Updated 16/06/08

Firstly I must apologise to my avid readers. I know ‘Carvs Corner' is your homepage and the latest issue is your desktop picture, but I have just had a mountain of uni work over the last month! After four games the firsts are sitting at three wins, one loss which is incredible. Not the fact that they have won 3 games but that 4 games in a row have been played. Although it may seem like the season has just started, but more than 1/3 of the amount of games that were played last year have been played thus far this year...simply amazing!

So let's all turn back the clock to three weeks ago, reviewing the outstanding victory over the old foe across the A46, Bredon. It appears one player took note of what I said in my first column “...I advise taking 5 wickets and scoring 100 runs to avoid criticism...” Powelly won the toss which is always a good start and sent the opposition into bat. Bredon seemed to get off to a reaching 150/3 as once again wade Risdale proved to be the thorn in the paw of Dumbleton CC scoring 65 before becoming one of churchy's victims. Bredon had a fairly steady innings as a whole managing to reach 227/9 of their 45 over's, a very respectful score which would require some determination with the bat. Churchy finished with 68/5 of his 13 over's as well as a run out which is a great effort. Engels who snared 5 wickets the week prior only managed one on the day along with Ben ‘you've been breezed' McHardie-jones. Tom ‘enjoys the theatre' green went wicket less which no doubt wasn't a reflection of his bowling as he always gives 110% (when his playing). Nigel Stanton who appeared to be becoming a regular bowler was not needed this required this week, much to his disappointment I can imagine.

Pete ‘used up his good form in preseason' Boorman only managed 3 before retiring to the pavilion for a few beers, mega burger and a chance to show off his ability as a representative croquet player. Nick ‘loves the Acton Travelodge' Holland didn't trouble the scorers much either with only 4 leaving dumbleton in a bit of strife at 7/2. Enter robin churchman. A sublime 113 not out from robin ‘must have been on drugs' churchman helped steer dumbleton to their second victory of the season. It doesn't say on the scorecard how many 4's and 6's he hit but I would be guessing around 100 of the 113 come in boundaries. He was well supported by G Lancaster scoring a solid 43. Despite these two scores there isn't much more I can comment on, apart from Engels not being out, I have no doubt he was on the way to a double century! So well done, two from two is a great way to start the season, especially knocking off Bredon / Wade Risdale!

Now to the awards! This may be hard to believe and Powelly I know you thought you had the man of the match in the bag however it is going to Churchy (surprise surprise). I received an e-mail from the recipient of the last ‘gone missing' award, complaining that it's just another TFC award and a chance to have a dig at him. So if you see G. Reid around the club give him a tissue or a shoulder to cry on through his tough time. The player who has seems to have gone missing is the one the only ohhh Pete Boorman. ‘Running hot' is going to have to be Churchy and the TFC award must go to one of the two openers, Pete's already gone missing so despite ‘running hot' last game he must have had a few cold showers because nick Holland is this week's TFC.

The Redmarley game is always a dangerous game! If the ball goes into the hedges it may be safer to use a new ball as opposed to sending a foreigner into stinging nettles! Aside from that this game was a great effort by the firsts, showing their dominance with the bat and the ball. Powelly started well by winning the toss and electing to bowl so that was his day done. The bowlers got out to a great start with Dumbleton's bunny Ali Watkins back in the shed for only one run, one more than last year at least. Ben ‘You've been breezed' McHardie-Jones had a good day out again Redmarley managing t0 take four wickets for 38 runs of his 13 over's. Churchy picked up a few and Steve ‘runs up from the boundary' Woolridge while Engels didn't manage to snare a wicket. The one bowler who was missing from the line up was one T. Green. I heard from a fairly reliable source that he was not playing as he had gone to the theatre in London with his girlfriend/eventual wife. I was shocked that he missed a game of cricket to go the theatre, however he did tell me it was ‘The Lion King' which I've heard is quite good so would have been acceptable if he only hadn't missed a league game. So a good effort from the bowlers to restrict Redmarley to 178 of their 45 over's.

Dumbleton didn't get off to a good start losing nick Holland early doors without troubling the scorers. Pete ‘representative croquet player' Boorman got off to a good start however fell in the 20's, no doubt on the way to some much needed runs. Churchy had another good day with the bat as well as G. Lancaster as they added on 50 runs each to help move dumbleton closer to their target. Engels came and went and the ever reliable Greidy along with G. Lancaster were the not out batsmen as they passed Redmarley score with less than 2 over's to go.

This week's man of the match goes to Ben McHardie Jones for his 4 wickets, showing his dominance just like last year where he managed to take 7 against Redmarley. ‘Running hot' at the moment is G. Lancaster; scoring 43 last week and 50 not out this week to prove to be very handy in the middle order. ‘gone missing' would have to be Steve Wooldridge, only managing a few wickets but to his credit being held back batting down the order, but it's only a manage of time and a bit of magic before he gets the ball ripping just like the king Warnie. The TFC award this week goes to the player who didn't manage a catch behind the stumps, I feel his a bit wasted there and if you have seen him bowl you would agree with me and wasn't required to put the pads on earning Powelly the TFC award for the week. So a magnificent start to the season with three wins from three games played and it's simply amazing that you have got three games played without rain having an effect on it; however I haven't seen the pitched so no doubt there covered in a few feet of water the day before.

Now the honeymoon is over! By winning it means I haven't been able to be to critical, however after suffering your first lost, to the bottom of the table team....things now change. The game was set up as Dumbleton, the team who missed out on promotion by 0.3 points Vs Fairford, the team who were promoted from the league below and going into the game had not managed a win yet. Powelly is on fire with his coin tossing managing to win the toss and inserting the opposition. Nothing special from the bowlers today except from restricting Fairford to just less than 200 which is an extremely achievable target, especially at Dairy Lane. Churchy, Tom and Breeza managed to pick up one wicket a piece while Steve went wicket less. The openers for Fairford were dismissed for less than 20 however number 3 and 5 seemed to stick around and managed to add 68 and 71 respectively to leave Dumbleton chasing 195.

The batting was appalling from the look of the scorebook, it just looked like no batter seemed to be prepared to hang around and go on with a score. The top five managed to get into double figures but for some of them that's as far as they got. Adam Stuart was the highlight of the innings managing 34 and it was good to see that Rupert ‘my gardener dropped me at the game' Salmon was back in the line up although he felt he shouldn't put the scorers to too much effort so departed for a duck. The tail seemed to wage a little with Powelly getting a chance with the bat and managed 15. However it wasn't enough from the whole team, finishing 31 runs short resulting in a disappointing loss to say the least.

There is no man of the match award this week as there is no one who stands out for doing anything of significance. Running hot this week would surely have to be Steve Woolridge after scoring 6 not out, if only he was opening it might be been 106 not out. Gone missing is Tom Green, only managing a wicket or two and struggling for runs on top of missing last week's game. The TFC award this week goes to the player who didn't manage a run, didn't bowl although he is rather useful when you can convince him to bowl, he will play for England one day although today wasn't this day, it's Rupert ‘roopey roo' Salmon. So a hard week on the track is required, getting back to basics and doing the simple 1%'s which win teams games.

Last year the firsts only lost 2 games all season and this season they have lost two in a row. At this stage I think I should say congratulations to the seconds who haven't lost a game thus far and look as if they will have back to back league titles. So where did it all go wrong for the firsts at ‘Farmhill'? Looking at the scorecard it looks as if they were never really in the game. Managing only 125 of their 45 over's with Nigel Stanton and Adam Stuart scoring 39 and 34 respectively, despite these two scores the no one else scored over 15. No Nick so Nigel was up the order opening and seemed to make the most of his opportunity, but it was the dumbleton middle order or Lancaster, Salmon and Green who only managed 8 runs between the three of them. But that's enough barding about the batting performance, often it's the small targets which are hard for the opposition to track down. A few early wickets and some pressure fielding and the batting team are on the back foot.

Ok so maybe my thought on putting the batting team on the back foot with some early wickets would have been more useful at the change of innings than now. Only managing to take 3 wickets with 125 runs on the board is never going to win you games. Engels managing to pick up the opener early doors for only one but from then on I can imagine it was simply going through the motions as Stroud reached the target in 33 over's. Tom green managed to pick up a wicket and Engels picked up another one however Breeza and Wooley went wicket less for the innings.

The man of the match award this week goes to Nigel Stanton for making the most of his opportunities with 39 at the top of the order. The player who has gone missing is Rupert Salmon, 6 runs from his first two games, needs to lift but am sure a big score is only just around the corner for him. Running hot at the moment is Adam Stuart for his 30 odd for the second week in a row. The TFC award goes to Wooley, didn't manage to score a bat and only trundled in for 6 over's so he did seemed to have a fairly uneventful day. So a bit of a one sided affair but best to put these sort of games behind you and look forward to next week's game.

As I cast my eye over this last week's result a little piece of my heart broke when I saw that Kingsholm Defeated Dumbleton. The team who last year we rolled for 70 and chased down the target in less than 20 over's – disappointing is the word I would associate with the result. However to look at the positive, it was a very close game which seemed to come down to the last couple of balls. Dumbleton bowled first after Powelly won the toss and decided to send the opposition in. The top 5 for Kingsholm scored the bulk of the runs, with the opener scoring nearly as many as the whole team scored last year. The 8 wickets were shared around between the bowlers and the fielders affecting a few run outs. Green and Breeza picked up just one for the day but it was Tom who was rather expensive at 5.7 runs per over, Wooley and Churchy picked up 2 wickets a piece while Engels went wicket less however effected a run out as did Reid. At the end of Kingsholm's 45 over's they piled on 236 which is a very competitive score but at the same time very achievable especially with what dumbleton have in the shed.

Only 8 batters used by dumbleton so the question needs to be asked should have they started taking more risks in search boundaries late in the innings? Pete Boorman just seems to be a bit out of touch at the moment, again managing to get a start but failing to go on with it, but only a matter of time with Pete before he goes big! Pete's usual partner in crime was back with a bang scoring a team high 72 which he really needed after a few low scores and missing a game. Churchy, Adam and Lancaster all got starts however each failed to go on with their score. Reid and Engels both managed to get good starts scoring 27 not out and 52 not out respectively, however both seemed to run out of over's and with more time could have gone on towards a much greater score. T Green failed again only adding 3 to the scorebook – certainly out of touch at the moment but you can't keep great players down for long!

Nick Holland take home this week's man of the match award for his 72, a great effort and would be good to see nick get another 30 runs and score his first 100 for the season. No running hot award this week as there hasn't been one player who over the last 2 weeks has strung some good performances together. Gone missing is Tom Green as he is just struggling for form at the moment with both the bat and the ball, but as I said you can't keep the great players down for long. The TFC award this week goes to Powelly as he didn't manage to snare a catch and was left waiting with the pads on at the overs ran down. All in all this was a much better team performance than the previous week as there was an all round contribution however the batters need to apply themselves more to avoid getting starts but not going on with them and the bowlers need to go back to line and length – put the pressure on the batsmen and they will make the mistakes.

So that's all from me for the time being. Again I do apologise for being sp slack with writing these reports. Hope you enjoy my thought unless I have awarded you with the TFC or gone missing awards. I hear rain is forecast for the weekend which is no surprise to me; I'm actually amazed that you have played 6 games in a row, 5 more and that's the same amount as we played last year. Playing Woodmancote this weekend so you should be able to get back on the winners list – just remember they have that nutcase who will take his helmet on and off between pace and spin bowlers. All the best and I'm backing Pete Boorman for 100 and Tom Green for 5 wickets!

Cheers,

Carvs,

P.S. I'm coming back again in case you hadn't heard. Jetting in on the July 3 rd so if you're not doing anything at 5.15am then come to the airport ha-ha. I'll be leaving again on the 6 th of August so will be there for about 5 weeks. Look forward to seeing you all soon!!!!

Hey there sports fans welcome to Carvs Corner!

If you thought you could get rid of me then you were wrong, I will never leave you alone. After all who could ever forget playing at the home of cricket, with the greats of the game… Boorman, Green, Mapson, Box. This is my first of many columns, something that will keep me going through the cold, dark and long winter.

Well what will be in this inquisitive piece of literature throughout the season? Each week there will be a very harsh review of the weekend's performances (I advise scoring 100 and taking 5 wickets each week to avoid criticism), the 'thanks for coming' (TFC) award which will go to the player who apart from making the numbers in the field has really done nothing, a section which shows players who have 'gone missing' or are 'running hot' and finally there will be a preview of all upcoming fixtures.
Now I've been browsing around the work of art that is this website and had a look at the teams you are due to play in the upcoming season, provided that most of them aren't rained out again. We were unlucky not to get promoted after a stellar year with both the bat, the ball and on occasions our fielding. However due to random excessive moisture we were unable to give Tewksbury the thrashing they deserved. But that's in the past now and you now must concentrate on the upcoming games. Looking at the draw there is no reason why you shouldn't come top and get promoted.

Stone up first, who we only saw once last year, but if Pete 'one man team' Lavis doesn't have a good game it should be a comfortable win.

Playing Bredon early doors at home and winning will be a good platform the base the season on, provided that Green plays and doesn't go to some rock concert in London like last year.

Redmarley away next and if Dumbleton's bunny Ali Watkins is playing, should press for an early wicket. One word of advice for playing at Redmarley, be careful if the ball goes in the bushes, they have a tendency to sting you!!!

Fairford and Hatherley were promoted after last year and Stroud we didn't play at all last year again due to excessive moisture and some questionable calling off of the game one hour before the start of play…hmmm?

Kingsholm based on last years performances should be a good game to stock up on runs and wickets; however don't be surprised if they are more competitive this year.

Warning about this team is it contains one interesting character. Yes, this is Woodmancote who have a batsman who will call for the helmet against fast bowlers, and then have it taken off for the spinners, even if pace and spin are bowling in tandem!

For the next game riot police will be called in, the whole of the West of England Premier League officials will be there along with crowds of 10,000+, man has landed on the moon, the pyramids of Egypt have been built, the Berlin wall has come down, Australia regain the Ashes, J.F Kennedy has been assassinated, however the world has never seen something of this magnitude….DUMBLETON CC Vs PAINSWICK CC!!! This game will be as epic as the two previous encounters between these two sides and with the Bressington boys being pumped up by daddy all winter I'm sure they are as cocky as ever and ergo deserve another loss! The man who we all feel sorry for on this day is Jim Green who has to sit and listen to Bressington Senior go on about league rules and regulations blah blah blah.

Well I think that's all from me for this week. Hope preseason is going well and look forward to getting back into the swing of thing…covers on….covers off…covers on. Any questions, comments, queries,fan mail, feel free to e-mail me at carvs_jc@hotmail.com

Cheerio,
Carvs