This is your skipper sending a final e-mail for the season… and haven't we had a great one!

A few highlights : Greid catching a big skyer at Bredon which pretty well assured us of the win. George's flat six at Fairford off a beamer. Slabs 51* to see us home against Stroud. Piessey's run of luck at Kingsholm and Alfer's “interview” story. Liam's six to finish the game at Painswick. The win at Hatherley, I think it was our best all round performance. The astonishing run chase against Bredon (thanks largely to Nick Holland, Gibbo and Wooly). A thoroughly good day out at Redmarley with a welcome return to form for Stormin' (was that the hottest day of the season?). And finally, to cap it all, we had a great finish at Home to Painswick to round off a fantastic unbeaten season with Bertie getting his maiden ton for Dumbly.

Well done chaps!

I've had a great time captaining the team and I hope you've all enjoyed playing. We'll have to try for the hat-trick of league titles next season and hopefully we'll be able to get even more wins, weather permitting.

Do you know that we made use of 29 different players in our 13 completed and 2 abandoned games? The key is that there's always been a good nucleus of players available and plenty of extras to fill in when Sharpee and co. take their numerous holidays or when Powelly comes a calling for our best players!

Here's a list of who played and how many… everyone deserves a mention and this assures that nobody is missed!

1. M.Elliott              14

2. D.Smith               14

3. H.Prudden         13

4. M.Nicholson      12

5. M.Rennie           12

6. C.Sharp                12

7. B.Thompson      12

8. G.Piesse              10

9. R.Simpson          10

10. M.Cull                  8

11. S.Slabbert           8

12. G.Prudden         7

13. P.Boorman         5

14. M.Gibson           4

15. J.Lawrence         4

16. S.Woolridge       3

17. L.Brignull             2

18. S.Brooks              2

19. D.Harris               2

20. G.Reid                  2

21. R.Andrews         1

22. D.Buckley           1

23. J.Harrell               1

24. N.Holland           1

25. R.Lawrence        1

26. P.Lyes                  1

27. P.Nicholson       1

28. R.Smith                1

29. A.Stuart               1

There were several notable performers. Piessey (521) was top run scorer in our division. Bertie (384) was 4 th and Sharpee (337) was 6 th . Alfers took another 28 wickets which left him 3 rd in our division. It was great to see Gibbo return to Dumbly (and what a return it was). Nick Holland made one (great) appearance. Big George played his heart out every game, in particular bowling and fielding excellently and I expect he will spend next season in the 1sts. Henry should again be an ever-present in our team next year.

Here's a brief résumé:

May 3 rd : Stone came up to Dumbly and probably regretted sticking us in as Sharpee (100) and Piessey (76) put on 173 for the 2 nd wicket! Stone never looked like reaching our 251 and were bowled out for 189 with Alfers taking 4-54. Piessey  and Sharpee also claimed 5 catches between them in an innings where 9 wickets went to catches and the other was a run out. H.P. managed his highest batting slot of the season with 1 not out at number 9!

May 10 th : A trip to Bredon . I cocked up and decided to bat (I won't be doing that again in a hurry). I blame the experienced players for turning up too late to advise. Piesse and Cull put on 70 or so for the first wicket and then some good left arm inswing bowling reduced us to 155-9. All looked lost as Bredon cruised along until we got a couple of quick wickets and then their lower order self-destructed leaving them 13 short and all out. Alfers picked up another 4-30. Broken Simmo scored and managed to fall out with Bredon's scorer (again).

May 17 th : Normal service was resumed as I put Redmarley in at Dumbly. Bertie (remember he used to be a bowler too) got 5-44 with his out-swingers and they reached 180-8. If their number 8 hadn't got 71* it would have been much less. We lost some overs for rain after tea and it remained horribly wet for the rest of the game. Piessey with 84 saw us most of the way to our reduced target of 161. We finally got to 166-3 off 27.5 but we were lucky to finish this one at all.

May 24 th : Why did Fairford want to bowl? Surely they knew their wicket was a good one. Cully (81 very pretty runs), Bertie (84 with some very big shots on a very small ground) and Big George (56, including bashing a beamer for a flat six over square leg) showed them the error of their ways. They never looked like reaching our 286-6 and ended on 202-8 with no Alfers to clean up the tail. The Pruddens bowled 20 overs and picked up 4-69 between them. Bergerac made his debut and proved to be a useful all-rounder. Oh yes, and Spam, umpiring, removed one of their bowlers from the attack for repeated beamers! Unfortunately, it may be a while ‘til we play them again as their 1 st XI have been relegated.

May 31 st : Alfers reduced Stroud to 176 all-out with 6-46 after I won the toss and stuck ‘em in on a sticky Dumbly track. Unfortunately, the same sticky wicket came back to haunt us as we strggled to score; Gareth Haines bowling a tight spell of 11-4-15-2. We were rescued by a stunning 51* from Slabs, ably supported by Nicho (4, but stuck around for a partnership of 37) and Rens (15). All I had to do was come in at 7 down with the scores level and hit a 4 to win it (through the covers for those who want to know). We definitely owe Slabs the credit for making this run chase.

June 7 th : We were a bit short down at Kingsholm (no disrespect to DB and Scum, my brother), even D.C. had to be replaced with Baldy Purves who manfully umpired on a very hot day (in his very nice hat). I was not popular for electing to bowl and Cully and H.P. showed their disapproval by both dropping sitters! Alfers took a blinding skyer at fine leg but they ended up with a pretty good 194-3 on a biggish ground with a very slow outfield. We looked to be up the creek at 20-odd for 2 with Nicho, our last “proper” batter, walking out to bat. However, Piessey had the luck of the gods with him and got 108* giving four easy chances all of which were spurned! I shan't forget “Boris” admonishing himself after dropping his second! Nicho got 41* and we cruised (?) to victory by eight wickets. Alfers gave us the laugh of the season with his “interview” cock-and-bull story. And Simmo got so bored scoring he fell asleep and had to be replaced.

June 14 th : Woodmancote stuck us in on a damp Dumbly wicket. Sharpee got 57, Bertie 32 and Nard 19 (in his only appearance). I was a bit pissed off to have to leave my Becks and go in to bat with more than 10 overs to go… by the time I was out it had got a bit warm. However, we got to 199 all-out, Alfers (10) being run out going for the 5 th batting point. Woodmancote's reply was, frankly, pathetic. All out for 72 in 23.5 overs, with myself and the vice-captain combining to take 7-29 from 14 overs.

June 21 st : A grey day trip to Painswick . Got there to find a sheet on the wicket (a good thing) but nobody from Painswick to remove it (not so good). Waited… Waited… thought about removing it… thought we better not interfere. Eventually the opposition turned up… also seemed stumped as to what to do. Eventually the Dumblies joined forces with the home team and man-handled the cover to the boundary. I won a rather good toss (so to speak) and we bowled them out for 100. Alfers took 3-25 in 10 overs. It was nice to see DB's old mate Bill Jamieson slap Simmo for a very nice six over square-leg before Simmo got his own back and had him caught by Rens. Their total of 100 runs didn't come easily (especially to Sharpee who turned up still drunk from the night before and left a straight one to  be bowled for a duck). Even Piessey could only muster 15 runs. Not so easy… that was until Liam came in and got 35*. He made it look completely different and when he finally found a partner in Nicho (8*) who could stick around, he steered us home. He finally slapped big a six over long-on to win the game in great style.

June 28 th : One of those “big games”. We visited Hatherley , pretenders to our throne, and not only that, they had the little Goblin opening the batting! Hatherley decided to bat, and Big George (12-2-37-4) and Rens (7-2-12-1) produced brilliant opening spells followed by Simmo (11-2-38-3) which left them with an inadequate total of 159-9. The result was never in doubt: with the absence of Piessey, Nicho opened and played absolutely beautifully for 80*. He was, quite simply, superb, his best innings ever in my opinion; certainly so for my team. He and Sharpee  (56) nearly saw it through. With the demise of Sharpee, Big George (20*) came in at number 3 and we won by 9 wickets in 32 overs). This was a particularly satisfying win as the whole team played top quality cricket. I seem to remember, there was one blemish in Nicho's innings; he foolishly tripped over his bat while half way through a run and should have been run out, only for their unfortunate keeper to drop the ball off a perfect throw! [This was after his golden duck followed by dropping a catch in the first over… I don't expect he went out on the pull that night.]

July 5 th : The “return of the Big Match”. Hatherley came to Dumbly looking for revenge. I lost the toss… again, and they batted… again. Youngster, Nathaniel Gregory, returning to their 2nds having not scored many in their 1sts, opened and got a brilliant hundred. The rest of the Hatherley team also batted superbly. I was unable to stop them scoring 268-6.  Stormin', on debut, remarked: “I thought you were a good bowling side!”. Stormin' then opened the batting and got a duck (I thought he was a good batter); it was a shocking decision from one of our  favourite umpires and an example of how to kick a man when he's down. When the rain started pouring with us at 72-3 off 17, and with Sharpee and Big George also out, I for one was relieved. Piessey had just got going and was on 38*. But with no Bertie and a longish tail , I was far from confident! Maybe if I had known what we would do against Bredon and Painswick later in the season I would have been more up-beat. However,  I still see this one as our “lucky escape”. This game also saw another one-off appearance, this time from Ridders, since Bertie had to drop out late on Saturday morning through illness.

July 12 th : It pissed down. However, to every cloud… at least we didn't have to go to Stone .

July 19 th : None of those who were there will ever forget Bredon 's visit. As usual, when given the choice, I stuck ‘em in. They got 246-6; Gibbo (10-1-41-1, making his 2 nd XI debut) was the pick of a below-par bowling attack. However, that day we were blessed with another 2 nd XI debutant, Nick Holland, who scored the most sublime 98 which was hugely instrumental in our victory. When Nick was finally out, the score was 172-6 and I admit I had little hope. Gibbo (33*) was then on 3 and he was joined by Wooly (31). The two of them then put on the most incredible 73 for the 7 th wicket (in about 10 overs) which left me walking out to bat with 2 to win with 2 balls left. You will all recall my masterful “leave” which missed the off stump by millimetres and went for 4 byes! At that time, I considered that win as my favourite moment as captain. “Victory from the jaws” etc. I wonder how much sleep Martyn Draper (Bredon's wicket keeper and captain) has lost over those 4 byes!

July 26 th : This was “the day after the Gent's night before”. A baking hot day over at Redmarley and I won the toss and thought that fielding would be a good option (as usual). The team was not happy. Least of all Nicho who turned up with his dad and sister looking worried and a plastic bucket to act as receptacle for the remains of the previous evening's drinks. We bowled as well as could be expected with the accumulated after-effects; Redmarley ended up with 223 all-out off 44.3  overs. Nicho (now alias Sicko) would rather forget his antics behind the stumps, finally being replaced by Simmo when his hang-over got the better of him after about 15 overs. Somehow, I never doubted that we would achieve the target. There was much amusement when Stormin' (who eventually scored 64) reached double figures, for which he was richly applauded from the pavilion balcony. Cully got 44 and Adam Stuart, playing his only game for us, and having fielded in the Redmarley shed all afternoon, saw us home with 33*.

Aug 2 nd : Had to tell Fairford to stay at home (once again the ducks were enjoying the weather at Dumbleton).

Aug 9 th : Still pissing down… missed out on a lovely trip to see the new pavilion at Stroud .

Aug 16 th : Kingsholm came to Dairy Lane and fancied bowling at us. This was a mistake as we amassed 264-7. However, nobody scored more than 36! This figure was achieved jointly by Bertie and Wooly (who was not out). Everyone got between 25 and 36 except Slabs with a duck (and me, but I ran out of time and ended on 13*).  I have to say that the Prudden brothers, opening in tandem, didn't bowl well with the wet ball and when the game was finally abandoned with Kingsholm at 49-1 off 6.3, their combined figures were 6-0-48-1… not pretty! But they will both be back next year, with a vengeance!

Aug 23 rd : Sharpee took the reigns as skipper at Woodmancote as I was in Ireland on a 50 th birthday piss-up; sorry team. Having rather stupidly lost the toss, Dumbly were inserted. Simmo and the team sent the obligatory “were in the crap” wind-ups to Ireland via text messages but this was all rubbish and we won easily. Woodmancote let us score 270-4 with Stormin (59), Piessey (89) and Sharpee (56) making hay. Woodmancote's reply of 248-9 looked a lot closer than it was in reality; Sharpee having dropped a sitter (he tells me “it was a bit dark”) with the score around 210-9. Sharpee then had to buy the team beers at the Apple Tree. At least that saved me twenty quid! I was exceptionally  pissed  pleased in Ireland when Simmo finally came clean and gave me the good news.

Aug 30 th : One more game to win for an unbeaten season. Painswick decided to bat on a good Dumbly track and Adam Wager played an excellent innings of 109* to see them through to 244-5. We didn't field brilliantly and we certainly didn't bowl well. But, on this occasion, it didn't matter because the batters were up to the task. Bertie played the innings of his life for 111* with the rest of the team mucking in with 20s and 30s and helping to create good partnerships, while Bertie was at the other end and merrily going ballistic. Even at a dodgy 153-6 with 13 overs to go, I still thought we would win providing B.T. stayed in. Quite different to the Bredon game where I was convinced we would lose! (sorry Gibbo and Wooly, I will have more faith next time!) This is the game that gave me the most pleasure. This was the real test… we were already champions but then a tough run chase, in the last game, to get that unbeaten season. And we made it. Brilliant! Oh yes, and the team all looked really smart in their pressed trousers, cuff-link shirts, tank-tops and brogues… excellent work. More next season please!

See you all soon,

Your (rather chuffed) skipper, Bucket