Thommo and My Owd Run Riot!

On a cold and blustery day Papp 2nds travelled to faraway Everton (no speeding fines this time for Alfie and J.T.!) The skipper won the toss and elected to field which looked to be a somewhat dubious decision as Everton rattled up a score of 229 for 4. Lacklustre bowling was backed up by some very shoddy fielding and only the skippers bowling was spared heavy punishment (1 for 26 from 13 overs.) Matt Alford bowled well without much luck and was frustrated to the point of sounding off at skip/dad who then proceeded to reinforce the dad/son bond by threatening to knock him out if he didn't shut up!
It was left to old Braveheart himself (Sooky Wallace) to snatch 3 wickets at the death and bring an air of respectability to the wickets lost column. Harsh words were exchanged in the relative privacy of the changing rooms at the tea interval, but the mood remained positive.
Papp's run chase got off to a flier with Waito smashing Everton's quickie right from the start, who then got his revenge by having him caught behind. In came the mighty Rooster who 1st ball pulled the same quickie for 6 over midwicket and smashed the second ball for 4 through extra cover. Again the bowler Andy Snell had the last laugh inducing Rooster to play one on.
This fall of wicket brought together a match winning partnership combining the silky skills of the suave and sophisticated Steve Thomas and the belligerence of "My Owd" Matt Dear. Together they put the Everton attack to the sword and embarked on a colossal 170 run unbroken partnership that was perfectly paced. The winning runs coming as the rain began to sweep across the ground with one Everton wag shouting "take us off the field ump - we're not Blidworth!" The suave and sophisticated Steve Thomas finished 92 not out and My Owd weighed in with a very valuable 74 not out.
P.S. Thommo even bought a round in the White Swan which made the victory even sweeter!

in very humid conditions

In very humid conditions, I was yet again in the kitchen doing teas due to the Captain "forgetting" that he had not arranged anyone to do them this week!!

So while preparing possibly the best teas that the 1st team had eaten this season apart from obviously the mother in laws to be, I missed the toss of the coin and the first 20 odd overs. With only Billy to help, the teas were an arduously long task this Saturday, not helped by the continuous interruptions for people wanting iced water, no one wanted ice before we had the machine and now the machine can't pump enough of the stuff out!!!

While preparing the egg mayonnaise cobs, I was accosted by some of Clifton's team for an ice pack after their opener had taken one in the face from Daffy… Why he wasn't wearing a helmet no-body knows! Giving them a tea towel filled with ice (thank god for the ice machine I say!) was the best I could do. Billy in typical Billy style decided that the blood was making a mess over the patio and needed cleaning up and set off with some kitchen towel and Mr Muscle and then returned to advise with arms waiving about (again very Billy) that the player needed to go to Kings Mill. Mel Wyld kindly obliged and off they went for 4 hours!

On the arrival of Mrs Rhodes we set off up the field to finally watch some cricket in which Clifton amassed the total of 253 for 7 with one of their players getting 96 and their next top scorer getting 30. Four wickets from Fletch, 1 for daffy and 1 for Tk.... Defiantly not an unreachable target, although it would have been nice to bowl them out.

Our batting got off to a slow and wobbly start losing Steady Eddie with 21 runs on the board and then Rich with 34 and then Fletch with out adding to it. However the ladies were confident with TK, Dave and Daffy to come in, but we lost Dave with only 43 on the board and then TK. So Pap were 66 for 5, to be honest a thought of being bowled out for not many did go through my mind and I just couldn't of watched the opposition go running and screaming onto the field. Why do teams have to get so excited and whoop and yell so much!?!?

Clifton obviously thought they had us, with five down, but little did they realise that we could bat through and that Daffy was about to put on a display of excellence!! Gaz hit 16 to add to the total before being caught, and then being replaced by the 1st teams ex captain and current vice chairman Robin Rhodes. With only 60 balls, Daffy hit 108, including 9 fours and 8 sixes (5 of these coming in one over!!!) Daffy was finally bowled with the score on 211 and only 5 overs to go, this was where the ladies had to turn to a large bottle of wine, for once, we sat with the team on the bench under the Gazebo and nails were being bitten and hands clenched, there was sighs of disappointment when Rich Winton was caught after only putting 5 onto the total but confidence was restored as we realised that Jim was going in!!! Having dropped himself to 10 in the order he strode purposefully and decisively to the crease (ok maybe I am a little biased) Daffy gave words of encouragement. It's a run a ball mate!!!

At this point fletch was pacing and smiling in that funny way that he does and the ladies had guzzled the wine. (nothing new there I hear you say)

In the penultimate over Robin was on strike and the score was 250. Now normally pap are quite a considerate and sedate side and take wins in a dignified and distinguished manner...apart from perhaps when Joyce is on the ground!! :o) However when Robin hit a four and won the game with an over to spare the home supporters and team exploded!!! Robin grasped his bat with both hands and punched it into the air above his head!!! Even Julie and Sarah whooped a little and started to run on the outfield!!! Ok it wasn't a full 20 points, but a win is a win!

The evening celebrations were cemented with another bottle of wine for the ladies and Pete and Sookies now regular cook up in the kitchen. Peter's normally hot madras was swapped for Hot Fajitas and Sookies chicken curry went down a storm. Roll on next week!

1st XI Photo

Captain James Rhodes Report V Clifton

Just keep winning.

2nd XI v Whitwell

Sookys Last Stand

A badly depleted 2nd team travelled to high flying Whitwell. Missing 6 regulars through a combination of holidays and 2 weddings (who gets married on a Saturday in the cricket season for Gods sake?) Whitwell batted first on a low, slow dusty track.. However T.C. begged to be taken off after 2 very expensive wayward overs saying I cant run in on this sh*t! But then Sooky came on as 1st change and almost immediately bagged the scalp of Whitwells premier batter and skipper Alan Draycott. This however brought in their Aussie Overseas who after a quiet start got dug in and made a few.
Despite skipper Alfie (2 for 33 off thirteen overs) keeping the batters reasonably quiet the total crept up. Whitwell did lose wickets regularly . Matt Alford replicating Shane Warnes ball of the Century to remove one, T.C. returning to claim 3 scalps including the Overseas, Sooky also finishing with 3 wickets and the rare sight of Roo Peat bowling to claim his first ever league wicket (caught at extra cover by Alfie making amends for the one he dived over the previous ball!) and Whitwell were all out for 174.
In reply Papp got off to a fair start but only the classy (and handsome) Steve Thomas looked comfortable on a pitch that was getting increasingly lower and slower. My Owd and Roo fell cheaply bringing Sooky to the crease which moments later created scenes reminiscent of Braveheart!
With Sooky on strike, a loud appeal went up for a caught behind with Sooky touching his pad to indicate what the ball made contact with on the way through. The umpire straightaway said "not out". This resulted in Sooky being surrounded by a crowd of opposition players yelling insults (the nature of which are unrepeatable here) to which Sooky replied waving his bat "I not afraid to die, but I take some of you with me! "
After order was restored Papp continued to lose wickets with even the classy (and handsome and suave) Steve Thomas succumbing eventually for a gallant 62. The outcome was inevitable after his dismissal and Papp were dismissed for a paltry 110 with 9 overs still to be bowled.

Points: Papp 4 Whitwell 20

Sunday XI v Sleaford

And so it was, in rather a nottingham forest sort of way, that the Sunday XI attempted to string together back to back wins for the first time season. Furthermore victory above third from bottom sleaford would be enough to lift the boys above the oppo and out of the drop zone.

The ground looked green and slightly cooler than in recent weeks as the fellas warmed up with a game of headers and volleys (stingers) against the hall end sight screen. The warm up seemed endless as the oppo found themselves snared in the calverton one way syestem and failed to arrive at the ground until after the scheduled start time at around 2.05pm.

Moving on, the toss was won by unbeaten skipper Dear who chose to bat in the hope of posting a towering total and skittling the oppo out for cheap. The opening partnership was Fletcher and Somekh who amassed a slow and steady partnership of 38 before apple head was triggered by the bizzarely accented Sleaford umpire. Arbajhan strode to the crease in the confident way he does on sundays and helped move the score along until Somekh was bowled by the overseas with the score on 90.

TK was next in and he decided to bat handle one up to the wicket keeper for a golden, Dale came in and scored a quick 17 until he was bowled by Paul Roberts, not our Paul Roberts obviously. The Chairman took two overs to score 1 before being caught on the boundary by the pavillion and Sookie fell for a duck. Singh sidhu was caught and bowled by the overseas so it was left to Rhodes and Dear to get the score from 129-7 into something respectable and defendable. Both players chivvied and pushed their way to 33 each and pap had a first innings total of 187. Pap with a strong bowling attack  were in the game and went to the tea interval with hope in their hearts and custard tarts in their bellies.

The bowling started off well with TK and fletch restricting the oppo to well under their required rate. What was becoming very apparent, much like the week before was that the oppo only had one batsman, the previosuly mentioned overseas. However unlike last week, the sleaford star was prepared (foolishly) to let his team mates get on strike. As pressure built through some excellent bowling the target slipped firther and further and when the overseas fell through a run out  (by matt dear no less) it was curtains for sleaford and an encore for the victotious Sunday XI. TK was the pick of the bowlers taking 4 for 27 from 10. Jim and Alfie took 2 a piece. Although wicket less, apple head bowled a good spell and at times embarraseed their top order.

So Pap are out of the relgation zone and with a return fixture (but at PAP CC) against madni this week the fellas will feel confident under the new regime.