7th - 9th July

Mike Ireland (veteran seamer and occasional funky tweaker) has decided to plump for Herefordshire again this year in the hope that we might get a bit more change out of the opposition (who in case you haven't spotted it are the same as last year!). Your teams and their captains are...

Friday

Kington - 6:30

Saturday

Eardisland - 2:30

Sunday

Dorstone - 2:30

In a welcome break with tradition, your webmaster has strongarmed the match captains into providing succinct summaries of their moments in the spotlight (with the exception so far of Mr Haynes who has been less than forthcoming..)

July 7th-Kington (Simon Clark)

There were several different opinions after the pitch inspection of whether to bat or field. Would the cracks open up later in the evening  J ? Barford's second coming to Kington got off a bad start losing the toss and being put into bat. The skippers agreed to play 20-20 rules including free hits. Barford's batting started with the tried and tested Haynes / O'Reilly partnership. Chris O'Reilly was the first scalp of the evening for Kington being bowled for 6 with a 20-20 musical walk in that continued through out the evening . The Barford's debutante captain, Simon Clark, went into face Kington's bowlers scoring 3 before being bowled. (It kept low and swung!) Not really a captain's innings! Chris Prince came in and partnered Nathan scoring a respectable 27 (mostly against girls!) before being bowled. Sandy Peirson replaced the dismissed Prince, partnering Nathan adding another 14 runs to Barford's total before falling victim to Kington's excellent bowling. Paul Johnstone scored 9 and saw out the remaining overs with Nathan who scored an unbeaten 53….another jug…cheers Nathan! 

So Barford went out to defend a 136 run lead. Kington put in a reversed batting order with two wickets falling to the bowling of Simon Hawkins (2-0-18-2) caught by Chris Prince and Paul Johnstone (An outstanding catch on the square boundary)…Yes, believe it or not, Barford managed to hold onto a total of three catches…probably the threat of fines to administered by Judge Jolly had a direct correlation J The next batman retired hurt and not via Barford body line tactics but an insect bite! Mike Ireland (2-0-10-1) came on for a turn and took an early wicket again caught by Paul Johnstone (Safe hands!). That was the last Barford wicket and end of the Barford crack bowling attack so the captain had to turn to himself (2-0-20-2) and the untried arm of Nathan Haynes (2-0-29-0), Chris Prince (1.3-0-8-0) and even called in Sandy Peirson to bowl an over (1-0-3-0). Chris O'Reilly was tactically positioned behind the stumps for the duration and didn't get the chance to turn his arm over….the shame! Barford defended to the bitter end in the fading light but finally lost to Kington in the penultimate over…scores on the doors….Kington137-3 vs. Barford's 136-4.

A close and competitive match played in a good spirit… Is it me or is the average age of Kington player s reducing to match the skill level of B arford? T here is always next year to find out and get Barford's first win against Kington!

July 8th-Eardisland (Peter Romyn)

Barford's intrepid band of tourists seemed to be enjoying their rather liquid lunch at the White Swann (or was it Black?) as I sat with my pint of shandy mulling over the batting order for the afternoon's game against Eardisland. Having had the burden of captaincy thrown on me by the Tour Secretary (presumably after 5 pints of something?), I was very conscious of the fact that we had won this game last season and that it would be nice if we could repeat the feat and gain a rare victory. Another slight problem appeared the dearth of seam bowlers that the team possessed and the presence of only one of our batting 'stars'. An inspection of the pitch, which looked as though it might crumble and be a bit variable in bounce, had me wondering whether our mainly spin attack would be able to perform well. The coin fell the right way up and I decided that we might as well have first use of the wicket as it would probably get worse later on.

As the first few deliveries bounced alarmingly and opener Richard Johnson had to return to the pavilion, I wondered if my decision had been right. However Nathan Haynes soon dug in and got to grips with the variable bounce, ably supported by Steve 'Kipper' Herring who was looking as though he was continuing in the tradition of good Yorkshire openers. It was therefore a bit of a shock when Steve holed out to cover point after a good stand of 46 with Nathan, who was now in full flow as his call of 'waiting' reverberated around the ground. Chris Prince, Simon Clark and Mike Suffield all came and went with a frightening rapidity as the Eardisland attack prospered on a very dodgy wicket and at 49 for 5 things were not looking good. Someone had to stick around with Nathan and build a partnership and Richard Jones, with some calm and elegant shots, proved to be that man. The scoreboard started ticking again and the pair put on 40 before Richard was out for an invaluable 19.  It was now time for another 'rock' to join Nathan so Sandy Peirson was the obvious choice.  Unfortunately no sooner had he arrived in the middle than Nathan, stuck in the 'nervous forties', was dismissed for 48 - but he had given us a chance. 

Tony Timms then strode out to see what could be eked out of the remaining overs, or so we all thought. However Timmsy then unleashed a barrage of attacking shots and soon had the Chairman puffing as he tried to keep up with his scampering up and down the wicket. One particularly memorable shot was a hook 'which went wrong' -  it screamed past the bowler for a boundary! When the 40 overs were up Sandy and Tony were undefeated on 10 and 20 respectively and had put on a crucial (as it proved later on) 35 runs. Barford's final total was 124 for 7.

Could we defend such a low total? Should our only seamer Richard Johnson bowl out all his 8 overs in one spell? Which spinners should be used first? A million questions ran through my mind over tea. Richard took the now rather oldish looking new ball and  had the Eardisland openers worried as the ball zipped through at varying heights off a good length. He soon rearranged one of the openers' furniture and it was game on. I decided not to show all my spin cards too early and Chris Prince bowled some tidy overs from the other end until the batsmen started to work him out. Suffers then took over and between himself and Richard they ripped out the heart of the Eardisland batting with figures of 4 for 31 and 3 for 37 respectively. With Richard's 8 overs bowled out Eardisland were still within reach of our lowish total and had plenty of overs left but had lost vital wickets. 

It was time for Barford's greatest off spinner to step forward and keep the pressure on. Mike Ireland's very first delivery turned, nipped past a bewildered batsman and clattered in to the stumps. A few overs later it was all over. Mike returned the stunning figures of 3 for 15 as the last wickets fell with Barford's fielders all around the bat. Eardisland were bowled out for 104 in 24 overs and Barford had won by 20 runs.

The game had been played in an excellent spirit and although a relatively low scoring affair had been a closely fought one. Everyone retired to the White Swan for more beer and I reflected on what a good performance it had been by Barford, particularly by Nathan, Richard Jones, Sandy and Tony in the batting and Richard Johnson, Mike Suffield and Mike Ireland with the bowling.

July 9th-Dorstone (Nathan Haynes)

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Campari Moments

In honour of the Chairman's prediliction for dodgy cocktails(!), this year's tour highlights have been designated as "Campari Moments". The following nominations have been received:

• Finding a real ale oasis amongst Leominster's naff pubs, and the chairman ordering Campari and soda(obviously)!
• Overheard at long on by Mike Suffield as the young Dorstone opener was facing a slow bowler 'Come on son, stick it down my throat'.
• Leominster opening an Italian restaurant. We had an excellent meal on Sunday, served by a very attractive waitress who turned out to be the wife of the chef, a former European boxing champion!
• Chris Prince's gentlemanly approach to batting against young girls.
• Sandy and Nathan's light hearted debate about school entry policy.
• Simon Clark's 'Back To The Future' moment where he was transported back to 1950s Millwaukie where he claims to have met The Fonz.
• Tony Timms - cometh the hour, cometh the man.
• Nathan's refusal to take the Dorstone match seriously.
• Beaven's big hitting innings.
• The domestic outside the Shagbag (my money was on her)
• Music at Kington - the fact that we recognised the choice of kid's TV themes proves that we are too old to be playing any sports.
• Sandy's comment to the waitress at breakfast concerning her lovely baps.

Regardless of the interference of cricket, a massive thanks to Mike Ireland who arranged the tour and we hope he might consider another one next year(!).