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My first outing as Blagdon Skipper has certainly been an adventurous affair! What started out as a bit of a learning curve for me (only one game won out of the first four), somehow turned out rather well with ten or so wins on the bounce, which took Blagdon into the Finals. Big wins against Bedminster and Failand securing our place in the top 2 of the league.

I have been very lucky to be able to choose from a number of old (and new) Blagdon players and everyone has in their way contributed hugely to the success we enjoyed yesterday.

Being a Skipper yesterday was an easy task - with 3 regular skippers in the team (Wessy, Byo and Huddy), I was never short of advice. Plus with a team of (apart from myself) excellent all-rounders, we went into the matches knowing we had a very good chance of winning.

The first game was crucial, playing Portishead who had only lost 1 league game in 20, we knew we had a tough game. Winning the toss, I had no hesitation in batting first. Getting a score on the board and then applying the pressure with our accurate bowling attack. Good knocks from Wessy and Byo (19 each) put us in a strong position, however with no men in the hutch with 25, we scored a competitive, but not to convincing 80. Our bowling had to be good.......and it was! A useful contribution from Smalls plus (who was a little unlucky) and superb bowling from Byo, Wessy and Huddy made their batsman panic and take on some mad runs which resulted in no less than 4 run-outs. They ended 12 runs shy of their target.

Then to the final........

Against the Avon Pakistanis, who surprisingly beat Bedminster in the other Semi, once again the Skipper made himself useful and won the toss again. No hesitation - we were batting first!. Things didn't get off to a good start as Byo was out for a duck on the forth ball of the first over (dubious bowling though, perhaps 3 out of the 4 were no-balls). But a cracking partnership from Wessy and Smalls, helped by the very generous bowling who gave away no less than 43 extras, put us in a very strong position. Good 'nudging' from Boardy, who has obviously forgot the delicate art of 'smashing', and a fantastic knock of 23 (from 11 balls) by Huddy, enabled us to get to the ominous position of 111 in our 12 overs. A nervous start ensued as Small's first over went for some 'tap' but then 2 back-to-back wickets saw the dangerman Imran go and then Irfan to a brilliant 1 handed Boardy special. Byo and Huddy continued their excellent line-and-length bowling and the game was quickly falling away form them, and was finished off by a comical and suicidal run-out. A comfortable win by 56 runs.

The cup was presented to a delighted Buckers by Tim Hancock. Buckers, of course, had no idea who Tim Hancock was........but I am sure that sentiment was mutual!

I would like to thank personally every player who contributed to this success for Blagdon. A special mention to Wessy who is my batsman of the competition scoring a total of 340 runs at an average of 42.50, and to Byo and Huddy whose bowling throughout has been exemplary.

All the best boys, and thank you again for making my first go at Captain such a memorable one.

Buckers
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The day started at 1.30 with the semi final between Bedminster and Avon Pakistanis. Bedminster batted first and scored 78-4 in their allotted 12 overs with Darren Weeks top scoring with 19 and Fiaz taking 2-11 for the Pakistanis. The Pakistanis reached the victory target with just one wicket and one ball to spare thanks to 27 from Imran. The full match stats can be viewed here.

The next match was our semi final against Portishead. We batted first and scored 80 all out with Wessy and Byo top scoring with 19 each. We then bowled out Portishead for 68 in the last over with Wessy (1-13) and Byo (1-17) being the only wicket takers. The full match scorecard can be viewed here.

The third match of the afternoon was the third place play off between Bedminster and Portishead. Bedminster batted first and scored 82 all out with Darren Weeks top scoring again with 29. R Iles took the remarkable figures of 5-15 for Portishead with his second over being a triple wicket maiden!! Portishead were then dismissed for 70 in reply with A Thomas scoring 28 and Jim Carter taking 2-7 for Bedminster. The full match stats can be viewed here.

The last match of the day was the final between us and Avon Pakistanis. We batted first and scored an impressive 111 all out with Huddy top scoring with 23 and Wessy (22) and Smalls (12) also scoring useful runs. We then bowled out the Pakistanis for just 55 in the eighth over with Huddy being the pick of the bowlers with 2-3 and Byo (2-17) being the other wicket taker. The full match scorecard can be viewed here.

You can view a picture of Buckers being presented with the trophy by Tim Hancock here and a picture of the team with the trophy here.
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