 "I've been looking forward to this pint
all year" - Matt Balkwill obviously pleased to get the "Friday night is Blottery
Night" off to a good start. |
|
 Fixture
Secretary Extraordinaire shows the camera just one of the reasons
Cornwall is such a nice place. The Ponsmere Hotel actually had a half
decent ale on tap. |
 Tim
arrived at the Ponsmere before almost anyone else this year and, liking
what he saw, simply had to tell us all about it. Which most of us knew
anyway having only been there three times before. |
|
 Jowallika
was a regular on tour, and he attended each evening as well. In the
Ponsmere Bar perhaps it's only a matter of time before someone assists
him with his sense of direction. |
 "Do
you want to put your hand in my ballbag?" asks Tim. A fair question
actually, as the balls in question are for the Blottery, where all six
spells an unmitigated and intoxicated disaster. |
|
 The
nest day and we are on the way to Mount Hawke's ground near St. Agnes.
Adie Barrett's hat gets unusual support, in that we thought no-one else
would wear it. Gren it was, as green as most of us were that night. |
 Tim practises his stonewa...er, forward
defensive at Barripper. We scored just over 50 to win that game: in the beer match that
followed we were stuffed by loads. |
|
 Barripper
again, and here is Tim's opening partner Matt Balkwill. The quality of
the bowling was on the "cafeteria" side and it becomes easy to get
complacent. Still, Matt puts this one away with ease to the square leg
boundary. |
 In
the clubhouse at Mount Hawke's ground we always get a very hospitable
welcome. This year was the footy World Cup and somehow, somewhere, there
is always a screen for all to wince at.... |
|
 Mount
Hawke's gent who arranges our annual fixture owns a bit of a mad but
friendly dog. Was it coincidence that he and Dave Hurren got this close
so early in the tour? No, I'm not going there. |
 Umpiring
is not the most attractive part of cricketing which is a shame. Wally
goes out at Mount Hawke with a grin suggesting he
has something up his sleeve apart from his arm. |
|
 Dave
Hurren was put in to bat first at Perranporth, possibly as no-one else
felt good enough to do the job. He got his own back by getting bowled by
a corker. |
 Jay
Stephens in classic mode. A sturdy defensive technique in tandem with a
good eye for the break-free boundary is always a joy to watch -
especially when no-one else is capable of the same |
|
 The height of summer usually falls
when we tour to Cornwall. This video grab was taken on one the longest days of the year
when by chance, we just happened to be there. |
