After a miserable week weather wise and a wet Saturday morning skipper Ratcliffe informed all that Stone was dry and the game was on. On arrival it was true no water anywhere. Ratters won the toss and decided to bowl and then it started to rain. An hours play was lost and the boys played 'Who is my favourite BGCC player' many notable names were mentioned but Matt Brookes took his love of Phil Spencer too far and set off the fire extinguisher scattering the gathered players.

Play started with the rain still falling in this now 40 overs aside encounter. Clive 'Willow' Churchill was in fiery mood and soon had the batsmen fending off soon seriously fast deliveries and forcing the slip cordon to take three paces back. Morley edged and cut his way to 18 but he left a Churchill exocet that knocked back the middle stump. The mercurial Brookes made way for Doughty (2 -16) who trapped Batsford in front and then Churchill snaffled two more wickets thanks to the Sanders cleavage and then another stinging catch to leave Stone at 52 for 4. Sanders then replaced the tiring Churchill who had produced his best bowling spell of the season claiming 3 for 29 off ten. Harler's long vigil ended for 22 as Aldridge and Powell struggled to score. Sanders was unluckily not on a hattrick when White failed to gather chances behind the wicket, though not regulation the 'Singles' stumper had disappointment written all over his face [this is the last time marker pens will allowed onto the field of play]. Revenge came soon after when yet another fine catch was taken this time Churchill returning the compliment to Sanders. The tail quickly subsided as Brown (2 -16) and Sanders (3 -20) ensured the 'Singles' were only chasing 114 on an easing wicket.

Ratcliffe promoted himself to the top of the order and he and Doughty made batting look very easy as they regularly found the boundary with some positive hitting. Ratters took a shine to the spin bowlers and the only surprise was that he holed out with the score on 68 with a personal contribution of 34. Beavan survived an early scare but was soon cutting his way to the boundary as the score raced along. Doughty was tucking into anything full and the 24th over saw him reach his fifty with successive boundaries and then finished the match off with a towering six that had the animals in the donkey sanctuary running for cover leaving his side victorious by 9 wickets. Doughty 59 n.o. and Beavan 24 n.o. ensuring 20 points in the 'Singles' quest for league honours.

Saturday 30th July 2005 - Hagley vs BGCC 1st XI

BGCC 1st team travelled to Hagley in the worcs div 2 hoping to get their season back on track .With the luxury of two wickets to choose from captain c smedley lost an important toss and the green were asked to bat first but not before a torrential downpour held up play reducing the game to 37 overs a side.R Williams(12) and K Golder(35) started well against an erratic Hagley new ball attack with 53 coming off the first 10 overs before Williams was again run out.Flynn(24) started well in uncompremising fashion until being out thought by Hagley skipper Trinhams smart field settings.Smedley(62 off 44 balls) was then joined by the solid Mark Hooper(21) in a fine stand allowing Drinkwater(20 not out), Jez Clarke(9 and another run out victim) and Tim Williams(14 off 4 balls) to open their shoulders at the end. The Green finishing on a respectable 207 with Trinham(14-1-74-1) and Genner(1-62) the pick of the home bowlers.A fired up T.Williams(2-37) was unlucky not to pick a wicket up with his second ball instead seeing the ball floored at point.

A valuable 3 overs were bowled until the Green picked up their first wicket with Williams finally getting his man. Harrison was proving virtually unplayable at the other end (for all the right reasons this week)hooping the ball at good pace.The Green kept picking up wickets regularly with a mixture of good bowling,fine fielding and poor shots from the Hagley batsmen.Find of the season Duncan Bell(11-5-19-3)livened the game up, bowling with good pace and control he consistently troubled all the batsmen. Harry Harrison(3-29) was reintroduced at the other end and with the aid of a stunning catch at third slip by allrounder Jez Clarke removed the obstunent Genner(34) leaving Hagley 8 down but with only another 8 balls nervously negiotiated the Green ran out of overs.Hopefully the Green can now take this much improved performance into their next game which is against Pedmore at North End Lane on Saturday.

Saturday 30th July 2005 - BGCC 2nd XI vs Hagley

After the weeks heavy rain and saturdays morning down pour, It was a surprise to start on time ,but miracle worker Roy Mayo had been hard at work , the outfield was damp and the wicket looked green but well prepared.

Spencer won the toss and fielded, Hagley made a brisk start hitting any loose bowling from Spiers to the short legside boundry,Sam Spencer put in an inspired opening spell all the runs he conceded were off the edge through the slips ,at one time he had only two fielders in front of the bat. Phil Spencer replaced Spiers and bowled Treadwell for 31 in his first over.Spencer jnr bowled Hussain for 4 on the final ball of his opening spell. Paddock had Crane well caught at square leg by Tom Clack for 44.Hagley were now 88 for 3 off 19 overs,Tom Clack replaced Paddock and proceeded to bowl a good line and length gaining late movement, he clean bowled the dangerous Allport for 12 and then produced another good delivery to bowl Tariq for 15, his spell was completed with the fine figures of 2 for 10 off 5 overs.Sam Spencer returned to mop up the tail finishing with 3 for 45 off 15 overs,ably supported by Jason Brewer who took 2 for 20 in 7 overs.Hagleys total of 165 seemed to be perhaps 60 runs short, this was down to another good display in the field by the keen young green side.

Derek Goodman and Jon Lewis started the reply with a flurry of boundries until Lewis was given out leg before for 12 with the total on 35,Paddock joined Goodman and they both proceeded to score freely both being severe on anything over pitched.Paddock was caught behind for 30 bringing Tim Clarke to the wicket with the score on 102.Derek Goodman completed his third half century in 4 innings,then together with the fluent Clarke they took the score onto 145 ,Clarke was caught on the boundry for 19.This job of completing the run chase was left to Nic Rogers not out on 10 and the reliable Goodman undefeated on 83.Another 7 wicket victory and another 20 points for the Green.
MANY THANKS GO TO MATCH SPONSOR "P.A. HILL FASTNERS"

Sunday 30th July 2006 - BGCC 2nd XI vs Studley

Barnards Green 2nd's entertained Studley on a pleasant afternoon and put them in to bat first on a wicket that saw over 600 runs the previous day. Kingsley Warren got the Green off to a good start, removing opener Eversham (5) and Landell for a duck, thanks to a well taken catch by Adam Price. Jamie Plant, Anshuman and Jamie Longmore all bowled reasonably well and were unlucky not to get a wicket between them. Dave Price bowled a good line and was rewarded with 4 wickets, including a great catch on the boundary from the safe hands of J. Longmore. Price eventually bowled danger man J. Nazir for 135 but the damage had already been done. Seeing his side struggling against some leg side slogging, captain Marek Wajzer heroically brought himself on to bowl and soon after Studley were all out, the skipper taking 4 wickets, two of which were superb catches from wicketkeeper Robin Longmore. Studley were all out for 236 off 41.3 overs.

Matt Higgs (12) and Justin McMillan (19) did well to see off the quick bowling of O. Nazir, whilst keeping the scoreboard ticking from the other end. The introduction of A. Bray (5-50) somehow caused the Green trouble and the wickets started to fall. Harry Pleass was stumped for 10, whilst Anshuman and Adam Price failed to trouble the scorer. R. Longmore (30) hit a succession of boundaries before chasing a wide and giving an easy catch. Unfortunately overseas player Wajzer mistranslated 'No no no' as meaning 'Yes' and was run out. J. Longmore and J. Plant provided some entertainment before Plant once again was caught chasing a wide for 12. Longmore was looking very comfortable and scored 30 not out before last man Warren was stumped first ball, giving Studley a 89 run victory.

Monday 30th July 2007 - TANSELL CUP FINAL BGCC vs Malvern Ramblers

After finally getting to play their semi final vs Rushwick due to the wet weather the two Malvern sides finally got to meet in this eagerly awaited final. After so many games being cancelled recently and a home tie for the Green this fixture promised to draw the crowds in.

Many locals turned up in time to see skipper Jez Clarke win the toss with the help of Stu Fletchers lucky last penny. He went with his theory which has proved successful this year and inserted the visiting side.

With a side averaging the age of 21 the green hoped that their fielding would set the standard for the game and that it did, With opening bowlers Clack and Hoogstraten both making early break throughs clean bowling dangermen Bendall and Francis respectively the green fielders rallied round and gave the ever growing crowd a master class in both catching and ground fielding.

Unfortunately for the green overseas star Hoogstraten was forced to leave the field after bowling just two overs this bought a senior debut for 12th man 14 year old Dan Metcalf who slotted in superbly under such big game pressure.

Jez Clarke alternated his bowlers wisely and Brookes Williams and Doughty all picked up wickets meaning no batsmen was allowed to settle, when Williams returned to bowl the final over he dismissed malverns last danger man Ray Evans seeing Malvern all out for 86.
Needing Less than a run a ball Green set off knowing that should they get through the early stages unscathed then victory should be a formality for players of such ability. The opening partnership of 17 year old Paddock and Harris set about the total warily until Paddock was bowled by Skipper Dovey without troubling the scorer.

This bought the ever in form Golder to the crease and he and Harris built the innings again and ticked along at the required rate. Although Harris found it hard timing the ball and survived several chances he showed his maturity by sticking to the task ball by ball until finally being runout at the non strikers end for a match winning 42.

With 6 runs needed off the last over the pressure was still on especially with new batsman Tim Clarke 2 singles were taken before Clarke smashed a half volley through the encroached ring to see the Green home by 8 wickets with Kev Golder not out 30.

Barnards Green were then presented with both the Tansell Trophy and the Worcestershire Evening League trophy which they lift for the first time in its 40 year history.

Saturday 30th July 2011 - Barnards Green 3rds vs Avoncroft 1sts.

With their regular Captain still affected by some kind of illness it was down to stand-in skipper Adam Greaves to lose the toss. He duly obliged and was, unsurprisingly invited to bat first on a deceptively wet wicket. Chris Hill (9) and Graham Baddeley (9) provided a sound enough start in difficult conditions taking the score to 24 before the latter was bowled by Rodway's vicious in-swinger and then three balls later Hill attempted to swipe a full toss through square leg only to find the safe hands of Lyddiat. Jon Lewis and skipper Greaves began the task of rebuilding the innings, Lewis taking the lead with a succession of flourishing drives and cuts. Greaves (4) perished cheaply caught off the bowling of Pittam and gave way to Roger Thompson who seemed to have re-discovered his natural aggressive form as he and Lewis took the total on to 99 before Lewis (39) fell caught and bowled by Carpenter.

Julian Hall joined Thompson and both men looked untroubled before contriving to get themselves out in consecutive overs. Thompson (35) became Carpenter's second victim, caught by Hare and then Hall (34) attempted a sweep shot, (which by his own admission he cannot play), and was lbw to James. Suddenly The Green found themselves 149 for 6 with still twenty overs remaining. Then began a famous Barnards Green collapse as four batsmen came and went amassing just four runs between them and leaving the home side all out for 158 knowing that they should easily have posted a total well in excess of 200. For Avoncroft James and Carpenter did the damage finishing with figures of 8-1-36-4 and 11-1-36-3 respectively.

Avoncroft emerged in confident mood having a full 63 overs in which to surpass the meagre total but The Green, still smarting from a humiliating defeat the previous week, had other ideas. Chris Hill and Jack Cullity produced their best form of the season with the ball, causing Hare and Lydiatt to play and miss and restricting the visitor's run-rate to a trickle. In the sixth over Cullity produced a sensational delivery which swung away and then seamed back up the hill to remove Hare's off stump. Two balls later Hill took a diving catch off his own bowling to remove Lydiatt. Cullity claimed two more scalps having Cox (5) caught by Baddeley and then clean bowing Duffill for a duck.

Hill and Cullity were rested and replaced by Roger Thompson and Clive Churchill and briefly the run-rate escalated as wides came into play. James grafted away trying to restore some order to the visitor's innings but when the irrepressible Cullity held on to a difficult chance off Churchill and dismissed Avoncroft's captain for 20 Barnards Green began to feel more confident but the visitors still had 39 overs to score just 100 runs and this match was not yet over. Dave Price was brought into the attack to eat up some of the overs bowling five successive maidens and with frustration beginning to build in the visitor's camp Churchill found renewed aggression and took three wickets in four balls and suddenly Avoncroft were 65 for 8. Carpenter showed brief resistance before being bowled by Price and when Cullity returned to claim his fourth victim, having Pittam trapped lbw, the Avoncroft innings was closed out for 96.

This was a better performance by The Green with a number of their middle-order batsmen getting starts but again too many batsmen gave their wickets away cheaply. This week however they had posted sufficient runs for their bowlers to recover the situation, bowling as a unit to gain the victory.

BGCC Bowling figures:
Jack Cullity 10-4-16-3 C live Churchill 8-1-38-4

Saturday 30th July 2011 - BGCC 1sts vs Handsworth.

Handsworth CC made the trip down the M5 for their Birmingham League encounter with Barnards Green with an eventful and low scoring game ensuring a great atmosphere as the home side ran our narrow 24 point winners. Losing the toss stand in skipper Adam Binks was asked to bat first and this looked a great decision with both Hooper and Golder back in the shed with only 17 runs on the board. In an innings that never really got going Harris(14), Ford(24), Paddock(24) and Hennessy all perished after getting starts and it was left to some sensible batting from Adam Dovey( 30 from 76) to guide the home side to a below par 172 with Ramsey 2-42(17) and Folkes 4-38(17) showing their experience with the ball.

With early wickets again the key both McEwan and Harris picked up the early scalps of the dangerous Dawkins(7) and enigmatic Hooper(14) respectively. Trying to ration the in form McEwan's overs Binks brought Poole into the attack and was rewarded immediately with the wicket of Johnson with Ford also getting in on the act picking up Patel for a duck.

Buchanan(33) and Smith(18) then built a useful partnership however the pendulum swung back the home side with their wickets until visiting skipper and former Jamaican all-rounder Folkes set about a patient and boundary ridden innings of 33 brought the visitors within 20 runs of the home side's total. A suicidal run out of Ahmed and Ford capturing the wicket of Ramsey who had batted valuable overs in the season's earlier fixture yet again changed the complexion of the game and it was left to the former Alfrick spinner to administer the final nail in coffin trapping Greenwood LBW for 7 leaving the visitors just 16 short with 15 overs remaining. The Green picking up a maximum 24 points with big games to come with the next home fixture the visit of second placed Brewood to North End Lane.

Saturday 30th July 2016

Bridgnorth CC v BGCC 1st XI - Tough defeat on their travels for Green 1st XI

The 1st XI had a day to forget on their visit to Bridgnorth CC. Winning the toss and batting first the Green opened with the unfamiliar pairing of Andy Ford and Will Dovey. After being dropped on 12, Ford hit a huge six but was then caught by James Ralph at slip off Tom Weaver for 19. 26 for 1 became 41-3 as first Will Dovey was caught behind by Joe Barclay for 8 of David Exall then Giniotis was caught by Ralph at slip off Sam Whitney for 10. Phil Harris and Jamie Tapper took the score to 65 before Whitney struck twice. First Tapper was given out lbw off for 5, and then Ash Brewer was caught behind by Barclay without scoring.

Kev Golder joined Harris and they batted carefully as Whitney and Dan Vernon were both getting turn from the dusty wicket. Harris brought up the 50 with a huge straight six in the 17th over. Again 2 quick wickets put a dent in the Green's hopes. Harris (33) gave Ralph his third slip catch this time off Vernon before Tom Banks (1) was caught by Vernon at mid-off off Whitney. Pat Brown joined Golder with the score on 86-7. The scoreboard slowly ticked over as both Whitney and Vernon made it difficult for the batsmen. It took until the 40th over for the Green to pass 100. Not long after Golder was trapped lbw by Ralph with just his second ball. Jon Dovey fell next as he could only edge a lifting ball from Vernon to keeper Barclay for 4. Shane Thompson joined Brown and they took the Green to 120 and a batting point before Brown was caught by Exall at long on for 15. The Green were 120 all in the 47th over with Thompson not out 0.

In reply Bridgnorth's openers started aggressively with Ralph in particular hitting out. Unfortunately he was dropped on the mid-wicket boundary on 7 and he went on to punish the Green including hitting a 4 through long-on to bring up the 50 in just the 10th over. The Green switched to spin with good effect as Kyle Giniotis dismissed both openers. First Exall was caught by Pat Brown at deep backward point for 16 then Ralph was bowled for 39. Meanwhile the Bridgnorth batsmen were struggling to play Andy Ford at the other end and he grabbed the next wicket with the score on 85 as Andrew Mooney was well caught by Giniotis in the slips for 9. Vernon joined MacPherson-Lees and he hit his first 3 balls for four but tried one big shot too many and was clean bowled by Ford for 12. Matthew Martin came to the crease with the score on 98-4. The new pairing took the score to 111 when Ford struck again as Martin (3) was excellently caught by Tom Banks over his head running back at mid-off. Tom Weaver joined MacPherson-Lees but didn't last long as Ford had him caught by Jon Dovey at mid-wicket for 4. But it was a case of too little too late as Bridgnorth passed their target in the 31st over with Pat Smallman 1 not out and MacPherson-Lees unbeaten on 32.

At North End Lane the seconds also suffered a defeat against Pershore. Pershore won the toss and decided to bat first. A good spell of bowling from Jack Cullity (4-51) supported by debutante Jake Hill reduced the visitors to 85-4. But George Bunn (73) and Luke Dallby (90no) got Pershore back in the game with a fantastic middle order partnership. Pershore were eventually bowled out for 260 thanks to 5-46 from Adam Dovey. Dovey also batted well – his 55 supported by Robert Wilson's 25 got the Green off to a good start. It was difficult though for the Green to keep up with the required run rate of just under 6. Once the openers were out Louis Loader (26) and a fine debut knock from Jake Hill (37) kept the Green in with an outside chance but regular wickets falling, thanks mainly to Darren Critcher (4-38), meant the Green were betting more for the draw. Despite the best efforts of Monzur Ahmed (26) and the remaining Green batsmen they were eventually bowled out with just under 5 overs remaining.

At Newland the 3rd XI made short work of their game with Cleobury Mortimer .Batting first the visitors were bowled out for 110 thanks to 5 wickets from Tim Williams (5-21) – 4 of which were clean bowled. His brother Richard chipped in with 2-24. In reply it took the Green just 15 overs to knock them off. Openers Jez Clarke (45) and Duncan Copper (46) set off a rapid pace. Once they were out it was up to Max Middlebrooke (8) and Stewart Hepburn (11) to take the Green home.

On Sunday our Sunday XI hosted a friendly game with The Village who brought players together from clubs across Birmingham. Batting first the Green set off at a rapid pace, as Robert Wilson raced to 49 off just 32 balls. Unfortunately he misjudged a ball from Bilal Khan to be stumped by keeper Naveed. Zach Marsh (1) came and went, caught and bowled by Harshad. This brought Stewart Hepburn into join Max Middlebrooke and they took the Green past 100 in just the 13th over. With the score on 108 there was a double breakthrough as Middlebrooke was caught by Tanveer off Bilal Khan for 16 then next over Anshuman Shukla was clean bowled for a duck by Harshad. Harrison Smith came in at 5 with Harshad in particular bowling very well. Hepburn fell next, very well caught by Khan off the bowling of Muhammed for 23. Ben Alamutu came at 7, and he and Smith put on 34 before Smith was caught by Bowl off Tanveer for 12. Ben Kite was clean bowled by Tanveer without scoring to bring Captain Marek Wajzer to the crease. He and Alamutu built a solid partnership with Alamutu being the aggressor. In fact the partnership reached 106 and the score 259 when Alamutu played on to a full toss from Naveed just 7 short off his maiden century. His 93 came off just 77 balls and included 16 fours. Chris Prosser (0) was clean bowled second ball by Naveed bringing Dan Eyles to the wicket. He hit a couple of boundaries and finished on 10 not out while Wajzer was unbeaten on 25 as the Green set their visitors 272 to win.

In reply The Village lost Saleem early – run out for 0 by Ben Kite. Naveed joined Harshad and this pair upped the run rate rushing to 37 in the 5th over. At this point Naveed was unfortunately run out for 20, he was caught off a no-ball but then failed to make his ground as Alamutu threw in quickly to Prosser to run him out. Just two balls later Harshad holed out to Smith off Prosser for 14. 42-3 became 57-5 as first Tanveer (0) was caught by Anshuman off Dan Eyles then Sam Mansell was clean bowled by Prosser for 8. This brought Donald Baker and Bilal Khan together and they established a great partnership – in fact they had put on 72 when Baker yorked himself on a ball from Zach Marsh for 53. After an innings mature beyond his 13 years, Bilal Khan was run out by Alamutu for 18. The Village's resistance went as 2 quick wickets fell – firstly Bilal (1) was Alamutu's third run out – this time with a direct hit. Then Dick Shelton (1) was caught by Smith to give Marsh his second wicket. This brought captain Bowl (4no) into bat but he could only watch as Middlebrooke had Muhammed caught by Alamutu for 5 as The Village were bowled out for 151. Man of match without doubt was Ben Alamutu with 93 runs, 3 run outs and a catch.