|
|
|
|
  |
|
|
Our Pembrokeshire tour was four years in the planning,
three years in the making and twice Covid-delayed. But was the tour manager still worried
about getting 11 players there on time for a 6.00 start on the first, bank holiday,
Thursday? Of course he was, and with good reason, as half the squad appeared at
Fishguard and Goodwick CC’s newly refurbished ground with its stunning views over
Goodwick and the Irish Sea with only minutes to spare. The start time was put back
to six due to the phoenix club’s farming contingent not getting to enjoy any such
thing as a jubilee bank holiday and having to work instead, meaning it was a
T20 rather than the full 30 overs we had planned. But that didn’t stop us from
having plenty of fun in the west Wales sun. |
|
|
|
Remarkably, we even won, and that after a
brutal onslaught from the F&G openers that took them to 50 in the seventh over too,
with Konrad and Alok being the unlucky gluttons for new ball punishment. But after
the retirements of Delaney and Strawbridge (agreeing that rule being by far the
best thing I did on my Superstars captaincy debut), we pegged the run rate back
with some regular wickets and decent fielding. Stan and I took a catch apiece
of each others’ bowling, Adam surprised himself and us all with a deadly direct
hit run out (Alok’s was slightly less surprising if equally good) and a couple
of catches, and one F&G pair amused us all by effecting their own run out by
having an argument in the middle of the wicket about whether a single was
on or not. Eventually we restricted them to 130, setting up a competitive
game, with Mike and I both finishing on 2-0-7-1. |
|
|
|
After the early loss of Adam in reply, George
and Vijay put on an excellent 50 partnership for the second wicket to put us right
in the mix as they both retired on 30s. Extras (20) also helped us on our way,
before Stan (19*) and Alok (14) opened their arms in the lower middle order to
put us well ahead of the rate. One Stan six threatened to travel all the way
to the holy city of St David’s, but shot of the day belonged to the newly-christened
Chippenham Lara, with Mike facing just the one ball, pulling it square for four
and striding off with the win secured. |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
  |
|
|
Friday at the equally lovely and hospitable Llangwm CC was a
very similar story. Despite everyone bar Jason (who was there in plenty of time) starting
the day in the same county, we were still several players short at the allotted start time,
with Alok especially late, which was all a bit embarrassing given the professional
photographer from the Pembrokeshire Herald who had been booked to take team photos and
the semi-professional proper umpires in place. Inevitably Barry lost the toss and we were
put in to field, with Stan and Harry this time bearing the brunt of the powerplay attack,
exacerbated by fielding restrictions being in place on top of our dad’s army and still
slightly hungover efforts. I’m not saying that we had a poor fielding team out there,
but let me put it this way, Steve Meyler was our ‘legs’ sweeping on the cover
point/midwicket boundary. |
|
|
|
The Llangwm top order were going well at 10 an over,
despite Stan and Harry picking up a wicket apiece, and once again we were looking at
an enormous 180/200+ chase, albeit on a cracking pitch. But once more we brought
it back well in the middle overs, with Gary and Bish (2-0-9-1) applying the breaks.
And then sometimes, well, you just have a good day. Perhaps it was something in the
Pembrokshire water, as even Barry was catching the nicks and taking the stumpings,
and one of the worst pies I’ve bowled all season somehow managed to beat the bat
and hit the stumps. And then off the last ball of the spell (not even four
wickets in three overs gets you a fourth over in this team), a skier went up,
Aaron got underneath it, the catch was held, and my maiden Superstars five-fer
was secured, finishing 3-1-9-5, and Llangwm on a much more gettable 143. |
|
|
|
And once again we chased it surprisingly
comfortably, albeit not without some blood (from Barry’s chin), sweat (from
our late night curry and drinking) and cheers (from an increasingly
well-refreshed support group in the rugby stand). Alok as a powerplay opener
was a revelation with a quick 28 retired, before the skipper top-edged
one into his own face and a couple more went down quickly. But after a
slow start Bish (25* retd) turned his accelerator on (he and Mike ran
them so ragged we were picking up overthrows!) and Stan (26* retd)
carried on his spectacular form from the night before, to finish unbeate
n and our top scorer in Wales. That set it up nicely for Mike to make an
effortless 21 before getting run out, Harry to take the scores level
before trying to finish it in style, and Jason and I left with one
to win from two overs, which we got with a wide from the first ball
either of us faced. Was this the first ever Superstars match-winning
partnership in which neither batter faced a legitimate ball? Well,
sometimes, you just have a good day. |
|
|
|
The Llangwm boys, who all play a good level of
Pembrokeshire league cricket, looked a bit shocked to have lost to the shabby rabble
of old men and couple of kids who had turned up three hours previously, but couldn’t
have been nicer about it, firing up the barbecue and opening the bar as the sun
set on another beautiful day, with the views only spoiled by Konrad’s worst shirt
of the weekend award winner. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
  |
|
  |
|
|
And touring isn’t just about the cricket of course.
Which is a good job, as our third game at Haverfordwest on the Sunday was cancelled
due to heavy overnight rain. But several hearty coastal walks (or at least from one
costal pub garden to the coastal pub bar and back), a Saturday night meal at the
community-owned Tafarn Sinc in Rosebush (with a speech in Welsh from Steve that
was shorter than even some of his innings), followed by a pub crawl across
Fishguard (which packs in a very good pub-per-mile ratio), made up for that.
Some small rubber waterfowl were induckted into the Superstars family (the
first belonging to Gary for his Llangwm quacker), some tractors were sa
t on by Alok and his family, Arun became a local legend with one particular
patron of a pub in Fishguard due to his employment with Snapchat (you really
didn’t want to see that picture), and the cries of Meeeyleeer could be heard
once more on a Superstars tour after three years and too long away, this
time, appropriately, with a strong Welsh accent. Iechyd da! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
  |
|
|
Barry Gigg (c), Dan Forman (organiser, host, legend), Vijay Anand, John Bishop, Konrad Chodzko-Zajko, |
|
|
|
Harry Forman, Stan Forman, Aaron Harris, Jason Marchant, Steve Meyler, Gary Plahe, Arun Sajjan, Alok Singh, |
|
|
|
Adam Spencer-Bickle, Mike Taylor, George Warren. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Dan Forman's 3-1-9-5 was the first Superstars 5 wicket haul since
Alok Singh's 4-2-14-5. It was the best
bowling figures since our record figures of 4-0-7-6 by Mike Wood in 2018.
|
|
|
|
Superstars have an excellent record over the last two tours (Won 7, Cancelled 1, Lost 1).
Neither tour has been on the English mainland. |
|
|
|
Barry's injury must be in with a shout of the injury award. |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
