Story of two weeks..

Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment, full effort is full victory (Gandhi).

Bay Dragons celebrate today, two glorious weeks for both the XIs. The last week, both squads registered two records. Ist XI posted 343 against Undy & Magor and pulled off a 280 runs victory – which is our highest margin in Div 7 . 2nd XI posted their highest ever total of 267, against Upper Rhonnda 2nd XI.

This week, the sun continued to shin and pitches offered a bit of everything for batsmen and bowlers. 2nd XI, riding on the confidence from last game, took on a strong Llantwit Fardre 2nds. Winning the toss, we chose to bat first. Anmol & Uday gave us a flying start and we progressed at a decent run rate of 5 RPO until we lost Anmol.

In a typical Bay Dragons collapse, we were then down to 74-5. The short partnership between Ajay, Kashif and Syed 2nd XI to 125-7. That is when Taj came to the crease and partnering with Kashif, Sid and Chetan, gave the team a brilliant total of 194. Kashif played beautifully for his 28, Taj finished 25 not out, while Sid made important 19.

Having set a decent total, we knew our opposition had run scoring pedigree, so in our huddle, we promised to back our blowers and that if we do not get wickets, we will block the runs. On a hot and difficult day, we did that well, but we missed some chances too. Tom in particular had a chance dropped, which Skippy swears he heard someone say MINE 🤥🤥. I think we can safely put it down that as a drop against him – Sorry Tom!

In these spells, we have to commend the batting of Llantwit Fardre 2nds. The openers made a glorious stand of 79, before Uday struck the jackpot by taking the prized wicket of Mr Johns, who played with brilliance for his 41.

Uday came in as 5th bowler and he made the ball talk, like no one else. He registered his best ever bowling spell of 8 overs 11 runs and 4 wickets. His spell was the difference between victory and defeat yesterday, just as the brilliant batting stand by Taj, Kashif and Sid. I think how the team fought yesterday, everyone in 2nd XI is man of the match. Where we couldn’t take wickets, we blocked their run rate and in the end, the victory margin of 20 runs just shows, how close a finish this game was. Well done to 2nd XI for 2 smashing back to back wins and we take this confidence into next week.

Now, the Ist XI report from Patrick Lucas.

Another beautiful day at Blackweir Fields saw another victory for Bay Dragons 1sts, this time against Lisvane 3rds.

The Dragons lost the toss and fielded first, with Lisvane getting off to a solid start. But Pranay Manikonda, whose smooth, high action made the most out of some variable bounce in the pitch, striking twice in his fourth over.

Lisvane 3rds opener, Yakoob Maskeen, and number 4 Amar Wahid looked threatening, but spin brought the breakthrough, with Lokesh Bandi holding on at mid off as Wahid aimed to hit Rabbi Gulam over the top. Rabbi finished with great figures of 2-13 from 6 overs, also removing Lisvane skipper Jack Powell and bowling with his usual pinpoint accuracy and variation in flight.

Maskeen batted very solidly for 34, but was dismissed shortly before drinks by some quick thinking and perfect aim from Teja Peruka, who hit the stumps at the non-striker’s end from short third man to run the opener out. Abdullah Sohail and Zeshan Arif stuck it out through some brilliant bowling by Pranay and Loki, putting on 35 for the seventh wicket, but both were eventually bowled and the innings wrapped up for 138. Pranay was the pick of the bowlers, taking a superb 4-28 off 7.4 overs, although others, such as Teja, Loki and Stanley Frankcam, were unlucky not to pick up more wickets.

While 139 was not the largest target, batting conditions remained tricky with some balls keeping very low and others jumping up off a length. Opener Vedaant Bhandary nonetheless continued his imperious form, picking up any short balls and timing them perfectly to the boundary as he has done all season. He and Greg Landon got the Dragons off to a flyer, putting on around 70 in the first 8 overs, but Lisvane threatened to get back into the match once the partnership was broken, with Buwa Weragoda’s left-arm spin and Zeshan Arif’s pace proving particularly difficult to handle. Vedaant fell just short of his half-century, but his innings of 44 – the highest of the match – set Bay Dragons well on their way to their target. Wicketkeeper-batsman Patrick Lucas’s 19 not out included a very uncharacteristic six (top edge? Never…) and it was the perfect ending for Pranay, who strode to the wicket with the scores level and smashed his first and only ball through the covers for four, sealing a six-wicket victory.

After the first month of the season, our 1sts are challenging right at the top of division 7 of the South East Wales Cricket League, with three victories and just one defeat so far. Next week we will be travelling to Newbridge, looking for a third win in a row.

Season begins..

And Skippy returns…

It has been three years since we played a normal cricket season and some may have even forgotten what normal used to look like. But the good old game of cricket is back, with all its suspense, might and glory. No more masks, no more sanitisers and no more of the covid frustration.

The Cricket God has showered some sunshine on South Wales counties this week and we looked forward to a beautiful afternoon of cricket. Our selection for the squads presented us a different challenge earlier this year. For once, we thought we’d struggle to have enough members to field 2 full sides. However, we truly believe good things happen to good people and lo & behold, we suddenly recruited 10-15 new players in March, all hungry and excited to play cricket.

Having new members is an exciting time for every club, just as equally, it’s sad losing some long standing members. Those who have moved on, transferred, emigrated or hung their boots, we wish them all the best. To those who have joined, we can promise you a whole lot of cricket-excitment.

Our first games today were a double header against Vale CC 2nds & 3rds, facing our 1st & 2nd XIs in Home & Away fixtures. The 2nds were led by Skippy aka Syed. After losing the toss, we were put into bat. Martin and debutante Anmol started the innings with a solid partnership of 44, before Anmol got caught on the boundary.

Glimpses from today

Sai came in next and hit a quick fire 16, followed by Uday and Jay, who got out in quick succession. It was 72/5 when both Skippy and Kashif got in and steadied the ship by putting on 64 runs partnership. The tail wobbled and we ended up posting 144, which was about 10 runs shorter than where we wanted to be.

Foggy aka Khaleesi and Tom opened the bowling and ran through the opening spell with decent economy. Skippy and Kashif followed another tight spell but by drinks, Vale 3rds were looking good at 65/0

As soon as Paul, the opposition skipper got retired hurt, the remainder of their batsmen came in, played sensible and just did not give their wicket away. Bay Dragons changed their plans, which was, if wicket ain’t coming, let’s choke them by stopping runs. And we did that pretty well!

From 65/0 it took them next ten overs to reach 100. In this, let’s be fair, the ground too played a role too as both squads may have had double the runs, but as outfield was very grassy, it did make it harder. Throughout this period, the cheers, the roars, the “Come on Dragons” and bromance of supporting every single saved, was just out of this world.  Many well established squads don’t display the passion and enthusiasm, which we noted in this side with few debutants.

Uday and Sid gave us hope with an economic and wicket taking spell. And at this point Skippy brought himself back into the attack. They needed 44 off the last 10 overs and had 8 wickets. Both Uday and him partnered well to take the game to the last two overs. Yes, the last two overs.. It was 12 runs in 12 balls. Some brilliant dives from Tom and booting from Ajay, saved vital runs. We took it to the last over!

Five runs in 6 balls, maths was simple, hopes were high and Dragons were hungry. It just felt it could be out day. The nerves were obvious in both sides at this time. How often you get to see a bottom division nail bitter like this? Three balls into his over, the scorers gave the dreaded shout – you’re bowled out. What? How can that be? Were the obvious questions, but the reality was, he had already bowled his 8 overs and that is the maximum allowed. The scorers did not realise at the start of the over but we’ll done for them to spot it, as we too would not have wanted a controversial victory. The 5 minute drama was like some international or county game with solutions being discussed to the unusual situation.

It was agreed for scores to be reset to the end of the penultimate over. We had to get last over bowled by someone other than him. 6 balls, 5 runs, all over again. A meeting was had with our most economical bowlers Kashif and Sid. We backed up Kashif to throw the final over. On the very first ball, the swing of the bat was good enough to beat Tom’s defences and despite his valiant dive, the ball went across the boundary. The second one, on the dot, no run. The third ball was judged as a wide. The game was over and Vale 3rds won.

Games like this, remain in our memories for the entriety of our life. I was there, it was a tense game, we did so well. Many will remember it for many other reasons but I will remember it as one best games I have ever had the pleasure of playing, even though we lost. The camaraderie the spirit and involvement from everyone was outstanding. The seeds of victory have been sowed and I will not be surprised if this squad finishes in top 3 this year. Wishing you all a glorious season ❤️

IST XI – Update by Patrick Lucas

Both sides enjoyed a well-spirited and close encounter at Blackweir, where the momentum of the match ebbed and flowed before Bay Dragons eventually came out on top. It really felt like the first day of summer and was a great match to get the season started after both sides were rained off last week.

Openers Greg and Nayem showed determination to see off the new ball in tricky conditions, reaching 83-0 at the 20 over mark. Nayem went on to reach 55, registering the first Bay Dragons half century of this season. A couple of quick wickets fell shortly after drinks, bringing Loki to the crease. He made 83 in no time at all in a spectacular innings and smashed no fewer than 8 sixes, the biggest of which sailed down the ground, all the way through the trees and into the canal! Rabbi gave him excellent support, making an assured 30 including several perfectly timed fours through the covers. Ultimately Bay Dragons reached 226-7 off their 40 overs. Gareth Kelland was the pick of the bowlers, taking 3-31 including the wickets of Loki and Nayem.

Although 227 felt like a big target at the innings break, Vale got off to an absolute flyer, reaching 68-1 off their first eight overs. Opener JP Davies departed for 35 as new skipper Pyar Singh held onto a tough low caught and bowled, but number 3 Richard Humphreys continued to get after the bowling. His innings threatened to take the game away from the Dragons, with Vale ahead of the required run rate on 123-2 at 20 overs.

After Rabbi’s introduction into the bowling shortly before drinks, it became clear that slower bowling would be more difficult to get away, with his off spin and Vinay’s accurate wobble seamers beginning to build pressure. Rabbi’s 8-over spell went for only 25 runs, a standout in such a high scoring game, and he varied his pace and flight to great effect. His one wicket was crucial – that of Humphreys for 73 – and this began to swing the game in the Dragons’ favour. Ian Clewley kept Vale in it, hitting two sixes in an innings of 34, but after he departed, wickets began to fall regularly to Greg, whose spin earned brilliant figures of 4-16, and to Loki, whose pace was up when he returned to the attack for a second spell.

The final wicket fell to a second stumping of the innings off Greg, with the score on 204.
Bay Dragons’ fielding was very impressive throughout, and several spectacular stops both in the infield and on the boundary may just have added up to the eventual 22-run margin of victory. The way the boys kept their heads up and kept supporting the bowlers when things weren’t going our way showed that we are building a great team spirit so early in the season. Vale were a pleasure to play against, and we look forward to the return fixture later in the season.

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A year of hope

It has been a long, actually quite a long gap between this and my last blog. The reason for that has been the ever so long, depressive and sad year that 2020 turned out to be.

Sadly, many of our cricket colleagues saw this pandemic take away their livelihood and some even lost their battle against it. Over 3 million people got the virus and our whole lifestyle had to adjust accordingly.

There was little cricket if we look at the timeline it was played between (August & mid-September). By God, the month and half was crammed with so much cricket that no one could have guessed. The weather also turned out rather good for once. There were several great performances and some that a few of us would blame on COVID – and why not 🤭

There were no promotions or relegations this year for any club. All the games were played as a friendly tournament. It was very heartening to see the players coming out in their whites. There were no teas, some didn’t even get to play on home pitches and there was lots of sanitising for everyone to do, with regular 6 over breaks. For grassroots teams, remembering the balls each over is often a task without confirmation of square leg 😂, so well done to all who remembered the 6 over breaks. For senior passengers like me, those breaks were very welcome rest for our depleted stamina. Sadly, most of us did not translate that into big scores. Again, why wait so long when you can get out in style, playing a God knows what shot.🤭🤭

While write about last year, how can we miss that Elbow touches replaced the gentlemens handshake. Looks like this trend will continue in 2021 for safety too. Some chose to do aerial high fives, but nothing beats an elbow shake!We must also thank NatWest for their generosity, in how they helped grassroots clubs by providing sanitisers for players. There would be no shaking anything and no cricket without their magic liquid.

Above everything, what I saw this past year was the humanity and compassion resonating from the spirit of the game, no matter where it was played. People coming together, supporting each other, helping out with planning, logistics, health and safety, sharing resources and I must add, clapping for the NHS. This reaffirmed my faith in this beautiful game of cricket, as a gentlemens game. I stopped playing and started watching (cricket that is!). Cricket in South Wales put a strong show against Covid19 and blew it for sixes.

Our club rolled out three sides last year, due to the sheer interest of players. I would like to welcome Tom, Priyesh, Ankit, Harnoor, Michael, Nikhil, Karan, Sandeep and Vamsi. I hope you all have a glorious 2021, with a bounty of runs and wickets. The club will continue its 2 team structure and play the 3rd team as a friendly XI, picking up cancelled league fixtures, provided the availability looks as good as last year.

2021 is the 5th year for our little club. I have enormous amount of memories to look back on, including back to back promotions, winning our divisions being runners up, winning indoor leagues. I wish there was money in cricket like football – we could have all had a team curry for free 🤣. On a serious note, I would like to thank all founding members, most whom are still with the club in some capacity, for 5 glorious years. From a hard to forget naming ceremony in a frozen Llandaff Field park, to the lengthy discussions in the cafe, we sat, deliberated and here we are. I would like to raise a hand for Mike Dowers, Zubair Iqbal, Avinash, Taj, Sandy, Mubashir, Rabbi, Piyar, Ash, Kaleem and Abdul, for giving their service to the club. You will all have your well deserved *5 year medals* given to you at the next club gathering.

💡 The club did not have any Annual Awards or Club Evening, due to the pandemic and lockdowns. We do however look forward to a better year ahead and ofcourse, if life returns to normal, a Curry Day!

With all the progress made against fighting the pandemic, it’s looking more and more hopeful for this year to be better. We don’t know what it would be. We don’t know if same rule may apply for sanitising as last year, we don’t know how things would be in May. But we know one thing.. we love cricket and we will be out as soon as it’s safer to do so. We have hope and hope means to be able to see the light despite of being surrounded by darkness.

I wish you all a happy new year and may you all have your best cricket stats in 2021. Whatever you do, don’t lose hope ❤️.

Skippy

Chairman’s end of season message (2019)

The end of year is a unique time when there are celebrations across the globe. Whether it’s the Christmas spirit, festive break or the arrival of the new year, it all ends with hope, laughter and a loud bang of fireworks, to start the new year.

The beginning of the new year is also a unique time when preparations are made across the world. Whether it’s meeting objectives, targets, personal goals, everyone is spirited to achieve something.

We wish you all a very happy festive break and best wishes for the new year 2020!

Before writing up this year’s message, I read up what I wrote last year. Not just to get an inspiration, but to see where we are, based on what we said. There are areas where we have exceeded our expectations, there are areas where we are doing ok and there are some elements requiring improvement (more on this further down).

On reflection of how this year went on, we just need to look around ourselves, consider where we were at the start of the year and how we finished it. Let me open up my “great big book of everything…”.

After coming runners up in 2018, our 1st XI was going to be in Div 6, in 2019. However, due to single ladder divisional reshuffle, they ended up in Div 8. This was upsetting for a lot of senior players, with one or two deciding to leave or stop playing altogether. This didn’t just affect Bay Dragons, but it was a league wide initiative, for the good of cricket, which impacted other clubs too. I am very pleased that this only motivated our players to perform better, work harder and do their best to get back in upper divisions. It certainly got the club thinking about strengthening it’s squad, to ensure swift progression. The results were strong, with plenty of silverware and plastic-ware lifted by players and the club, at the end of season. Here are some stats;

Wic-Ket Indoor League 2019

Bay Dragons have so far won five of five games to strengthen their position as league leaders.

Ist XI maintained a strong position throughout the season, losing only 3 and winning 12 of 15 matches. I had to take a mid season break from Captaincy, due to the shear amount of extra work required, in managing various sides, recruiting players and a planned secret test. The aim was to find strong leadership within the teams, and we have found a brilliant captain in Avinash Mehrotra, whose competitive spirit, leadership skills, attitude and performance, is second to none. Although, he might concede, I’m better at blogging (or bragging, at least 😂).

I wish you all the best for 2020 under Avinash’s captaincy and here’s hoping, you lift up another shield for the club, at 2020 League Awards.

(Avinash with Ex-England star, Gladstone Small, receiving the promotion shield for the club)

There has already been a blog dedicated to new beginnings, which has covered the start of our 2nd XI, so here, we will discuss the final assessment. Firstly, Michael Fogg, Saud Qureshi, and Michael Dowers, all deserve credit for ensuring that 2nd XI managed to field 11 players in all games. In its inaugural year, this was a huge feat for side starting afresh, with majority of players having no league experience. Having run cricket operations for a little while now, I can tell you one thing, it’s a heck of job ensuring 11 players are on pitch, on the time. Well done folks!

The 2nd XI started as our development team in 2019. Given our pre-season hard work, it was expected from this side to be finishing mid table. However, from he very first game, the quality, enthusiasm and drive was prominent. And it was no surprise, this side kept pushing for a top 3 finish throughout the season. Some games could have gone better, and in others, they made such strong come backs that made 1st XI players turn their heads around in awe.

(The first 2nd XI group photo)

The 2nd XI made us proud on many fronts. Consider these mind boggling stats for a development team, in its first year;

Three players in top ten batsmen of Division

1st – Saud Qureshi – 485 runs

4th – Zafar Iqbal Khan – 291 runs

8th – Nabil Hussain – 254 runs

Two players in top ten bowlers of Division

4th – Mobashir Zahoor Paracha, 18 wickets

5th – Jumair Muhammad, 17 wickets

More statistics can be seen via the following links;

1st XI

http://www.sewcl.play-cricket.com/website/web_pages/149671

2nd XI

http://www.sewcl.play-cricket.com/website/web_pages/149672

Cardiff Midweek League

Another absolutely amazing season, this time under the captaincy of Asim Afsar, who has led the midweek XI admirably. The league don’t get to add the full midweek statistics on Play-cricket, so from 2020, we will do this ourselves. We have some star performances to remember however, with Sachin, Amjad, Shoaib, Mohsin, Amir, Usman and Taj. Literally, everyone gave 100%, including Tom Prosser, who was the injured skipper, but came to almost all games to support his lads and score the game. If you haven’t been named, it’s because it’s 2.13am and I am losing my ability to think and remember 😂. So I will share your photos to celebrate your success, again.

Year ahead…

So what does the year 2020 hold for us? Well, I will say, YOU define that. It is you who have written the success storyso far and it will be YOU again, if you want to achieve more. I can assure you of one thing, I believe in every single one of you and on your day, you are as good as any other top division team.

Things we were good at in 2019

– Good batting skills developing, across both sides. Work required on shot selection and timing.

– Depth in batting order is good

– Quality of all rounders in both squads has improved

– Technical skills are developing with experience

– Fielding has improved in 1st XI, but requires more work. 2nd XI has not been judged on this in 2019, but they will need to up their game in 2020, as they have some strong competition.

– Pitch quality was significantly better than last year. If we can all continue to look after the pitch, it would make your own playing experience better and also, of visiting teams.

– More qualified coaches and DBS approved personnel in club

– Junior/Youth structure is heading in right direction and ready for its first league appearance in 2020, if approved

Things we need to improve in 2020

Improve our spirit of cricket understanding

– No talking when the bowler is in bowling stride The bowler can be taken out of attack on persistent offence.

– Not to challenge umpire decisions and in case of dispute, to raise any objection with your captain, outside the field of play.

– Arriving on schedule for each game and following the Tasks Rota, so match day experience can be improved

– Ensuring new ball is used/offered by all sides at start of each game

– Good sponsorship required

– Payment of membership fees on time

Proud moments

If I could pick the most memorable moments for the three outdoor teams, these would be;

– the 1st XI beating Monkswood 2nds in the last game of the season, when we played with 7-8 players, only. The most crucial game, where we needed 26 full points, if there was to be any chance of winning the title.

– the 2nd XI beating Abercarn in both games. But first one, away, was more special because the side had lost to Pontyminster badly and were rattled by a few losses. This was the “come back in style” game, which motivated all players.

– Midweek XI

Beating their nemesis Global on all three occasions and for turning up with almost all midweek players to pick up the trophy. That was special!

The other proud moments were;

– Formally starting club’s juniors structure

– Organising the World Cup Family Day, in association with ECB.

– Bay Dragons Juniors, were selected to give guard of honour at the England Vs Pakistan match, at Swalec Stadium, Cardiff

More of this memorable day can be seen via our Facebook site, video link;

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2260989227483772&id=143452982854558

Other business

-The club has expressed an interest in starting Juniors XI and have formally approached the relevant league.

-The club is reaching out to potential long term sponsors and will announce in 2020, once an agreement is reached.

-The club has been involved with various charities and housing associations, to offer cricket to people to help integrate them into local community and offering mental support through sport, at times of hardship.

Ending note

All in all, what a brilliant year we have had. And it’s about to get more sweeter for one more dragon. Kashif’s wedding vows will be exchanged tomorrow, so he is officially off the shelf. Congratulations to future Mr and Mrs Afsar in advance from all your Bay Dragons family. On 6th Jan, we start the cricket fun all over again – Good luck to everyone for upcoming season and God bless !

The new season

As the title suggests.. this blog is all about the new season. 8 games worth of updates, that’s including 4 games of our 2nd XI. Keeping up with the tradition, our 2nd XI skipper, Michael Fogg has provided write ups.

2nd XI Announce Arrival with a Bang

🎆🎆🎆🎆🎆🎆🎆🎆🎆🎆🎆🎆🎆🎆🎆

Following a close season of additions to our playing squad, and with some solid training sessions under our belt, Bay Dragons CC 2nd XI played their first competitive fixture on 4 May 2019.

Lisvane 5th XI won the toss and, quite sensibly, put the Dragons in to bat. I’m delighted that my lads didn’t call me a useless tosser, but in the end it was probably quite a good one to lose, so no real harm done(!). The pitch was a typical early season pudding, damp on top with some grass to hold it together.

With the weather set fair for the day, and a pleasant crosswind, it was likely that the square would get easier to play and the outfield quicker. Had I won the toss, I would also have put the opposition in to bat. I had no idea what a good score was on that track, but would have taken 150-160 as a minimum score.

Ronald & Zafar opened for us, and after Ron fell for 5 runs Saud joined Zafar at the crease and they saw us safely through to 75-1 at 20 overs. Both played chanceless knocks and Saud made his way to 50 before holing out to mid on, Lisvane’s skipper taking a good catch running around from the on side. Nabil joined Zafar in the middle and reached 10 before being bowled by Lisvane’s young left arm seamer Aryan. This caused a bit of a collapse, and Dragons went from 155-2 after 31 overs to 161-7 four overs later. Mike Dowers joined the indefatigable Zafar in the middle and provided able support as we took our score on to 187-9, with some exceptional hustling and great running betweek the wickets. Over 180 runs means that we had picked up maximum batting points in our first ever competitive match, and we broke for lunch feeling remarkably upbeat about our chances of defending this target.

Foggy opened the bowling with Wicky and after four overs we had reduced Lisvane to 14-3 with two fantastic deliveries from Wicky to remove Raman and Hewitt, and some sensational fielding which saw Ronald & Nabil combine to run out Aryan, who had previously taken 2-17 as part of our late collapse . This brought in fellow left-hander Mahoney to join the Lisvane captain Morgan. Together they played solidly, rotated the strick well and put on the best part of a 100 run stand together until Mahoney unfortunately needed to retire out due to a serious injury to his achilles. He had previously felt something pop in his ankle but continued to bat on with a runner until it became too much to bear. His runner Dhruv took on where he left off, and continued to bat well with Luke Morgan, leaving us feeling that the game was being taken away from us.

Change bowlers Humzah and Shoaib bowled solidly and both went for marginally under 5 an over, which meant that Lisvane had got themselves back up with the run-rate and Bay Dragons needed to bowl out Lisvane in order to have a chance of victory.

Cometh the hour, cometh the man! Ronald had bowled six excellent overs from the Astro pitch end of the ground, going for 24 but causing the batsmen some problems with late dip and beautiful flight, along with some prodigious turn, but needed a ‘spin twin’ to work with, to hustle through the overs. He had the dangerous Dhruv well stumped by Nabil for 27 and then, after a second burst from Wicky and Foggy, which included Wicky pegging back former Cardiff West Indian Barry Nolan’s off stick with a lovely ball that pitched on middle and nipped away to beat the bat.

Taj was introduced to the attack, the field was brought in to put pressure on the new batsman, and the 2nd XI wove a web which was Gordian in nature. Firstly, Taj bowled the Livsane skipper for a well made 45, then bowled Tony Jenkins with a lovely ball, and had Lisvane’s four wicket taking young bowler Shivash Agarwal caught well at square leg. All that was then left was for Ronald to comprehensively beat Matthew Willis all ends up and Bay Dragons 2nd XI had commenced their debut season in the South East Wales Cricket League with a hard fought win.

So much to learn, but I’m really proud to have been captain of this fine bunch of lads in their first conpetitive match. They didn’t let their heads drop, played some measured innings ( in particular the delightful 50 from Saud and Zafar carrying his bat through 40 overs for around 70 runs) and the fielding was impeccable throughout the second innings. Many thanks to Lisvane for welcoming us to Llandaff Fields, and we look forward to hosting you at Blackweir later this season (assuming we haven’t been evicted in favour of an alternative event).

Reporter

@Michael Fogg

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A Bridge Too For for Dragons 2nd XI

(Update from last game, played on 25/05/19)

The day began bright and sunny. A perfect one for playing the game that we all love! Unfortunately, due to Ash being let down by his staff late on Friday we were one player light going into the match, but quietly confident that we could do well against the odds. Likewise we were missing Humzah, who was busy studying, and Wicky who had been elevated to the 1st XI for the second consecutive match. Finally, Ron, who has been a mainstay of the side through it’s opening weeks, has now left Cardiff with our thanks for his time with us leaving us somewhat lighter in both the bowling and batting departments.

Fortunately, we welcomed in to our ranks Faris, Shoaib’s cousin and a man with a physique best described as ‘stacked’. I believe, although I have not been a young man for some years, that the adjective oft used in this circumstance is ‘hench’. A former competitive rower, and a rugby player, Faris has some serious potential as a cricketer and we’re delighted to welcome him to the Den of Dragons. Likewise welcome to Nomair and to our young 13 year old addition who are enthusiastic and able additions to our side, to our squad and to our growing nest of Dragons.

The lot of a 2nd XI captain is not always a happy one, when your better players are snapped up by the 1st XI. However it does mean that we’re doing a job for the Club! It was hugely gratifying to hear that the 1st XI had won at a canter with some fantastic performances (big shout outs to Waheed, Sachin for their bowling & Arbab for an unbeaten 50 chasing down the total in around 13 overs!).

Anyway, back to the 2nd XI. The first challenge was to find Newbridge Fields. This was apparently very straightforward for our vanguard, and by the time I arrived with Taj & Nabil (and, of course, Spike!) the rest of the side were already present, correct and honing their skills in the outdoor nets. For this first time this season, Foggy won the toss and decided to field. We restricted Bridgend well in the opening overs, with them reaching 29 for the loss of Wilcox, who was out unfortunately, with the ball bouncing back on to the stumps from a back foot defensive shot.

Shoaib continued his good form with the ball, opening with me and asking some difficult questions of the top order. When Faris came on at first change, we had cousins bowling in tandem and Faris struck twice with two balls in his second over, bowling the second opener Marvez and then taking Adam Hathaway bowled for a golden duck. The hat-trick ball to incoming batsman Young was fiercely struck for a straight four – that’s one way to relieve the pressure!

The following partnership between Rob Hathaway and Chris Young was ultimately to prove the turning point of the match. Coming together at 36-3, they advanced the score to 102 in around seven overs before Saud accounted for the big-hitting of Young. Mobi and Saud bowled well through the middle overs, restricting the scoring before the strike bowling cousins of Shoaib & Faris came back to finish off the tail. Shoaib finished with 2-34 off 8 overs, and Faris 3-31 off 7 overs.

Bay Dragons kept Bridgend just below 180 runs, and so the chase, albeit a tall order, was definitely on…

We opened with Saud & Zafar, who are developing a good understanding as batting partners early in the season. Following a solid opening stand, Saud fell to a good ball from Rob Hathaway in the 18th over with the score on 72. Zafar went in the final ball of the following over, a superb catch taken by Bridgend’s Rob Thomas who saved a certain boundary – probably a flat six – by snatching the ball from well avobe his head and travelling at a considerable lick.

This brought in Mobi and Nabil, who batted nicely to take the innings through to drinks. The match was in the balance with the required run rate around 4.5 per over, and plenty of wickets in hand.
Although Mobi fell shortly after drinks with the score on 96, Nabil looked well set and was batting sensibly, taking runs of the bad balls and rotating the strike well. His partnerships with Taj and Shoaib took the score to within around 40 runs of victory before he was out bowled by Rob Thomas.

I’d elevated myself to the heady heights of eighth in the batting order in an attempt to marshal us over the line, but alas it was not to be. Shoaib perished to a steepling caught and bowled chance taken by Trevedi, and when the same bowler pegged back Mike’s off peg we were down to our last two wickets. Some good fielding saw Nomair, carrying an injury which prevented him from running at full tilt, run out and I was the last to go, advancing down the track and getting stumped with a fairly comic air!

For the record, this match was amongst the most enjoyable that I’ve played in over the course of my cricketing history. It was played in good spirits, with sportsmanlike behaviour from both sides and a real zeal for the game from everybody involved. I’m looking forward to welcoming Bridgend’s players to ‘Castle Blackweir’, in the hope of a further good game, and maybe even a slightly more positive result.

Author : Michael Fogg

2nds Vs Llanarth 2nds and Pontyminster and Crosskeys 3rds (Ponkeys)

The 2nd match of seconds was against Ponkeys. The 2nds were outplayed by a side containing a mixed squad of some higher division players we understand. This was never going to be ideal, but, as a team, you play with what you have. 2nds were all out for 68, but they did take 4 wickets off Ponkeys to give them some scare. Alas, the target was just too small to defend.

The next game was against Llanarth 2nds, who caught our 2nds on their bad timing of the month. Shocked from the defeat in previous week, 2nds did a good recovery job, even though they did not win. With 4 games gone, 2nds have won 1, lost 3, with 2 off these closely fought.

The win is around the corner, this side deserves a lot more success than it has seen.

……………………………………………………………………….

1st XI Encounters

It has been a cold start to summer cricket season, but 1st XI have found their form just in time. The opening game against Miskin Manor was very closely contended and we lost by 11 runs. Had we been a bit more organised, full strength, there was no reason why we could not have won. Miskin had only one batsmen that made 120 odd, with the rest of the team contributing only 60. Making a come back after 5 years of not playing we understand.. and the exceptional game that he played, it was obvious he was pedigree player in a 3rd XI. Although we dropped him earlier in the game, so we paid the price.

Dented from this first game, 1st XI had the next match against the mighty Fugitives. After losing the toss and batting first, the Dragons lost quick wickets, again and posted a miserly 160 odd.. thanks to the last man heroics by Haroon and Waheed. Skippy had a huddle with the boys and gave a motivational speech which was simply, ” boys, we have defended worse and 160 is a defendable target on a bowling pitch – let’s go get em!! ”

Starting with Waheed and Haroon, good foundation was laid. The ball showed signs of reverse early on and Skippy brought Piyar and Sachin into attack. Both of them ran through the batting line up of Fugis leaving their innings in a total collapse, finishing for 114. The Dragons won the first, hard fought and after the loss agaisnt Miskin, this lifted up the team. A morale booster at the right time.

Bay Dragons 1st xI beat Tredegar 1st XI

The 2nd home game of the season was against Tredegar. A team with good pedigree and decent lads, with brilliant spirit of the game.

Skippy won the toss and elected to field first on a beautiful, fresh cut pitch.

This had everything in it for the batsmen and bowler. Unfortunately, Tredegar didn’t have the full XI and they were bowled out for 146. The dragons chased it in 20th over, registering their 2nd win in style. Waqas took 4 wickets in his first appearance for 1st XI – he only came from 2nds to help us out and ended up with his best spell so far. Well done and we hope he continues to pile up his wicket haul.

Avinash (59 *) and Sachin (47) struck the batting partnership for 2nd wicket and raced through the target. This was a brilliant team effort and another uplifting game. Well done to all the players for putting in 100% and special thanks to Ben Cubbon who was injured, but came out to help the team with scoring.. thank you Ben.

Bay Dragons 1st XI Vs Whitchurch Heath 3rd XI

A side that is filled with decent players that we all love to play against. Brilliant for spirit of cricket and equally competitive. The playing surface was looking good for batting and bowling, but given our bowling strength, Skippy chose to bowl first.. no surprise there.

Sachin and Avinash opened the attack and bowled a concise line. Sachin bowled his varriatons well and was rewarded with 4/15 off his 8 overs. Avinash and Haroon also took a wicket each, where as Waheed cleared up with Tail with an impressive 4/8.

We will miss Sachin in the next game, but it is good time for others to rise up to the occassion and deliver. Tough boots to fill I must add. With this win, Bay Dragons 1st XI improved their average and currently 3rd on table. The next few games will be immensely important if they wish to finish in top two.

1st XI have won 3 out of 4 encounters, and need to win consistently in the next few games. We wish all the lads good luck.

We look forward to sending out some regular updates and our blog write ups from this week onwards, so stay tuned. Until the next game, Adios Amigos .

Reporter- @skippy

It’s a new dawn …

Welcome to the first blog post for summer 2019. Grab yourself a coffee, tea, pop corn, fizz or whatever rocks your boat and I hope it makes a good read – at best, you might like it and pay me to blog about your hamsters or at worst, it will knock you off to sleep – it’s a win win situation.

The party starts..

Exactly this time in 2017, I was writing a similar blog with great deal of happiness. Our club, formed in 2016, decided to play league cricket and we were accepted in South East Wales Cricket League. Armed with 16 men, we played a 20 over fixture and after that, everything else is history.

(First game of Bay Dragons Cricket Club)

Two years on, we have moved up the ladder and earned back to back promotions. I say earned, because we worked hard to get where we are as a team and as individuals.

(Latest addition to our trophy cabinet)

(Annual awards 2018)

(Winners of plate indoors 2018)

(League Awards -2018)

Annual awards 2017

League awards 2017

I won’t have time to share all the photos from league awards and internal ceremonies held, but this just shows, how much success we have achieved in this small time. None of this would have been possible without YOU our players, supporters, sponsors and Club Committee. Thank you to all of you and we look forward to bigger and better things this year.

New chapter

Today, is the dawn of a new day and a new chapter in the clubs history. Our 2nd XI have officially started, in a game, titled Chairman’s XI (IST XI) and Club Secretary XI (2nd XI). We mixed up the squads to balance them out, in the spirit of a good contest and boy it was one!

John Wright fired his scud missiles of banter as usual and kept both teams alive in the field.

(John sharing the tricks with Ben)

(John keeping ..)

(Jon batting..)

(Jon bowling ..)

I think you will all see where I’m going with this. John was our Ist XI !! He WAS the IST XI. John is the Chuck Norris of cricket, in fact, Chuck takes special coaching from John in cricketing matters and Chuck worships him. I’d have to dedicate a separate blog for John this season as he is going to be the life and soul of this club. Welcome John !

Next up, I thought it was going to be a huge loss when we lost Doc (Burhan), following his transfer to another medical unit of “National Hibernation Service”. However, we have another Doc to replace him, but this one’s a real Doc. A proper one! I mean a real proper one that eats papers and reports for breakfast, dinner and team – he is a PhD Doc.. impressed? You should be, as he is a brilliant keeper too and hungry for scoring runs.

(Nabil conducting post doctoral research on quality of pizzas served today)

Nabil was great today, impressive with his keeping and batting.

Then.. welcome to young lads Mahi and Mohsin, playing with the big boys, the young lads did very well and I’m so proud of them for rising up. In no time, you will see these two ready for 2nd XI. Welcome to the team boys!

(Mahi and Mohsin – in the field)

Next up, Shoaib and Humza – the duo supremo, looked absolutely smashing in their club shirts today.

(Humza after a decent opening knock today)

(Shoaib preparing to bowl)

(Shoaib’s beautiful run up)

Both played with their 💓 and they love pizzas too. I think they are the right fit for this club in every possible way. Well done boys, your attitude and respectful manner was appreciated by everyone. You will make great ambassadors of this club for upcoming junior and youth players.

Next up is Ben. He also joined us this year and has been practicing hard in the nets. Impressive bowling from him today and I have a feeling he will be one to get a few wickets, and once his new Duncan Fearnley bat is knocked in, he will make an impact like Shahid Afridi with that !

(Ben playing men in black)

(Right in the block – Avinash was impressed)

(Skippy trying to save his butts from Ben’s 💯 mph rocket delivery)

Ben is an absolutely amazing and humble gentleman, and a brilliant cricketer. (Ben if you pay me more I’ll write more about you 😂😂 Disclaimer: Only payment methods accepted are – Runs, Wickets, Catches)

I also welcome Saud, Mobashir and Zafar.

(Saud could contend for a role with SRK from Bollywood with this shot!)

(Mobashir was brought to the game for 10 mins, still wearing his work attire. 30 overs and Pizzas later, He was still with us – Legend !!!).

And then we had Zafar..

An absolutely delight of a human being who sponsored today’s team Pizzas along with Saud from his Pizza chain. Zafar, I’m sorry I have no pictures of you from today, but the whole team has conveyed me thank yous for you. In the next game, can we have pizzas with some iron and calcium supplements too? 😂😂

Zafar bowled impressive and his batting was on the dot. Right blend of shots and singles, I think without a shadow of doubt, Zafar will score runs this season and may get an economical bowling average as well.

We also had Geraint starting his first today. Now then, he is a lawyer, so I better arrange an NDA or something before I blog about him 😂😂

(Geraint in action today – he certainly had the G-force in his bamboozling spin deliveries.)

And finally, we have Sachin. The man with a name of class and he also plays with class.

(Sachin batting earlier in the day)

An all in all, brilliant all-rounder and super humble lad. Dragon for life? Oh yes he says..!

I haven’t finished the introductions yet.. or have I ? No.

Meet Waqas, the Grangetown Express.

Waqas had a brilliant day in the field as well and he reminds of a junior Avinash.. explosive, hungry for runs and does not have any stock ball, he surprises you with his variety.

Now …about that game.

Messer’s Mike Fogg and Skippy selected a side at the start of the 15 over encounter.

Chairman’s XI (aka Ist XI)

Ben, Zafar, Mohsin, Sachin, Shoaib, James, John, Skippy, Nabil

Club Secretary’s XI (aka 2nd XI)

Mike, Humza, Saud, Mobashir, Avinash, Waqas, Ranpreet, Mahi, Sandy

Ist XI scored a flamboyant 129-5 off 15 overs with good contribution from top order, with Sachin, John and Zafar as top scorers.

2nd XI in response made 113-6 off 15 overs with Sandy top scoring, followed by Avinash and Ranpreet.

It was mixed fortunes for bowlers but some absolutely class deliveries bowled today. Notable toe crushers from Avinash, Waqas and Ben. John, Sachin and Zafar bowled tight spells getting vital wickets for stealing the first win.

The biggest win was that we all connected well as a team. The hard work in nets and team bonding was evident and I am proud of all of you for making today, one of the memorable days in this clubs history. Long may this continue and I hope this positivity will carry into the season. We have more new starters in Ronald, Waheed and few others, who will get mentions in the next few blogs, when they get their caps. Fingers crossed for both teams starting with a win on 4th May!

I’ll be doing my sun and victory rituals as usual. Until then, TTFN.

Tis the season to be jolly..

On behalf of the Bay Dragons Cricket Club family, I wish you all the very best of the festive season. A very fitting time to celebrate our success in 2018, following a fantastic year of achievements.

For those who have just joined the dragons ship, welcome on board and we hope you’ll enjoy the journey, just as much as we have, over the last 3 years.

To recap 2018, we started our nets in January. Bitter cold, rain, snow and wives.. none of them could stop the dragons from weekly practice! Marshalled by Coach Dowers and well supported by Mr Fogg, everyone practiced hard.

Milestone 1 achieved – Bay Dragons qualified to play in Welsh Cricket Cup.

The FA Cup equal of Welsh Cricket, minus the razzmataz. We all had goosebumps watching the Cricket Wales live cast on YouTube, when the fixtures draw was done.

Drawn against the heavyweights didn’t dampen the hopes of our lads, who fought admirably with the ball. It didn’t end well with the bat as we were all out within 20 overs. We were home in time for tea though..

New singings

Several new members joined this year and majority will continue to play for us in 2019 season as well. Abdul, Foggy, Guto,Burhan, Andy, Imtiaz, Arbab, Suhayb, Saiful, Sher, Nayem et al to name a few. Thank you to the few that have left us, for all their services for the club (Saiful, Burhan, Imtiaz and Andy).

For 2019, we welcome a few new members, John, Chris, James, Jon, Stephen, Ronald and Romario. We hope you have a terrific time this year! 🔥🔥🔥🐲

Midweek League

We entered the Cardiff Midweek League in Division 3. And boy, did we underestimate the amount of cricket they play. The top 4 teams played Tom and Jerry on the table for most of the season and due to some of our players getting injured, we lost 2-3 games that cost us the promotion to Division 2. However, given that this was our first year in the competition, finishing in top 4 is a massive achievement. Usman Ashraf, the skipper of midweek side deserves a special mention here for the amount of hard work he had put in, making himself available for every match and fighting hard to win every game. While we are throwing names out there, I could perhaps name the whole club members as almost everyone came together to help out, when the midweek team needed them.

Division 7 – South East Wales Cricket League

The senior squad that was promoted to Division 7 started the campaign with a wobble, but steadied as we got pass the first 3 games. The win against Penarth got us our momentum back.

The Dragons struck form in time to outclass the opponents in all the remaining games. The last three games against Newport Fugitives (3rds), St.Fagans (3rds) and Cefn Forest were the most passionate and well fought matches I have witnessed in a long time.

The memorable and patient knocks from Burhan aka Doc, the match saving innings from Avinash, Rabbi and later on, Bash as well, were all inspiring and help us win promotion.

We finished with year with same average as Newport Fugitives, on top of the table, 2nd only by NRR.

The win against Penarth got us our momentum back

The final game Vs Mountain Ash was filled with spirit of the game

Bay Dragons won the Runners up shield and got the promotion sash – well done to all Saturday squad members!

Club website

What? Yes, we have our club website finally ready. Visit http://www.baydragonscc.org

Spirit of cricket

A small club with a big heart that we are, I’m proud that out players have helped out other clubs, on loan, allowing them to develop themselves along the way. We feel loan players our the best ambassadors of Bay Dragons and they never really get thanked enough. Their contribution sometimes means that a club can avoid a default, which no one wants to have. Next year, we will announce an award for most valuable loan player as well and each loan player will be given recognition at our annual awards for demonstrating true spirit of Cricket.

Indoor League

After a loooooooong season, you can tell how we unwind.. by playing more cricket. Seriously, the only remedy for a tired cricketer is, more cricket or something to do with cricket.

Jokes aside, while we like to sign off the year with a friendly indoor league, it has grown competitive as well. We have finished 4th in the first leg. The second leg begins in January and we wish all the indoor players best of luck!

Club website

What? Yes, that’s right. We have finally got our club website

Coach Training

Well done to Skippy and Foggy for taking up ECB Level 2, qualified cricket coach course, spread over the last 3 months. They have had to go through intensive training and assessments for this and a massive well done to both in advance. Be prepared for the duo, as they have planned some exciting net sessions from this January. If you want to focus on anything specific, get in touch with them for your 121 plan.

Annual awards

In true Dragons spirit, we finished our year with annual awards. So what is this spirit some may question? It is a celebration of the game we love, our contribution to it as a team and rewarding and acknowledging our performance to help us develop and encourage others for the next year.

The award winners this year were;

Best Catch- Mike Dowers

Best Fielder – Taj ul Islam

Best Wicketkeeper – Asim

Best Batsman – Avinash Mehrotra

Chairman’s award for development – Usman Ashraf

Best Bowler – Rabbi Golam

Best all-rounder – Rabbi Golam

People’s choice award for best emerging player – Suhayb Din

Chairman’s Award for player of year – Mike Fogg

Life time achievement Award – Mike Dowers for 40 years of service to cricket in South Wales.

Year 2019

The year 2019 may be the year of the 🐖 according to Chinese zodiac, but it’s also a big year for Bay Dragons Cricket Club. We are starting out our 2nd XI in this year. This is brilliant news for all the members who love to play on Saturday and we can field two balanced teams whilst giving everyone a chance to play.

The South East Wales Cricket League has approved an increase in Tea money, which is going up to £4 in away games. This does not affect Bay Dragons as we have flat £5 fee for all home and away games on Saturdays, which is inclusive of tea money. On the subject of tea, it’s 1.42 am and my tea is now horribly cold and there is work early morning as well, so I shall sign out.

Before I go, I will thank you all once again for the fantastic 2018. The past is gone, the future is being planned in present and I see you all celebrating again with me in 2019- Good luck!!

Skippy

Chairman’s end of season message

Victories in life are never easy, they come after hard work, commitment and require sportsmanship. Victories test us, run us down and challenge our ability. That is why, it feels so great celebrating them, as if, it’s everything that ever meant to the victorious person.

Sometimes the value of victory seems lesser, sometimes it seems more, sometimes the hunger is still there and that victory seems only a temporary milestone. However, that victory becomes part of our living memory and something we will forever keep in our minds and hearts, for the rest of our lives.

In a life where average age is 70-80 years and most of us have played for a long time, for some, Bay Dragons have become part of that living memory that we will forever remember, wherever we are, wherever we will be. This is special!

Looking at our progress, Our Saturday side have earned back to back promotion and based on current league criteria, going to Division 6. There will be league changes next year and more on that will be published, once the league reshuffle is finalised.

We have also started our 2nd XI, which played its first match against Vale CC 3rds. We look forward to fielding the 2nds team in SEWCL next year. This is a humbling achievement for a club that will only be 3 years old next year.

Moving on, we played and performed very well in Winter Indoor League (WIC-ket) tournament. While we came 4th, some of those games were really close encounters. I look forward to improving our position in winter league this year.

Our success does not end here, for we did a remarkable job in our inaugural performance in Cardiff Midweek League Division 3. If luck would have it, we would be in Division 2. However, the team has already exceeded the expectations of the management.

It is important to note that the midweek side was started to guage ourselves for 2 team structure, whilst also providing development to players. We under estimated your competitive spirit and it became obvious at weekly team selection that we were really keen on winning our division. This was admirable, though it came at a cost of some unsatisfied players, who wanted opportunity to develop. This has been noted and we have learnt from our experience. Next year, we will come stronger and well prepared. We will have Saturday 2nd XI as our development side, whilst maintaining the competitive spirit across all teams in all competitions. This will also aid the Midweek XI in its promotion bid.

As the Chairman of this well loved club, I am indebted to all the members, volunteers, well wishers and Committee members, for being responsible for the success we have achieved in the short space of time. I am grateful to everyone, who has come to me, even when upset, as it allowed me to reflect on and come up with solutions that could be viable in long term.

To conclude, it’s been a glorious year. I’m excited about tomorrow and I’m sure all of you will be as well. Please join me in applauding ourselves for the success achieved this year.

Thank You and Well done !

Performance at a glance

SEWCL Div 7 – IST XI

CML Div 3 – Midweek XI

Just what the doctor ordered..

Hello, Salam, Good Day, Diwrnod da..

It’s been a few months and Skippy hasn’t had a chance to “blog it”. So here is a mother of all, super, duper, whooper blog, Enjoy!

This has been, by far, the best season for cricket weather. The scorching sun has been on the skies above Wales, since forever. That can only mean one thing, cricket, more cricket and even more cricket. We have truly discovered the new meaning for;

Eat Cricket

Sleep Cricket

Drink Cricket

As you read on, you will know why !

Evolution

The club has passed through a significant developmental change and embarked upon creating it’s 2nd XI, by entering Cardiff Midweek League. The dragons have done well in Division 3 and is currently ranked in top 5 in Division 3 consistently.

Usman Ashraf and Avinash Mehrotra have shared the captaincy for midweek side and deserve a lot of credit for ensuring all our fixtures have carried on.

Leading from the front, both have performed very well with bat and ball, with plenty of wickets and fifties to add to their season totals. Usman is currently injured, we wish him a speedy recovery. Midweek league is T20 cricket, with each side having 18 overs to bat and bowl. The matches are played with Pink league balls.

(Bay Dragons current league standing in CMCL Division 3)

Before we get into what the doctor ordered, let’s see some glimpses of the Div 3 matches.

(There are reports that Terminator has joined Bay Dragons)

(Usman after winning a midweek match.. all smiles)

(Rabbi has joined the dark side)

Now the bit that the doctor ordered..

Let’s introduce you to the doctor first, before we tell you what he ordered. He is pedigree.. one of a kind, little master (or midget), cool as a cucumber, cheeky as a… (Hmm..make your own guesses), clever as Skippy (what?) and he is a lean, mean, run scoring machine, who is back from 16 months of injury and he is a doctor, and de facto saviour of all our fallen soldiers.. the injured dad’s XI.

Before the season, doc said this would be a great season, he would play as much as possible and we should push for another promotion. Literally taking his advice, we are now trying for promotion in not one, but two leagues🔥🔥🔥🐲

The Saturday league started off with a bit of a wobble as the dragons lost some key players to injuries and summer holidays. However, they have been giving stiff competition to the teams, even when they have lost and this has been helpful in making a strong return.

Avinash has played an instrumental role converting his 20s to 50s and 50s to 80s and 90s. Currently ranked 7th best batsman in Div 7, we are expecting he is only a game away from mighty 💯.

Avinash has now been joined by Doc (Burhan Ali) who saved the day yesterday against Abercynon, by scoring a stylish and we’ll grafted 86. Good luck for the rest of the season Champs!!!

Coming to bowling, there have been mixed fortunes for the dragons, but the turn around has begun and by bowling out Abercynon for 57, they could not have announced their will and ambitions any better.

Rabbi Gulam, Michael Fogg, Guto Davies, Skippy, Saiful, Imtiaz, Arbab, Piyar, Suhayb and Avinash have all bowled well and economical in current hot, dry and tough weather conditions. I can safely add, had LBWs been fairly given consistently in all our games, their mixed fortunes would not have been mixed.

Whilst this hurts as a bowler, they have found pace, line and length, and bowling partners with whom they plan their attack. This is bearing fruit and dragons are now winning non stop, and long may this continue. To top this off, the fielding has improved this season as players continue to raise the standards and set the bar high. Mike Dowers has led this by example, taking some brilliant catches and being the wall in covers, whereas Taj is the ironman on Silly mid on and silly mid off, stopping scores of runs. Likewise, Ash too has shown bags of improvement and we wish them all the best for the rest of the season.

Currently, ranked 4th, it’s only a matter of time before this team gets to the top.

Here are some glimpses of the South East Wales Cricket League matches this season.

Another glorious day at home groud

United teams are strong teams

Playing against weather.. come rain, come shine, we love cricket

An evening Iftaar meal with the team, during Ramazan.

Look who Skippy found on evening shopping?

That was Avinash’s day at Penarth!

Taj saved nearly 40 runs with his fielding brilliance this day!

The summer has only just begun, plenty of more cricket to come and there is plenty of games ahead. And, there will be plenty more blogs, so, stay tuned and thank you for reading.

Au revoir..

An eventful 1st game of the season..

Not all things in life come easy, one of them is called victory, and it comes to those who are in pursuit of it. We did well in today’s loss, but our pursuit of victory got slightly disjointed under pressure.

Most players (including me) come away from a game thinking, I could have done this or that.. which reminds me of a famous Persian quote ” if you remember a punch after the battle, hit your own face with it”. I just gave myself a virtual one as a real one would hurt bad see…

First and foremost, a brilliant, beautiful, God gifted, Sunny day in Wales – when did we last see sun shine like this?

(Sandy enjoying the sun below)

Secondly, it was our very own, Michael Fogg’s first outing as skipper. A very well done to him for leading the side with passion, enthusiasm and energy. Despite so many fun factors that came along today, he managed the team well and led by example in his bowling attack, as well as out in the field.

(Foggy inspecting tools of trade 😄)

Bowlers performed pretty well, given we were playing against a quality batting side. Foggy led by taking early wickets and well supported by Rabbi, Bash, Nayem and Abdul. Zub and Syed had an over two as well and the team restricted Fugis to 189. This is a great sign for the club. If we did this against the best team in our division, we can better this against others.

I need not to discuss how our batting collapsed, other than, it just collapsed like a building with no foundation. Although in this case, Zub and Sandy did give us a good foundation, but we made a hash out of it.

Lessons learnt, the team is ready to hit the ground tomorrow for our first ever Welsh Cup fixture.

Until tomorrow, Adiós.