Jollyboys Home To Wyre On 02/05/2013

1st May 2013 Home To Wyre

Well here we are again at the start of the 2013 season with our first away game.. at our home ground ! (that's the beauty of having the same home ground as the opposition - ed.)

Things start well for us this year too as Dave wins the toss and we elect to bat. Unsuprisingly the wicket performs true to form with the ball alternately staying low, taking wicked turns or flying up into the air but some good batting sees us end our innings with a very respectable 129 for 9 with Ian and Baz carrying their bats and with Ogs high scoring with 39.

Wyre have definitely come to win though and some good batting sees them steadily creep up on our total. Until Ian pulls out the stops with a magnificent hat trick which takes the steam right out of Wyres efforts. After this some truly parsimonious bowling sees us entering the last over with Wyre needing 9 to win. It comes down to birthday boy Ogs to bowl the deciding over and he's as cool as a cucumber as it goes right down to the last ball where Wyre end up needing 5 to win. But the final delivery is a good 'un and we end the game narrow winners to take our first victory of the season !

Suprisingly it's a good early turn out with not only Jol arriving on time but with the whole of team Foley to boot !	After a quick draw of the cards it's Dan and Tom who have the honour of opening the first innings of the season with Tom having the pleasure of taking the first ball.
Unfortunately though the low evening sun means that ther are not many usable pictures from the first few overs (should have moved around out the direct line of the sun - ed.) so here's the best picture we have of Dan who managed a quick 11 before he succumbed to a wicked delivery.	Whilst the action starts to build out on the wicket "uncle" Jol takes it upon himself to entertain the youth squad.
Sadly Tom only manages a quick single before he returns to the pavillion giving POweely his chance to take to the crease and Ogs to go out to square leg.	Out at the crease Powelly is finding it difficult to get off the mark.
Botheration. Once again the ball performs a "Cottam Hall special" bounce and Powelly's gone for the first duck of the season. One thing's for sure it won't be the last !	Ian however is seeing the ball a treat and he's started to move the innings along nicely.
Having moved out of the line of the direct sun we manage to capture a lovely long shot of the pavillion and the evening's cloud cover. Everyone looks so far away !	in complete contrast here's one for the nature fans as we capture an action shot of a low flying bee celebrating the EU ban on neonicotinoids with a fly past of the outfield.
Back at the wicket birthday boy Ogs couldn't "bee" happier (oh good grief - ed.) as he starts to build a nice little partnership with Ian.	In fact Ogs batted so well that we had to include another action shot from his splendid innings !
With Ogs having retired after getting 25 it's Jol's turn to bat where he starts off by getting his eye in with some good defensive shots.	Hooray ! Here comes "Carpet" Col just in time to catch the buildng excitement of the Jollys innings.
Well he took slightly longer than Ogs but in comes Ian after retiring on 25. So that's 2 atsmend waiting to go back in for the Jollys.	With the sunlight glinting off his bat Dave manages to put on a quick fire 6 before another low delivery takes hiw wicket. Once again the Cottam Hall wicket show why it's known as the "Palace Of Radom Bounce".
"Club pro" Jol managed to hit a good couple of fours before he too succumbs to a wicked delivery and is sent back to the pavillion having scored 8.	In comes "Cockney" Stu who sensibly leaves one that started off on target but suddenly veered off well wide.
A few balls later Dave has gone for 6 and Stu has gone for 4 so in comes Baz who carries on where he left off last season - eventually carrying his bat for 11 not out !	Thankfully nobody managed to photograph your humble scribe who joined Powelly in the duck club (at least POwelly faced more than 2 balls -ed.). Having run through the order this does at least mean that Ogs returned to bat where he managed to accumulate a magnificent 39 before being bowled.
Despite Wyre's best efforts Ian and Baz manage to see out the overs so we end the innings on 129 with Ian having scored 30 not out and Baz managing 11 not out.	Sadly there were no pictures taken of us in the field but Ian took a magnificent hat trick which completely took the wind out of Wyre's sails. So despite it going down to the last over we manage to prevent them from overtaking our total and we leave the field having won this season's opener !
Once again tradition takes us back to the Old Town Hall where Des has provided another magnificent tray of sandwiches !	And just when we thought it couldn't get any better Ogs arrives with the remnants of his truly spendid birthday cake ! If this is anythng to go by it's going to be a good season for the Jollys :)