Unexpected Heroics

 With a lot of players missing for Saturday's game at Upton against Thrumpton 2s, a big decision was to be made.

Who could captain the third team?

Who had the skill, fire, fight and tactical nous to take on the second in the league with a very young team, and get a result?

Er, that would be me. 

Having won the toss against the Thrumpton captain, who bore a resemblance to Dwalin from "The Rings of Power" I put Thrumpton into bat, knowing that bowling first offered our best chance to get as many points out of the game as possible.

Things did not start well against the powerful Thrumpton openers, with our young opening bowlers a little wayward, and they were scoring runs for fun as they have been doing all season. I was a bit at a loss, felt slightly out of control of things in the field, and kept forgetting everyone's names. 

Luckily, I soon settled down, and so did our next pair of bowlers, a very young seamer who has been taking a lot of wickets at junior level, and a guest player from Farndon who bowled some excellent leg spin, and they took three wickets between them. Add to this that there was some superb fielding going on resulting in a few runouts, and we were going well. 

"Everyone is doing fantastic" I would exhort ungrammatically. "Let's bowl them out!"

I even got a wicket myselfm caught at mid on. I actually bowled better than I thought, with figures of 1-23 despite getting a bit of tap from a big lower order hitter who got 41. 

We bowled them out for 160, which I'd take any day of the week. Maximum bowling points obtained. 

I did not anticipate us getting anywhere near, and so sent the opening bats out, one of whom was the guest leg spinner, with an initial target of 90 to get the first batting point. I had to go and umpire, of course. 

From that vantage point I had a great view of our opening bats make a good start against bowling that was a bit less rapid than in our previous game against Thrumpton. A rather massive 6 was hit, and there was a bit of over-excited chirp on the boundary concerning a bit of fielding where one of the Thrumpton chaps trod on the rope while picking the ball up. 

Dwalin the Thrumpton captain told me to get our players to cool it, so I did. 

Sadly we lost one of our openers with the score on about 50, and now things were going to be rather tricky as we had a section of young players in our batting order, so there was a bit of procession at one end.

Meanwhile, the leg spinner, 13 years old, was still out there, and joined by our experienced wicketkeeper began to score runs at a cracking pace. To see such match awareness in a 13 year old was totally new to me. When the keeper was out after having played really well in a supporting roll, he began to farm the strike with another batch of youngsters, while slamming the odd boundary.

Alas he then got a ball that stopped and bounced, and that was it. Game Set and Match.Out for 78.  But we had put up a tremendous fight in a game we had no right to even compete in, and I was very proud of my young side. 

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 27.07.24

The Library Gardens are Pretty

The Library Gardens, now a nature reserve after the locally famous "Stop the Chop" campaign, has been beautiful this spring and summer, awash with colourful wildflowers and more cultivated species too.

A wildlife pond has been added, where I photographed the broad bodied chaser a few weeks ago, and the wall of flowers on the metal equipment shed has been in full bloom. The bees and bumblebees love the place, with vestal cuckoo bumblebees being particularly numerous. 

Not so many butterflies for some reason, but then it's been a terrible year for them. There's plenty of the low level ground loving species like meadow brown and small skipper about, but the more obvious peacocks and small tortoiseshells have been in very short supply. 

There's been reports of fritillaries locally, which is news to me, so I shall have to go looking!

Anyway, enjoy the pretties I have found for you. 

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 23.07.24

Excitement in the Rain

 Saturday saw the third team,  now captained by The Man from Blidworth, head out to the lovely ground at Colston Basset to face Keyworth 3rds again. 

As ever early, I headed off into the gloom up the hill to photograph the ruins of St Mary's Church that overlook the venue and help make it so scenic. 

Well it would be scenic on a normal day, but the entirety of this match was played in what ranged from a misty drizzle to full on heavy rain; that we played the whole thing was remarkable.

We were surprised at being asked to bat first, as we had what on paper was a weak team and we thought this meant we were going to be skittled and the match be over in an hour. 

This was not the case, no sirree. Things started very slowly, with one of the Keyworth opening bowlers bowling seven overs for two runs, until one our first batter, having done an admirable job in seeing off these very good Keyworth bowlers, fell right at the end of the 14th over, at which point we had 15 runs on the board.

A remarkable partnership then developed between the other opening bat, the Owmby coach of our women's team, and the grandfather of our young opening bowler who was out there using my bat and in the process that it is me, not my bat, that is talentless.

The two of them out about 90, starting cautiously before unleashing an array of powerful shots around the wicket despite a very tricky pitch and the awful weather. After they were out, we did subside a bit when the opening bowlers came back on. 

But ask us before the game, we'd have taken 125 for 6, in fact we'd have bitten your hand off to the shoulder. 

The weather worsened. We went out to bowl. Could we do it? Could we pull off an improbable win?

Things started well. The aforementioned young opening bowler found his range very quickly and castled one of the openers, while others fell to the Keele captain LBW. There was a deflection run out - gosh luck really was running with us! 

Before too long, they were about 65 for 6. 

This is where our problems started. These lads did not panic; they knew what they were doing. They played straight. Meanwhile, we were running out of bowling - you could tell this as I was brought onto bowl.

50 runs needed, 45, 40. There was a brilliant run out before a young bat came on and started smoking us everywhere, including a mighty blow off me. The ball was like a bar of soap, it was hard to bowl, but the young opener snagged the big hitter to claim his fourth wicket! 30 runs, 25, 20. I was bowling as well as I could but one bad ball an over was costly, as was a batsman nicking one past the keeper's gloves. 

15 runs, 10. THe number ten bat managed to hit a coulpe of fours while looking like he didn't know what he was doing. Four runs to win, I floated one outside off stump, and got walloped for four. Scores level. 

I then agonisingly beat the bat with a beauty. 

However, he cross bat swatted the next ball for a single, and that was it. We lost. Winning runs scored off me. 

"Well that one was my fault" I said in the dressing room, hoping that the others would tell me it wasn't. 

They did.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 19.07.24

Terrible Weather but Still things to See

 Well, this summer is an absolute stunner, isn't it? The last few days we've had occasional sightings of a hazy looking round yellow thing up in the sky, only for a wave of heavy cloud to immediately cover it over and deposit a large amount of water on the saturated ground. 

I've been cycling to work most days in a very fetching bright yellow disposable poncho, which I'm finding to be indisposable. Despite the odd tear it now sports. 

Still, when there isn't rain, there have been some very pretty creatures on the wing, most notably the patchwork leaf cutter fee that visited my just about open gazanias I bought from the market. 

Down in the library gardens I've come across yellow legged mining bees and large numbers of vestal cuckoo bumblebees, while at work, there are small skipper butterflies on the thistles and endless ragwort that covers the badlands next to the cycle path. 

Even saw a muntjac deer down there the other day. 

In short, there are still things to see, but I would imagine they are as fed up as we all are.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 16.07.24

Red Kites at Ropsley

 An unusual game on Sunday, as it was for Upton rather than Newark. No-one was interested in playing for us, so our game was cancelled and the third team captain and myself were able to snare a game with the good burghers of Upton, a club which we call our second home this year after the flooding. 

The last two games I had played in, including a horrible defeat to Keyworth the day before, had been so horrendous that I couldn't bear to write about them. I didn't bowl, and I can't remember the last time I hit the ball with my bat. 

Having toyed with the idea of forgetting cricket and moving to a Tibetan monastery, I did turn out for this game over in the very pretty village of Ropsley, the other side of Grantham. My sister and I were delighted to see it was red kite country, and before and during the game a couple of these magnificent raptors flew low over the ground. .

The Ropsley Baboons, for t'was their name, were rather less majestic as it turned out. Like the Upton lads a very nice bunch of chaps, they found dealing with our bowling very tricky, aided by a similarly tricky wicket. Our early bowlers, a couple of whom turn out for us on a Saturday, soon started cutting through the top order, followed up by the third team captain who took two wickets before being taken off for being too good. 

I even got a bowl myself, castling one of their younger bats second  ball, before bowling a gentle spell of tight control against rather more "mature" batters. Even let my old quicker ball go, and it was even straight. 

Sadly, it was my partner at the other end who grabbed the last couple of wickets, so I ended up with four overs 1 for 2. 

It was then time for me not to worry about batting, as we coasted to victory, overhauling Ropsley's 55 all out in about 16 overs before retiring to a lovely pub in the village for a few beers!

Made me feel good about playing cricket again, which will probably last until I play Keyworth again on Saturday. 

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 12.07.24

A Magnificent Beast

 I was just walking along next to this coral berry hedge, when I was alerted to this fluttering commotion low down among the leaves. 

What on earth was it? I swear I thought it was a bat initially, although what a bat would be doing crashing about in a shrubbery in daylight was beyond me. But, I do have half a brain, and was able to work out reasonably quickly that what I was looking at was some kind of hawk moth. 

I watched it carefully, taking hold of my cameraphone, and praying it would settle where I could get a photograph. 

It did. 

It wasn't ideal, being somewhat tucked away, but slow as a sloth and holding my breath, I got as close to it as I could. It was a poplar hawk moth, one of the commoner hawk moth species, but not one I've ever seen in glorious reality. 

It was a magnificent beast, probably disturbed by something from its sleeping place and looking for another one. It let me take a couple of shots, peaceful and still, and then I left it to its rest. 

What a thrill it was to see it! Totally made my day. Seeing something you've never seen before is always exciting, but somehow to see this creature was more than that. 

Hope you like it.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 09.07.24

Under a Collingham Cosh

 Saturday saw our third team playing at Upton once again, this time against Collingham's third team complete with the familiar figure of my stepfather's next door neighbour who it has taken me several years to get to play against.

Against expectation the weather was good, and the ground looked immaculate. I was thrilled to see not just one red kite, but a pair, who appeared before the game and graced us with their presence at various times throughout the afternoon.

"Can you eat them?" asked our resident geographer, unimpressed. 

There were kestrels and loudly keening buzzards around too, although the question of their culinary status never arose. I'm glad other players did turn out to share my interest in nature. Well, one did, anyway.

As is customary it seems, we bowled first in a 36 over game, and Collingham's senior bats, one of whom was the first profoundly deaf player I have played in a match with, made a fast start and it took a while for our captain and the Keele captain to find their rhythm and start taking a few wickets, at which point we dragged ourselves back into the game. Our young opening bowler, after having been clattered a bit in his opening spell, came back well later to take three wickets.

The captain noted "If I don't give you a bowl you will be moaning about me in your blog", so I did get three overs at the end. It went ok-ish, as I tried to bowl of a straight approach to avoid dragging the ball down, but for some reason I bowled my first no ball in ages and so a catch off me didn't count. One bad ball got flogged for four by a young bat, who in truth we hadn't bowled well at, and Collingham closed on 159-9. 

We had a bit of a makeshift side, so that looked probably a few too many forus to get, and it quickly became clear that Collingham's bowlers were going to be far more accurate than us on a wicket where it was hard to score. We lost the geographer and his son early as the aforementioned next door neighbour nabbed a couple of wickets with his left hand medium pace loopy stuff. The other opener stood form, but scoring was very difficult, especially when a young speedster came on and ripped through our middle order.

The captain was the only bat who could really handle him, and he used the extra pace to show us some classical front foot driving, but alas he couldn't stay in.

Back in my usual number 11 spot, or rather 10 as we only had 10 players, I went in with the game well and truly gone, nervous as hell after four consecutive ducks - they should call me Audi, like they did Alan Mullaly back in the day - but reasured by the Upton captain, who just told me to relax and do what I could.

I managed to score one run, but that was it, as my partner was out shortly after. 

All in all, a pretty heavy thrashing, but it was a really enjoyable game and I didn't mind too much. I thought, stupidly, that Sunday would go better...

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 03.07.24

All flattering references to the captain are there to ensure he might let me bowl again one day

The Golden Small Skipper

 Areas of our verges at work look like alpine meadows at the moment. Who'd have though such run of the mill plants as self heal, hawkbit and white clover could create such an arresting sight. 

The bees and bumbles are, of course, loving it. 

Various species of thistle are also in flower, and it was upon one of those that I came across my first close view of a small skipper this summer. It was cool this morning, and grey as my cooking, hence the little butterfly, a little golden paper dart, was still enough to allow me to get some good photographs. 

After a bad start to the year for flutterers, it is good to see a fair few of them around now. Fairy tale burnet moths are also up now, but keeping their distance.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 02.07.24

Those which Buzz and Flutter

 We've had a week of better weather, days where the heat has even been causing the Great British Public (TM) to moan. 

It usually takes two or three days for that to happen. 

This means there has been a lot of pollinators and other beasties on the wing, and I've been trundling about poking my camera into occasionally sharp and stingy things to try and find some beautiful things to show you. 

We are just coming out of the June gap, where the first flight butterflies of early spring are done, with the appearance of meadow browns and ringlets in decent numbers, far greater numbers than the early season flutterers. Among bees, a lot of the mining bee species no longer seem to be about, but there are plenty of honeybees and differing bumble types. 

Swifts scream above my flat daily, and in rural areas juvenile swallows are being fed on telegraph wires. House martins twitter too, with their stubby bodies and white rumps. A third of the Summer has gone.

And it has gone so fast.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 28.06.24