Cricket feast for 'the follow on'
by Alan Rowley, 19th July 2006

A feast of cricket starts this Sunday (23rd) for 'the follow on' XI when we kick off the Arthur Kent Memorial Cricket Festival at Gotham. Our second visit to Gotham, following last season's washout, starts a run of three games in nine days, taking in Ockbrook & Borrowash and Sutton On The Hill. With most players turning out for their clubs on Saturdays too, it's going to be a test of endurance for players and officials alike.

The action starts on Sunday when skipper Ahmed Iminagaybar (pictured right) leads out a strong side containing four 'follow on' debutants. Tiny Tim and Mouse, both make their debuts and join Bruno in making a talented trio from County League club Nutbrook. Also sending out three players are South Notts League club West Bridgfordians, whose three players are Glove Doctor, Big Bad Bob and Seasider, who makes his 'follow on' debut.

The Bassetlaw League is represented by regular Planty, who plays for Bolsover, and newcomer Taggart from Cutthorpe. One of the most prolific posters on the site, Taggart adds flavour to the side after playing against us in the game at Cutthorpe earlier in the season. Whether these two big lads manage to demolish the Gotham attack or not, they are bound to make short work of the after-match barbeque.

Making up the squad are Greabo and JonB who make the long journey down from Clay Cross. The all day game starts at 11:30am with a full sit-down lunch and tea provided in the marquee. The full team is as follows:

Tiny_Tim (Nutbrook), mouse (Nutbrook), Ahmed Iminagaybar (Duffield), Taggart (Cutthorpe), Planty (Bolsover), seasider (West Bridgfordians), Glove doctor (West Bridgfordians), Big Bad Bob (West Bridgfordians), Bruno (Nutbrook), Greabo (Clay Cross), jonb (Clay Cross)

On Friday 28th July, the action moves to Victoria Avenue for a very different game of cricket. Our team take on Ockbrook & Borrowash in our first attempt at the Twenty20 game. Ockbrook have some of the best facilities in local cricket, and the chance to play on their main ground is something to look forward to.

The squad for this game contains six debutants. Clipstone Forest send out two newcomers for this game in Clipstoneforest and Steve Bray. Langley Mill all-rounders AB and Smudger69 also make their debuts, as do Breadsall's a.rob01 and Belper Amateurs' Steve Dymond.

Making a welcome return to the side is Bridon's Leginrenrut who joins regulars RoboMerlin, John McCollum, Dennis Wright, Deadly and The Judge. With some big hitters in the side, it's bound to be a bit of a slogfest. It may not be pretty, but it should be fun!

The game starts at 4:00pm and there will be a barbeque and lots of 'real' ale to quench the after-match thirst. With a Kwik Cricket tournament on the second ground, there's bound to be a large crowd to witness the action. The full squad is:

clipstoneforest (Clipstone Forest), AB (Langley Mill United), RoboMerlin (Belper Amateurs), john mccollum (Cutthorpe), Dennis_Wright (Toton Sycamore), the judge (Langley Mill United), Deadly (Duffield), a.rob01 (Breadsall), Steve Bray (Clipstone Forest), smudger69 (Langley Mill United), leginrenrut (Bridon), Steve Dymond (Belper Amateurs)

'the follow on' training session - left to right, the judge, Gazza, Big Bad Bob and Barty

The final game of our short tour takes us to the attractive South Derbyshire village of Sutton On The Hill. An archetypical English village cricket club, Sutton On The Hill are celebrating 50 years of friendly cricket, and we are part of a week of cricket at the club.

Our squad for this game consists purely of site regulars and provides a nice cross-section of players from both counties. This game is bound to be played at a more relaxed pace and will suit some of the more mature players in the squad.

The team sees welcome returns for Jambrose, Gazza, Upnunder and Barty, while Long Eaton's Genty returns to the fold after a two year absence. The 40-over game starts at 2:00pm and should be a thoroughly enjoyable day out for players and spectators. The full squad is:

jonb (Clay Cross), Taggart (Cutthorpe), Planty (Bolsover), Jambrose (Langley Mill United), john mccollum (Cutthorpe), Gazza (Stanton and Awsworth Elks), upnunder (Marehay), Dennis_Wright (Toton Sycamore), Barty (Oxton), Greabo (Clay Cross), leginrenrut (Bridon), Genty (Long Eaton)

If everyone recovers from this 'follow on' equivalent of the Tour De France, our final game of the season takes place at Langley Mill on Saturday 16th September, but there's a lot of cricket to be played before this traditional end of season game.