Colonel Mustard, monocle at ease, lounging somewhat nonchalantly on his threadbare Chesterfield, eloquently puts down in sepia ink, with his favourite goose feather quill, the real reason why the Bays’ fortunes changed from part-time winners to full-blown heroes.
Division 3’s a strange place to be. A mere one below Division Tuesday and strangely just the one above Division 4 on Thor’s day. What is more, it’s two below Division 1, where I’ve heard there’s little fun. Division 3’s the place to be all right; it’s a place of sun and a place of sea and it’s the place for not just you, but also me.
Yes indeed, Wednesday is the day the indoor Bays does battle these days. The season of 2012/3 saw the Bays climb out of the bargain basement division with a glorious 10 out of 10! Since then the team has remained in Division 3 without any spectacular success. This season could have seen further progress up the league ladder, if it hadn’t been for a somewhat lacklustre start, where only 2 wins in the first 5 matches were registered. Since the start of 2022 however, the Bays returned a remarkable 5 wins on the bounce, sweeping aside all teams in the division, one after the other, to finish runners up!
Now as to reasons for the turnaround, you don’t have to look very far. The players are no longer rotunder! No, no, no, that should read, ‘The players are no longer Rotunda bound!’ Instead, after the match they make their way to The Lansdown Inn, where Ale of the Abbot is the ‘Neckoil’ dispensed. ‘What difference can this have?’ I hear you the reader whisper. Well, I’m not going to explain here, but let the results speak for themselves. Divine intervention from Bury St Edmunds, ‘believers’ may posit hopefully, but methinks it’s the ale ‘wot’ does it! (Not really an ale though – it’s beer, but beer worth drinking. And it’s not anything like the lagery nonsense that’s brewed these days. No it’s not a Sunbeam, Sunrise, Golden Haize or any such nightmare…)
To the game, without further prevarication and buffoonery! The first the players knew was the cry to field, by recently recovered captain and didgeridoo virtuoso. The balcony like a straining bladder, was full to bursting with Bays enthusiasts and of course a host of their officials. The Chairman himself, the Website Supremo and even the recently appointed Video Technician (with his phone & blue teddy clutched tightly) all took front row places on the rail. There was more razzamatazz here, than the Superbowl nonsense with all of its smoke, flashers, whizzers and sublimely dreadful and at the same time awful rappers. God’s teeth they should be horse-whipped! Then banned for life! Or even banneded – one terrible and monstrous step beyond banned!
Civil Service started steadily, making some 20 or so runs in the first couple of overs. At this point the Bays’ bowlers began strangling the runs out of the game. Henry Buckland scrapped his way to18, but was first to go, caught well off the side wall by Fran Stirrup, with the score on 22. Just one extra run was added before Leitch was caught behind by Steve Liley off Alex Van Dykes’ bowling. A Sugur was fired, run out in slow-motion by Alex Van Dyke, with the score now on 42. Fran caught and bowled Sam Bradford for a duck with just 4 more runs on the board. Vinay Sugur settled to score 24 off 23, before being caught by Alex, this time off a Glyn Bayley delivery.
Gerald Baker made 24 off 17 with two big sixes, to conclude Civil Service’s innings. His late contribution being a potential thorn in the Bays’ aspirations for five wins in a row.
The bowling attack of the Bays was once again led by Adi Rai who went for just 15. Glyn Bayley also tight, went for 17 and Alex for 22, but with 2 wickets.
Bayshill in reply were steady and well contained. 40 on the board before the first wicket. Horner made 21 off 14 with a six. Rai batted sensibly marshalling the score along cleverly, before retiring with 25 in his run bank. Bayley went for 3 off 2, with 67 on the scoreboard. Then with just 7 needed Fran went for 15 off the same. Alex in the meantime made 11 off 13 with a four and a six, before going with 5 needed. Steve Liley made 2* off four, with Adi returning to hit the winning runs, with two balls to spare. It could have been disaster if Adi’s drive for the back wall that went for four had been stopped or if he’d been caught. That would have left 5 needed off 3. But it wasn’t and the Bays left the field bathed in glory!
Well done to all Bayshill players who turned out for the club this year. Some excellent performances individually (see batting, bowling, fielding & keeping stats for Div 3), but the greatest achievement was by the team! Runners up in Div 3 – the highest finish for Bayshill CC, since competing in the indoor league since the late 1980s.
Only some 7/8 weeks now, to the beginning on the new outdoor season. If you want to have a look at the upcoming games then here’s the opportunity!