Morgan bats Six & Four

Middlesex 210 for 3
lost to
Essex Eagles 211 for 4
by 6 wickets

T20 Blast, South Group

Thursday 16 August 2018

Played at Lord's

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Partly futile. Neither of these two Counties can qualify for the Quarter Finals. Fourteen games per County. Day in. Night out. To lose just ten Counties. And, the same fucking groups & grounds year in, year out.

But, partly proves the point as well. No official gate as far as I can see. The BBC London commentator guessed it at North of 22k.

The comedy was provided by England's no anthem singing, White Ball skipper, Irishman Eoin Morgan. I wish I'd kept the Bat Audit. I think he's gone out with one. Bust it. Got a replacement. Hit a few with that. Didn't fancy it. Called for another. SIX were brought out. He's poo pooed all fucking SIX. A major bat search has been instigated. Manufacturers have been contacted. Craftsmen have been put on overtime. Another FOUR have come out. (I can't swear that some of the four weren't also in the six - I ain't got a Venn Diagram). He's settled on one of them.

With one bat or another he's done eight sixes & two fours in a 38 ball 77. Don't ask me what a sensible score is. You can get owt & chase owt. Often it'll come down to our old friend - make 14 off the last over. Not tonight mind. Done with four balls to spare.

As I continue to find a path after placing in the Brewdog Beer Geek Awards, I did another Brewery today. German Kraft in Mercato Metropolitano, Elephant & Castle. A very intriguing mish mash of food & drink shops & outlets. Lots of beer around. The kit is shiny. To that I can testify.

I had Hopfen Kiss on keg at 5.4%. I couldn't get the exact provenance. But, it tasted very Hopfenweisse to me. Whatevs. Glorious. Excellent. Hopping is spot on. Mouthfilling, but not overpowering. Bursting with flavour.

696/1458

Bowl Straight

Yorkshire Vikings 259 for 7
beat Essex Eagles 234 all out
by 25 runs

One Day Cup Quarter Final

Played at Chelmsford

Thursday 14 June 2018

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There was a lot going on in that game. England white ball ODIs, India Test v Afghanistan & suspensions for ill discipline had deprived both teams of key players. It looked to me like the pitch kept low & there was little carry. That said, before the off, on paper, you'd have said Yorkshire were going to rely on a still powerful top & middle to power to a score. And the bowlers defend it.

Well, that didn't go exactly to script. Kohler-Cadmore & Brook gone at 5 for 2 inside two overs. Lyth & Tattersall both went with the score on 45 in the 11th over. But, there's power, experience & nouse. Ballance & Leaning rebuilt & put on 129. Leaning was out at a still barely defensible 188-6 in the 42nd. The final 49 balls brought 71 from Bressy & The Fish (259).

And, then, FFS, back to Plan A. Who knew? Bowl straight. Energy in the field. Chase owt. That just might work?

Just 26 runs inside 8 overs, when Cook went for a ridiculous heave & indeed a ho. Patto was under it for an age before the snaffle. With around half the overs gone, Bopara went at 89 for 5. Fisher bowled 9.1, the others the full ten.
Fisher 32
Patterson 36
Bresnan 47
Coad 50
Carver 65

Lyth dropped an easy round the corner paddle to deny Captain Patterson a five for. Simple, energetic & consummate bowling performance. It did ebb a bit. A bit of rebuild, some biff. But, Essex looked behind it for a long period.

I headed for one Chelmsford bar. It looked closed (noon). Fucking Amateurs. I saw another one across the street. It looked closed (noon:01). It weren't. The wonderful Hop Beer Shop. One room shop front. Some shelves. Some bottles. The cask, gravity, in a little windowed chiller room off to the side, nominally four on.

Wibblers Brewery, Triple NNN on gravity at 4.6%. Very fruity up top. Apricot maybe. The bittering comes in fast. Pumpclip has it Dry Hopped. Lots of flavour. Keeps coming at you.

672/1395

Plunkett, Serious Wheels

Yorkshire Vikings 252-9
beat Essex Eagles 232 all out (47.5 overs)
by 20 runs

Thursday 26 August 2015

Royal London One Day Cup
Chelmsford

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An old haunt. The Ale House. In the railway arches under Chelmsford station. I love this place. Marvin the Innovator on the sounds. Move On Up. (at 1125am). 12 on cask. One pukka keg. A few Germans on keg. Spoilt for choice.

Hopcraft, The Party Line on cask at 5.1%. Tastes great first up. Slightly too warm. Suspect not pulled through.  Very pale in the glass. Some apple in the taste. Gentle bittering. But, that grows a bit. Gets to all your tastebuds.

By The Horns, Stiff Upper Lip on cask at 3.8%. Perfectly OK. But it felt a bit identikit golden ale. Nothing there for us Bitter Bullies. Nice sugar on the lips without dominating.

A reasonable set up in the Members Bar, They had; Shepherd Neame, Master Brew, Kentish Ale 3.7%, Shepherd Neame, Spitfire 4.2%, The Faversham Steam Brewery, Pale Ale 3.9%. And some Whitstable Bay kegs. It got a bit tasty in that little section of benches in front of the bar and below the Player’s Balcony. Over to my right, two small groups of blokes had a little “leave it he’s not worth it” standoff. Quite sedate.

You’ve got a small ground, and a reasonably large crowd. The geography means people can’t/won’t stand in front of the windows. So, they push ever further to the left. Hard up against the path on which the players enter & leave the field & right under the Essex bit of the Balcony. Inevitably, it becomes a bar overspill, drinkers area. Unfortunately, as Essex fall away towards the end, some people vent their fury on batsmen returning to the Pavilion & the players & staff above them. Of course, in turn, they feel it necessary to lean over the Balcony, stare & even exchange words with Paying Punter. Never gonna end well that.

Fan Boy Me went over there at the end to shout “well played Liam, superb” as they came off. Not to cause trouble you understand. Just because Liam played well & was superb.

Enjoyed that. Never enough runs for the Vikings. Too many players out to steepling catches. Not a percentage shot that. Lusty, but sensible hitting at the end from Plunkett. The Fish also played his part. Staying there, helping with getting the strike at the right end. So, that’s at least got ‘em something to go at. And, they went at it. Wickets were always going to be important. So, they attacked a bit. And they kept the foot on. Longs spells to take the game deep.

Both teams were in control at different times. Essex were 95-2 at one stage. And 206-6 around 42 overs. But, once Foster & ten Doeschate had gone, they didn’t have much hutch left.  There were only two wides in the match & no No Balls. Serious discipline that from both teams. I was very pleased at the end.

193/401