Itʼs just not cricket! - but the good thing is - it is!
D
og has always loved cricket, but couldn’t really ever call himself a
‘cricketer’. Yes, he could throw down a ball, but
line and length – forget it! He could bat after a fashion, but to be truthful, the thought of fast deliveries whistling around his spectacle-less nose fills him with terror. It was with delight then, that he discovered a local game dreamt up by cricketers who love to have fun playing the game, but are not so keen on spending the whole day fielding at third man and never getting to bat! Involving teams from Balscote, Epwell, Shenington, Shutford and Wroxton, ‘Village Cricket’ is played in a very informal style with the guiding principle being that players ‘must try to have fun, and captains should involve all players’. Village cricket has some alternative
cricketing rules that make the game far more amenable to the average cricketer! ‘Batting: any batsman reaching 25 must retire (reaching 24 and hitting a six is ideal) and will only be invited to continue their innings once all players from the batting team have been out. They may not return unless the rest of their team is
dismissed. If more than one plasyer reaches 25, they MUST return in the order in which they originally batted. ‘Bowling: Each
side must use at least 10 different bowlers for the first 10 overs of the game, before allowing any bowler to bowl a second over. ‘First Ball: No player may be out
• Balscote and Shutford pub cricketers: Gavin Preuss, Vikas bawa, Craig Whiley, Andy James, Paul Stanley, Andy Snow, Binzey Turner, Jonathan Preuss, Chris James, Miles Ash, Chris Nash and Dave Kirwin.
Quite happily, I volunteered to do
first ball, this includes being run out, except on the very rare occasion when neither batsman has faced a ball, in which case only the batsman facing the bowler is bale to be run out! ‘LBW: Even at international level with the use of Hawk Eye, this rule regularly causes controversy and therefore in village cricket it is not possible to out LBW. However, this is not to encourage ‘padding up’ and if a player takes advantage, they
should be retired by the captain of the team. ‘Overs: 20 overs if possible, 15 or 16 if not!
‘Captain’s Prerogative: Captains have the right to call in any batsman at any time for any reason, possibly because they are too good, too bad, too slow or even too drunk!…that player may retrurn and bat again as a retiring batsman (see above). On the night I
visited Balscote and Shutford were battling it out and as is often the case, there were a few players short, and there was no umpire.
the job (you get a good view of the game and don’t have to face those fast deliveries). Even though the game is played for
fun, there was still some very good cricket being played. Jonathan Preuss played some lovely cricketing shots despite being the youngest lad on the field and one of Dog’s old mates, Greg Childs, produced a sizzling fast ball that clean bowled the highly talented Craig Whiley (he had however, been smashed for six with his previous ball!) Despite some wayward umpiring decisions – everybody left the field happy at the end of the evening. As is traditional, the two teams ended
up at the local with a beer or two and the tales of batting prowess and bowling skills got better as the night wore on. One thing is for certain, cricket is
a wonderful game – whether one is playing at a very competitive level – or just for fun. Dog takes his hat off to these local
teams who make ‘pub cricket’ such a winning combination. Who knows? Dog might even be tempted to have a go himself if the teams are short next time!
Games start promptly at 6.30pm – in
the pub by 9.15pm For more information on this Four Shires’version of ‘pub cricket’ get in touch with: Epwell: Ian Sloan – 780362, Shenington, Julian Philcox – 670074, Balscote, Ken Thompson at the Butchers Arms – 730750, Shutford: Paul Stanley – 780320 and Wroxton: Chris Jarvis - 738331
August 2011
n 31
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