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

[Highlander999]

Thank you everyone for support. Been sooooo busy recently but update hopefully tomorrow Keep the comments coming

 

[tonka998]

No worries! Your updates are very good and frequent - which is good to see!

 

[domiw]

Hopefully you can get another visit from beefy
Great bowling stats KUTGW

 

[surendar]

Early start guys so meet tomorrow at 7:00. If anyone is late they'll be made to walk there. No joke!!!

Don't you have the habit of joining your team late? Should be interesting Fantastic efforts as always, Tom!

 

[Highlander999]

Sunday 7th April

I woke up to a beautiful morning. It was 6:00 and already the sun was up and the day looked beautiful. I flung open the window and the crisp morning air blew in to wake me up. I switched on the radio while I headed of for my shower (for some reason the lynx effect does not get the same results from the adverts I see ) While listening to Radio 1 I caught the end of the weather report. It had actually been raining up in Bristol, so there was a danger of the match being cancelled which would suck. There couldn't have been more of a contrast with the weather there and the weather here.

I felt in a very European mood this morning and so had cr?pes with chocolate sauce followed up by some Greek yoghurt and fruit. It was very filling as I would need my energy today if I was going to be opening the bowling and batting at number five. At 6:40 I left my house with all my gear. The streets were deserted and I made good progress arriving at the ground with a couple of minutes to spare. The rest of the team were there, except, of cours, for Cooky . The coach was talking to him on the mobile. Eventually they agreed that Cooky would make his own way up there. There was quite a lof of luggage with us as we would be staying in a Hilton hotel. This was my first match where we would be sleeping in a hotel and I was a wee bit excited. By 7:10 the coach was fully loaded up and we were on our way :happy

Quite a lot of the guys were tired and so plenty slept, but I felt really awake. I spent my time listening to my ipod. I had my playlist set up for a lot of jazz and it was a very nice way to spend the journey. As we neared Bristol more of the lads began to wake up. We joked with Graham about his crutches and threatned to steal them when all of a sudden we heard the sound of a horn next to us. It was Cooky AND HE WAS ON A MOTORBIKE!!!!!!!!

"How the hell has he got hold of a Harley Davidson. I bet he's stolen it."

It turned out he hadn't stolen it but "borrowed" it from a friend. As the coach pulled into the ground, we all got up and took our kit off.

In the changing rooms we got into our whites. Craig Spearman the Gloucestershire skip came in and gave Dave the team list. A strong bowling attack and a deadly top order meant this would be a tricky match. We would have to be in very good form to win this match.

The weather in Bristol was not at all nice. It was very cloudy and it had rained heavily in the night. The groundsman and his team had done an excellent job though and play would start on time. The pitch however looked very damp and the outfield was slow. We would want to win this toss and bowl first. Eventually it was time for the toss. Spearman, David and the umpires decided to do it inside and we all watched. Spearman flipped the coin and David called tails. It was heads. Spearman elected to bowl first. Damn that was not the result we wanted, but it was decided and we would have to make the best of it.

David and the coach stood up. David spoke first:

"Ok guys we are batting first which as you know is not what we wanted to happen. That however is no excuse for any low totals. Everyone should bat sensibly and not try any stupid shots. We have a lot of time to play with so don't worry about your strike-rate. Just have a good knock. Is there anything you want to say Graham?"

"Not really, I think you said everything David. I'll just make clear the point that this is a tough match so just make sure you rise up to the challenge."

David and Matty put on their equipment and eventually headed out. The ground at Bristol was very nice and so we went up onto the balcony to watch the first ball. There were quite a few fans as it was now 10:30 on a Sunday morning and they had come to see a good day's worth of cricket. As long as the weather held of, hopefully we would provide that for them.


JUST REALISED, WE HAVE PASSED 500 POSTS IN THIS THREAD. THANK YOU EVERYONE WHO HAS POSTED COMMENTS. YOU GUYS ARE STARS!!!! :happy

 

[Manly]

No, you are the star, this is your show mate.

Good luck in the game

 

[OrderDX]

great update as always and yeh 500 replies is gr8 because u r gr8 looking forward to seeing what happens in the match!

 

[Karachi Xpress]

Nice update.

Should be a great match. Damp pitch should be really good for the bowlers!

 

[Left_Hander]

Get your spinners and pitch em' short!

I would say anything around 220 will be a good score.

 

[treva]

Congrats on the 500 post mark Tom! Really nice build up to the match, which I reckon could be quite tight with the way the pitch and conditions are favouring the bowlers.

 

[freddiw]

good update....good post....good luck in teh match

 

[Pakistani Army]

Best of luck for the match Tom.

 

[tonka998]

Im not surprised that you've past 500 posts! This is an awesome story! Good luck batting on a tricky pitch!

 

[Highlander999]

Sunday 7th April

Up on the balcony the team were muttering away with frequent glances at the sky. The weather looked very foreboding with a lot of cloud cover and a bit of a breeze picking up. Hopefully the rain would stay away. Out in the middle Matty would be facing first ball against Jon Lewis. Lewis came running in and released it. Matty came forward. The ball seamed slightly away from him, and he edged it Spearman took a fantastic diving catch. A diamond duck for Matty. That was not a good start.

Matty will be annoyed

The next hour was not a good period of play for us. The very next over we also lost David for a duck when he got a shooter of a delivery from Kirby. Up in the dressing room we all began to get very nervous as we were 0/2 and I don't think anyone would have expected us to be in such a poor position this early on. I spoke to Matty:

"That was an evil delivery for me to face first up. I couldn't leave it and just followed it. It looks like it is going to be tricky work out there."

"Yeah I can see. There is soooo much movement out there. Just going to have to do our best, eh?"

Out in the middle Mike and Martin began to re-build the innings. I was pleased about this as I did not want to be going in too early on and with too much pressure on me. As both Mike and Martin's scores began to increase the atmosphere up on the balcony began to get a bit more lighter. It had obviously been just a liitle hic-cup with the new ball. Mike and Martin looked to be very confident. Spearman was constantly moving the field around, to counter them and it was this which payed of. He brought a square-leg into play against Mike who had been scoring a lot of his runs in that area. Mike clipped one of his legs straight towards Sillence, the fielder. He threw himself forward and took, what must be described as an awesome catch. None of us could believe it, but the crowd let out a massive roar

"Bugger. That's me in now."

"Good luck, Tom. We want a century from you"

I was not at all happy having to go in this early with the ball still relatively new and the score only 34/3. However I had to just try and stick it out. We were in trouble and I needed to be in top-form

I was pleased that I would be facing Averis and not either Lewis or Kirby, who are the main strike bowlers. However Averis is still a dangerous bowler and one who must be treated with respect. The atmosphere out there was extremely hostile, one of the worst I've been in. There was plenty of sledging being aimed at me, but I just ignored it. Averis was looking at me with glee. He was obviously thinking I would be easy prey. He came thundering in and released. Bloody hell!!!

"OH MY GOD!!!!!!"

Find out what happened in the next update

 

[Kiko_97]

I was pleased that I would be facing Averis and not either Lewis or Kirby, who are the main strike bowlers. However Averis is still a dangerous bowler and one who must be treated with respect. The atmosphere out there was extremely hostile, one of the worst I've been in. There was plenty of sledging being aimed at me, but I just ignored it. Averis was looking at me with glee. He was obviously thinking I would be easy prey. He came thundering in and released. Bloody hell!!!

"OH MY GOD!!!!!!"

Find out what happened in the next update

Damn the suspense great update KUTGW