Perfect Weather for Indoor Bowls

Due to a league cancellation we tried to squeeze in a friendly against a Chard team.

Monnie was our captain today, losing the toss and being put into bat.

Due to the recent wet weather the boundary on one side was set in quite close to the wicket in an effort to protect the groundsman’s other wickets.

Lily and Harper opened and were too strong for the opposition peppering the boundary and making the fielders work hard – between them they hit 7 4’s and ran several singles. They made the most of the balls they were bowled and got us off to a great start. Lily top scored in our innings with 23.

Monnie and Lulu were next in. Lulu picked up a good 4 but they also ran and called well with several singles amongst their haul. Midway through their innings we had to take a short rain break as the heavens opened for the first time that morning. We did lose our first wicket in this pair with Monnie being bowled.

Issy and Emily stepped up next. As with Monnie and Lulu the calling between them was really good and they ran several good runs as well as Emily hitting a 4.

Megan and Tass were in next. Apologies for sounding repetitive but the calling was again good. Megan was unfortunate to be bowled to a multi bounce ball – probably rightfully expecting it to be called as a no–ball – I think it’s fair though to allow some leniency to the bowlers when we’re all learning our way through the game.

Last pair in were Gemma & Lola. Before the girls had really had a chance to warm up they managed to go for a quite optimistic quick single – which unfortunately led to Lola being run out. Once they’d got over this blip though the runs started to flow – again there was some good calling and quick running, both girls also managed to get 4’s Gemma picking up 2 and Lola 1.

Overall it was a good batting performance – making the most of the deliveries that were pitched our way.

We finished our innings on 316.

Given the earlier rain and the forecast of wetness from around 11:30 onwards we had a quick changeover.

Lily, Harper, Monnie and Emily bowled our first 4 overs and Chard struggled to make any headway. Lily bowled a great first over with a double wicket maiden. Chard just could not cope with the pace or the accuracy with which Lily bowled.

Harper also had a good over taking a wicket with her last ball. Monnie was 1 run away from a maiden. During Emily’s over we managed to take a 4th wicket, a great pick up and throw from Lily for a direct hit and a run out.

The second chard pair also found it hard to get runs on the board. Gemma bowled a maiden over and Megan and Tass also put in some good work. Issy struggled a little with the conditions managing 3 dot balls with some wides sprinkled in.

The third Chard pair seemed to be the strongest of the bunch – Lola put in some great bowling pitching a good length and at good speed – the batters were able to get bat on ball a little more managing a few quick singles.

We were then back the start of our bowling rotation again.

With regards to our fielding - Harper pulled off a good 4 saving stop on the boundary and Lily managed a great direct hit to earn a run out. Megan made a good effort to get round the field to chase down a well hit ball. Issy pounced on a ball and got a good throw back to Lulu who absolutely destroyed the stumps – but alas the batter was home. I think Monnie also managed to get a run out late on.

I thought Lily’s fielding\positioning was particularly good – it looked like she had read that the opposition was likely slightly weak in their batting and took up a really good position – relatively close in and this really put the pressure on the batsmen as it meant there were not many easy quick singles available to them.

Lulu put in another good stint behind the wicket – I think she adjusted her position well depending on who was bowling and was quick to get back into the wicket when the ball was being returned.

All the girls seemed to be awake in the field – I saw some good backing up and walking in.

Unfortunately the rain came in a little earlier than the Met Office had predicted this morning and by 11.30 we were sheltering from the rain again. We were prepared to wait it out but the Groundsman was getting a little jittery about the damage we might inflict on his pitches by continuing and pulled the plug.

It would have been a convincing win had the match reached it’s conclusion. Whilst we were clearly the better team and the match was slightly one sided I hope everyone got something out of it. They are a developing team and having seen my eldest play against Chard teams several times (often losing) I think they will develop well – they have suffered with the weather this season as well – this was only their second match. Hopefully we can have a re-match with them later in the season when the weather is a little less damp and they have had a little more practice.

Other than the cricket my overriding memory is of Monnie fielding in a large brown warm looking coat - absolutely the perfect clothing choice for today!

Thanks to Harry for scoring today – great work.

Thanks to all of you players and parents it was grey and cold today and not at all cricket weather so thanks for committing and making the effort to get out.

The good news is that for Training on Wednesday the Met Office are predicting full sun at 7PM with the wind only gusting into the Fresh Breeze range on the Beaufort scale so we will hopefully be able to get some good training in. Next weekend we have 2 matches – 1 team will be taking part in the cup game near Exeter on the Monday and the other team will be playing on the Sunday.