Results & Reports for 2009

Results & Reports for 2008

Results & Reports for 2007

plus this report on

Somerset Cricket Board Cup Final 2007

Minor Club Cup - South Petherton v Temple Cloud

An early start was called for. Ivor first to arrive very smartly dressed I must say. Complete with his piece of paper. It read up at 6.30 am. Wash. Club 7.30 am. But what day Ivor? Where’s the coach I heard someone say?. There it is quick let’s grab the back seat. Someone ring Veats find out what the weather’s like down there. The report is good no rain. Blue sky and dry. Come on Driver lets go. Convoy behind have we got this many supporters?

Taunton 9.15am South Petherton are already warming up. We can’t get in to the changing rooms, they’re locked. Key found. Come on boys Minds on. There we are kitted out by the Curtis Sports & Leisure corporation brand new spanking shirts Temple Cloud Somerset Knockout Cup Taunton 2007.

The toss takes place in the middle. Whoops lost again we’re having a bat. What a magnificent turnout, we have filled one end of the ground with our supporters, where did they all come from??? And then we hear the roar from the Brislington Boys. Looking around there are many old faces from the past lots from the present and more of the future. To all thanks for your fantastic support the noise and encouragement was unbelievable. I did not realize TCCC knew so many people. Thanks again.

Off we go; the message is to get a nice steady start. Sheps out 2nd over for 2. Come on the Bear is the shout. Jamer and Kevin surely we will be OK. Well not to bad now 30 for 1 off 6, 80 for 1 off 10, Oh no Kevin out 51 off 31 balls. Simon now pushes on only to be run out for a quick fire 20. But no! Another run out, Jamer going for a 2 but not quick enough. Down to Mo and Lumbo now. Both manage to knock a rapid 20 a piece. Last over lets go for it boys Spence Veats and Logger fair play manage to get us to a reasonable total 167 off our allocated 20 overs.

The South Petherton reply is a good start by their two openers whilst managing to stay up with the required rate. Kevin and Simon opening the bowling. The Petherton boys are now happy going on and put on a opening partnership of 100 off 12 overs. Surely they have no need to panic. Lumbo bowls there left hand opener still Petherton have plenty in hand. Lumbo takes the next wicket. Mo joins the party and with Odd taking yet another stunning catch in the deep. The Cat runs one out. Still Petherton are in the driving seat. 40 off 4 then 30 off 3 and 25 off 2. The noise from the vast Temple crowd is deafening (who are all these people) Come on "The Village" is the shout.

Mo last but one is a great over, 20 from 1 now needed. Lumbo has to bowl the last - the tension is building, people can't watch. 2.dot.2 The game is over the noise is incredible people ore on the pitch they think its all over, it is now. Is that tears in Cats eyes??? The MIGHTY TEMPLE have won the cup. The crowd goes wild when the boys are presented the cup on the balcony at the Somerset cricket ground. It does not get better than that. They finish off at the club only to get carried away again and forcing Ivor to go to town. Has any one seen or heard form Ivor in the last 24 Hours???????

What a fantastic game of cricket and more than that what a magnificent result for the Club and what a day; would not have missed it for the world.

Back row, left to right: Andy Hayne (Chairman), Spencer Pocock, Gary Hunt, Matt Sheppard, Simon Curtis, Steve Curtis (12th Man), Simon Mahoney, Martin Veater

Centre: Coral Gale (Scorer)

Front row, left to right: Roger Gale, Nick Campbell (w/k), Kevin Curtis (Capt), Mark Hamblin, James Hayne

NPower National Village Knockout Competition

Temple Cloud 1st XI v Failand and Portbury CC, Sunday 20th May 2007

The eagerly awaited debut appearance for Temple in the Npower village knockout was greeted with considerably better weather conditions than the preceding day and much more conducive to ‘the summer sport’ the visitors Failand and Portbury CC won the toss and elected to bat first and their openers made steady progress against the unusually wayward opening bowling spells of Simon Curtis and Matt Sheppard – Shep being possibly a little off key due to the late night negotiations he had taken part in with various women’s groups, some who were protesting and some who were attached to the love movement, before managing to climb into his bed! However the introduction of James Hayne to the bowling attack was soon to bring a change of fortune as, with the score on 71 he induced McArthur to hit a full blooded pull straight to the specialist short third man who held the catch comfortably. Flinders then joined Hayne and these two bowled with great control stemming the run rate from what had been an haemorrhaging 8 an over, back to a more respectable 3 per over and the strain of countering his bowling led to Hayne removing the previously free scoring S. Bachelor who had become becalmed in the 30’s for a long time before frustration finally took over and he lost his middle stump. Once Flinders was rested after 7 restricting overs and Hayne had completed his maximum allowed 9 over spell, Hanchet and Humphries lead a spirited assault on all of the following bowlers that saw them move rapidly again before Flinders returned in the 37th over to remove Humphries with his first ball, for a well constructed 90 and with Hanchet finding things a little more difficult in the last few overs he was left at the end of the 40 overs for an agonisingly close to a century score of 97no. The visitors had amassed an impressive 273 for 4 wickets and could be excused the slightly confident air they exuded.

After a sumptuous tea, well appreciated by the visitors, The Temple batting reply was entrusted to Sheppard and Hayne - who began this innings as they had finished the previous day’s, with confidence and power a plenty. The scoreboard rattled round at about 5 an over initially and then Sheppard changed up a gear and decided to take the aerial route – sadly, for Veater snr, this “peppering of the car park area” had the large crowd scrambling to move their cars and desert the viewing area - just when ‘the bucket’ was about to be passed around as part of Veater’s benefit season! The fifty run milestones came and past in close proximity for each of the openers and the Temple spectators were holding their breath at the prospect of a third consecutive century from Sheppard when he was too sadly perish caught on the boundary edge for 94 going for the 6 that would have seen him to three figures. This first wicket fell at 162 and whilst the opponents might have hoped for some respite, the next batsmen in was Kevin Curtis and the visitors were going to get more of the same treatment from his bat! Hayne moved on serenely accumulating his runs as he liked and by the time Kevin was out, to the young, but talented, J Bachelor for 42, the game was almost over in Temple’s favour. It just remained for Hayne to reach his deserved century – and for young Bachelor to add the valuable scalp of Simon Curtis to his impressive mini spell – before Temple had overhauled the visitors score with 4 overs to spare.

The next round of this tournament will see Temple Cloud drawn away to the very strong side from Bristol -Stapleton CC who have played there cricket at much higher levels than Temple - but who knows what can happen on the day!!

On the day Temple lost!

Results & Reports 2006

1st XI

Kilve 158, Temple Cloud 236-8 - report

Temple Cloud 176-7, Horrington 175-5 - report

Tintinhull 104, Temple Cloud 146 - report

Temple Cloud , Wells - no play because of rain

Leigh On Mendip 175-5, Temple Cloud 174 - report

Banwell & Churchill 190-4, Temple Cloud 226-4 - report

Temple Cloud 280-9, North Newton 241 - report

Huish & Langport 184-4 , Temple Cloud 180 - report

Temple Cloud 218, North Petherton 96 - report

Temple Cloud w/o, Kilve - report

Horrington 220-6, Temple Cloud 217-7 - report

Temple Cloud 343-3, Tintinhull 130 - report

Wells 178, Temple Cloud 225-7 - report

Temple Cloud 291-3, Leigh On Mendip 230-9 - report

Temple Cloud 246-9, Banwell & Churchill 227-9 - report

North Newton 165-6, Temple Cloud 93 - report

Temple Cloud 247-4, Huish & Langport 83 - report

North Petherton 71, Temple Cloud 215-4 - report

2nd XI

Temple Cloud 218-7, Belvedere 219-7 - report

Horrington 123-9, Temple Cloud 180-7 - report

Temple Cloud 124, Wedmore 165-9 - report

Wells , Temple Cloud - no play because of rain

Temple Cloud 143, Peasedown St John 145-2 - report

Temple Cloud 329-5, Banwell & Churchill 205-6 - report

Chedder A 171-9, Temple Cloud 164 - report

Temple Cloud 308-5, Brent Knoll 116 - report

Burnham 183-8, Temple Cloud 187-6 - report

Belvedere 198-5, Temple Cloud 197-7 - report

Temple Cloud 214-5, Horrington 167-9 - report

Wedmore 196-7, Temple Cloud 198 - report

Temple Cloud 251-6, Wells 186 - report

Peasedown St John 210, Temple Cloud 243-6 - report

Banwell & Churchill 102, Temple Cloud 201-9 - report

Temple Cloud 167-9, Cheddar A 222-6 - report

Brent Knoll 93, Temple Cloud 222-8 - report

Temple Cloud 105-1, Burnham - 266-1 (rain) - report

Kilve v Temple Cloud 1st XI, 6th May 2006

Temple travelled many miles through gloomy conditions to play their first game- since being promoted last season - at Kilve. The thoughts of apprehension were going through everyone’s mind has to what to expect in a higher division and these were brought to mind again as the Kilve side, with their overseas bowler, set about their warm up routine – whilst Bear handed out the BLT sandwiches etc to the Temple Athletes!

The Temple machine soon revved into life and after electing to bat first Sniper Hayne and Griswold Curtis soon settled the nerves with another firm foundation to the innings – Kevin playing with his trade mark powerful placement and Jamer his usual watchful, but bad ball punishing, innings. The score had raced on past 50 when Kevin departed for a swift 33 This brought Simon Curtis in who played himself in well and was just looking to accelerate when unfortunately missing one that the replay quite clearly showed would have taken out middle stump, Ted Veater arrived at the crease and announced himself quickly - by leaving a trail of confetti as he rattled up some quick singles - and started to build another partnership of note with Jamer Hayne who reached 64 before a slight concentration blip saw him loose his wicket. Ted went on to score a trademark 47 mixed with aggressive running and hard hit boundaries and there was a useful contribution of 20 from JP Williams who looks to be in peak condition following his new diet of only tomato skins, peas and carrots. The rest of the batters chipped in with a few runs each and the inning closed with Catford Campbell ‘purring’ at the crease undefeated on 12, whilst a score of 242 had been achieved

After tea it was now Temple’s turn to bowl and the attack was entrusted to Simon Curtis and Gazza Hunt who both bowled with good pace and accuracy on a wicket that was only mildly responsive. The Kilve opening partnership took a little time to come to terms with this and only one of them demonstrated anything like the aggression that was going to be required to keep up the almost 5.5 runs per over required. Once Gazza had completed his spell, which should now convince him he has conquered his little yip’s blimp, he was replaced by Matt Sheppard - who has been like a new man, without a care in the world since going on a bonding holiday with his dad recently – and this new attitude was going to come off well today, has he had the batsmen in trouble with his swing and pace. Matt ended up with 4 wickets and was unfortunate not to make it 5 when one streaked through the slips at catchable height but not spotted against the grey background. Ted Veater was then summoned into the attack and demonstrated the art of bowling straight, down the aisle, by grabbing 3 wickets and helping to create the pressure on the batsmen that eventually saw them crack and when Simon Curtis returned to fire out the tail end resistance and with only a sore of 137 in reply, a copy book victory of sound batting and good tight bowling and fielding was achieved. There were other useful contributions from Roger Gale who, despite the energy consuming time he spent trying to train their newly acquired ferocious beast of a dog, produced a tight restrictive spell of bowling, a good catch from Steve Curtis to remove one of Kilve’s dangerous batsmen and Cat Campbell started on a high note with a neat and tidy display that suggests he his becoming even more accomplished behind the stumps. The senior umpire throughout the 90 overs was the new grand pooh bear and chairman Andrew Hayne who entertained the car he travelled down in with snippets from his soon to be published book ‘West Country Hospitals – where best to get stitched up!!” he followed this by showing the recent alcoholic fuelled cricket tour had left his faculties as sharp as a pin when at 5.20pm he sternly asked the Kilve batsmen to start their reply with those immortal words “come on lads its 20 past 5 sno”

The 2006 season has started on a much more positive note than the opening match last year so hopefully this talented blend of cricketers can be in the hunt for honours again this season.

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Temple Cloud 1st XI v Horrington, 13th May 2006

Horrington batted first on a rain dampened pitch and were always struggling against the pace and control of Simon Curtis who was unlucky to see only the one wicket – a sharp slip catch by Kevin Curtis – as a return for a spell that saw him constantly beating the bat. From the other Matt Shepherd seemed to loose control of his rudder and the ball strayed down the leg side too often, possibly feeling the effect of the severe hair cut he had asked for - trying to make Ashley feel at home. Roger Gale took over and bowled 8 restricting overs from the bottom end and he and Simon kept the visitors pretty quiet. Ashley Davison (either Phil or Grant’s love child, but without the attitude) was introduced into the attack to bowl his off spin and about the same time Flinders replaced Curtis at the other end, the visitors looked in prime position at this stage, only one wicket down, 85 runs on the board and 9 wickets in hand for a final 20 over assault. This didn’t quite pan out with Davidson and Flinders continuing the bowlers grip on things, both getting 2 wickets each - ably assisted by 2 catches from Steve Curtis – and with Flinders in particular bowling a miserly spell of 11 overs for 36, which included 3 balls that were hit for 6 in that total. Horrington only managed to collect another 90 runs from their strong position entering the final 20 overs and their innings closed on 175 for 5 wickets.

Your correspondent was otherwise engaged at the start of the Temple innings but returning to the dressing room and using razor sharp powers of detection, quickly realised – as Kevin’s helmet came flying in before he did! – that all was not well with the start of our innings and the Bear was out to a run out mix up. However this looked as though it was going to be the only blip of the day, as Simon Curtis, now displaying his skills with the bat, along with posh boy Williams, both started scoring freely and there partnership moved to around the 130 mark before being broken when Simon departed for 73. Ted Veater came in next and started confidently until reaching 13 which threw him into a blaze of sentimentality, remembering that hymn number 13 – “All things bright and beautiful” was his own choice at the upcoming wedding and he was out playing slightly over the top of one from the opening bowler P Gray, who, in this second spell had started to cause a minor blip in the proceedings by also removing Posh Boy for 63. Still this wouldn’t be a problem – would it? Only 4 down and 30 odd needed… hang on a minute, Shep’s and Roger Gale were both quick victims for Gray and we still needed about 30. The Cat Campbell joined Ashley and looked in fine touch until losing his wicket for 8. There was now a slightly more unspoken feeling of concern growing in the Temple camp, with another 20 being required with only 3 wickets left and the visitors suddenly starting to think they could actually win this now! However normal service was resumed with the arrival of senior pro Flinders who steadied the nerves with a calm assuredness which inspired ‘our Ashley’ to smash a few boundaries to settle the game in Temple's favour.

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Temple Cloud 1st XI v Tintinhul, 20th May 2006

After the heavy rain of the previous days it came as quite a shock to hear that Tintinhull thought their wicket was still playable and so the adventure began! Upon reaching the ground the groundsman was making final preparations to the pitch which, although playable, had a distinctly unattractive look to it. Temple were asked to take first knock on it and Tintinhull’s South African Kleinman – playing his first game of the season – bowled with his usual menace and control, although the returning Jamer Hayne dispatched him for 4 during the opening over. At the opposite end it seemed the other opening bowler’s ploy was to bowl everything just a fraction short of a good length but with very little pace on it, this was to amazingly bring him a lot of wickets during the innings mainly due to the Temple batsmen playing either a little to early or a little to lazily at some of this bowling. A mini collapse ensued when first Kleinman seemed to york Hayne, then Simon Curtis holed out in fairly quick succession. Skipper Kevin Curtis had made a few whilst witnessing things from the other end, then he too got caught, in came Ted Veater who over the years has been no stranger to trying to stem an early collapse, however on this occasion he was not able to halt the slide as he was fairly quickly out in bizarre fashion, he had drifted into one of his “wedding ceremonies from around the world moments” and has he lifted his back leg – as part of the Polynesian blessing ritual – the ball cannoned into it and then on to the stumps. Last weeks mini me hero ‘our Ashley’ entered the fray and was to prove an anchor that was desperately required, but not before Flinders had also come and gone and the score stood at only a desperate 38 for 5. Roger Gale came next and played a breezy little innings and he helped move the score on to around 70 before he too was out. This brought out Matt Sheppard who had not had the best of preparations for the game being forced to go to Bournemouth for a ‘night out’ with some of his other team mates and re live some of the moments from the recent tour - which he had hoped to have removed from his mind set! However he formed the perfect foil to Ashley’s growing confidence and they added an invaluable stand of around 40 which started to give the Temple innings a small degree of respectability, Once ‘Shep’ was out sadly the Cat couldn’t purr as he received an accurate yorker first ball leaving Gazz Hunt to come in as last man, he hit two big 6’s and again a useful stand with Ashley was taking shape, but with only 2 required for a well deserved 50 Ashley was out stumped attacking the bowling so a score of 146 was achieved - which was an awful lot better than was envisaged earlier.

The innings had finished after only 36 overs and tea was not ready, so it was decided to play 10 overs before tea, with Temple obviously keen to get at least a couple out in this session, this was not to be the case and one of the least effective sessions of cricket Temple have produced was witnessed as Tintinhull - with Kleinman the instigator, this time with his bat – moved fairly easily to 54 for 0 at tea, there was a good deal of gloom amongst the Temple players initially and something drastic had to happen and quickly if they were to turn this around!

After tea the ball was given to Flinders and Simon Curtis and after about 4 overs Simon had rich reward by bowling the dangerous Kleinman and from there the floodgates opened as Simons pace and accuracy lead to him mopping up 6 wickets, including spectacular catches from brother Kevin at short leg and a stunning one hander by the Cat, who was to show he was on top of his game by running out one of the opponents who left his crease momentarily, only for the Cat to be alive to it and snare him. By now the other end was under control by Flinders, who was unlucky not see more of a return than just the 2 wickets, but the way the 2 bowlers put the squeeze on the Tintinhull batsmen was too much and so within the space of 20 overs Temple – Simon in particular – had responded magnificently and finally found their form to produce this tremendous last session after tea, which was the most telling one, when required.

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Leigh-on-Mendip v Temple Cloud 1st XI, 3rd June 2006

Your correspondent refuses to file a report following the poor performance that resulted in the first defeat of the season.

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Banwell & Churchill v Temple Cloud 1st XI, 10th June 2006

Normal service was resumed this week, after the disappointment at Leigh on Mendip last Saturday – when so many had been suffering due to cycling!

Kev Curtis and James Hayne were both available after missing last week and these two duly opened the Temple innings in brisk style, with Kevin in particular being extremely severe on anything short or wide. They rattled up a 40 odd opening stand before Jamer was caught - by one of the lads he teaches at school – should be fun on Monday morning! Kevin went fairly shortly after without fulfilling the promise of the earlier part of his innings. This left Simon Curtis and ‘Ted’ Veater to rebuild things, Simon played an innings which was watchful, yet severe on any of the bowling that wasn’t right on the mark, whilst Ted started grinding another trade mark “crescendo” (gets louder and more violent near the end) type innings. These took the score on to around 120 before Simon departed and in came last weeks highest scorer, Roger Gale, looking confident – only for cricket to show it is an unforgiving game, and he was run out first ball! Now it was the turn of Simon Coombs to join Veats and he immediately began to show how all that extra practice he put in this week – trying to be quicker off the mark – paid off, as they tried to run the opponents ragged with their aggressive running between the wickets. However this was a dangerous ploy in the very high temperatures and Simon reported that near the end, some of their end of over chats had became distinctly strange and he was worried if Veats was suffering from heat stroke, apparently one conversation went “Do you want to buy my time share at Miskyn Manor” and another started “Do you Simon, Oliphant, Coombs take this woman…” really Odd! After much scampering these two saw Temple reach 227 at the end of their innings and Ted Veater top scored with 80 not out.

After an alfresco tea, taken outside the delightful old stabling block, it was time for Churchill to bat and their opening pair also had it in their minds to get a rapid start, which they did with a mixture of lofted drives and good running – all of which had the scoreboard turning quite quickly. Simon Curtis and Roger Gale had opened the bowling for Temple, with Roger being unlucky on a couple of occasions after finding the edge, but evading the fielders, whereas Simon was unusually off line in his opening spell. With the score progressing too quickly for his liking, Kev Curtis brought on Flinders – currently considering a new major sponsorship deal with a support bandage manufacturer – from the Stables end to replace Simon, with the instruction to close the end up if he could, this had the desired affect as he claimed 3 of the top 4 batsmen in a 12 over spell that produced figures of 3 for 32 and when ‘Our Ashley’ came on from the other end, the batsmen were kept pretty firmly under control and this 20 over spell between the two slow bowlers was decisive in controlling the home sides attempt to get any momentum going. The final piece of the jigsaw was completed when the slow bowlers, who had finished their allowed overs, were replaced by Simon Curtis and James Hayne with Simon demonstrating his earlier spell had been a slight blip, by producing such a fierce spell at the death, that the home batsmen couldn’t do anything but fend it off and Jamer kept things in check well from the other end. Temple’s fielding - on a difficult outfield -was a great support to their bowlers - with Simon Coombs in particular doing terrific work in the deep all afternoon. The Churchill and Banwell batsmen seemed to become too daunted by the task, as the runs required per over rate started to climb, so much that in the end, even with only 4 wickets down they decided they couldn’t reach the Temple score and batted, to a degree, for safety and their final total was almost 40 runs short.

Chairman Hayne, as usual at close hand observing matters, put this down to a fine team performance where all the links of the chain pulled together this week. This was particularly evident in the opponents innings, where Temple managed keep their nerve during an early run flurry and then stem that and exert pressure at the same time, so much that in the end the game was totally in control and teamwork. and hard work had won the day.

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Temple Cloud 1st XI v North Newton, 17th June 2006

On a gloriously hot and sunny afternoon Temple played host to the team starting the day at the top of the table. Kev Curtis won the all important toss and Temple chose to bat first. The usual pairing of Kevin and James Hayne opened and it wasn’t long before Kevin started to play some of his powerful and punishing shots around the wicket, to have the scoreboard racing along. These two batted Temple into a good position and although Jamer was having a little more difficulty finding the gaps Kevin’s blistering scoring enabled them to get up to 140 before Kevin was caught for a domineering 94. Simon Curtis came in next and carried on with his good batting form of the previous week and featured in stands with all the rest of the Temple batsmen who – after Jamer departed for 39 – came and went in relatively quick time, nearly all of them chipped in with just about double figures but Simon’s was the mainstay and the Temple innings ended after their 45 overs with Simon undefeated on 71 and Temple had reached 280 for 9.

The North Newton innings commenced with Gaz Hunt and Roger Gale as the Temple opening attack and although Gaza’s rudder slipped a couple of times, he was rewarded with two wickets in his spell. Roger again beat the bat without any reward on a few occasions and although not noticeably threatening, the North Newton scoring rate was still around the 5 runs per over mark. Simon replaced Gaz and settled into a rhythmical spell that the batsmen found difficult to do much more than defend or edge against. Roger finally had some luck when a wider delivery was hit straight to Kev Curtis. Sadly it was about this point with the visitors on 130 for 4 wickets down and only half their overs left, that Temple’s discipline started to disappear and all manner of errors crept into their bowling and fielding display. Flinders took over from Gale at the bottom end and soon found the aggressive Number 5 batsmen using his feet well, to plunder his opening three overs, however with a switch to the top end he gained revenge when Simon Curtis took the important catch on the long on boundary. Fortunately the Temple score of 280 had been an imposing one and although there were some moments of relief - when Ted Veater, Matt Sheppard and Roger Gale all took a wicket and Simon bowled a good spell at the death – the second half of the North Newton innings produced a shabby display and enabled the opponents to get quite close to their score before finally being dismissed for 241.

The positive point to emerge from this was that the players knew they had not done themselves justice with their display in the latter part of the game but equally it was because of the high standards they seek to consistently achieve that they were their own hardest critics. Latest league tables shown below which take in this reported game. The tight and important fixtures seem to come every week – next week is Huish and Langport away!

Current Tables - 1st XI Division 3

	P	W	L	D	T	C	Pts
North Newton	7	5	2	0	0	0	194
Temple Cloud	7	5	1	0	0	1	186
Huish & Langport	7	5	2	0	0	0	185
Leigh on Mendip	7	3	2	1	0	1	166
Wells	7	3	1	1	0	2	164
Horrington	7	3	4	0	0	0	161
North Petherton	7	4	3	0	0	0	161
Banwell & Churchill	7	3	3	0	0	1	155
Kilve	7	0	7	0	0	0	69
Tintinhull	7	0	6	0	0	1	58

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Huish & Langport v Temple Cloud 1st XI, 24th June 2006

Down, back up on the ropes, up again - and then finally out.

Nothing to dwell on this week after we went away to play a good side and didn’t perform that greatly – mainly with the batting not producing a challenging enough target. This after being 50 for 0 at one stage, but then slipping to 90 for 6 only to be partly rescued by a good stand from Matt Shepard (51) and Roger Gale (35) enabling a final score of 180, of which Kevin Curtis was the only other main contributor with 47.
Temple bowled tightly up to the 35th over but hadn’t taken enough wickets to put their opponents under enough pressure and they launched a boundary assault that saw them overhaul the Temple score with wickets and overs to spare. James Hayne the most successful bowler with 3 wickets.

It was suggested that we need to take a look at ourselves to see what we did wrong, but a friendly local psychologist who examined the situation reported it was more the make up of the individuals that were causing all the problems and he cited the following examples of some strange and mixed up personalities: (he would not go too greatly into their problems but is structuring individual treatment courses for each!)

• A loved up cartoon character.
• A frustrated teacher who dreams of becoming head of year and currently battling rejection.
• A lad known as milky, to whom the psychologist asked “is that because your skin is so soft and white” No came the reply, “then is it because your teeth are so gleaming and are still your milk set?” No says our man, “then why are you called Milky?” because I used to look like that dork in the Milky Bar Kid adverts. – “what do you mean used to” said the psychologist.
• A man with a ladies hair removal product fetish but wont use it on himself.
• A shaven headed prankster with a liking for break dancing sailors
• A lad who has been so influenced by his parents tales of the love and peace days of the 60’s that he has bought a VW Camper van and is looking for someone who can paint flowers on it for him
• A lad who is trying to set a record for one so young to have so many different medical devices fitted and currently he is heavily into neoprene knee supports.
• A man who sadly injured his hand in the latest game, but, as you would expect in this band of strange characters, there is always an employment expert and it was decided he should tell work that whilst on his round a dog bit him – to ensure he gets full sick pay!
• A man who has had a Velcro cleavage fitted - to catch all the ones that go straight through his hands.
• A man with a glove fetish who when he hasn’t got something on his hands feels nervous and alone and he bores us all with a routine where he puts his un gloved hand up and says what’s this, no one bothers to reply we’ve heard him say “Sooty in the nude” so many times now
• Eevor’s apprentice is now umpiring a lot of our matches, but his memory loss is at much more of an advanced stage than Eevor’s, when you do the “train” routine to try to help he just looks at you blankly and says… “what’s a train?”
• Our 50 year old super sub who believes in a former life he had been a world champion rally driver, who was on such an adrenalin rush after coming on for most of our fielding session, that the drive home seemed like a blur and one passenger was heard to start that immortal opening line – “I’m not normally a nervous passenger…….”

Ask not why we lost – ask how the hell this strange bunch ever win!! But what party animals, now if there was a league for that………….

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Temple Cloud 1st XI v North Petherton, 1st July 2006

On an oppressively hot Sunday afternoon Temple played hosts to their near rivals in the league table and old adversaries of recent seasons – North Petherton. Temple batted first against what appeared to be somewhat defensive tactics straight from the off, of scouts out to all parts of the boundary and very few close fielders, but Temple thwarted this tactic by applying ‘union rules’ to their innings – all the ‘brothers’ came out to bat in the first 4 (a tip for any young cricketers looking to have a future in Temple’s first team, ask your mum to get you a brother!) James Hayne played an anchor role to the innings whilst Kevin Curtis, who had looked as though just about to launch a trademark assault on the bowling, departed fairly quickly. This brought in Simon Curtis for a little cameo which again sadly ended just when it was looking to blossom and the last of the four card trick, Jamer’s brother Rob, joined him at the wicket and the scoreboard started to tick over again, with Rob contributing a stylish 21 to a stand which saw the score move to the 90’s with half the overs gone. Chris Munden was next to the wicket and his partnership with Jamer saw the score almost double before he departed for 44. Ted Veater followed, hell bent on showing that customary strength of putting the opponents on the back foot by running the quick singles - woe betide the next Mrs Ted if the vicar ever shouts Ted for a ‘quick run’ through of the ceremony! – after Ted departed Jamer’s long innings came to an end for a well crafted 86 which was to provide the backbone to Temple’s innings. There was a quick display of big hitting from Elvis’s best pal, old Shep, before a dodgy hinge joint let him down on another intended 6. There then followed a few moments of theatre as the N Petherton bowler Hucker performed a hat trick with three quick scalps (sorry Ash I know that word upsets you) victims, Temple’s innings closed on 218.
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North Petherton had set their stall out to restrict the score to a manageable one and this was the slightly confident mood that their innings started in, however against Temple’s opening pace bowling attack of Hayne and Curtis senior (you never thought you’d read that here!) the batsmen were all dressed up but going nowhere and this set the tone for all of the Temple bowling, which never relented all through their opponents innings and one by one the batsmen all became undone by trying to score at more than only the 1, sometimes 2, an over that Temple conceded. The main destroyers were Rob Hayne with 4 for 21 and Chris Munden with 3 for 27, both from there full allowances of 12 overs. Ashley Davidson turned in a little cameo slow bowling special that brought him 2 wickets including the obdurate opening batsmen Beer who top scored with 28. A slightly unusual innings where every one of the N Petherton batsmen was out clean bowled. That was last of the games before starting the reverse fixture of the opening day of the season, so with half the season gone Temple are in a healthy position to mount a serious promotion – if not championship – challenge

The team dedicated this victory to Chairman Hayne on his 60th Birthday, but too late, he had shot off to see if the light was still on up at ‘Nassau’ for a private celebration.

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Temple Cloud 1st XI v Kilve, 8th July 2006

Kilve called at 11.00 on Saturday morning to say they could not raise a team. There's five points gone begging!

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Horrington v Temple Cloud 1st XI, 15th July 2006

Awaiting report.

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Temple Cloud 1st XI v Tintinhull, 22nd July 2006

Temple turned up at Stowey Road looking to put the disappointment of the last couple of weeks behind them. Kevin Curtis won the toss and chose to bat first, with the weather looking threatening. Within minutes the first wicket fell with JP Williams falling to Pickford getting a thick inside edge on to his stumps. This soon became two down with Simon Curtis falling to Kleinsmans, Tintinhull’s danger man. Kevin came to the wicket to join Jamer Hayne and consolidated, taking the score through to 100 after twenty overs. It was at this point that the acceleration happened with both batsman, but The Bear especially punishing some wayward bowling. Kevin went from fifty to a hundred in no time at all and looked to be pressurising his high score before being bowled by Pickford for 149. Jamer carried on in his own style reaching his ton shortly before the end of the Temple innings finishing unbeaten on 117.

The sun came out after tea and with it the Temple team wanting to push home their advantage in order to hit the apple juice. Wickets tumbled frequently with all the bowlers used picking up at least one for their troubles. It was good to see that the youth policy at Temple is working with Kyle Phillips bowling quickly and taking his first wickets for the first team. Special mention as well for the spin twins Steve Curtis and Simon Coombes.

Steve replaced Our Ashley shortly before the start of the game when it was discovered that Sheps was fit again and they did not have enough bandages and strapping between them, whilst Coombsey showed that he had lost none of his intelligence by chucking the ball so high that the batsmen were blinded by the light.

Temple finished the job in 30 overs with Tintinhull all out for 130. A good weekend for Temple with the seconds securing a good win against Wedmore which saw them consolidate their position challenging for promotion.

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Wells v Temple Cloud 1st XI, 29th July 2006

Temple set out for Wells on what looked like being the only rainy day for weeks, with thoughts of not playing in every one’s mind, but the old standby of it being another weather system past the Mendips held good and a full game was played.

Temple batted first and on a green and rain enlivened wicket the bowlers were very much in control, with unusual bounce and movement being achieved almost every delivery. Try as they might, the Temple batsmen struggled in the conditions and batsmen came and went like a revolving door, with Williams, Sheppard, Simon Curtis and Simon Coombs all back in the hutch with only 29 on the board. This looked even more precarious once skipper Kev Curtis – who had steadied the ship a little, but his concentration seemed to be affected by all the phone calls he’d been getting thinking he was the RAC breakdown service, – departed with the score on 59. Cometh the hour and all that… out marched Ted Veater with that same determined attitude he displays when he’s driving the petrol lorry down country lanes… “they shall not pass!!” together with the young and improving Kyle Phillips they ground out a partnership that took Temple from deep trouble, to a more respectable position of around 130 before Kyle - who, after being hit in the ‘box’ for the 3rd time changed from sounding like Aled Jones, to Barry White – was out for a determined 35, which was worth more given the conditions. Ted was now joined by Roger Gale and the two of them demonstrated how old pro’s take advantage of the situation, by rattling the score along to around 200 before Ted departed for a marvellous 63 and Roger finished with a big hitting flurry to end on 45 not out and Temple had fought their way back to a score of 225 for 8 which would have been unthinkable earlier.

The Wells reply set off at a fair old rattle and stood at 52 for 0 after 9 overs before long John Sheppard struck, via a magnificent catch which Simon Coombs took, diving upwards and horizontally, to round off a ‘golden’ day. Simon Curtis toiled manfully from the other end sending down some snorters but also found the ball swinging to leg a little more than he would have liked. With Wells still making runs at a fast rate Flinders came on from the one legged end, this immediately produced a break through when ‘Our Ashley’ took a low catch at short mid wicket. From there on, Flinders – in his 25th anniversary year at Temple – produced a spell of 12 overs to almost kill off the opposition and finished with figures of 5 for 34, which included 2 memorable reflex catches, off feathered edges, from ‘keeper Cat Campbell. This also brought a return to form for umpire Hayne who later in the evening reported a bout of ‘umpires finger’ brought on by overuse. Simon Curtis returned at the end to display his usual ability to clinically wrap up the tail and Temple went home with a sound win from what had been a very nervous position earlier. With the Second XI also winning to go top of their division, it had been another rewarding day.

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Temple Cloud 1st XI v Leigh on Mendip, 5th August 2006

Temple took on the team that was one place behind them at start of play with the intention of gaining revenge for one of their few defeats earlier in the season. Taking first knock Temple, in the shape of James Hayne and Matt Sheppard, were extremely positive from the off and Jamer set the tone for the innings by clipping the first ball of the day for four. After Shep’s little cameo – which seemed to end in another possible injury scenario, like when the gymnast falls off the vaulting horse in a heap - Kevin Curtis came out to join the flowing Hayne and the run rate, which was already good, started to climb again. Jamer achieved his 50 quickly, followed closely by Kevin’s - and it was still only around 18 overs gone! Kevin mistimed a pull and was caught on the boundary for 56, this brought in Simon Curtis and again he was off and running in no time with a good mixture of power shots where required and also taking any one’s and two’s to keep piling on the pressure and with Hayne now passing the 100 mark, the opponents were right under the cosh. Simon departed for 53 and in came Simon Coombs to hit a quick fire 31 and to help Jamer raise the Temple score to a daunting 306 for 3, with Hayne undefeated on 134.

After a team huddle (and tea) Leigh came out to bat knowing the required rate was just a fraction under 7 per over, a tall order, but not impossible on the fast scoring Temple outfield. In fact for the first 4 or 5 overs the Leigh openers were a little ahead of that, but once Simon Curtis took the lead and started to beat the bat and stem the flow of runs, the batsmen had to start to take a few more risks. Simon bowled his allocation of 12 straight off and was unlucky not to claim more than the 3 wickets, with a few catches going down off edges, but none affected the balance of the match very much, because he pretty quickly bowled them out to prevent them being costly misses and with only 36 runs coming from his spell he was the pick of the bowlers. The only time Temple had any slight concern was when the talented T. Roy was batting and he quite smoothly moved into the 50’s before he was out to a smart catch from Ted Veater, storming in off his beat on the long on boundary, which he had kept tight all afternoon. – demonstrating to all the ladies in the crowd how to catch the brides bouquet in 2 hands with a full length dive!! - Roy’s dismissal almost signalled the end of the contest and Roger Gale enjoyed a profitable second spell by mopping up 3 quick wickets, including a remarkable reflex catch off one driven back hard towards his boot, which he grabbed before it hit the ground – further emphasising how amazing it was that he could do that with a relatively small object, but he once dropped a gravestone on his foot!! Strange but true. The Leigh innings petered out with them reaching their only realistic goal of 200 plus (for the full batting points) with 9 wickets down - but still some 77 runs short of Temple’s total. A terrific display of positive batting, controlled bowling and in the main, top fielding produced a performance that would have beaten most teams in this division and must be the bench mark for future performances.

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Temple Cloud 1st XI v Banwell & Churchill, 12th August 2006

Apart from the Sunny weather not being there, this was just like deja vu from the previous week, as Hayne and Sheppard set about the bowling from the off. The scoreboard was again racing along and was on 60 odd after 8 overs when Shep was caught on the very boundary edge for a powerful and controlled 36, Kev Curtis and Jamer then tried to keep the momentum going, but Banwell cleverly introduced two slow bowlers into the proceedings at this early stage and pulled the run rate back over the next 10 or so overs to only around 3 - after it had been 9. Hayne reached 50 and looked ready for another big score when he played on for 55, this brought in Simon Curtis and he and Kev both got well set on 48 and 44 respectively but couldn’t push on to a big innings which would have given Temple the possibility of another 300 score. In fact a mini collapse ensued as our Ashley, Ted Veater (strangely pre occupied with the big night out he was about to have at a restaurant with his good lady – but why did he keep going down on one knee? Was he about to be knighted by the queen?) Roger Gale and Gary Hunt, only contributed 20 between them. However an entertaining stand between JP Williams (21) and Cat Campbell (12no) saw Temple finish on 246 for 9 and by common consent probably 40 or so shy of what should have been scored. During the interval chairman Hayne’s dog – a year older and stronger since winning the tractor pull at the Bath and West, demonstrated his new skill at ‘drag racing’ as he set a new record by dragging two youngsters, three senior cricketers and the tea lady, round a lap of Temple field.…. come bye boy!

Banwell set about their reply with caution against the opening pace attack of the Curtis brothers, but gradually gathered momentum and by the 10th over had reached 50 without loss. Flinders replaced Simon Curtis and in tandem with Kev Curtis, saw the run rate start to dry up and for wickets to fall in sometimes drastic attempts to get on top of the bowling. By the time Kevin (12 overs 2-48) and Flinders (12 overs 3-37) finished their spells and with the visitors standing at 109 for 5 after 33 overs, the game should have been dead, but the next few overs seemed to go at around 8 runs each and Banwell started to get more interested. However Shep managed to get his line right later in his spell and removed 2 of the batsmen, leaving the dangerous McHale, who reached a deserved century a few balls later, still there, but with Simon Curtis removing Biggs the runs dried up and Banwell finished 20 runs short on 227 for 9. The control of recent weeks went missing at various times during this match but Temple still did enough to win and with both of the teams above them losing, Temple moved into 2nd place and the pressure becomes even more intense as they play the team they have overtaken – North Newton - next Saturday away!

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North Newton v Temple Cloud 1st XI, 19th August 2006

Dear Diary, 6.45am got up early to fully prepare and focus for pivotal game of Temple’s season…..

6.55 went back upstairs after forgetting to get dressed! 11.00 got to club early for net session for Ben Blackmore, who looks good after his time in Bazil (no I haven’t left a letter out!) 12.10 team depart, 12.15 team stop at Farrington garage for vital supplies and break journey up.1.40 arrive at ground. 1.50 toss goes wrong and we are fielding, 1.58 team take to field to warm up, 1.58 Steve Curtis pulls calf muscle.. toss may not have been so unkind after all, Simon Curtis bowls a tremendous spell utilising the pitch to it’s utmost with his pace and control and at one stage North Newton are precariously poised at 29 for 5! Simon eventually completes a fantastic spell with 4 for 24 off his 12 overs, including a tremendous catch by Steve Curtis at Slip. At the other end skipper Kev Curtis again took the new ball and his first spell was also an effective one, using the conditions well and having the batsmen play and miss constantly and only going for 22 from his 8 over burst. I previously knew nothing of Kevin’s religious background has he reminded us, at a poignant moment, of the prodigal son who seemed to be the father’s favourite!2.53 ambulance arrives at ground… is Steve’s injury that bad? – no they have been put on standby because Flinders and Sheppard told to warm up to bowl! Shep bowls first spell, but not enjoying conditions at that end and Flinders takes over and with Blackmore at the other end, a serene passage of play ensued for the next 10 overs where, either by choice or ability, the 2 batsmen could hardly get the ball off the square, so after 6 mean overs Flinders was taken off for bowling to boringly well and Blackmore also departed when rain made the ball difficult to spin. Newton were still in some peril with only about 12 overs to go and the score on 80 odd for 6, the 2 batsmen then realised action was needed and the force started to turn in their favour because they now started to attack and Roger Gale and Kev Curtis were the unlucky pair who bowled at the death, 4.26 Blackmore pulls hamstring, and the score moves to 160 by the end of their innings – no need for words about ‘letting off the hook’ etc.

5.20 Temple innings commences with Roger Gale and Matt Sheppard facing Bishop, the local – off the wrong foot – quickie, he soon creates havoc amongst the Temple batsmen and Shep, Roger, Kevin Curtis, Simon Curtis and Ben Blackmore are all back in the dressing room with score on not many for 5!! 5.40 Cat does marvellous job of reminding me of all the good things in life and I take gun from my head and throw it away.. although find it very hurtful that team mates fall about laughing at me moments later, simply because I offered to be Steve’s runner! 5.45 Kev bangs on toilet door and tells me to pad up. 5.51 meet Ted at the wicket, Ted tells me to shape up, as at 17 for 5 chasing 162 we can still do this... I check mixture in Ted’s tank, thinking there’s to much nitrogen in there making him light headed again! We labour away for the next 20 overs or so and add about 65 before the next bitter pill, as my right calf injury gets balanced up when left groin pulls, making running even more agony now. 6.42 Advise Ted of latest handicap, but Ted’s mixture of gas and air now completely knackered, and he is away with the fairies and sings me an excerpt from Rolf Harris song that went something like.. “do you think I would leave you struggling, when there’s room on my horse for two..” 6.43 hit Ted hard on head to bring him round, tell him I will have to have a slog and leave him with people who can run, 6.46 out, caught, too late on a hook. 6.53 finally manage to bend down to untie boot, In comes Ted bowled for gritty 30! “It was getting a little darker now”, Mike Harding said, as he was next one out – 80 for 8 – Gary Hunt gave us a brief glimmer of hope with a six into the strawberry field, then he fell and finally Steve Curtis limped slowly to the crease and a flock of buzzards gently circled above the pitch and after a few minutes resistance the end finally came and we had only totalled 93, there are no words to describe the despair everyone felt. 8.11 Team stops for first pub stop on way home as we try to console ourselves and anesthetise the injuries with alcohol. 9.30 get back to Temple and 2nd’s have lost as well.. repeat the turn to alcohol with this added downer! 11.00 food required all-round to counter alcohol, Liam and Mrs Ted sent to chippy… 11.30 not back yet, Ted getting concerned.. 11.40 door bursts open Liam comes in, smoking big fat cigar and singing part of Bobby Goldsboro’s famous hit that goes .. “and I saw the sunrise as a man”

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Temple Cloud 1st XI v Huish & Langport, 26th August 2006

Jamer got loads of runs and temple ended with a big score. Huish didn't. Its all down to the last match.

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North Petherton v Temple Cloud 1st XI, 2nd September 2006

Like last week Temple got loads of runs and the opposition didn't but results elsewhere means promotion was missed by a few points.

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Temple Cloud 2nd XI v Belvedere, 6th May 2006

Belvedere won the toss and invited Temple to bat. Howie Wilton (38) and new boy Bobbie Barnes got the innings off to a good start putting on nearly 50 for the first wicket. After a slight stall as numbers 3 and 4 went cheaply Ashley Davison, another new player, smashed an aggressive 77 ably supported by Ian Appleyard (23) and Kyle (22) to bring the innings to a close on 218 for 7.

Kyle removed the Belvedere opener with the first ball of the innings but there was then a partnership of nearly 100 to pull Belvedere right back into the game. Four further wickets fell cheaplpy to make the score 115 for 5. The Belvedere number 6 then found some support from the number 7 and 9 batsmen and commence hitting the ball very hard indeed. This coupled with aggressive running and some sloppy Temple fielding saw Belvedere wanting 14 to win off the final over which was achieved with a ball to spare. All of the Temple bowlers took some stick, Tim suffering the most. Ashley (3 for 32) was the most successful. Kyle (1 for 8) has to leave early to attend his birthday party and was sorely missed in the closing overs.

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Horrington v Temple Cloud 2nd XI, 13th May 2006

For the second week running Temple were asked to bat first. A slightly damp wicket, a slow outfield and accurate bowling resulted in a slow if steady start. Howie Wilton and Richard Appleyard (55) laid the foundations for some more forceful biffing later in the innings with Ian Appleyard, Andy Wilson and Kyle Phillips all adding usefu runs. A single off the last ball of the innings saw Temple to a ninth bonus point.

Just like last week Kyle took a wicket with the first ball of the Horrington innings; and just like last week there followed a substantial partnership. Andy Wilson was keeping one end quiet and the introduction on Mark Culblaitth (12-6-9-4) really put a break on the run rate and eventually induced mistakes. Tim Raisbeck claim three cheap wickets helped by stunning catches by Phil Trescothick and Mark Culblaith but Temple were unable to claim the final wicket to gain maximum bowling points.

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Temple Cloud 2nd XI v Wedmore, 20th May 2006

For once Temple didn't have to bat first. Kyle failed this week when he didn't get a wicket with his first ball but he did turn out to be the pick of the bowlers with four wickets in two useful spells. Howie also deserves a mention for bowling a considerable number of overs into a very strong wind. The highlight of the fielding was two run-outs for Ian Appleyard who lulled the batsman into a second only to suprise them with the strength and accuracy of the throw.

Chasing 166 to win Temple got off to a slow start and then lost three quick wickets to put the score on 14 - 4. Contributions from Simon Coombes, Kyle and Ian Appleyard kept the team in touch but wickets were falling all too quickly. Even with the last pair at the wicket the asking rate was around 4 an over but hope was short lived as Rob Newmarch was smartly caught at square leg to complete a poor batting performance.

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Temple Cloud 2nd XI v Peasedown St. John, 3rd June 2006

After a sound opening partnership of 50 between Howie and Phil Trescothick everyone was pants.

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Temple Cloud 2nd XI v Banwell & Churchill, 10th June 2006

Temple won the toss and took first use of a typical Raisbeck/Curtis belter against a somewhat depleted Banwell side. Howie at last managed to push on from 20s and 30s to be first out for 83 out of an opening partnership of 170. Rob Newmarch ran himself out for 93, and with contributions from Bobbie Barnes, Gary James, Kyle Phillips and Dan Webb the score was well past the 200 mark. The icing on the cake was a very rapid 50 from Spencer Pocock that included 4 successive sixes.

Banwell were never going to get 330 to win so set out to pile up as many bonus points as they could while not loosing wickets. A number of bowlers were tried and aggressive field placing maintained but without much success until a flurry of wickets in the final overs. Tim Raisback was the most successful of the bowlers with 4 for 38.

After two poor performances with the bat perhaps this will give the side the confidence to play more fully to its potential.

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Cheddar A v Temple Cloud 2nd XI, 17th June 2006

On a hot and sticky afternoon Temple fielded first and looked to be heading towards conceding a large total. A number of catches went down and many upish shots fell just out of reach. However Tim and Phil slowed things down and then Bobbie Barnes started picking up wickets to finish with a "5-for". Andy Wilson also put the break on things in his second spell and Cheddar were restricted to a getable 171.

The Temple innings didn't start well with Howie being bowled in the third over. Richard Appleyard, suffering badly from cramp, and then Gary James (41) proved more resilient and Temple looked well placed at 107 for 3 with an asking rate of around 4 per over. Rob Newmarch (36) then holed out at square leg and two other wickets fell without the score moving. Ian Appleyard (31) with support from Bobbie Barnes and Andy Wilson boosted the score to 160 before driving to extra cover. The final pair, Tim and Phil Trescothick, were picking them off in singles until Phil hit across a straight ball and was LBW to wrap up the innings 8 short of victory.

This was another "so near but so far" effort from Temple. The dropped catches, the few expensive overs that were sent down and the throwing away of wickets at critical moments made the difference between success and failure.

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Temple Cloud 2nd XI v Brent Knoll, 24th June 2006

Winning the toss the Brent Knoll skipper conceded first use of another Curtis/Raisbeck belter to the Temple batsmen. For the second time in three games Howie and Rob Newmarch posted 150+ for the first wicket. Howie was the first to go for a solid 59. Rob just reached his century before being second out for 102. Rich Appleyard (31) and Kyle (37*) helped push the total up to 308 for 5 at the end of the 45 overs.

Brent Knoll were never going to top that score so the Temple aim was to secure maximum bowling bonus points. The Brent Knoll openers were initially scoring at a healthy rate but mostly off edges and shots that just evaded fielders. Andy Wilson (2 for 37) made the initial breakthrough and then Dan Webb (3 for 26) shifted the rest of the top order. There was then a stubborn stand that frustrated the Temple bowlers until Tim Raisbeck (4 for 38) and Phil Trescothick (1 for 11) wrapped things up after just 29 overs.

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Burnham v Temple Cloud 2nd XI, 1st July 2006

On yet another baking hot afternoon Temple fielded first against a Burnham side somewhat depleted by World Cup fever. Tim got procedings off to a fine start with a wicket in his first over and bowled his twelve straight off to finish with 3 for 35. Andy Wilson and Mark Culblaith were keeping things relatively quite at the other end and it was only in the 31st over that Burnham passed the 100. One of the Burnham batsmen than decided to hurry thing along with a number of fours and sixes. Bobbie Barnes put an end to that and whipped out three further batsmen to return 4 for 17 off six overs. Burnham finished on 183-8 having upped the run-rate considerably in the later stages of their innings. Temple did not help themselves by contributing 19 wides.

After watching some of the football (England v Portugal) Temple's innings began against ten men. The batting was about as good as England's performance and 70-6 in the 23rd over was not looking good. However Richard Appleyard, batting at number 3, was still there and just as with the bowling Bobbie Barnes, batting at 8, had a significant impact. These two put on 117 for the sixth wicket to win the game. Richard finished 67* and Bobbie 51*. Ironically Burnham's "best" bowler, who had remained glued to extra time and the penalty shoot-out, eventually joined the cricket only to conceed 57 runs in 10 overs.

A word of praise must go the many young members of the Burnham side who stuck gamely to their task as the game slipped away from them.

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Belvedere v Temple Cloud 2nd XI, 9th July 2006

The wicket at Weston had been covered against the overnight rain - but only at the batting ends leaving an interesting "join" just short of a length! Temple were asked to bat first and after a watchful few overs Howie Wilton and Rob Newmarch again got the innings off to a useful start. Howie was the more aggressive and was first to go for 41 out of an opening stand of 70. The innings then stagnated as numbers three, four, five, six and seven came and went for not very many. Martyn Webb batting at eight rescued things with a lively 26 and Andy Wilson just failed to get the maximum batting points in spite of a huge six which he claimed to have mis-hit! The innings closed on 197-7 with Rob Newmarch having batted throughout for 79*.

The Belvedere batmen found Kyle Phillips a handful as he claimed three wickets in his six overs. Bobbie Barnes and Spencer Pocock then kept things quiet and Spencer chipped out another couple of batsmen. At 92 for 5 after 26 overs it looked like anyone's game. The arrival of the Belvedere number 7 changed all that. The ball started to dissappear to all corners of the ground as the 100+ required for victory was reached in less then 15 overs. The number 7 turned out to be one of the best bats from the Belvedere 1st XI and it was subsequently discovered at least one other 1st XI player was waiting to bat.

Temple left feeling cheated. The match was played on Sunday because Belvedere's ground was not available on Saturday. They then considerably strengthened their side by playing good 1st team players, which they could not have done had the game been played as usual on a Saturday.

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Temple Cloud 2nd XI v Horrington, 15th July 2006

Good knocks of 73 from Kyle and 51 from Polly saw Temple to maximum batting bonus points as the innings closed on 214-5. Horrington could only manage 167-9 in reply.

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Wedmore v Temple Cloud 2nd XI, 22nd July 2006

On a hot and sultry afternoon Temple were asked to bat first on a hard, dry track with some bounce. Polly & Rob Newmarch battled along to the first drinks break to put on 40 for the first wicket. Then, as in other games this season, wickets fell all too quickly. 40 for 0 became 50 for 4 and then 72 for 5. Ian Appleyard (38) and Bobbie Barnes (41) got Temple back in business with some sound hitting and judicious running. With eight overs to go a target of 180 looked attainable but the return of the quicker bowlers altered all that. Six overs from two of the young seam bowlers went for 54! The "highlight" was the 44th over that started with a shoulder-high full toss that Rory O'Gorman (22) smashed over cover for six and was followed by a second high/wide delivery that beat the wicketkeeper and sped to the boundary - 12 runs and not a genuine ball bowled! In all the over yielded 20 runs. The last ball of the innings had Mark Culblaith needing to hit two to bring up maximum batting points; he was bowled instead leaving the total on 198.

The Wedmore response was very positive and runs were coming at all too quick a pace. Bobbie Barnes made the breakthrough courtesy of a leg-side catch by Gary James behind the stumps. Polly then got in on the act bowling the other opener and generally putting a break on things. The run out of the Wedmore number 3 following a smart piece of work by Mark Culblaith was another key moment and with Bobbie, Tim and Polly (4-22) bowling straight the Wedmore batsmen were having to take increasing risks. The Temple ground fielding and catching held up well under the pressure, none more than Sam Perkins who comfortably pouched a catch on the deep square-leg boundary.

Wedmore needed 11 of the last over and with Tim keeping them to a run-a-ball for the first five deliveries a six off the last ball would have tied the match. Although the batsman managed to smack the ball away backward of square for a four is was of no matter as Temple emerged as winners by two runs.

Twice in the course of the afternoon Temple had fought back from unpromising positions. A fine team effort bringing a close victory. A most telling statistic is wides/no-balls count. Wedmore "gave" Temple 20 extra runs/balls while Temple offered up only three!

This win has put Temple second in the table and hence in line for promotion. However only five points separates the top four teams. The upcoming fixtures against Wells, Banwell and Chedder take on added significance because of this. Further displays of tenacity will be needed to get back to Division 2.

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Temple Cloud 2nd XI v Wells, 29th July 2006

For the second week running Temple were asked to bat, the option they would have chosen if they had won the toss. After a couple of early wickets Howie (52) and Richard Appleyard (25) posted the 100 in the 23rd over whereupon they were both out in quick succession. Ian Appleyard and Spencer (34), batting with rare judgement, pushed the score up to 170-6 but with only five overs remaining. The arrival of Gary James at the wicket sparked a late acceleration and with Ian opening his shoulders 78 runs were plundered from the final few overs. Gary ended on 30* and Ian on a very creditable 73*.

Daniel Webb got the Wells innings off to a great start bowling one of the openers in his first over and picking up another wicket soon after before being repleced by Tim. At the other end Spencer was bowling a tight spell without managing to gain any reward. After 20 overs Wells were 50 for 2 with the run rate up around eight and over. Will Withers exploited this need for urgency floating up his off-spin and finishing wih figures of 12-0-68-5, helped by solid catching particularly one in the deep by Spencer. Timmy had chipped out the number three and some smart fielding had run out another Wells batsman. With five overs to go the last pair were at the crease but some intelligent batting by the Wells captain in pursuit of bonus points was making it difficult to pick up the final wicket. However with the fifth ball of the final over Dan Webb yorked the number eleven to finish with 8-1-25-3 and assure Temple of the full 35 points.

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Peasedown St. John v Temple Cloud 2nd XI, 5th August 2006

On a sultry afternoon Temple batted first on a wicket that was occasionally "interesting" and where the ball was moving about all over the place. The innings was soon in trouble with the score on 40 for 3 after ten overs. With a combination of solid defence, some wayward bowling and a slice or two of luck Rob Newmarch and Ian Appleyard then put on 199 for the fourth wicket before Rob was out for 79. Ian fell for 93 in the final over of the innings and Temple closed on 243 for 6.

The Peasdown reponse was rattling along as a fine pace with the Warsinsky brothers being particularly severe on anything not spot on target. Daniel Webb was economic bowling six overs for 15 but Mark Culblaith and Andy Wilson has both been bashed about about a bit. The breakthrough came when Sam Perkins bowled a shoulder-high no-ball which was top-edged to Tim Raisbeck. The batsman for some reason set out for a run and Tim's smart return and quick work from Gary James saw the opening partnership broken. In spite of this the Peasedown innings did not falter much and the remaining Warsinsky reached a well earned 100. Immediately afterwards Andy Willson produced a well-disguised slower ball to claim this vital wicket. Thereafter Peasedown were always behind the rate and fell 35 short. The Temple bowlers had taken a fair amount of stick with the three slower bowlers going for an average of six an over. It was the quicker bowlers, better able to exploit the uneven wicket, that kept Temple in control. Dan Webb (12-2-40-2) and young Sam Perkins (8-2-20-2) proved much more difficult to attack.

Another fine all-round effort saw Temple gain a further 35 points that keeps them at the top of the table.

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Banwell & Churchill v Temple Cloud 2nd XI, 12th August 2006

Temple were asked to bat first on a hard, bouncy and at times unpredictable wicket. Rob Newmarch went early on but Howie (56) and Richard Appleyard (51) put togther a partnership of 111 to give Temple the prospect of a reasonable total. Howie was having one of those day; dropped three times and caught three times off no-balls. This did not help the fluency of the partnership and runs were coming at around 3.5 an over. Richard, Dan Webb (14) and Spencer (36*) - who played himself in by hitting his first ball for 6 - upped the rate and it was eventually left to Senior Pro Raisbeck to shepherd the total past the 200 mark and maximum batting bonus points. This was riches indeed after the slow passage of play in the middle of the innings especially as three Temple batsmen were out first ball!

When Banwell batted their youngsters had no answer to Dan Webb (3-14) and Mike Harding (2-10) both of whom got the ball to lift nastily from just short of a length. With five wickets down with less than 30 on the board Banwell were fighting an uphill battle. However the Banwell number 5 took the on the Temple attack hitting Mark Culblaith (2-23 off 11 overs) for two straight sixes. However Andy Wilson (1-35 ) got one to lift and move away and Howie picked up a smart catch at slip. After that it was only a question of time and Will Withers hasten the end with two wickets in his only over.

Another good team performance resulting in a further 35 points and retention of top spot.

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Temple Cloud 2nd XI v Cheddar, 19th August 2006

This was a bad day at the office for Temple. Asked to field first the Temple bowlers, with the honourable exception if Tim (12-3-19-0) just couldn't put the ball in the right place and Cheddar ran up 222 for 6 after a slow start. Temple's innings started at a similarly slow pace but wickets kept falling and the run rate increasing. Appleyard, father and son, both scored thirties in the only substatial stand of the innings and Gary James help gather some bonus points with an agressive 40* as the overs ran out and the innings closed on 167 for 9.

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Brent Knoll v Temple Cloud 2nd XI, 26th August 2006

Temple elected to bat first against the team at the bottom of the league. Howie (45) and Rob (46) posted a century opening partnership without too many alarms. Richard Appleyard (23) built on this foundation but the innings of the day came from Gary James with a rapid 61 full of fine shots. At the end of the forty-five overs the Temple scroe stood at 222 for 8.

Only the Brent Knoll skipper, opening the innings, offered much resistence with the bat. Numbers 2 to 8 were dismissed for 4, 2, 0, 0, 0, 2 and 0 to leave the innings in total disarray. Tim (11-7-16-3) and Mike H (9--5-15-4) just bowled too straight for the Brent batsmen, and at one stage bowled nine consecutive maiden overs. Bobbie chipped in with a couple of wickets and Ian Appleyard claimed the number eleven. Brent were dismissed for 93, including 20 extras, with ten of the eleven batsmen being bowled!

The 35 points from this game puts the team in with a very good chance of promotion needing to pick up seven or eight bonus points in the final fixture to be sure of going up.

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Temple Cloud 2nd XI v Burnham, 2nd September 2006

Temple started this game in disarray which sadly set the tone for the afternoon. Minutes before the game started it was discovered that Mike Harding was with the 1st XI and not as expected at Stowey Road. Added to that Appleyard, pere et fils, were late on parade resulting in the first over being bowled with only eight Temple players in the field. The opening ball, a full toss outside off-stump, was duly despatched to the boundary; the first of many. The problems were compounded when Sam Perkins ripped a muscle in his second over and could not bowl any more. Tim , Andy, Bobbie and Ian shared the bowling between them with Bobbie claiming the only wicket thanks to a smart catch by super-sub Young Razor.

The 267 required for a win was always going to be a tall order. After a couple of early boundaries Howie (53*) and Rob (31) got bogged down and Temple readjusted their sights to a target of 120 and the bonus points needed to guarantee promotion. With 30 overs bowled a heavy dizzle set in and the game as abandoned as a draw. This was not the ideal way to end a season which contained much good cricket however that did not prevent a celebratory beverage or two being consumed.

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Results & Reports 2005

1st XI

North Petherton 181-7, Temple Cloud 180

Temple Cloud 213-7, Long Sutton 175-7

Sparkford v Temple Cloud - RAIN

Temple Cloud 292-4, Kilmington & Stourton 233 read

Temple Cloud 102-2, Bridgewater Sports 101 read

Spaxton 202-9, Temple Cloud 121 read

Temple Cloud 380-3, Stoke Under Ham 180 read

Castle Cary 181-7, Temple Cloud 239

Wincanton 138, Temple Cloud 339-3 read

Temple Cloud 194, North Petherton 228-3

Long Sutton 208-5, Temple Cloud 209-8

Temple Cloud 126-1, Sparkford 123

Kilmington & Stourton, Temple Cloud 43-1 - RAIN

Bridgewater Sports 113, Temple Cloud 240-8

Temple Cloud 116-2, Spaxton 115

Stoke Under Ham 84, Temple Cloud 149

Temple Cloud 218-9, Castle Cary 198

Temple Cloud 155-0, Wincanton 151

2nd XI

Temple Cloud 119, Taunton Deane 120-2

Watchet 138-2, Temple Cloud 137

Temple Cloud v Peasedown St. John - RAIN

Winscombe 137-1, Temple Cloud 136

Staplegrove 184-4, Temple Cloud 90

Temple Cloud 141-9, Butleigh 243-4

Wellington 254-6, Temple Cloud 134

Temple Cloud 112, Burnham 113 for 8

Temple Cloud 99-0, Wembdon 97

Taunton Deane 216-4, Temple Cloud 156

Temple Cloud 159, Watchet 160-3

Peasedown St. John 230-3, Temple Cloud 225-7

Temple Cloud 196-3, Winscombe - RAIN

Temple Cloud 176, Staplegrove 177-2

Butleigh v Temple Cloud - RAIN

Temple Cloud 135, Wellington 300-4

Burnham 119-5, Temple Cloud 118

Wembdon 68-5, Temple Cloud 67

 

Temple Cloud 1st XI – v – Kilmington and Stourton 1st XI, Saturday 28th May 2005

After listening to the various opinions on what to do if winning the toss – the Bear lost and Temple were asked to bat anyway! The Grizzly opened with ‘steady Eddie Hayne’ and Hayne again looked in prime form whilst he creamed 18 off the first over he faced, Kevin fared less well and eventually, after receiving a variety of bowling, was undone by one that seemed to keep a little low. Veats marched out next and set his stall out very early to take the game to the opponents and with Jamer’s assistance they plundered the visitors bowling – both reaching very quick 50’s within a couple of balls of each other. The fielders were now mainly trying to protect the boundary and runs were there for the taking. Jamer departed for 60 after mistiming a clip through mid wicket straight to a fielder. Simon Curtis replaced Hayne and played a fairly quiet innings – only in relation to the carnage Veater was causing at the other end – The two of them also made sure runs were quickly added before Simon departed to be replaced by Curtis snr, who at one stage almost matched the speed That Veats was scoring at and the visitors were wilting. Veater reached a richly deserved century which was typified by aggressive shots, this pair put on 70 odd together before Veats was bowled going for another big shot. This brought in new boy Matthew Sheppard to the crease – for those of you who didn’t know, he had recently been auditioned for the latest James Bond, just imagine that strong muscular physique and chiselled jaw, dressed in a Bond style evening suit, difficult to imagine how he didn’t get the part, however all is not lost he might get the Desperate Dan part instead! Matt demonstrated his potential (it’s legal in Mendip cricket) by playing a couple of power packed shots before the innings came to a close with a reasonably imposing total of 292 having been posted.

Following tea it was Temple’s turn to bowl on this batsmen friendly pitch, the combination of pace and guile, provided by Simon Curtis and Flinders managed to prevent the visitors getting the type of start they would require to attack the Temple total. The required rate which had been around 6.5 at the start had increased to nearer 8 per over after the first 10 were completed. Skipper Curtis played his first tactical card and replaced the opening bowlers with Sheppard and Hayne, Shep’s rudder was a little wayward initially, but his raw pace caused the opener to balloon a catch to keeper Campbell. The visitors other opening bat, a South African of some considerable skill, was playing some good shots but not quite scoring his runs quickly enough. With the arrival of there left handed Number 4 there was a determined attempt to lift the scoring rate for a few overs and then one of the pivotal moments in Andrew Hayne’s cricket career occurred, when he judged his sprint off the long on boundary to perfection to get his safe hands to claim the catch and send the crowd into rapture (a remarkable display from a man who has got shoes older than some of his team mates!) Flinders and Hayne switched ends and kept a tight grip on the next few overs before there spells were completed. At this point the required run rate was creeping towards 10 and this was to prove to much of a challenge as Matt Sheppard - completing his first 5 wicket haul for Temple - and Simon Curtis cleared up the remaining batsmen leaving the visitors some 50 runs short and a good, workmanlike team performance from Temple.

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Temple Cloud 1st XI – v – Bridgwater Sports, Saturday 4th June 2005

The day started bizarrely, with last week’s hero - Hayne snr - being asked to stand down and resume normal duties as chief umpire. Hayne took this in good part because he explained how nothing could ruin his day now after his dog had just won the tractor pulling event at the Bath and West Show!

Bridgwater took a fairly laid back approach and decided to bat first. They sent out Shane Robinson together with another Robinson who had apparently been scoring some good runs recently. Simon Curtis opened the bowling and by popular opinion bowled one of his finest spells of pace and control, having both batsmen fishing well after the ball had gone and it was no surprise when he removed L Robinson bowled by one that again was just to quick and accurate for him. From the other end Roger Gale toiled manfully into the teeth of the strong wind and apart from a couple of balls to find how to use the conditions, he bowled a tremendous spell achieving movement and occasional lift that always had the batters in two minds. When Gale had Robinson caught by Steve Curtis. The Bridgwater players obviously thought they would come out and hit there way out of trouble to a big score in rapid time, however they were not allowed that by the Temple Bowlers, Simon kept them in check having the dangerous Pope well caught by Campbell off a lightning quick edge and finished with 3 for 35, whilst Roger was keeping equal control from the other end. Matt Sheppard took over from Simon and started spectacularly, with two wickets in his first over looking to be really enjoying his work and using his pace in a slightly different way to Simon by sending down some rapid in swingers that proved too good for the Bridgwater tail. Gale concluded his 12 over spell with a return of 3 for 48 and this left a change to be made from the bottom end and Flinders took over and removed Brewer with his third ball, Sheppard finished with figures of 3 for 14 and Bridgwater finished 101 all out.

The Bridgwater innings lasted only 26 overs so it was decided the Temple reply would commence straight away and think about tea later. Skipper Kev Curtis asked Flinders to open the innings with him as part of the squad rotation system mentioned earlier - that had been so harsh on Hayne snr. – Pope opened the bowling for Bridgwater and after ‘smelling a couple’ Flinders readjusted his long vision to pick the ball up eventually and elegantly gliding the ball off the hip for two down to fine leg and the reply was on. Kevin initially treated Jeffries – trying to do the Roger Gale role – with some respect, but in the following over started to flow by hammering Pope for two boundaries in quick succession, this and the way Flinders hit the change bowlers first delivery through cover with indifference, saw the visitors morale start dropping and the force was with Temple. Kevin moved quickly on to 21 before playing one to be caught at gully, this brought in Veats fresh from his run fest of the previous week and eager to gorge some more! The pair put on 40 for the next wicket in even time and when Flinders left for 24 the winning line was in sight. Veats and Simon Coombs saw the job completed with no fuss, Veats finishing 26 and Simon 19.

The game finished earlier than planned so Hayne snr provided the entertainment by allowing various people to test there strength by taking his dog for a walk – what a wonderfully placid animal, who, as the evening wore on seemed to take a real shine to Ex Chairman ‘Evor’ Prosser, who for some reason had been on the floor with Steve Curtis doing the actions to that great disco hit the rowing boat song at the time.

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Temple Cloud 1st XI – v – Spaxton C.C., Saturday 11th June 2005

After a long drive down to the other side of Bridgwater it seems as though the journey - and the hypnotic effects of wily old Spaxton skipper Keith’s banal social banter - lulled Temple into mediocrity. The home side won the toss and batted, Temple’s early cricket was disjointed and lacked conviction, possibly spurred on by wily old Keith umpiring at square leg for most of the time! Spaxton had 50 on the board after only 10 overs and skipper Curtis then changed the out of sorts Gale with Flinders. This brought a degree of control to the proceedings to the extent that his first 7 overs conceded only 15 runs and at the other end, initially Simon Curtis and then Matt Shepherd – feeling the effects of the surgical collar he’d been wearing and only now answering to the name of Gladstone - helped put the brake on to the affect that only 42 runs were scored during the next 15 overs. Gary Hunt replaced Shep and bowled with good pace but his lack of recent match bowling meant the occasional quicker one left keeper Campbell done for pace as well. Hayne had replaced Flinders at the bottom end and his variety of pace and movement had the batsmen thinking hard before trying anything to bold. With just one wicket down and 18 overs still to go, Spaxton, on about 120 at the time , looked set for a big total however Temple finally found some resolve and Hayne had the dangerous Rich stumped on the downward swing by Campbell, Gary Hunt removed the number 4 but then with the wickets in hand Spaxton started to hit out, Flinders took over from Hunt and in tandem with Hayne the wickets started to fall, Hayne with a sharp catch from his own bowling and Campbell, with a sharp, by now almost trade mark catch, stood up for the edge off Flinders. At the end of the 45 overs Temple pulled the game around a little and the score of 202 was not as bad as had looked on the cards earlier. Hayne finished with 4 for 54 from 11overs, Flinders 3 for 24 from 12.

After tea in the Wendy House, Temple now had to get part two of the game right and score 203 to win, ‘Roy Orbison’ Hayne, the man in the shades opened with skipper Kevin Curtis, they added 23 before Kevin, who was not looking at his fluent best, departed. Veats came out to try to kick start things but was bowled for a single. Simon Coombes was elevated to number 4 and within 2 more runs he saw a new partner Simon Curtis coming to join him after Hayne was caught, for what to him, was only a meagre 29. The scoreboard now read Doomsville – 38 for 3, because try as they might the following batsmen - although near enough all of them got started - couldn’t lift the tempo sufficiently to take the control away from Spaxton. There were scores in the teens from Coombes, Gale, Simon and Steve Curtis and a forceful little cameo of 19 from Matt Shepherd at the death, but all in all a day to forget 121 all out and we hadn’t been to the races for most of the game.

The best thing is that hopefully we all learn something from the display, from not being focussed straight away, from, on this occasion, being lulled into a slightly ‘social cricket’ approach for the first 10 or so overs after over long chats to the opposing skipper and players – lets still be polite, but that would be enough until after the game. Also lets just play against the other team not against each other as appeared to be the case at times on Saturday.

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Temple Cloud – v – Stoke under Ham Saturday 18th June 2005

For the first time this year we had some blazing hot conditions to play in and Temple were to excel in it. Temple batted first and the Curtis brothers opened the batting to face the newly promoted and slightly unknown Stoke team. The Stoke bowlers very quickly felt the pressure, as Kevin and Simon set about them - with Kevin being particularly severe on anything slightly off line or length. They raced on to 99 off only 14 overs before Simon hit a firm drive to just about the only fielder who would have been tall enough or alert enough to have caught him. Veat’s joined Kevin and after a big stand there is always the possibility of an anti climax but not on this occasion as both Kevin – now popping sixes over with regularity – and Veat’s, actually upped the run rate from what had been 5 an over for the first 20 overs, to just over 8 per over for the next 15 overs! Kevin had raced past 100 by now and the innings had greatly sapped the enthusiasm of the Stoke side who knew they were getting a lashing, but were still not to know how heavy that would become. Kevin had just passed another milestone with reaching 150, out of the score of 230 at the time, when he was caught for an innings of immense timing and power which the visitors, sportingly, also warmly applauded – possibly thinking now for a bit of respite? In came Simon (Richard) Coombes, on a mission and firstly with Veat’s, who contributed a fine 48 to help the momentum, and then with Roger Gale, he also scored at a very rapid rate. Simon’s was an innings quite varied to Kevin’s in as much as it looked a little more about elegance and placement sooner than power, although his innings did contain some sixes. Gale also scored rapidly and in the end finished 43 not out off very few balls and Simon finishing 83 not out, again off not many balls and amazingly yet another increase had been seen on the run rate - during there time together it leapt to 10 per over and an innings end total of 380 for 3 was achieved.

After Tea the Stoke side came out to try to reply to this and knowing that they needed to score at over 8 per over weighed heavy with them and they could not come to grips with the pace of Simon Curtis from one end and the changes of pace from Gale at the other. Although initially wicket less, this pair kept the opening batsmen in check so much that at the end of 10 overs they now needed to score at over 10 runs per over to have had a chance and this was to prove to much beyond them, as it would for most teams. ‘Shep’ took over from Simon and Flinders took over from Gale, both carried on in the same manor allowing the batsmen very few opportunities to score and they both struck in successive overs to remove the openers and start the in roads into the rest of the line up. Batsmen No.s 3 and 4 seemed a little unaware that there was no longer a losing draw as a possible result and made fairly steady and cautious progress, this prompted Kevin to try various bowling changes – one even saw the tea lady’s husband get a wicket! (as well as his solar panel start to glow distinctly red under the still powerful sun) ‘Kumar’ was also introduced into the attack to pose another set of questions for the batsmen whilst bowling his brand of leg spin with attitude, however it was to be the introduction of Mike Harding into the attack that was to prove decisive has he removed 4 of the batsmen with his economical approach, medium quick bowling. Simon Curtis had returned for a second spell from the top end and chipped in by removing 2 more and ‘Shep’ also had a short but successful second spell clean bowling another batsmen who had been trying to dig in, Mike Harding took the last and his 4th wicket of the game and the Stoke side were all out for 180 with 2 overs remaining. Wicket keeper ‘Cat’ (the latest theory is that he is called Cat because in a drunken stupor he was having his soon to be wife’s name tattooed in a private place and then shrieked for them to stop after 3 letters thinking she spells her name with a K) Campbell chipped in manfully and assisted the bowlers confidence by taking three catches out of the last 4 wickets to fall and continues his progress to becoming more and more accomplished behind the stumps as the games go by,

Maximum points achieved and Kevin now hopefully back in to a little bit of form in time for the very big game next week at Castle Cary, who have been the early season pace setters at the top of the league table but now Temple have moved into close proximity and an important game to do well in.

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Wincanton – v – Temple Cloud Saturday 4th July 2005

Temple headed off to Wincanton hoping to continue their run of good form. When we got to the ground (very early!) it looked as though the groundsman had gone on holiday and taken the keys to the roller and mower with him. Oh and someone had had the forethought to plant a bloody great oak tree behind the bowlers arm.
Kev lost the toss and predictably enough we were asked to bat first. Wincanton were a fairly young side and it was interesting to hear more than one Somerset accent with a South African lilt to it.

Looking at the wicket and the outfield it was not easy to estimate a good score but what transpired over the next couple of hours would have surprised even the most optimistic of Temple players.
Kevin and Jamer have already proved to be the best opening partnership Temple have had for a good few years and their contrasting styles make life very difficult for the opposition. Kev tends to bully the opposing team’s bowlers while Jamer plays with a thoroughly correct approach.

On this occasion balls disappeared to all parts of Wincanton. Some into the cow field, some to the play park, some to the river and one into old Mrs Jones’ pantry.
The Bear had already hit two hundreds in the previous two weeks and was in no mood to stop there. He passed his hundred with a six in the sixteenth over, and did what he has been threatening to for a while now reaching his first ever double hundred. A massive seventeen sixes came in his final total of 218 in what must surely be a record score by a Temple Cloud batsman.

It seems a shame that Jamer Haine has not had much of a mention, because his knock of 74 was the perfect foil for Kevin and I know that he would have been talking to Kev all the time they were out there together. All this excitement meant that Temple finished with a momentous 339 for 3, the second time we had passed the magical 300 barrier for the season.

Just when we thought things couldn’t get any better; we had tea produced by Mrs Cropley of Vicar of Dibley fame. There were sandwiches made of egg, cheese, custard and strawberry jam, tuna and chocolate spread and Father’s favourite banana and soy sauce. What a spread!

After all the frivolity of Bear’s innings and tea, the Wincanton reply was always going to be an anti-climax, but we still had a job to do to kill the game off and achieve a deserved maximum. There were wickets for Logger, Sheps, Timmy and Mike, and catches were held, most notably by Simon Coombes who thinks the last time he took a catch was the day of Live Aid 1985.

Wincanton were eventually all out for 138.We made our way back to our spiritual home and over a couple of shandys, chatted about what had been a very special day.

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