Angels v Dragons

It felt so good to be back.

We all looked splendid and heavenly in our crisp, Angel whites. Our spikes clickety clacked like Fred Astaire on the changing room floor as we eagerly awaited our opposition.

When Leazes arrived, our mouths dropped in horror.....or was it hunger?

As they piled out of their cars, we couldn't help but notice that massive Golden Dragon menus had been ironed onto the front of their shirts.

I wondered briefly, as they went into their changing room, if Naomi had a wok in her bag and would be rustling up some king prawns with black bean sauce and prawn crackers as a treat before the game. Would Shelagh do us some spare ribs? Or better still, some of that delicious salt and pepper chicken.

My mouth started watering as the coin spun in the air to decide who would bat first.

Leazes decided it should be the Angels.

"We need to get back in time to wash the dishes,' Vicki explained, 'It was part of the deal for the shirts.'

'We'll do our best to make sure you're not late,' said Sandra kindly.

And so, out stepped Lisa and Chloe to face the Leazes bowling attack - led by the evil triads - Vicki, Naomi and Shelagh.

 

Young Chloe - whacking the Triads all around the park

Within seconds, deafened by the crinkling, crunching of the Dragon shirts, Lisa was chop suey inside-edgied oot for a Peking duck, followed by Chloe who was caught for (3). Sally, meanwhile batted bravely and sensibly with several other Angels - some of whom were oot for a crispy duck and others that scored some runs, namely Catching Chomse (1) and Cheryl (5).

Triad Shelagh on form with her bowling

Triad Naomi - making me feel very Peck-ish with her no. 15 - lemon chicken and fried frice, advertised on her back

Catching Chomse batting well

OMG - a lovely defensive shot from wor Sal

 In the last over, our hero of the match, Sally, prawn crackered her knee. She became the Dragons' first carry out of the season.

The Dragons deliver their first carry out of the season

The Dragons were on schedule for their shift in the kitchen. All they had to do was whack a handful of runs. Easy.

But the Angel's bowling was also pretty deadly, and within a few moments, the first Dragon was trudging back to the clubhouse thanks to a sharp catch by Mrs Chomse.

Naomi, sporting a big no.15 on her back advertising the Golden Dragon Special of lemon chicken with fried rice, looked dangerous with the bat, but thanks to a great hoy from our borrowed player, she was run oot fair and square.

When Shelagh came in, she did her best to distract the fielders by dusting the crease. The umpire refused to allow her to bring on the Henry Hoover though, and the game continued. With Angel fielders pressurising the 2 Dragons, it was only a matter of time before Shelagh went for a big slog edging the ball high into the air. It seemed to hang there for a few minutes whilst our new recruit, Jo Jo ran towards it taking her first amazing catch of the season. We now have 2 Catching Chomses in the team :D

The Dragons were crumbling under the pressure.

'We're going to miss our shift,' said Vicki worriedly as she came out to the crease. 'If we're late, we'll have to give the shirts back.'

Eventually, the Dragons got their runs, and the team sighed with relief. They would make their washing up shift after all....and they even had time for a bit of tea and good crack after the game.

It was a good start, Angels. The batting needs some work, but the fielding and the bowling showed signs of huge improvement, and we're clearly NOT going to be the walkovers that we once were in our first and second seasons.

As for our friends the Dragons - thank you for a good, competitive game! You 'takeaway' your first win of the season and we wish you much luck and good fortune! We also look forward to playing alongside some of you in the Tri-team 11-a-side games....How about we call ourselves the Triads? - as long as we don't have to wear those shirts....:D

The Angels are back in action!

The Angels Awards Ceremony (And BIG Feast)

What a splendid feast at the Angel's end of season gathering last night!

All the usual favourite things like banoffi pie and PEK quiche, and the most amazing corned beef pie supplied by Chloe's mum -

With our bellies and glasses full to the brim, we retired to the lounge for the award ceremony. For those of you that missed it, awards were given to the following Angels....

Wicket of the Season - Jen - for that amazing wicket at home to Stocksfield 1sts.

Giant Slaying Award - Chloe - for the 'Chloe and Goliath' wicket at South North.

Best Bowling Performance - Cheryl - for her remarkable 3 wickets for 4 runs at Wylam.

Top Scorer against Stocksfield 1sts Award - Sandra, who scored a brilliant 12 at home, and Chloe who scored a chart topping 3 away from home.

Only Players NOT to Get a Duck Award - Sally, Karen, Fiona, Debbie.
(Jen also got a special mention for gathering the most ducks of the season - sorry Jen!)

Best Batting Performance - Sally - for that brilliant 35 in the moonlight at South North.
(I was awarded a torch for the 'Blind Old Bat Award' thanks to my performance in this game!)

Coolest Catch - Fiona - for her cool as y'like catch at home v Wylam

Best Catch by a Wicky - Kerry - for that wonderful catch at South North.

Most Catches - Catching Chomse - 4 brilliant catches that placed her 5th in the league!

Catch of the Season - Debbie - for her awesome catch on the line v Hexham Leazes.

Most Versatile Player Award - Gillian for being able to bat left and right handed.
(Gillian was also given a big cheer for the fabulous support she has given the team throughout the season)

Only Player Never to be Bowled Award - Andrea - She's never heard that awful P-Linky-Linky-Tink sound!

Pitch Inspection Award - Tishy - for travelling all the way to Tynemouth to see if the pitch really was flooded. (Tishy also got a cheer for her great wicky-ing performances throughout the season)

Best Tea Award - Only one contender really - Gillian - for her marvellous PEK quiche!

AND FINALLY...

The Most Comical Moment of the Season Award

Runners Up - Sandra and Sally for that (now famous) runout.

But the WINNER of this years Most Comical Moment of the Season Award goes to...

WELL DONE Shelagh. That 'Get Carter' moment of the season was undoubtedly the most comical. You are a worthy winner. (In truth, we're all just completely jealous of what a good cricketer you are and if we'd had a Best non-Angel player Award - it would also go to you!)    :-)

A FAB evening Angels! And just in case you want to watch the slideshow again - here it is...


 

Angels in the Moonlight

As the dregs of hurricane Irene swept around outside, I gazed out of my office window wondering if the cricket would be on.

'It's our last match tonight,' I said quietly.

'Oh,' my colleague replied, not averting her eyes away from the computer screen, 'that's nice.'

'It's against South North - they're really good and their ground is like Lords - we'll get thrashed,' I continued.

'Uh-huh,' said my colleague again, tapping away at the keyboard, and smiling kindly.

'It's been a fab season.'

'Good.'

'Do you want to see our video?'

My colleague glanced at her watch then declared how late she was for a meeting, before leaving me alone with my tummy butterflies. No-one at work understands...

By 5pm, there were no texts to say that South North had been swept away in a flood or blown away by the wind or destroyed in a fire. Our last game of the season was on.

South North batted first. The evening sunshine was bright, the shadows were long and the wind swirled around this beautiful pitch. South North doesn't have nettles for boundaries, it has ropes. The grass isn't covered in worms and mud heaps - it has drainage holes all over it, and it is manicured to perfection. They have clean changing rooms and toilets where you can have a wee in the confidence that you won't be locked in for an hour. It is lovely.

BUT

South North had NO spectators and no soul. No marauding kids digging holes, having fights, climbing trees or getting married. No radgie husbands, fathers or sons yelling from the clubhouse, no dogs, no frogs, no midges, no NOWT.

It was earily quiet as we walked out to field - our own band of loyal supporters were tucked away inside - out of the cold.

Chloe and Jen opened the bowling, and within the first few minutes, Chloe had bowled out their danger player, who stands at 8 feet tall. 'Chloe and Goliath.' She whopped us around the ground last year...but not this time! It gave us all a lift, and we started to believe that maybe...just maybe....

More wickets tumbled as Chloe took another and Super Looper Sewell added another scalp to her season's haul.

And then Kerry's big moment arrived. The batsman scuffed the ball high into the air. It seemed to hang there for an hour as Kerry set herself to take the catch. We held our breath and waited. There was a squeal. For a moment we thought she'd dropped it. But it was a squeal of delight! What a catch!

Cheryl and Sandra's bowling was as accurate as ever and they were unlucky not to get a wicket. Sandra chucked the ball to Jen to see if she could wreak any havoc with the tail end of South North's batting line-up. Super Looper Sewell did not disappoint!

She got 2 wickets in a row to get South North all out for 64. One of these was a catch - coolly taken by Catching Chomse! Tremendous!

Next season, Jen will be on a hat-trick ball! What a performance by our our young bowlers!

By now, the moon had appeared, and it was getting dusky.

As Sally and I strolled out to face - we made a plan. We often make plans as we trundle out there to the crease. We say things like - 'Right, lets shout today,' or 'I'll try not to run you out,' or 'I'm scared, are you?'

Today's plan was simple, and sensible. 'Survive the first 8 overs, then get slogging Sal - we can DO this!'

Their first 8 overs were tricky - one bowler was turning the ball like Swanny and the other was hoying it down like Jimmy Anderson. I defended, swished, swatted and missed everything that wasn't heading for the stumps - Sally played calmly, sensibly and confidently. We ran like hell on the byes and we actually made calls like 'No,' 'Yes' and even 'Wait!'

After surviving 8 overs, we decided to start going for it. I continued to swish, swat and miss - trying my best to see the ball in the darkness (I need to go to Specsavers!) but Sally was unstoppable - whacking 4 x 4's in a row in one over and having some well-deserved fun out there. Our supporters were now braving the cold, trying to pick us out in the moonlight and cheering when they saw 2 little people in white running down the wicket.

With only 6 needed for the win, Sally was bowled for a fantastic 35 runs. It was down to the blind old bat and young Chloe to try and get the runs needed for a memorable win.

We did it. It was brilliant. A total team performance. Smiles all round. A wonderful feeling...

I'm back to work on Tuesday. I imagine the conversation will go something like this -

'We beat South North.'

'Oh?'

'It was amazing.'

'Good.'

Then I'll gaze out of the window, watch the leaves turn brown, wave the butterflies goodbye and smile to myself, longing for the summer to come back soon...