Match Reports 2009

3-4 October 2009
Midi CC evens with Red Square Lions
Perfect weather continued into October, providing the ideal conditions for 2 competitive games - Midi winning on Saturday, and RSL gaining revenge on Sunday. Slide show now available.

5-6 September 2009
Midi CC open the Autumn 'Friendly Season' with 2 wins against Brockwell 49ers.
Perfect weather and good results against a touring side enjoying the delights of the Languedoc. Notable performances from Captain Dom, Nick Allison, Steve Field and Paul Rogers. Many thanks to the visitors who seemed to enjoy themselves and who made a contribution to Midi club funds.

For match reports please visit the Brockwell site at http://upyourcrease.blogspot.com/ .

Midi vs Armagnac - 7 June 2009
After four straight defeats and plenty of positive signs, it was time for Midi to do the business and get some points on the board. Armagnac won the toss and put Midi in to bat.
Skipper Dom George made another of his brilliant strategic decisions by opening the batting with the flashing blades of Rob Bowyer and John McBurnie, and right from the off the choice was proved to be justified. The ball started flying off the bat to all corners of the ground, as the total raced past 100 in less than fifteen overs. When John went for 44, the groundwork had been done. Rob Bowyer soon passed 50, and continued to pepper the boundary. Paul Rogers joined him, and hit an amazing 83 in around 12 overs. The watching supporters , as well as the rest of the team, were gobsmacked as the score whistled past 200. Rob continued his scoring, and despite a blip in the nineties, he scored Midi’s first ever century with a typical wallop through extra cover for four. Nick Allison joined Rob and made a quickfire 39 not out, including a six which lodged a ball in the trees at the St Pargoire Road end. Unbelievably, Midi finished on the incredible score of 318-2, with hero Rob Bowyer undefeated on 118.
Armagnac had to go for it, and with spinners leading the attack from the start, there were always going to be chances. Despite a good start, wickets started to tumble, with Nick Allison and Marc Dalling taking two apiece. Fittingly it was Rob Bowyer who took the last wicket to round off Midi’s greatest ever performance with Armagnac all out for 107.

We have no doubt been building up to something like this for the last couple of years. Having a few new players this season has undoubtedly given us the boost that we need. Now we need to capitalize and start giving all the other teams a bit more of a game. 

Midi vs Tarn - 6th June 2009
After several embarrassing performances against Tarn over the past few years, it was time for Midi to put up a bit of a fight.  Midi lost the toss and were put in. They got off to a slow but steady start, but soon started to lose wickets. However, some defiant batting in the middle order, particularly from Rob Bowyer with 31, allowed Midi to start building a total. As we have seen against all the other teams, the longer a team bats in this league, the more the extras pile up, and this match was no exception. Extras were top scorer in Midi’s total of 170, contributing 41 runs.
So, for the first time against Tarn, Midi had posted a respectable total. It was now important to capitalize with a good bowling display. Although Midi’s bowling was tight, it lacked penetration, and we would only win the game by bowling out Tarn. The visitors plugged away and reached their total in 30 overs.
Again, plenty to be upbeat about, but still no victory for Midi this season. The visit of Armagnac the following day was becoming a must-win game.

Midi vs Toulouse - 31st May 2009
After two disappointing results, Midi were hopeful that they would be able to repeat their homewins of the last two years against Toulouse.In a match reduced to 35 overs because of rain,  Toulouse batted first, and set off in fine style, reaching 100 in the 15th over with no wickets down. The wet ball and the slippery conditions underfoot hampered the Midi opening bowlers, who struggled for line and length. Just as it looked as though Toulouse were going to take Midi apart, Ken “Windy” Miller came on from the village end and produced his best ever spell of bowling for Midi. Ken tore through the heart of the Toulouse batting, taking 5-27. With Dave “Chutney” Mickleborough providing solid support at the St. Pargoire Road end, these two each bowled their 7 overs in one spell, and yhe scoring slowed right down. Dave finished with 2-22. Some poor bowling at the death let Toulouse get up to 185, but it was still a getable total.
Midi got off to a poor start, but contributions from new recruit Alex Laljee (34) and rising star Rob Bowyer (24) stabilized the middle order. However, in the end it was too tall an order, and even Ken Miller couldn’t pull off a remarkable victory. Midi finished on 166. A respectable total, but still not good enough.

As with the first two matches, there were some positives, but we need to start being more ruthless as a team.

Noe Gascogne v Midi - 17th May 2009

On the road again, this time to Noe Gascogne, who are very formidable opponents.  Due to 3 late withdrawals (3 strike bowlers), we travelled with only 8 players and an umpire (Dave Mickleborough)!  However, Noe kindly allowed Dave to play and provided an umpire when we were fielding.

We won the toss and elected to bat.  After a good start by the opening bats, Paul Rogers and Nick Allison (37 off 10 overs) came the usual MBC, (Midi Batting Collapse).  However, a good partnership between Nick and Steve Field saw the score reach 87.  This is the highest score we have made against Noe, and congratulations must go to Nick Allison for carrying his bat – well done Nick.

We then had Noe worried by reducing them to 10-4 after 4 overs (2 wickets to Paul Rogers, 1 to Ken Miller, and good run out).  Unfortunately, an excellent stand of 78 by the next two batsmen saw the hosts home (88-4).

Although we lost, the Midi players were able to walk away with their heads held high, having given Noe a good game.

So, on to our next game, home to Toulouse, Sunday 31st May, and although we have started the season disappointingly, after the improvements seen in this game, all bodes well for this match and the rest of the season.

Armagnac vs Midi, 10th May 2009

It’s May, it’s the Languedoc, so it must be time for the Midi Cricket Club bandwagon to start rolling. Our first match was away at Armagnac, a team that we would hope to have a good chance of beating. Things started well: for the first time in Midi’s history, we sent a full team of eleven players to an away match. A frightening thought indeed. Anyway, that’s where the optimism ended. It was soon time to renew our acquaintance with an old friend, MBC, known in polite company as the Midi Batting Collapse. I won’t go into the gory details, but suffice to say, the highest score, other than extras, was Marc Dalling’s mighty 9. Ken Miller made a feisty 8, but the overriding fear of getting out, and an unwillingness to hit the ball hard enough meant that in 36 overs, Midi only managed 74 runs. As usual, Midi’s lack of confidence and technique with the bat let them down. 74 runs was never going to be enough, but as usual Midi made a better fist of things with the ball. However, despite reducing the home side to 70 for 7, Midi were unable to get the points. Dom George chipped in with 4-13, and Ken Miller had a promising spell towards the end of the match. There’s still plenty of work to be done, especially in the batting department. Let’s hope that away to Noé Gascogne next week, we’ll at least be able to get 100 runs on the board.

10th May 2009 - Ken Miller winds up for a home run in Armagnac

0th May 2009 - New recruit Reg gratton shows a straight bat to the hostile Armagnac attack

Match Reports 2008