decent performance in the field was not enough to make up for a poor batting display in our first game against Crawley Tigers.

After an epic journey to Sussex, we were greeted by a decent-looking park pitch.  The locals obviously love their cricket, as there was a casual "tape ball" game going on in the other part of the field.  Not a hint of a football in sight, although the ambience of the ground was ruined slightly for me later by the appearance of a small dog…

The wicket looked relatively even, but had a slightly spongy texture probably because of the amount of grass.  We batted first on a baking hot day.

The bounce was relatively high and a bit slow.  Their openers, Atif and Shezad, were bowling fairly tightly with a bit of swing and we had to work for our runs.  We lost Paul and Simon early on, before Rory and I began to slowly build a decent partnership.  Runs were still hard to come by, and I was thinking 160-odd would be a reasonable score to post. 

We began to up the scoring rate off the 4th and 5th bowlers (Khalil and Riz) before a combination of poor judgement and bad luck derailed our efforts.  I got out to an injudicious slog off their slow bowler Riz which took the edge, a particularly poor bit of cricket at that stage of the game.  Shortly afterwards, Rory had to retire hurt with a torn calf muscle.

We then lost wickets at regular intervals.  Steve looked good for a few shots but slapped a legside ball down fine leg's neck.  Liam was bowled through the gate, a disappointing follow-up to his maiden 50 the previous week.  Rob, who hasn't played much cricket recently but has eaten a lot of pies by the looks of it, was out cheaply. 

The tail wilted under the pressure and will have been a bit disappointed with their efforts - Ian and Tony were both out going for the big shot.  We ended up not using about 4 of our overs, which is criminal - in spite of a disciplined effort from Luke and a heroic reappearance from a hobbling MacNeill.  The last 7 wickets collapsed for 38 after Rory retired hurt.

Anyway, 117 didn't look like it would be enough, but could acting skipper Murdoch and the bowlers make up for the batsmen's failings?

We certainly made a good fist of it.  Murdoch, opening, trapped one of their openers LBW for a duck before a great catch by Paul at cover point.  But their skipper Parvez was watchfully accumulating and punished the bad balls to keep them ahead of the rate.  Riz supported him in a significant stand for about 15 overs which took them to a strong position.  During this time, Liam replaced Ian and bowled quickly, while Darryl mixed it up at the other end.  But the oppo knew they just had to endure and were happy to block.

At last Arpino came on, and took a wicket in his first over, the extra bounce taking the edge of Riz's bat.  Tony then bowled Khalil and we were in with a sniff, but a few overs later he pulled up injured, a major blow to our chances.  Thurman, filling in at mid-off to save Rob running the length of the pitch between overs, just couldn't reach a possible catch, and then couldn't cut off a 4 in the same over. 

We kept pressing to the end, with a fantastic caught and bowled from Liam dismissing Parvez for a crucial 57 - leaping high in his follow through and plucking the ball from the air with fingers and thumb.  Luke took a good catch to dismiss a key man, but it was slipping away from us.  Ateeq, in at 9, looked like a strong batsman.  If the 'Note could have held on to a tough chance off him we would have had a theoretical sniff of a "Chak De"-style ending with 2 wickets needed and about 2 runs to play with, but it was not to be.

In general our fielding was very good, although I shelled about 10 in byes that a fit MacNeill would have likely stopped.  Paul and Luke were particularly notable in lifting their games.  Rob brought energy and a strong arm to the side, and Liam was excellent as ever.

But we just couldn't make the crucial breakthrough.  Their batting was much too sensible to let us into the game, Parvez in particular.  My perception was that the pitch died a bit.  Had we scored 20 more, then things would have been pretty interesting.  The Tigers seemed like a decent side and I think we would be pretty competitive on another day.

Broadway CC vs Ash CC - Sunday 16th May 2010

Mayday Gardens, SE3

Ash 118 all out, Broadway 96/5 - match abandoned due to rain.

Written by Simon Triggs

Well well well
 
What an afternoon we were in for.
 
A very overcast mid March day greeted us at the home of cricket.
 
In the nets already was Chav trying to smash Murdoch out of sight.
 
Then out of the grey our semi retired Skipper showed his face for the first time this year,as usual loss the toss, and we would spend the first 150 mins in the field.
 
Camouflaged in the grey came another Broadway legend Moo , moaning about something...........
 
Walsh and Tanner opened , with a fine display of quick bowling. Walsh snarling away, Tanner needing an iron lung. No joy though as the edges came thick and fast only resulting in boundries as the slip cordon seemed reluctant to get their hands cold by removing them from their pockets.
9 Overs gone, about 50 on the board, no wickets, Broadway seemed to be in for a real Eyjafjallajökull day as Ash rained down on us.
 
It was time for a change Arpino and Hamilton into the attack, Arpino peeled back the years
and bowled a super tight spell of 5 overs for 7 runs but, as has been recently, no reward with wickets,
no horse impressions this week either but some great added sound effects.
Well at the other end Hamilton looked quicker than normal and wider than normal.You could see the batsmen licking their lips at the prospect of smashing these deliveries around, how foolish just little nicks to the waiting Macneill and one straight ball (the only one) which chopped the wood down and Hamilton had got us back into the match 8 Ov 3 for 25.
Skip wasnt finished yet and bought in more bowlers Thurman and Murdoch appeared on the scenes and between them in 14 overs saw off the rest of the innings Thurman 8 Ov 3 for 21 and Murdoch 5.5 Ov 4 for 14.
An over was given to infant Langford a fine over too, and sureley we were seeing broadways future , and soon it will be "Playing Alex Langford, dropped this week Adrian Langford" as we want to put out our strongest team...
 
On the whole we fielded well but got battered by some very uneven bounce and according to fitz only dropped 5 or 6 chances.
 
Tea Chips were good.
 
Out to bat Broadway felt the total set of 119 was achievable even on the Mayday pitch.
Then it started to rain.
Triggs as usual blocking most stuff and Trewin as usual trying to smash the ball out of sight again for the 2nd time today.
Trewin decieved by a slow one on a very, now, damp pitch. Macneill marched to the centre without some spikes and consequently spent most of the next 10 minutes on his arse. Eventually bored with falling over retired hurt with a thigh strain.
Ash players seemed delighted and maybe started to smell a win. They concluded that Rory might come out to try hit the winning runs a habit which they assured me was his favourite. Rory said 'nah I normally smash them all over the county'.
Walsh promoted up the order to 4 youthfully swam to the crease and started smashing the bowlers for boundries.
At the other end the short fat one decided he was to wet and cold and should leave it to Liam to finish them off so departed with a pathetic shot. Langford seemed to think that was a good idea too. Tanner supported Liam well as he blasted a maiden 50 in great style in quick time to.
Then thunder lightning and it was off to the bar to watch England finish in style and as 20 / 20 champions .
 
Match abandoned 23 runs short 14 overs to go.

Broadway CC vs Carlton Sports CC - Sunday 9th May 2010

Mayday Gardens, SE3

Broadway CC 187/4 beat Carlton Sports CC 153 by 34 runs

Written by Dan Lloyd

It was our first home game of the season, a needle match against our friends at Carlton Sports. After a record defeat under the leadership of Vice Captain Fitz his EARLY presence at Shooters Hill did not inspire confidence. True to from and quite appropriately after leading us to a 180+ runs defeat Fitz duly lost the toss. The MFB were inserted on a classic shooters hill pitch under cloudy skies. The portents were not good. Opener Chris had not picked up a bat since September last year and Simon had a point to prove along with all of us after the record defeat two weeks previous.
 
How wrong we were to be fearful. In the opening exchanges Chris rolled back the decades unfurling boundaries at will. Growing in confidence Chris then ambitiously went for his trademark clip to mid wicket for six (remember shooters hill in 2008), this time over the long boundary. He succeeded only in getting caught out off a leading edge.
 
Simon took this as his cue to dig in. By the tenth over he was so well dug in, building that foundation no doubt, that we could no longer see him down in his trench. Rory joined him in that trench and dug in with him. I hear they built a good solid partnership but we couldn't see them from the boundary. They took the score from 13 off three overs to 25 off 12 overs. Test Match quality on display here. A target of 120 was looking optimistic by drinks. Finally Simon and Rory moved up to second gear and got the scoreboard moving, slowly. But they did a great job. Simon was out in the 27th over. When he left the field the scorebaord read 103 for 2. We were now set for a 13 over dash towards respectability. As Simon walked out in walked Posh (more of which later).
 
His Lordship was irked at not being allowed to bat until the 27th over. This was reflected in his batting as he proceeded to take apart the bowling. His anger was focussed on their fifth bowler and he was determined to make the most of whatever short time (potentially 13 overs) was available to him. And so it passed that he played a pre-meditated stroke to a slow bowler and was duly bowled. A cardinal sin. His Lordship had spent 27 overs muttering about when he was going to bat and then spent 8 overs muttering to himself about getting out. As Keano would say - let that be a lesson to you all!
 
Paul and DTG provided quick runs towards the end of the innings but both were determined to make Rory run as much as possible. From 103 for 2 off 27 overs Rory, Adam, Paul and DTG moved the score along at just under 7 an over to 188. A decent total after being on 50 off 20 overs. 
 
But this was Carlton Sports and gamesmanship was always near the surface. Carltons best bowler, one Gary Moans, failed to bowl the first ball of the last over in a vain attempt to ascertain the batsman's intention. Unimpressed DTG on the very next ball walked just as Moans hit his delivery stride. To rub it in MFB took 7 off the over in byes including 2 leg byes from an LB shout off the last ball. Moans moaned about that one all the way back to the pavilion as he ended up wickletless (thank God).
 
After a rather longer tea than was necessary Fitz led his team onto the field to defend 188. Now it was the bowlers turn to make amends for that crushing defeat. Liam cruised in from one end and consistently beat Rory for pace, let alone the batman. From the other end Fitz produced the kind of tight display of medium pace dobbing that had so eluded us all two weeks ago. But Carlton Sports kept up with the run rate and the wickets would not fall.
 
On came Tanner and Arpino to make a breakthrough. Like two old warhorses fighting against the dying of the light they wheezed and snorted their way through their opening spells. Arpino actually did a horse imitation off his very first ball veering away to short extra cover naying and snarling and stamping his feet like some fine pedigree out of control doing dressage at Badminton.
 
And with their tails up at last a wicket a fell in Tanner's second over, a caught behind to Rory. But as with all old warhorses there is a time to nay and stamp and a time to rest and Tanner's immediate reaction was to breathe deeply and kneel down. All memories of those 326 wicketless runs were banished and we started to play with more self belief. No one more so than Daryl.
 
At last Double Zero entered the fray and started to bowl his usual stock ball; the straight one that doesn't turn. This was a brilliant tactic and bamboozled the opposition batsmen. Finally in the seventh over Double zero took his just rewards with three wickets in four balls - one caught by Tanner and two lbws. Those slow straight non turners are lethal.  
 
From there the game was ours to win despite DTG's best efforts to bowl them back into it by conceding 25 off 2 overs.  Walsh came back on and cleaned up the Tail but most important it was Walsh who ran out Moans who moaned all the way back to the pavilion, again. A fitting end to his short innings of one run. The MFB ran out winners by 35 runs
 
A great team performance, and a fine performance by Fitz as skipper. The team owe a debt of gratitude also to Rory for a fantastic 74 not out and to Double Zero for three wickets in one over, the finest two individual performances of the game.
 
Special mention also to messrs Tanner and Trewin Esquire.  Arpino bowled a nice friendly full toss to their number three batsman who promptly swatted it for 6, twenty yards over DTG's head, twenty yards away from the nearest fielder and twenty yards over the boundary.  This did not stop Tanner, an old warhorse who had just caught a catch, from berating the fielder for "dropping it". On the positive side I would be worried if Tanner stopped berating his fielders so. There is clearly much life left in this old warhorse even if we must in future bowl him in 8 separate one over spells.
 
And now to Paul Trewin esquire. As His Lordship ran from square leg to deep fine leg to save a boundary Paul very helpfully cheered him on from slip with the words "go on Posh" thus giving rise to a new nickname for Adam AKA Keano, His Lorship and Lord Snooty and now Posh. Posh ignored the helping comment and pelted after the ball. But other fielders came to his defence and suggested that Paul Trewin Esq should perhaps be known as "Chav". Let it be known from this day on that whenever one name is taken in vain let it always be associated with the other, Posh and Chav!
 
The Butler.

Old Rutlishians CC vs Broadway CC - Sunday 25th April 2010

The Clubhouse, Poplar Road

Old Rutlishians 333/1 beat Broadway CC 150/8 by 183 runs

The 2010 season kicked off yesterday with one of the biggest mis-matches in Broadway CC history.

Expecting to play the Old Rutlishian's Sunday 2^nd XI, described as a social, medium/weak side by a fixture secretary who would be better suited to being Nick Clegg's press secretary, Broadway turned up full of the joys of spring. However, Broadway would soon find out, that due to the oppo's first team game being cancelled, they were playing their Surrey Trust League team instead.

Broadway bowled and fielded well, but with such high quality on display they really had no chance of making a game of it, such was the difference between the sides! The two Old Rut's openers both smashed hundreds in an unbroken first wicket stand of 206, which is a record partnership for the 1^st wicket against the club, and the 2^nd highest for any wicket, of all time, behind the 220 run partnership scored by Friendly in 1993!

Thankfully both openers retired, but the next two were pretty handy as well, and took the score to over 300 before the demon spin of "The Note" took the only wicket to fall, caught behind. Old Rut's went on to score 333/1 - another record, eclipsing the Carshalton & Croydon Gas CC total of 303/6 in 2003. All bowlers were put to the sword by the relentless batsmen who showed no sign of giving up or taking it easy - thankfully this wasn't a test match as we'd probably still be bowling now.

In reply, despite facing a total that would be out of the reach of even the Chennai Super Kings, Paul Trewin wasn't hanging around and made a dashing 27, including two huge sixes, one top edged so high over fine leg that it flirted with the cloud of volcanic ash from Eyjafjallajokull which is still clogging the stratosphere, before being bowled by the young opener with the penultimate ball of his spell.

Liam also impressed, as he did in the nets over the winter, smacking a number of boundaries in his 24, before he was run out. Tellingly the bowling attack was also of League standard, but credit to the MFB for batting out the 40 overs to end on 150/8 at the close. Not quite a record defeat, but a total waste of time!

2009 Match Reports

Written by Ian Thurman

An eventful week saw 4 different opposition lined up for the Sunday. First Lewisham & Kings Hospital (dropped for wanting us to pay £110 for their pitch), second Ealing Wanderers (subsequently dropped on distance to ground Chiswick) thirdly Bard Hill which turned into  Crofton (Bardhill were meant to be playing Croton but couldn't raise a side so they fixed us up with Crofton). It all got confusing and I for one expected Fitz to ring from Chiswick asking where we all were. But no, we all turned up at sunny Sidcup CC.  

What a treat it was for me  - no 15 minute walk lugging my kit to Welling to wait for a 20 min bus ride then another 15 min trek through some dodgy council estate to Mayday Gdns. Just a nice journey to Sidcup CC. One of the best private grounds you will find. Decent proper working showers, (unlike our crap ones) a pitch as flat as a dining table (unlike our windswept north face of the Eiger), surroundings reminiscent of the countryside (unlike our 1930's council housing backdrop). And a bar with proper bitter not fizzy keg stuff like our ground. (Thought I'd mention this in case Paul, Adrian, Colin, read this.)

Anyway BCC won the toss and with highest temperature of the year batting first was the obvious thing to do. Shaw and Triggs found mediocre bowling and fielding to their liking and it was all going well. Shaw first to another good 50 which included a trademark quality backfoot cover drive for 4 (when will this man win his first BCC trophy).

Triggs again got into the frightening forties, desperate to get a maiden 50 he managed it comfortably - 110 odd for 0 after 20 over's - looking good!! Shaw out to a tired shot let in Michaels who again methodically hit the bowling to all parts as expected. Triggs out for 57 received a standing ovation on his return and let in Lloyd. Bish bash bosh, a cracking 6 from Lloyd over mid-wicket the highlight, a bit more bish bash bosh when the skipper P Trewin came in for Lloyd and some sledging from the oppo keeper over non-given LBW decisions ensued. Another 50 for  Michaels was racked up, an innings notable for 2 shots  - big straight drive for 6 and a horrible cross bat slog that had him caught on the off side! 

With wickets in hand a rush for quick runs ensued and risks were taken and sacrifices made searching for a 250+ score. The final ball of the innings saw Walsh stave off a hatrick and we ended on a very healthy 242 for 6. However not knowing the oppos batting strength and on a very good batting strip it was always difficult to know what a winning score was.

After an excellent tea with chunky carrot cake we took to the field in confidence. Walsh opened with a good pacy 4 over spell bowling the opener for 0. Looking good! The #3 wanted to slog everything and Walsh took the edge when still on 0 however, Michaels keeping wicket today, spilled the catch - 69 runs later Mant had the #3 bowled. Hmmm.

Thurman's opening spell at the other end had managed to keep runs down with little troubling the batsmen on this true pitch. Mant and Hamilton change bowlers interspersed good with the bad and the score kept ticking over. After 20 overs 100 odd on the board and only 2 wickets down things looked more finely balanced than we (I) anticipated! The oppo batting strength was in direct contrast to their fielding and bowling. A touch of Dr Sick & Mr Note! Their early middle order cracked on and all the bowlers suffered except for Walsh's comeback spell which although economical couldn't force a breakthrough. Thurman now bowling into a low blinding sun was hit about and the batsmen were scoring freely, quite a lot freely in Murdoch's case. We were convinced Murdoch had broken Langford's record of conceding most runs in a bowling spell -  77? off 8 overs  - this later gave us something to laugh about. However Langford's record remained intact by only a couple of runs or half a smidgeon to be technical.  

Mid-innings our concentration was temporarily halted by the deafening drunken shouting of 2 women (one more than the other tho') The shouting evolved into pushing and shoving which developed into a girly cat fight with lots more screaming and glasses crashing about. It took a couple of non-combatant blokes 2-3 minutes to decide the mouthy one should be restrained - she wasn't too pleased about that. Eventually calm resumed after the mouthy woman was taken off in a car somewhere. It was the Isle of Wight bus journey all over again!

Liam - best not bring your girlfriends to the cricket in future!! 

The game was looking lost when the oppo keeper ?  with the Chanderpaul stance was plumb LBW walking across his stumps - their umpire for reasons unknown declined to agree. The worst decision I can ever recall given against my bowling. Who were they to accuse us of cheating !!

Despite Gladwin brought into the attack late on and Hamilton saved for another day the game was won by Crofton from 2 wides  with 3-4 overs to spare and 6-7 wkts in hand.

Simon mentioned later the oppo were completely unfazed by their own inept fielding presumably confident in the knowledge that their batsmen would blast the runs. And on the best batting wicket we are likely to play on all season this was to be the case. Their middle order was good and played technically correct shots with power and placement. 

Still the positives to take out of this game were - Triggs excellent maiden 50, another 50 each for Shaw and Michaels. Surely it was going to be jug city Arizona in the bar ! Finishing up with our Man of the Match selection resulted in Simon Triggs winning the vote a maiden 50 and excellent work in the field - no monetary value is attached to this prize tho!

Broadway CC vs Ash CC - Sunday 17th May 2009

Written by Paul Trewin

The long awaited first home game was upon us and despite the weather most of the boys arrived early to set up and take advantage of the nets before we got underway.

The use of the nets are proving to be more than useful as it gets everyone warmed up and raring to go, much better than trying to practice at Waring Park where the only skill to be mastered was avoiding the dog shit, anyway on to the game.

 Ade won the toss, yes that's right he did! and decided that we would have a bat first, Chris and Simon ( that's the short fat one in case Ian is reading this) put on 15 for the first wicket before Chris was caught, Rory was next in and once again proved how much he loves playing against Ash as he and Simon ( that's the short fat one in case Ian is reading this) set about building a solid partnership while the rest of us sat and froze in the artic conditions. With the score on 111 Simon (the short fat one in case Ian is reading this) was eventually out for 42, poor Simon really suffers in the nervous 40's.

Paul was next in and after bragging about batting in the same spot as KP was all set to build another partnership with Rory who had just passed yet another 50 for Broadway, unfortunately the flying Scotsman was soon stumped, this meant it was now the turn of The Note who was making a rare appearance as The Arsenal were away, a quick 10 was made before he was run out attempting to push the score on. With overs running out Ade (23 n.o.) and Paul 13n.o.) set about the bowling and despite the wind and the rain a quick 33 was added leaving the MFB on 159/4.

Thankfully tea was waiting for us and after we'd scoffed down all the chips and cakes we were ready to take the field. Fitz and Liam opened the bowling and despite not taking any wickets the bowling was really tight and Ash were soon behind the run rate, next up were Tony and Darryl and the breakthrough was made courtesy of a run out with the score on 15, this was followed by a stubborn partnership of 49 before Steve Tanner on his comeback made a breakthrough, this proved to be decisive as wickets fell regularly with both Steve and Liam claiming 3 each and a wicket apiece for Darryl, Adrian and Tony, Ash were all out for 96 in the 34^th over.

A game played in a really good spirit in really lousy conditions had finished as both teams left the field in search of a well earned beer or two although the Broadway boys proved the circus was missing its clowns as we attempted to board up the score hut, I think it'll take us a few weeks to master that one.

In the biggest scandal since Arthur Fowler nicked the Christmas money in Eastenders Mr. Trewin won the football card, Police say they are looking into this and intend to press charges this week! 

Spelthorne Melrose CC Vs. Broadway CC - 10 May 2009

Written by Darryl Murdoch

After the win over Shooters the previous Sunday confidence was high in the Broadway camp for the trip to Addington, the only slight snag was the fact we only had nine players confirmed to play. Would this mean a mate of a mate playing in tracksuit bottoms for the MFB or would we have to rely on 'Five catches' Phil again?

No, was the answer as Ian's quest for a new suit led him to Scope and the man known as Spanner was persuaded to return to the ranks. Luckily for us, Carlton Sports lack of facilities meant they had nowhere to park the caravan for the weekend and Jones was able to return to his rightful place in the Broadway side, so with a full strength side, we waited with baited breath for a chance to tear into the 'longest tail since prehistoric times!'

After confirming the game earlier in the week with the Addington fixture secretary, all looked good to go, however at 4pm on Friday, I checked my e-mails and found to my horror that they couldn't get a team out! No phone call had warned me of this, so it looked like another cricket-less week for us! However, I was not prepared to give up, and after half an hour or so and a call to the Cricket Conference, I managed to sort out a fixture in darkest Surrey against Spelthorne Melrose!

My next job was to ensure that the boys could get there and we would have a full side, everyone got back to me straight away except of course Fitz, who despite having two mobiles, found it impossible to answer either and left me sweating. Eventually MOO confirmed he had spoken to the big man, and everything was sorted.

So the game...

After picking up Lord Michaels and Trewin we set off in the Astra of Doom for Sunbury-on-Thames. Chat in the car included Michaels confirming he prefers to keep wicket to fielding like everyone else, and that not being captain still hurts even after three years! Better make sure you take your catches behind the stumps then...

Everyone arrived at the ground ready to rumble, except of course Hamilton and Thurman who were predictably late, and also had their phones off! Bonnie lost the toss again and we were told to field, great 2 men down! The oppo were good about it and waited 10 minutes or so before Fitz's passion wagon pulled into the carpark.

Bonnie opened the bowling in his 200^th game for the club, looking to cap it with his 100^th wicket. It became quite obvious that it was in fact another record he was after, one he already owns...the assault on the 'Most runs conceded' record was on!

Fitz, however at the other end looked to continue his impressive start to the campaign and picked up their number 2 and 3 cheaply early on. Ade decided he was better off looking at the low flying planes and replaced himself with Murdoch, who struck first ball to dismiss Mr Peake for 4.

This brought the SMCC skipper to the crease and after a shaky start, he started to find his feet and along with opener Bourne they steadied the ship and put the Broadway attack on the back foot. MOO and Murdoch bowled well and piled the pressure on the Spelthorne skipper and his young accomplice. Together they extracted three edges to the wicket-keeper, however Keano couldn't hang on and they survived.

With Murdoch's overs completed for a return of 8-1-27-1 and the Old Man tiring in the Surrey sun, Bonnie unleashed the most feared man in South Norwood on the poor, unspecting batsmen! Spanner was back! A couple of overs to find his rythym, and the Scope Seamer was back to his best, taking a couple of wickets and putting Broadway back in the game.

Thurman and Hamilton returned to the attack and using all of their 100+ years experience two more wickets fell, the only thorn in the side of Bonnie's boys was the opposition captain, who was still at the crease. Although his second spell was arguably worse than his first, Bonnie sensing rabbit for tea, brought himself back on and eventually picked up his 100^th MFB wicket, this was quickly followed by his 101^st and the SMCC innings was done and dusted, 209 for 9 was their final total, 112 of them being scored by the not out skipper, if only we'd taken our chances early on!

Tea was nice, sarnies, sausage rolls and donuts all round. After a long while out of the Broadway ranks, Spanner was wondering who would be opening the innings. After guessing "Chris and Ian? Paul and Chris and Ian and Paul" he was still not right...who could it be thought Mr Gladwin...luckily we had Ian to clear up the mystery! "Chris is opening, and the short fat one!!!"

Murdoch, thinking his batting practice in the nets had paid dividends, headed to pad up, however was stopped in his tracks when it was revealed that MOO was talking about Broadway's batsman of the year - Simon Triggs!!!

So, 'The Short Fat One' and Chris strode out to start the MFB run chase. Both batted well and a decent opening stand of 38 in 9 overs looked to stand Broadway in good stead for the battle ahead. Chris flashed wildly at a wide one (not Simon) and was then clean bowled next up, another 32 were added before 'TSFO' was given out LBW by Spanner for 18. This brought Michaels to the crease, keen to make up for his missed chances behind the stumps, his partner - Nick Berry's No 1 fan.

Together they added another 38 runs before Jones went for a big shot, the SMCC skipper, not content with smashing 112 not out earlier in the day sprinted after Jones' lofted drive and took a spectacular catch to dismiss the former Broadway skipper for a well made 30. Michaels was then joined by a nervous Lloyd, who after attempting first to steal a cigarette from an empty box which wasn't even ours, and nicking a couple from Murdoch, attempted to get the innings back on track.

Unfortunately for him, the bowlers were in no mood to oblige and after taking 20 minutes to get off the mark, was dismissed by Mr Owen for 10, the asking rate was now above nine an over. Vice skipper Trewin was next in, and despite hitting his first ball for 2, played on to Kennard and was gone for 2. MOO launched one in search of quick runs and was caught at mid-on, also for 2.

Bonnie, feeling his day couldn't get any worse was next in, the asking rate now over 10! A 14 minute cameo followed, including 3 fours and a massive 6, which put the MFB back in with a shout - still a tough ask though! His running between the wickets wasn't as impressive as Michaels ran two whilst Bonnie stayed in his crease to the dismay of his Lordship. Ade was eventually caught behind for 21 and Spanner, who promised to dance down the wicket came to the crease. With 12 needed from two balls, Adam launched on over mid on, but it fell short of the 6 required, and after hitting the last ball for 2, Broadway's chase was over, only six runs short of victory. A cracking match, played in the right spirit I'm sure you'd all agree.

On to the bar, where Adam was voted man of match for his 59 not out, possibly not for his 3 dropped catches behind the stumps! Broadway were left wondering what might have been if we'd taken those chances, scored more quickly in the middle of our innings, or perhaps that the skipper was on one of the planes that he spent most of the day admiring!

Shootershill2001 CC Vs. Broadway CC - 03 May 2009

Written by Colin Mant

11:40am, the phone rings, "Hello mate, Adam here". Christ, it must be cricket season! "Me and Dan will be there in about 20 minutes, fancy coming down to the net?" Bloody hell, I hadn't even showered! Arrival at the ground saw Daniel netting with some confidence and Adam chucking, no pun intended, some down at him. Adam had already been in the net and smacked 300 runs! With the Broadway gathering and the banter beginning to fly, it was already feeling like home.

Billed as an away game, the opening match of Broadway's campaign had the added spice of playing the landlords. How would our house warming go?

Stand in skipper Paul Trewin carried on the fine tradition of losing the toss, and it looked a good call when opposite number John Garrett put the Broadway in on a greenish track. The overhead conditions always looked to favour the bowlers and Simon Triggs and Daniel Lloyd were sent in to repel the opening salvos. A good start was made, Dan making more headway as Liam observed of Triggs, "Why doesn't he bat like he does in the nets?" Shortly afterwards, Triggs copped it, playing on, and was followed quickly back to the pavilion by Lloyd - unluckily - after his vicious cover drive was taken smartly by the Shoots skipper low down.

With the innings on 23 for 2 and more than a few over's down, it looked grim. But Rory and Adam steadied the ship with some classy shot making putting on a partnership of 87 before MacNeill was bowled with the score on 110, still work to do.

With Adam in full flow, KP Trewin tried to bully the bowling, but was snaffled flashing his blade by the 'keeper with a great catch. But a valuable 48 had been added. Thurman was then run out after his bat dug in the ground short of his crease by the Wicket Keeper who was standing back a mile. Murdoch slotted into the all rounder role at 7, watched avidly by Mrs Murdoch to be, Emma, and added 8 runs with a confident little knock. Fitz came on with 1 ball to go; made a song and dance of making sure he got a middle stump guard and then missed the ball by a mile. Classic. 174 for 6 off our 40 overs. Very decent.

Tea.......CHIPS! Try this - take an Egg Mayo Sandwich, pop in some Chips, hey presto! Egg and Chip Sarnie.....sort of. Anyway.....more Mant recipes through the season - not!

Liam and Ian were tossed the 'new ball' as the old one had been knackered by Adam's fearsome assault on it and the Shoots reply was started. Both bowled well but no breakthrough was made. On came Fitz and Darryl and eventually the bowlers discipline paid off, with opener Mr Witham steepling one in the direction of Triggs and Dan. The ball soared upwards and Triggs swayed in the breeze, this way and that way, old style Kung Fu master Drunken Monkey........we all prepared our commiserations.......the hands clutched and the ball stuck!! A fantastic catch and already a contender for catch of the season.

Such things can inspire. Catches stuck, Michaels took a peach at extra cover, Liam got in the action to get his campaign on a third Fielder of the Year award in row going and Mant took a looper at Gully. Three wickets without adding a run and we were now in the driving seat, but we knew we had work to do as Garrett Jnr could easily put the Shoots back on track.

Mr Garrett attacked the bowling from the start, quickly blasting a couple of fours. And then a bizarre 3 balls, Fitz delivered and JG appeared to pop the ball back to Fitz' hands. Half of us celebrated, the umpire and Mr Garrett remained unmoved. Bump ball. Fitz rapped the pads next, OWAZZZAT, he growled, not out, but for Fitz' standards - bearing in mind he appealed earlier for an LB off of the openers' glove - it was tight. And then, Fitz' new delivery, which shall be known as 'The Floater', arrived into cricket folklore. I haven't seen anything like it since Mrs Minge, the non dart player half of the duo, barely made the board with such a throw on 'Bullseye'. My daughter has thrown her dolly further, but it produced a leg side stumping by Rory and Mr Garrett was gone. "That was my slower delivery" exclaimed Fitz. Glad you told us, we had no way of knowing! 3 wickets for Fitz and 2 for Darryl had beached the Shoots, both bowling fantastic spells.

Mr Mant and Mr Arpino joined the party and mopped up the middle order and tail. Tony bowled really well and returned figures of 3 for 15 off of 4.5 overs and was a hot contender for the man of the match vote - which I started in the bar but will probably never be done again! I bowled okay, but it was Tony's advice - "Bowl it straight" - that helped me produce two wickets. That works then, must try that again.

Tony rattled the wood and it was all over. Like an uninvited guest who's seen a party advertised on Facebook, the Broadway crashed the house warming, shat in the rubber plant, tore up the carpet and drank all the booze. Victory by 93 runs. Marilyn the Shoots scorer was not generous towards her troops.

Champagne moments: Fun was had with the cradle during our innings; Paul throwing the ball into my shin from a foot away was pretty special; Fitz' 'Floater', a legal ball or shit - you decide! Rory and Adam's batting, superb, and Triggs' Drunken Monkey catch.

Chatting to Simon afterwards he reflected, "I think we're going to like it here". I think we might Mr Triggs. Man of the Match? The mighty Fitzroy.

See below for last season's match reports - including some classics from the Colster!

Broadway CC 2008 Match Reports