September 2017
And so to the
month that should be the seventh but thanks to calendar reforms and the
invention of the
months of
January and February is now the ninth and why the same said reforms didn't run
to renaming September as November and October as December with 2 new months of
Undovember (November as was) Dodember (December as was) We don't know.
But this ninth
month that used to be seventh month has long been causing confusion across the
ages to the extent that the whole
palaver was once documented through song by popular Seventies combo Break Wind and Fire,
or possibly Ball of Confusion by the Temptations.
Longparish 1st XI
In the final
three games of the 2017 campaign Longparish slugged it out with the massed
ranks of Portsmouth & Southsea and Lymington for promotion from the top
tier of the Hampshire Leagues to the Southern Premier League. Sitting second,
all games remaining were a "must win" for Longparish.
The home tie
with mid table St Cross was a one sided affair in which St Cross batted first
and scored 144 for 9 with Alex Coetzee taking 3 for 20 from his 10 overs on a
track where par has been 250 all summer long. William de Cani and Ben Gardner
put on 123 for the 1st wicket before de Cani holed out for 55, Ben Gardner was
unbeaten on 73 as Longparish cruised to a 9 wicket win before drinks.
Away to bottom
of the table Sarisbury II next and second placed Longparish had high hopes of maximum
points and consolidation of their
promotion position, but a shower of Biblical proportions an hour before the
start left puddles on the pitch and the game was abandoned. Unfortunately
Portsmouth and Lymington II escaped the showers and both sides won easily, and in
a scenario reminiscent of Dixon
Bainbridge's heist of the egg of Mantumbi hopes of promotion rapidly dwindled
as Longparish slipped into third position without bowling a ball.
Longparish
needed to win their final game against Rowledge II and for results to go their
way elsewhere. The weather gods also "owed them one" and hopes were
high for heavy rain on Lymington II. The Rowledge game was won by 2 wickets
with 4 wickets for Scott Sturt and runs for Alex Coetzee at the bottom of the
order. But Lymington II won easily and Longparish were confined to third place
by the slimmest of margins.
A fantastic
return to the top flight of the Hampshire Leagues for Longparish after an
absence of 20 years. Thank you to Umpire Mikey O'Neil, Scorer Rachel de Cani,
Dawn Blackmore and Katrina Samways for the teas, and to everyone who has turned
out to support the side both home and away throughout a season that will live
long in the memory.
Longparish 2nd XI
The second half
of the Longparish II had been trashed by the weather gods (yes them again) and
five weeks passed without a competitive game.
They returned to
action in the penultimate fixture of 2017 with a home tie against Basingstoke
IV. Skipper Justin Jackman won the toss and chose to bat on a track where 250
has been par all summer long (I think we've got that - ed) Adam Lister
and Dan Bearpark put on 114 for the first wicket before Lister departed for a
stiff 52. Jamie Blackmore joined Bearpark and the pair put on an unbeaten 150
for second wicket with Blackmore unbeaten on 71 and Bearpark unbeaten on 106,
his maiden hundred, as Longparish II posted 264 for 1.
With a mid table
finish in County Division 4 a given, the away day to a super strong promotion
chasing Liphook & Ripsley II side was always going to be a tough ask. Callum
Giles top scored with 39 as Liphook & Ripsley secured their promotion place
with a 114 run win.
Longparish II
finished a creditable 9th out of 18 in County Division 4 in a frustrating
campaign that was heavily influenced by the weather.
Thank you to Neil
Bonathan for umpiring throughout the
summer, for the many people who have stood in as scorer (Longparish II need a
scorer, feel free to make yourself known if you fancy having a go, full
training will be given) Thanks to Di Blackmore,
Katrina Samways and Jo Giles for the teas and to everyone who has turned out to
support the side, both home and away.
Longparish 3rd XI
With three games
to go, Longparish III occupied 5th spot in Regional Division II North and were in with a chance of promotion.
Unfortunately
weather gods (yes, them again!) intervened.
Two of Longparish III's remaining games were abandoned allowing
promotion rivals, St Mary Bourne and
Laverstock to creep ahead.
A big win was
required in the final game of the season against Over Wallop, with a few
results going their way elsewhere for a second successive promotion for
Longparish III.
Over Wallop were
overwhelmed by 38 runs due in part to 6 for 11 for Ollie Coetzee, 43 for Sam
Gardner and an unbeaten 63 from the venerable George Kousseff as Longparish III
finished a fantastic fourth in their division. Thank you to everyone who donned
the umpire's duds, to Mr Dawson for scoring, to Jo Giles, Nicola Smith and Di
Blackmore for providing teas and everyone who turned out to support this fun
bunch of cricketers during their 2017 league campaign.
Colts Day
Was like much of
the second half of the season, lost to the weather. Thank you to the sponsors
of the Colt's Day, the money will now be used to provide colts equipment in
2018.
Fund Raising and Sponsorship
Well done to
Alison Allen for forcing sweets and snacks upon attendees at colt's games, the "Tuck
shop" raised the best part of two hundred pounds for club funds.
Presentation Evening
Is on Friday 15th September, Kindly hosted by The Cricketers
Inn the conversation begins at 7.00pm with food (Hog Roast with a few additions
plus an exciting bean based vegetarian pork free option) at 7.30pm Gongs will
be given out to those deemed to have excelled for the Longparish senior sides
during 2017. Tickets are £5 per person, everybody is welcome, friends, family,
hangers on, just let Julie Sturt julieasturt@aol.com
know if you intend to attend on the night as Chef gets a bit chippy when
numbers are fluid.
Ground
The man with the tractor with sharp bits at the back that
whizz round really quickly will arrive on the 21st of September. It's a
perennial task that is worth every penny and is the principle reason why, and
forgive me if I mentioned this earlier, the par score for most of the tracks is
250 all summer long.
The remainder of the ground will be put to bed on Saturday
23rd of September. All help welcome from 10.am to put the benches away and take
the nets down.
Survey
Clubmark and ECB Wallahs have been on, and apparently last
month's survey doesn't meet their requirements, so here goes with another one.
1. Do you feel safe at Longparish CC?
2: Do you feel healthy at Lonparish CC?
3: Do you feel equal at Longparish CC?
4: Do you feel able to go to the toilet at Longparish CC?
5: Do you feel able to park close enough to Longparish CC
if you are unable to walk very far?
6: Do you feel able to talk to someone about any of the
above should they not meet your requirements?
7: Do you feel able to attend Longparish CC if you can't
eat nuts?
8: Do you feel that the club should have a Media Centre
replete with Sky TV, fridge full of beer and cold cuts of meat?
9: Do feel that the club should have an underground car
park and large fountain with nymphs?
10. Do you feel that we should have a roof on the ground
to prevent the sky from falling on our heads?
11: Do you feel that you are able to make suggestions and
that your ideas are listened to?
Hundred
Club Draw - September
Thank you to everyone who wrote in with their font
of first choice to herald the winners of this month's hundred club draw.
A Mr R Charles of Georgia writes:
Georgia, Georgia, the whole day through, an just an old sweet font keeps Georgia on my
mind.
Georgia, Georgia, a font of you, comes as sweet
and clear as moonlight through the pines.
Other fonts reach out to me
Other fonts smile tenderly
Still in peaceful dreams I see
The road leads back to you
Whoaaa Georgia,
Thanks for that Mr Charles, Georgia is obviously
on your mind so Georgia it is.
£35 Tracey Tompkins £15
Will McDermott
£15
Dan Bearpark