This season is the first full season for the team. And as said, well begun is half done. The team has done a great performance this time.
OD series
Nathan Tau 1008 runs
Bert Andries 28 wickets
FC Series
Nathan Tau 451 Runs
Bert Andries 40 wickets
BT20 Series
Campbell Shearer 492 runs
Alan Bloomfield 20 wickets

Starting out with a team mid season limits the achievements that can be made, but we are happy with how things turned out.

Promotion in FC was secured by dogged accumulation of batting points and out-performing expectations against Legside after a narrow loss to Black Country. Mid table finishes in OD & T20 were unavoidable and mean we should win most games in the shorter formats next season.

It's been difficult making any player purchases and we will be focusing on developing home grown talent. The youth academy is primed and ready! Its first graduate Grady Killeen is our captain and opening bat, and his fellow 17yo Frankie Pickering our top bowler.

The ground was expanded and then immediately filled to capacity. The Hexagon's unique shape creates a buzzing atmosphere on match days.

Today Lancaster Blondes suffer the ultimate in humiliation: triple demotion, where all 3 leagues are bot only leagues. Oops.

!!!IT IS NOW!!!

Going into today's OD, the All-Starks knew that a win today would cement them into the history books, having already secured the T20 and FC titles.

Choosing to bat first they certainly gave their fans something to cheer about with an impressive 346-1, with both Njeru & Brandon-Kirby batting superbly, scoring 105 & 158* respectively.

In an extremely unorthodox turn of events, Chairman Stark managed to find his way into the announcer's box, despite being the visiting team, to deliver a rousing half time message

"This is a message for possibly the best supporters in the world. We need a 12th man. Where are you? Where are you? Let’s be having you! Come on!”

Dismissing priory for just 114 runs the Treble was complete whilst going unbeaten.

Let the festivities begin

After a tough defeat earlier in the season to divisional rivals, Oliver's Army, the demons were vanquished on a fine Kent day, everyone chipping in with crucial runs and wickets. The day started evenly, with 77 needed and 3 back in the hutch, it was left to future captain Nelson Underwood to stand tall in the middle of the square and steer the ship to victory.

Opposition manager, H. Dumpty, speaking to the Daily Doosra, said of the defeat: "We'll have to try and put ourselves together again, but it's gonna be a big ask - expect to see more expensive mercenaries join the club for next season's campaign".

The Doosra also reported an anonymous quote from a player: "We may as well change our name to Yoke of Tasmania at this rate, a lot of us local lads are thinking of leaving"

#ShopLocal

Vince Tandy reports:

The Wombles have faced up to their season defining clash against Palatinate CC Palatinate CC, by bringing in some experienced hands to bolster the team's batting.

Sri Lankan opener Chris Gieta Chris Geita has joined from Yorkshire side Battrick Nightmare Battrick Nightmare. Richard Blackburn Richard Blackburn has joined from the Kiwi side Greeks XI Greeks XI.

Introducing the veteran pair, Skillster emphasised "the huge levels of experience that Chris and Richard bring to the side ahead of the crucial game this Friday".

Both the Wombles and Palatinate CC have won 12 of their 13 games in Eng V.201 this season. Palatinate moved in to top spot on NRR after last week's matches. A full house is expected at the Burrow for Friday's showdown.

Cricketer of the Year - Clive Britton
Britton converted 5 out of 6 fifties into centuries. He scored 956 FC runs @ 106.22. He also scored 444 T20 runs.

FC Player of the Year - Quinten Thandiwe
No team could avoid the follow-on against BPD. Thandiwe took 37 wickets @ 6.03.

OD Player of the Year - Frankie Conelly
In a difficult season, Conelly scored a total of 52 @ 7.43. This included a gritty 16 off 24 balls against the league champions, Okey Dokes Nudgers.

T20 Performance of the Year - Steven Haughty's 105* off 55 balls against AK Forty 7. The innings included ten 4s & three 6s.

Emerging Player of the Year - Forbes Peploe
The Yank, Peploe, took 16 FC wickets @ 15.13. He was outstanding against Omaha Lightning where he took 4-13 off 9 overs. Lets hope he remains with us.

A disappointing FC loss by one wicket last round, followed by an absolute thumping of a team we expected to have a tough game with this time!

Black Pears' remarkable scorecard had a high score of 64, and a lowest score of 37 while racking up 401-6 declared. The bowlers then wrapped it up inside two days. In a game with contributions from everyone in the team, young skipper Frankie Pickering was man of the match.

Five wickets from veteran Imrul Talukdar proved to be his last contribution for the Pears as the manager ruthlessly decided against paying him £20k a week any more. He got through the game fine but having a 36yo player with stamina described as 'abysmal' meant the tough call had to be made. The club thanks Imrul for his efforts and wishes him a happy retirement!

The long awaited first one day victory over a Cashes rival was finally ended for the Gardeners today in emphatic style. Despite a strong all-round bowling display, the away side were ahead by a nose, but the batting unit successfully reined in a toothless White Horse bowling effort. Boosey got the chase off to a gallop, putting Rubins out to pasture, before opening partner, and MOTM, Bradbury anchored the middle order as they cantered home with overs to spare.

Captain Zonke said after the game: "The lads were keen to put Thursday behind us and get our Cashes off to the races. The dressing room is buzzing ahead of 2 huge matches in the next 2 days and our momentum isn't dropping. They've had a mare out there, yes, but without wanting to flog a dead horse - we've absolutely pegged them!"

The inaugural 'Woody Cup' ended recently, serving up Cups and Saucers as the first ever winners. Taking home the famous 'Size 5 Woodworm Flame' and customary trophy for the cabinet, for their efforts. The competition was rife as any one of 3 teams could have won up until the last game. Brilliant team efforts saw multiple high-scoring games with many players smashing their way in to the history books with centuries to remember.
We have to recognise great individual efforts also. The first name on everyone's lips throughout the tournament was Player of the Tournament: Cameron Shura, for the Wolverines. Averaging 133.4 and scoring a total of 667 runs, no one else even came close to his efforts.

Organisers are already in talks for the next instalment after the success of the competition.

This wasn’t supposed to be a season where Alnwick! targeted a One Day title. With great chances in First Class and BT20, the aim at the start of the season was to improve on previous seasons and get into the top half.

Then they won the first eight games, the other top teams in the league started taking points off each other, and expectations went through the roof. All of a sudden, a potential double became a possible treble.

But, with the pressure on, the team are crumbling. A comfortable win for Hunmanby Hounds in today’s Chippy Tray match meant that Sutty’s were expected to be just four points behind.

But they lost to Eighty Eighters. And now four teams are eight points behind with two to play. And with Disco’s form crumbling, this isn’t over yet. Not by any means.

Everything went to plan today in our attempt to jump from 7th to 4th in one go. That's about as high as we can hope for this season!

Geoffrey Kinyua took 5 wickets for 23 runs in the first match of the Cashes II, as a spectacular Garden of England collapse opened the door for a comfortable 54 run victory for the visiting Churches.

The Garden looked to be in control of the match after the Churches had survived a scare in the middle overs to post a below-par total of 147, led by Luke Rait's defiant unbeaten 73* (43).

Having started well in response, the Garden imploded in a remarkable spell which saw them go from 90-3 to 93 all out. A Clarke Harkness double wicket maiden followed by a Kinyua triple wicket maiden saw the game turn on its head.

The 17 year old, dubbed "King Geoffrey" by his more experienced teammates, recorded the first ever 5-wicket haul in a Cashes T20 in what was his debut Cattrick Ashes match.

Tails is very proud of his players as they have secured the first Silverware of his tenure in the BT20 league finishing unbeaten with 11 wins. Mathematically the OD title is also in the cabinet however there are a few games left to play before they are officially crowned. The immediate focus now falls to next weeks FC game against the only other user controlled team in the league with what is expected to be a winner takes all stakes. Fingers crossed that the team finish with a treble of trophies just like the Man U team of the 98/99 season.

...Two to go for Alnwick! at the Disco this season, as a win today confirmed them as winners of V.34.

After winning all of their competitive matches, including those against all potential title rivals, the final five matches against bots have been little more than a formality in confirming their title. But today, that finally happened.

But that’s no time for celebration. After Thursday’s friendly, it’s time for another Chippy Tray match with Hunmanby Hounds. Last time in the league, Disco scored their first competitive win against the Hounds, and a repeat on Friday would be a huge step towards another title this season.

And then there is First Class, where Alnwick! managed to slip up against Foregone Conclusion last week, meaning that the title there is anything but one.

On a tense last game of the season, Dickie's Diamonds managed to lose their final game, but still win their 5th T20 title on NRR with a fantastic Div 4 campaign. Top of the stats were Van Horrsen with the bat, posting 249 runs and Khan with the ball, taking 17 wickets. "We've competed well in this league for the last 4 seasons now" said Diamonds manager Dickie "but we've finally come out on top. We're looking forward to testing ourselves up in Div 3 next season"

The Dirty Dozen CC have crashed out of the inaugural Histon Hobnobs' Invitational in a disappointing showing.

Safeer Behnsen the losing team's captain had this to say,

"We were simply outclassed. Out batted, out bowled and most certainly out managed. Good luck to the NCC boys in the semis."

Semi-final Fixtures

21/09/2020 05:30 Nondescript CC v Girton Waterfowl
Unscheduled Perú Blue (Kenya) v Woking Jenk Shack



Match Results

Blazing Indians v Girton Waterfowl
Blazing Indians lost by 9 wickets

Perú Blue (Kenya) v Perú Blue
Perú Blue (Kenya) won by 289 runs

The Dirty Dozen CC v Nondescript CC
The Dirty Dozen CC lost by 61 runs

Histon Hobnobs v Woking Jenk Shack
Histon Hobnobs lost by 287 runs

The Aussie Oracles sister team Caribbean Oracles will be selling their two top young guns - Collins Njeru & Will Dickens - with both being set to hit the transfer market on the evening of Thursday 3rd September 2020.

Oracle's manager Rich Cranium said it was difficult to let two outstanding performers go but it was part of the longer term goal for Battrick domination in the coming seasons.

Unconfirmed reports suggest both players are currently in self-isolation after a boozy weekend on an unnamed Greek island. The club has declined to comment.

Hello, world!

I am Shearo, originally manager of team 1109 Black Pears... briefly came near the top flight in England in the early days of Battrick. Very nostalgic checking out the guys I stored in the Hall of Fame. Happy days.

Other highlights of Battrick life were having a couple of international players in Tedstone and Boyd, and playing host to a few games against the RL cricket team Battrick Badgers when I ran Hay Hill CC in Bath.

So now I am back in BT trying to build from the ground up many years later!

After 14 years of playing I’ve decided it’s time to retire. I’m selling any decent youth players and will ensure orders are set for each game. Thanks to everyone for making me welcome and I wish every manager all the best for the future.

Posted 30/08/2020