On the 22nd November the UWMCC made their way to Edgbaston to begin their defence of the National BUCS Indoor title. Two changes from last year’s squad saw Freshers Joe and Mihir making their BUCS debuts along with Skipper Goodyear, Rooty, Rhino, Bexson and scorer Turner. With some questionable tracks from Disco Rooty on the way up, the lads were ready for a long day of indoor cricket
Game 1 – Warwick bt. Worcester II by 74 runs
UWMCC began their defence against a rowdy Worcester II’s whose fans probably sank more units of alcohol over the course of the day than they scored runs. After winning an uncontested toss, Skipper Goodyear opted to bat and Bexson and Fresher Mihir opened up. The pair got off to a solid start, working the corners and running well between the sticks. Mihir (15) was the first to go with the score on 36 although a small collapse followed with Warwick slipping to 53 for 5, with Bex (20), Rooty (9) and Skipper Goodyear (0) all falling within the space of an over. It was left to Fresher Joe (22) and Rhino (22) to bat the overs and see UMWCC just past the hundred mark. The Worcester ‘chase’ never really got going – A mixture of disciplined bowling and senseless batting ensued as the oppo were bowled out for a dismal 27 with wickets shared between Rhino (2), Mihir (2), Rooty and Joe (1 each). A good start from the Warwick lads, 1 from 1 and straight back on for the next game vs BCU.
Worcester II’s player after being caught off the top net after slog sweep – “that was probably 6 outside though”
Worcester clearly not learning much from their cricket management degree
“enjoying their day out”, Goodyear, 2016
“what a waste of petrol money”, Randall, 2016
“bunch of Neanderthals”, Bexson, 2016
Game 2 – Warwick bt. BCU by 67 runs
With Goodyear winning his second toss of the day (legend), UMWCC would bat first again against BCU (complete with Rooty’s mate from up north) with instruction that at least 1 retiree was the target to allow a greater push at the back end of the innings. Bexon delivers, retiring with the score on 42-1 off 4 after Mihir (7) was run out by BCU’s version of darb Leverock.
Platform – set
Rooty – decides that UMWCC have started too well and employs a vast array of sweeps, reverses and drives, connecting with just one and scores 3 off about 42 balls
Rooty – couldn’t hit his mate for any runs
Rooty’s mate – winning mind games
Worcester II’s – calling Rooty boring, maybe they aren’t that drunk after all?
Warwick were now lagging a bit but with a man in the hutch, Goodyear had a licence to run hard and target the back wall. The losses of Rhino (6) and Joe (6) meant that Bex could return to the crease, only to be run out without facing a ball in his second knock. A final push from Goodyear (34) saw him run out with 3 balls to spare, with the score on 97 – another good effort from the lads. Only 4.4 overs were needed to bowl a sorry BCU out with Rhino (3-10) ripping the top order up, 2 run outs and Rooty (1-4) cleaning up.
UMWCC – 2 from 2
UMWCC – pumped
Rooty – boring chat about meeting up for a Christmas pint with his mate
Worcester II’s – chat getting worse
UMWCC – game off to sink shameless amounts of Haribo and Mowam
Turner – spamming twitter
Game 3 – Coventry bt. Warwick by 1 wicket
With a repeat of last year’s semi-final scheduled for the penultimate fixture of the day, both teams had looked impressive in their opening couple of games and knew that a positive result would see them go top of the group at this early stage. Goodyear won the toss again (unbelievable scenes) and UMWCC would bat first again against the Cov veterans. Warwick started badly, losing Bex (1) to a mistimed flick, Rooty (11) LBW and Joe (4) unlucky with a direct hit run out. At 27-3 Goodyear strode out and was struck on the pad first ball and was triggered for his second goldie of the day:
Goodyear’s LBW – Rogue
Only thing more rogue than that decision = Worcester II’s
All the while, Mihir was batting really nicely and just needed someone to stick with him as he and Rhino took the score from 27-4 to 63-5. Rhino (9) was caught chasing a wide one leaving last man standing Mihir (26) to sheppard UMWCC to 73 all out. It was a competitive score but UMWCC knew they needed some early wickets in order to force a result. Coventry flew out of the blocks with ex-Warwickshire CC scholar Zaman showing his class and retiring pretty sharpish. Rhino picked up the breakthrough and UMWCC slowly started to work their way through the Coventry line up, each bowler picking up a wicket and all of the lads fielding well.
Bexson – being called Draco by the loose Worcester Neanderthals
Draco – being encouraged to dab by the Worcester
With 3.4 overs left, the retired Zaman came back in with only 11 runs to win and 2 wickets in hand. He quickly slapped his first ball for six down the ground only to play a loose scoop which went straight up in the air as a scrambling Goodyear clung on. 3 overs, 5 runs, 1 wicket. What a game.
Cricket – Winner
With just 5 runs required from 3 overs, any cricket management student would understand that simply hitting the wall 5 times would be enough? Right? Well, that’s not how they do it in Cov. A drop and run into the side wall saw Goodyear have a shy at the stumps to win the game, only for the ball to ricochet off the stumps without knocking the bails off and going for an overthrow. Although the batsman was probably in, it was a risky run that could have seen the UMWCC lads snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. As it was, Coventry went on to sneak a 1 wicket win in what was the game of the day.
UMWCC 2/3 – still a decent day, may need a favour from Birmingham Uni
Lads – Gutted but happy with efforts overall
Zaman – Spotted in smack sweating it out downstairs
Worcester II’s – Sent