Some photos from the end of season tour to Alderney.

Saint Saviours lost to Corinthians.

Saints batted first and were skittled for 109 on a slow, wet pudding. The pitch dried, and Corinthians knocked the runs off comfortably.

Very disappointing result, but nevertheless something of an achievement to get to the final. Will win it next year.

From George:

Here’s the C team report up to 2nd June which I hope will be ok.

The 3rd team’s season started on 26th April with a 16 overs evening game against Corinthians. Batting first they managed to scrape together 73 for the loss of 8 wickets thanks only to Gavin Rudge with 36 not out. Corinthians knocked the runs off for the loss of one wicket in 12 overs.

The next game didn’t get any better losing by 46 runs to Griffins. Having restricted them to 100 for 9 off 16 overs, John Vaudin 3 for 24, Graham Garland 2 for 14, the batting didn’t click ending on 54 all out.

The story continues with another tale of wow this time against Vagabonds. They batted first scoring 115 for 7 off 16 overs, John Vaudin 3 for 22, but couldn’t chase it down being all out fo 79 in the 14th over.

However, things did have to get better. On 20th May we turned up with only 7 men, the sum total available on a Friday evening, to face Cobo Legends who only had 9 men. As the skipper was away, John Purdy captained the side and set about scoring a magnificent 109 off just 50 balls. Peter Bruges helped himself to 58 as they put on 180 for the first wicket, the innings ending on 186 for 4, all wickets falling in the 16th over. Cobo put up a good fight but fell short by 33 runs for the loss of 4 wickets. A victory at last.

The following week the skipper was still away so could there be another victory. Of course there could. Batting first against Irregulars we managed 102 for 6 in 16 overs, Mark Stenner 39, Pieter Robinson 35 not out. Didn’t seem enough. Well it was. Needing three off the last ball they only got one to end on 101 for 9, Andrew Maiden 4 for 19, Russell McDonald 3 for 27. A victory by one run. The skipper can stay away a bit longer.

But the skipper is back for the game on 2nd June against Deloitte. Put in to bat we managed only 107 for 9 off 20 overs thanks to Steve Ward’s 44 and to the opposition’s two Asian bowlers taking 3 wickets a piece.. They knocked the runs off in the 16th over to win by 6 wickets. Oh dear, the skip just can’t get it right. He’s soon to be away again so is that a good omen.

GCA Bowl, 05/06/2011
Irregulars: 136/9 Jones 5/16, Narayanan 2/30
Saints: 137/3, Romeril 47*, Brock 37

Saints followed up their first match win with another convincing victory over group leaders Irregulars at the KGV. A constant drizzle always threatened to curtail the game, but fortunately it never got strong enough to lose any cricket. Bowling first, Saints experienced a peculiar from a two-paced two-bounce pitch, which was recovering from a weekend of GPL action. Doddy at the top end struggled to extract any sort of pace or bounce, whereas Fezzle from the bottom end was unplayable, with good wheels and plenty of carry. Saints battled through the conditions as the ball quickly lost any shine and absorbed several gallons of water. Frequent rag work didn’t relieve it of a sponge like consistency. The conditions eventually allayed slightly, and as the pitch dried ever so slightly, the bowlers found a bit of action.

Playing in his first game of the season, Dave Jones was the pick of the Saints bowlers, finding a nagging line and length and creating chance after chance. The 5fer he managed was well deserved, although had a couple of other decisions, stumpings and catches gone to plan, it could have been more. Sean Romeril also found some unplayable turn, ripping the ball off the tops of the mud deposited on the track. Saints took regular wickets, whose bowlers were backed up by some quality fielding from Chris Hurley and Ron Weasley. At 90/9, Irregulars looked down and out. But a last wicket partnership of 40, as half the Saints side succumbed to the previous night’s beers, saw them bat out their overs. But 136 never looked enough. And it wasn’t.

Sean and Brocky opened up and despite the rain having increased and turned the pitch into a veritable chocolate filled mud bath, were rarely troubled by some average bowling and fielding. Saints kept well ahead of the 3 and a smidge run rate, as Brocky rattled up a quick 37 before a heave went wrong. Young Luke Pattimore was undone quickly, but DJ joined Sean and they got Saints within sniffing distance. An ugly attempted moo saw DJ1 bowled allowing DJ2 to take Saints to the glory, seeing it home with Sean. Sean ended on a superb 47* – the man is literally a run machine at the moment.

Saints will be disappointed to have not secured a full 20 points, but with this sort of team and form, a spot in the semi finals looks very likely.

07/06/2011
Rovers 192/9, Betley 3//32, Savage 2/24, Farish 2/44
Saints A 112/8, Tapp 34, Good 28

Saints A lost by 80 runs.

A pleasant evening at Port Soif saw Saints take on league leaders Rovers. Asked to bat first, Rovers started in imitable fashion, with the first ball going for 4, and very little respite for the next 4 overs, by which time they had reached 80 without loss. Spenny and Fezzle struggled with a strong cross-pitch Port Soif breeze giving Goodie a real workout behind the stumps. Wickets came as a miserly Ishy and Scrappy pegged them back, and although they continued to hit freely, the run rate slowed up considerably. DJ2 had a rough introduction to Div 1 cricket after tweaking his shoulder after a couple. Everyone chipped in with wickets, Fezzle a couple, Scrappy a couple and new sign youngster Kitt Betley bowled superbly and was rewarded with three wickets, with thanks to some good catching from Uncle Fezter. Fielding was good, with some good commitment from Tappy, Kitty and Ishy in the field. What might have been a 200+ target was restricted to 192, with the extras worth a telling 24 to the total.

Saints’ reply struggled to get going. Faced with a run rate of nearly 10, for any chance of forcing a win there was little choice but to go for it. RV found the middle of the edge and top edged a ball straight down fine leg’s throat, which on any other pitch would have sailed over for 6. Brocky looked in good touch again but an ugly wipe undid his previous good work and was bowled for 15. The star of the show was young Tapp, who batted sensibly and creatively for 34, the scoop up and over the wicket-keeper a particular highlight. Goodie gave him some fine support later in the innings, himself powered to 28, but the rate was always likely to escape them. Fezzle did his best later on, smashing his first ball out of the ground for 6, but finishing on 112 saw Saints finish 80 short of what was always going to be a tough challenge against a very strong side made up of at least 6 GPL players.

Saints B results

26/05/2011 Saints B 150/6 lost to Corinthians 160/3 by 10 runs
03/06/2011 Saints B 119/7 lost to Rovers B 173/7 by 64 runs
08/06/2011 Saints B 104a/o lost to Griffins 150/8 by 46 runs

Saints C results:

02/06/2011 Saints C 107/9 lost to Deloitte CC 108/4
06/06/2011 Saints C 106 a/o lost to Jazz Hats 110/3

Saints C: 102/6, Stenner 39, Robinson 35*
Irregulars B: 101/9, Maiden 4/19, McDonald 3/27

Saints C won by 4 wickets.

Saints A: 186/4, Purdy 109, Bruges 58
Cobo: 153/4, Vaudin 2/26

Saints A beat Cobo by 6 wickets. Cracking knock Purds – 109 off 40 balls!!

St Pierre: 141/7, Savage 3/23, Narayanan 2/26
Saint Saviours A: 145/4, Brock 52, Tapp 40*

On an evil night down at the Soif, Saints A looked to build on the previous week’s win with a fixture against St Pierre. Saints’ policy of not selecting Island players means that the team has gelled and is working well together, an issue for St Pierre having lost a couple of key players to Island nets.

Batting first, St Pierre got off to a blazing start, with 20 up off the first two, and continued to make the most of the best conditions of the night and were soon 50 up for no loss. Arguably they should have lost a wicket on the second ball, as a rising Dodd delivery had the batsman in all sorts, but DJ just failed to hang on to a forward diving catch. However, a double change of bowling to Ishy and Fezzle Dizzle did the trick – a genius fielding change moved Spenny wider to cow corner – only for the very next ball to go straight down his throat. Fezzle, who had been struggling in the the gale force winds at the pavillion end, speared in a waist high leg side full bunger which the batsmen gleefully smashed straight to Brocky, waiting at at a deep leg gully. There was some resistance as they tried to force the pace, but even with some sloppy fielding, Saints pinned them back and denying boundaries. All manner of stops were used as Saints committed themselves, including a glorious cover drive off the middle of Ishy’s shin, that stopped a certain four. Wickets continued to fall, including three for Scrappy and a brace for Ishy. St Pierre finished 141/7 off their 20, albeit 30-40 more than it could have been had the fielding been as good as previous games.

Saints took to the field in the seriously deteriorating weather, the wind was horizontal with a continuous drizzle. When rumour spread that the oppo might have settled for a point each, little consideration was given to it as Brocky went in like a man possessed and proceeded to smash it to all parts of the ground. RV and Kitt did the honourable thing and gifted a couple of wickets to former Saint Saviour Marty Baxter. The direction of the innings continued to slip back and forth and by 80 odd for 3, nothing was certain. But when Olly Tapp joined Brocky, he played the perfect innings for the situation. Needing just less than a run a ball, he pushed, nurdled and placed the ball, with delicacy and aplomb. Brocky finally fell for a well-earned 52, punting a wide one to about the only player on the field who seemed capable of actually staying on his feet in the ice rink conditions, let alone actually catching it. Goodie joined Tappy and both ensured the win, by seeing it through to the end with more than 2 overs to spare.