On Saturday Barnards Green 3rds played Kidderminster Victoria on a bare Chaddesley Corbett wicket. With twenty five players out due to wedding committments, holidays and injuries, the third eleven were always likely to struggle despite being well placed to take the league title. Three last minute drop-outs didn't help matters, but with the sun sunshing brightly, it was a good day for topping up the tan.

On a wicket that was always going to deteriorate badly, it was no surprise when the home side won the toss and elected to bat. Kidderminster made a steady start against some tidy bowling in particular from young Adam Price. Julian Hall, helping out at short notice soon realised that it was too hot to be bowling quickly and once he had found his line, bolwed well. The first wicket to fall was impressive opener Portsmouth who was called through by his batting partner Fern Bagley for a quick single, but picked the wrong fielder in Robin Longmore and was run out by yards for 30. Hall then picked up two quick wickets including an excellent catch by 13 year old Callum White.

Dave Price and Jamie Longmore were then called into the attack and both bowled well with Price unlucky not to get the benefit of several decisions which has been a characteristic of this season. He did however bowl Webb with a yorker and Jamie started to generate some pace to consistently beat the bat, but edges were in short supply. He did however find a peach to remove opener Bagley for 30. Rine plundered 53 and Norman Lamb 27 to take Kidderminster to 190 but not before young Callum White had picked up two wickets including that of Rine. Debutant Russell Price also picked up two wickets at the death.

The Green's batting left much to be forgotten, although in fairness the wicket had deteriorated badly and became very unpredictable and with D Webb's full tosses and beamers it was never going to be easy. R Webb found a good line and picked up 5 wickets and every ball hit in the air seemed to find a fielder. The Green were soon dismissed for just 50 and will have to hope that more players are available next week if they are to maintain their title challenge. Special mention to Adam Price, Harry Pleass and Callum White who fielded superbly throughout.

Saturday 7th August 2004 - Barnards Green 1st XI vs Martley

Barnards Green Saturday 1st XI entertained Martley at North End Lane in this Worcestershire League Division 3 clash. On a sweltering day Chris Smedley won the toss and asked Martley to bat first. Following torrential midweek rain the track was slightly green with some moisture, but was a credit to grounds man Roy Mayo. Martley started very cautiously, unable to get reliable opening partners Chris Harrison and Tim Williams away. In the ninth over Harrison hit Ganderton on the pad on the full and was rewarded with the first wicket. The second wicket followed 2 overs later when Harrison had Poole caught behind by Judd Doughty. Woodhouse, surviving 2 close leg before shouts and the reliable Basford put together a partnership which saw Williams out of the attack, but Harrison had one last effort in him, having Basford caught behind with a perfect away swinger. This left Martley 52 for 3.

Woodhouse then pushed new bowler Matt Brookes, making an impressive first appearance of the season to debutant Simon Clarke at mid on and called Bibby through for a suicidal single. Clarke swooped and threw accurately to the far end to leave Bibby stranded and Martley in deeper trouble. Patrick was then well caught by Smedley off Churchill at second slip and Woodhouse soon followed, bowled by Churchill. Brookes was rewarded for an excellent spell with his first wicket, caught, again by Smedley at mid wicket this time. Repton and Sweet soon followed to Churchill, the former giving Doughty a third catch and the later clean bowled, giving Churchill impressive figures of 4 for 13 off 8 eight overs. Roger Harrison then returned to finish the innings, clean bowling Hine to end his stubborn resistance and finish with figures of 4 for 27. Martley closed on 90 all out.

With still 45 minutes before tea the Greens openers went straight out and spent little time getting their eyes in. Kev Golder in typically aggressive mood got to 19 quickly before being caught going over the top. Rich Williams, on his return to the first team after a year in New Zealand looked in fluent form, hitting 7 fours on his way to 32 not out and Chris Smedley clocked up another 6 in yet another undefeated innings of 22. The Greens comfortable 9 wicket victory was completed after just 15 overs and at only 5:30pm there was no doubt the majority of the players would make it to fellow team mate Paul Drinkwater's wedding party on time!! 20 points were gained and with 3 games left and 49 points clear of second placed Harborne, one more win should ensure the title comes to North End Lane. Next week the Green travel to Lye in search of the necessary points. Thanks to Match sponsors Alfrick Stores.

Saturday 7th August 2004 - Barnards green Singles vs Cutnal Green

Four wickets in eight balls cost the singles any chance of making this a competitive match against Cutnal Green.

Cutnal asked the singles to bat first and Barry Tuck along with Richard Leech moved serenely onto fifty until Tuck edged for 17. Next over Leech got over excited by a long hop and slapped to cover for 33, Spencer just reached a wide one and spooned the ball to mid off, next over Freeman's mistimed drive presented the easiest of caught and bowled leaving the Singles reeling at 55 for 4 . White and Spencer attempted to steady the ship but both perished attempting to up the rate.

At 70 for 6 youngster Richard Tuck strode to the crease and showed great application and technique to defy the Cutnall attack whilst Steve Beavan started to cream the bowling to all parts. The pair added a priceless 44 runs until Asif ended Tuck's vigil for 4. Beavan went next over to M Evans for an excellent 48. With plenty of overs the singles other fourteen year old debutante Tom Clack opted for the aggressive approach and promptly smacked the ball back over the bowlers head followed by a neat shot off the hips. The pace of M Evans was too much and young Clack was gone for 5. An excellent last wicket partnership of 60 aided by some very ragged Cutnal outfielding saw Rob Tyler 21 and Duncan Bell 6 not out take every run available to leave Barnards Green on 181, one hundred runs short of decent total and one hundred more than they looked like getting.

Any hope the Singles had rested with the removal Neil Fletcher, an excellent LBW shout was turned down before Fletcher unleashed a barrage of shots. Rob Tyler extracted revenge by inducing an edge and fortunately for the Singles Fletcher (25) walked as the umpire shook his head. Bell continued his fine opening burst having Morgan in all sorts of trouble but when he was rested Cutnal picked up the run rate. Barry Tuck bowled a tight line and reacted superbly to run out Shuck. D'Auncey then called Morgan for a suicidal second run again Tuck took aim and ran him out for 29. Spencer then bowled D'Auncey for 15 and Cutnall were rocking at 80 for 4. With very limited bowling resources Freeman tried everything to remove the Evans brothers to no avail. A dropped catch gave M Evans a reprieve quickly followed by a great shout for LBW declined by the umpire, on the grounds that this wasn't a Test Match. N Evans then opened his shoulders to blast Cutnall to victory with 64 not out M Evans 27 not out condemned Barnards Green to a six wicket defeat.

Sunday August 7th 2005 - BGCC Sunday 2nd XI vs Barnt Green

The Green had an excellent four wicket victory at home to Barnt Green in this Sunday league fixture. The match was watched by one of the biggest Sunday afternoon attendances seen at the Green this season. The combination of an all day bar, some fine weather and entertaining cricket kept the raucous crowd in good spirits throughout.

The Green's skipper Marek Wajzer managed to win the toss and inserted the opposition in on a benign looking track. The fielding side got off to a good start thanks to some fine outswing bowling by Anshuman (2 - 18), supported by a revitalised Jamie Plant at the other end (1- 30). Anshuman had Cook LBW for a duck in the third over of the innings, with Botha (5) following him a few overs later after skying a good length ball from Plant to Tom Clack at midwicket. The potentially dangerous West (11) was persistently troubled by Anshuman and finally perished to an outside edge well taken by keeper Kevin Golder.

There followed a period of consolidation by Barnt Green, with a painstaking 79 steadily amassed by opener Guest, supported by West (11) and May (23). Change bowlers Bryant, Clack and Harris restricted the run supply in the middle of the Barnt Green innings until the arrival of the hard-hitting Towner (47), who despatched some big hits to all parts of the ground. It was left to Hill and vice-captain Jez Clarke to apply the brakes with some tight, disciplined bowling to close off the innings, restricting Barnt Green to a relatively modest total of 200.

The Green's reply got off to a faltering start when the out of form Clarke spooned an innocuous looking long hop straight up in the air. A procession of pulls and drives followed by Jon Lewis (55) who hit a fine half century, ably supported by a tetchy Chris Hill (38) at the other end. Just when the Green appeared to be coasting to victory, Hill was caught behind to a lifter from the pacy but erratic West. Towner (2-33) then had Lewis and Harris both out LBW, to give Barnt Green some hope of halting the Green. Dean (26) and Golder (17) maintained the rapid scoring rate by despatching the pace bowlers with some crisply hit boundaries, including a big six from Golder.

The introduction of offspinner Botha revitalised the Barnt Green challenge. He managed to extract some turn from the wicket and promptly bowled Dean. Matters were made worse when Golder was caught at slip a few overs later off the gentle medium pace of Shiperly. This brought Wajzer (16 no) and Anshuman (23 no) to the crease, with plenty of overs still in hand to knock off the remaining 45 runs. The Green's run chase was beginning to appear shaky at this stage, with both batsmen looking unconvincing against the spin. The Green had a big let-off when Wajzer top edged a sweep to slip, who somehow contrived to fumble and ground it. The pressure eased thereafter as the batsmen managed to get on top of the bowling. A succession of boundaries finally the Green home in the 33rd over. A good all round team effort by the Green then, but will they manage to maintain their form next week against Feckenham?

Saturday 7th August 2010 - BGCC 2nd XI vs Colwall 2nds.

On a humid day with the threat of showers ever present, the Green were actually quite pleased to be invited to bat first on a hard and dry North End Lane wicket. The Colwall team got near-instant reward when home skipper Doughty wafted at a wide on in the first over and was well caught in the slips for no score. Tom Clack, fresh from his first team outings, joined Wheeler at the crease and both were quick to punish anything too short, too full or too wide. Wheeler (120) in particular smacked the ball hard and straight and sent good deliveries flying to all parts.

The visitors rotated their bowlers frequently and were finally rewarded when Clack (31) perished. Fiaz entered the game and supported Wheeler well by rotating the strike and punishing the occasional bad ball. Wheeler reached his hundred in rapid time before slowing and then finally falling having been dropped a number of times. He had faced 92 balls hitting 21 fours and 2 sixes and changed the shape and nature of the game before finally being removed. Scullion (0) and Hooper (4) fell in quick succession whilst Brewer, batting down the order played some excellent shots. Young Hennessy (E) belted the ball to all parts including two big sixes in making his superb 32 runs. Brewer scored 48 including 9 fours before he fell just two short of his maiden league fifty leaving Hennessy (G) and Hunt to face the last couple of balls. Hennessy took control immediately and scored a run through the covers before Hunt fell for 3 to bring the innings to a close and Hennessy not out for the thirds successive time. 315 runs were scored in just 50 overs leaving Colwall a tough task under darkening skies.

After an amazing tea by Mrs B, 'H' and their teatime team (easily the best in league we all agree) the Green took to the field confident of making life hard for the visitors. Hennessy (E) (5-0-36-1) and Clack (7-47-0) took the new ball and found the going mixed. Leighton struggled against the pace whilst Bishop took on the challenge keeping the scoring rate over 7 an over. As the drizzle started Hennessy slipped Leighton a short ball which he top edged to third man where Fiaz took a very good catch. After a 40 odd minute rain break the second innings was reduced to a 40 over affair, effectively ruling out a Colwall win and allowing the Green to attack more than they might have.

Scullion (8-4-11-2) bowled exceptionally well beating the bat on numerous occasions without the luck he might have wished for. Rich Jeynes (3-0-29-0) entered the attack for a short period before Hooper began to work his spinning magic. Hennessy (G) was given the role of partnership breaker and game changer and she did not disappoint. She had two dropped catches off her initial over before picking up two wickets in two balls to change the face of the game. Hennessy's final figures were a very impressive (5-0-34-2) and gave the Green a very good chance of winning a game which looked like ending in a draw.

Hunt (2-0-14-2) replaced Hennessy and took a further two wickets having had a tough time in the field further making the odds of a win stack in favour of the home side. Hooper (9.4-2-58-3) also picked up vital wickets and so it went that in the final over of the game the home side needed one wicket to win and the visitors needed a handful of runs to secure the losing draw points. The runs were reached with three balls gone leaving the simple equation: a wicket wins the game; no wicket leaves both teams with a similar-ish point allocation. Ever confident Hooper tossed up a big spinning, looping delivery, which the batsman played all around before the ball crashed into the stumps sparking jubilant scenes of celebration amongst the Green players.

Well done team for obtaining our first 24 point win of the season in difficult and testing conditions. Mistakes were made, particularly in the field but we all can be proud with how we fought and worked together throughout the game. Lets take this momentum to Redditch next week!

Saturday 7th August 2010 - BGCC 3rds vs Old Elizabethans 3rds.

On a Saturday when the weather forecast predicted heavy showers the Green thirds entertained their contemporaries from OE's who were rooted to the bottom of the league.

The wicket showed signs of the recent wet weather and skipper Spencer had no hesitation inserting the visitors on winning the toss, the opening bowlers were teenagers Jack Cullity and Ryan scullion they bowled well but with little luck as openers Norton and Downwood got the OE's off to a steady start, in the eleventh over Scullion had Downwood caught by Thompson for 10 with the score on 46, the two teenagers were replaced by more senior bowlers in the shape of Ian Scullion and Roger Thompson, these two used their experience to contain the batsmen and after 23 overs OE's were on 73 for 1, Scullion senior then struck twice having the dangerous visitors skipper Norton well caught behind by White for 49 then having Hills caught and bowled for 16, after 30 overs the visitors were 104 for 3.

At this point home skipper decided a change of pace was required and introduced himself and golden arm Jon Lewis he was not disappointed Lewis struck twice in his first over having Wilkins caught by Cullity for 10 then bowling Chapman for a duck, Bolton survived a caught behind not walking even though he hit the ball twice ,he then struck out hitting six fours in his 34, he was out bowled by Spencer who then had Bates well stumped by White for 4, Graham Baddeley took a fine catch in the deep to remove Pete Johnson to give Lewis his third wicket, the returning opening bowlers soon wrapped up the innings with Cullity clean bowling Johnson snr and Young. The OE's total of 179 looked to be just under par due to another fine fielding display by the Green.

After another excellent tea courtesy of H's girls, openers Yorke and Baddeley strode to the wicket, Yorke was bowled by Bates for 1 , Jason Brewer was plumb LBW to Rees for a duck 6 for 2 and big trouble for the Green, soon it was 20 for 3 when Baddeley was caught off the bowling of Rees for 18, a minor recovery between Lewis and Ratcliffe took the score to 66 when Lewis was also caught off the bowling of Rees for 16, Ryan Scullion strode to the wicket to join Ratters this pair looked in little trouble as they punished any loose deliveries and ran sensibly the Green looked as if they were strolling to another victory.

With the score on 152 for 4 and only 28 runs required the game was turned on it's head when the returning Harry Bates first had Ratcliffe LBW for a fine 49 then clean bowled Thompson first ball then on hat trick ball he clean bowled Cullity, a fine spell of bowling by the young left arm bowler, the Green were in further trouble when White was also adjudged LBW in Bates next over, at 156 for 8 Ian Scullion joined his son Ryan and this pair thankfully saw the Green home Ryan Scullion not out on 37 and Ian Scullion not out 16, a two wicket victory and another 20 points for the Green.

A good game where the Green made hard work of chasing down a low total , only fine batting from veteran Rattcliffe and Scullion jnr saved the Green from the embarrassment of losing to the bottom placed club. For OE's Harry Bates finished with 5 for 46 including a well deserved hat trick.

Although the Green's captain's ethics are to play hard but fair we should be giving any benefit of doubt when umpiring to our side unless it is an easy decision like that of Jason [I like my car ] Brewer, after going through the seasons scorebook we have had 12 LBW's given against us and only 3 given by the opposition obviously we have either got flaws in our batting technique or our umpires are being not given the right instructions by the captain.

Saturday 7th August 2010 - Old Elizabethans 4ths vs BGCC 4ths
J Hall 19
D Price 37
E Wilson 0
N Pett 0
RW Brown 36
R Wall 5
R Lewis 11
M Perkins 13
S Hunt19
J Mackintosh 1
Z Hunt 0

The Green got 155 when they should have got 230 at least. Poor batting.OEs SLOWEST BOWLER took five wickets - all caught as batsmen tried to force the pace. Green's 3 slow bowlers went for 67 runs off 20 overs. Green's 2 seam bowlers went for 73 runs off 22 overs OEs won. Perhaps there should have been more slow bowling? Perhaps Green's bowlers were not hungry enough. They should have been. They bowled after tea!

N Pett 2 for 51
R Lewis 0 for 22
J Macintosh 1 for 36
D Price 0 for 21
S Hunt 2 for 24.