Story Three Lions on the Shirt? - Match Day: Northamptonshire fight back!!!

[WestIndian]

Great stuff Tom, nice update, it was worth the wait man, and it was time you get your first!! By the way I see Kieron still around, I guess its a clone, hope its a bit heavier so won't get carried off to la-la land as well

 

[mattfb]

lmfao Tom you never fail to disappoint. Top Welsh jokes and LOL at the Jack and Mani thing. I loled so hard at that. Good to see Kieron will never be seen again so he can't bug you to put him in your story again

Your so close to that maiden century, you can't get out to Swann after your sledging war lol. Great update, kiu!

 

[shantanu_rooney]

Great cliffhanger and loved the welsh jokes. Go Tom get your century..:happy

 

[treva]

I'm not sure what score your on at the moment but the wicket looks pretty flat. Still a lot of work to do bowling wise before you can think about winning this one.

Oh and I thought the gay couple were named Jack and James, not Mani

 

[Jaztheman]

I'm not sure what score your on at the moment but the wicket looks pretty flat. Still a lot of work to do bowling wise before you can think about winning this one.

Oh and I thought the gay couple were named Jack and James, not Mani

Exactly, I'm offended.

Good presentation and writing as normal, with your... unique sense of humour.

Looking forward on finding out how the cliffhanger unhangs(lol? making up words ftw).

 

[Highlander999]

Make or Break???

Hey Crofty!!! Don't you think that Swann could do with losing some weight.

"Too right!!!"

"We'll see who is laughing at the end of this over, Baker"

"I am tempted to go all Yuvraj on you Swann. The thing is, I don't want to damage any cars parked outside the ground "

My plan here, had been to try and get Swann so wound up, that he bowled a rubbish over. If I could hit a few boundaries, not only would it get me my century, it would also put Glamorgan in a pretty solid position. The umpire told me and Swann to stop fighting and get on with the over.

First Ball

Swann had spent a long time limbering up as this was going to be the first time in the match he bowled. I took a line on leg-stump which cleared my front foot out of the way. SLOG TIME!!!! Swann came jogging in. I had already decided I was going to walk down the track. As I came forward and Swann released it, I realised it was going to be a full toss (a yorker if I had been in my crease) I gave it the full works and cracked it straight back over his head for a six.

"And, you're meant to play for England :"

Second Ball

Crofty came down for a word,

"Great start Tom, that has got him reeling. If I was bowling now, I would try and cramp you up, by bowling it onto your legs. The sweep might be a good option."

"Ok, cheers Crofts."

The ball was back in Swann's hands and he was glaring at me. Nice to see I have made so many new friends in County Cricket Once again, Swann came jogging in. However, I stepped back. Some moron had walked in front of the sight screen, right behind Swann's arm. I angrily waved him away, but the guy just stood there looking at me. I then realised, it was Mani from down the street and he was as high as a kite. He was dragged away by security and appeared oblivious to what was going on. How he ended up in Nottingham, I will never know. So Swann, came running in again. Sure enough, Crofty was right, it was on my legs. I got down on one knee and slog swept him for a one bounce four

I HAD REACHED MY MAIDEN OD CENTURY!!!!!!!!!!!! :happy I was so happy. I went and gave Crofty a massive high five, and raised my bat to all parts of the ground. Even Chris Read and Will Jefferson came over and shook my hand. It was a simply brilliant feeling. Graeme Swann congratulated me, showing that it was just professional sledging between us and there was no malice in it. I had scored quite a few boundaries on the leg side and over mid-on. I couldn't also complain about the strike rate as my century had come off 94 balls.

I had already scored 10 runs, off the first two balls so this over really was going Glamorgan's way at the moment

Third Ball

"Ok Tom. You've made the 100, but we are not finished yet. Keep those runs coming."

"You think I can make 150? "

"You think women will stop nagging? Don't be too wistful "

Meh, point taken. Swann once again, was ready to bowl. I was trying to guess what he might do. The attempted yorker, and the ball to cramp me on the leg side had not worked. I really was not sure what to expect. This is probably where my lack of experience at County level shows itself, as I really don't know what to expect in pressure situations. In the end I decided to just walk down the pitch and try and slog him.

It didn't work

He saw me coming, and put it in shorter, so it spun into me. I panicked about being stumped and almost tripped over as I was just able to get some pad on it as it ran away to gully. Crofty was backing up well and we were able to steal a quick leg bye. Maybe I was pushing my luck, just a wee bit too much

Fourth Ball


So Crofty was now at the strikers end. So far, he had made a superb little cameo and I was fully expecting him to score a boundary of Swann. To be honest, what happened next was the last thing I expected. Swann bowled it and it was quite wide on the off stump. I could only raise my eyebrow as Crofty decided to leave it. There was no way that was wide. You can imagine my surprise when I saw the umpire singnal it a wide. Crofty winked back at me, and Swann was properly angry. This was the same umpire who had been using a mobile phone so he wasn't the brightest one going around. Still, a free run wasn't exactly going to be turned down, so we had one more to the total. Crofty came up to me,

"Tom. I plan on getting you the strike for the final two balls of the over, so be ready for a quick single."

"Ok, Crofty, just you make sure you make your ground "

Fourth Ball (Second Attempt )


I imagine Swann was not feeling too happy. On paper, only three balls of this over had been bowled and already we had got 12 runs He is meant to be an international standard player, yet he been tonked around the ground, by a rookie in his first season of County cricket. I must say I personally felt this rookie was very gifted () but then again I would say that.

Anyway, Swann put the ball on Crofty's legs and he flicked it down through the vacant square leg area, for an easy single. There was never going to be a second run there, so we just jogged it. This had got me back on strike and I was planning to cause some chaos, in these final few balls. I planned on moving around the crease as well, just to distract Swann. You never know, it might work

Fifth Ball

"Ok Tom. Hit this pie chucker for a six. We had real spinners playing for England in my day. None of this rubbish."

"Yeah, well in your day Croft, we were still going around in horse and carts."

Once again, the umpire told Swann and this time Crofty, to stop arguing and get on with the game. Swann, was getting a wee bit annoyed. He had talked the talk earlier in the game, giving me a horrific time, yet he had not walked the walk. I was hoping he would get a terrible time from the England players when he got back, as he had been totally owned by me

Swann came jogging in once again. Spinners never seem to be able to just run in like a normal person and he was hopping all over the place. He released it and I saw it was on my legs. I once again, got down on one knee and slog swept. I hit it slightly straighter, then I had planned and their was a fielder out there I wasn't sure if it had the distance or not. There were screams of "Catch it!!!" by Read and Swann, whilst Crofty was telling them to bugger off and that it was a certain six.

I could only stand there and watch as the ball flew out towards the fielder. Was it going to be a six, or was my innings finally over???

 

[mattfb]

You bitch lol, how dare you leave us in such suspense Good innings so far, nice work owning Swann and Mani Nice update, your convos are always hilarious I love the gfx in this story too, they are extremely unique. kiu!

 

[shantanu_rooney]

Wow!!! congrats for your first hundred, hoping there are many more to come. Yeah your convos are hilarious and gfx are really unique. KIU

 

[shefellover93]

You're out, Cricket 05 is too generic for you to beat the fielder by inches. You either smack it way over their head or they catch it. Good innings though, pity Mani wasn't there to see it!!

 

[saladguy]

Judging by my Cricket 2005 calculations, that's out

 

[treva]

Why you using my LV stumps, Tom? Can you not get the Natwest ones to work or have you just been an idiot and forgot to change them?

Great stuff with the maiden OD century. I would guess you're probably out now though, seeing as I don't think the fielder would be ready to catch it like that if it was going over his head (Cricket 05 for you).

Brilliant stuff as always, keep it up

 

[King Pietersen]

First time I've bothered to venture into this thread, was expecting it to be rubbish considering the thread starter (), but I've been pleasantly surprised, very good stuff Love the little bits of banter between You, Croft and Swann, very funny stuff. I reckon it's out though tbh, the fielder appears to be setting himself for a catch judging by the animation, so I reckon you're out!

 

[Jaztheman]

Yeah I think you're out too, but congratulations on the century. Always nice to get your first one. Nice banter between you and the players, and Mani has made yet another venture into your updates.

Good stuff, mate.

 

[Simbazz]

You're a pain in the ass, Baker!

Great story, the suspense is awesome. Mine will be better ofcourse.

 

[saladguy]

Great story, the suspense is awesome.

I hate the suspense! :