Bus Tickets

During my playing career ( so long ago now) I was often accused of getting wickets with bus tickets. An odd cricket expression but generally used to mean that you bowl a rubbish ball and get  a wicket.

My most clear memory of this occurred in a match against British Rail ,Derby played at Shipley. Their No.4 was one Percy Bown who was a good striker of the ball and who went on to become an outstanding coach . However in this game I bowled him a rank long hop , his eyes lit up and the ball was whacked to deep mid wicket but unfortunately in the air. Fielding there was John Cox ( one of only 2 on the leg side) and he gleefully pouched the catch. Percy just could not believe it and stood at the crease staring in disbelief . He always had a ruddy complexion and by the second he got redder and redder before trudging off mouthing all sorts of complimentary words about my bowling. Reaching the dressing room he collected his gear, got in his car and stormed off, wheels screeching,  with his pads still on.

 I got over 900  tickets during my bowling stints so my apologies to all those Percy's !!

However the main stream of this tale concerns the  tickets collected by Simon Lacey and his support for Derby County FC who after an up and down 2018/9 season still managed to appear in the play off final for the Championship against A Villa with the magic of the Premier beckoning for the winner. Using the internet he found a site offering tickets to the final  and  booked 3 tickets ( himself , Joe and Arthur) which  arrived safely in the post. On match day they set off by car in a convey with other friends who he knew. They all arrived safely and made their way to the ground where Simon duly presented his tickets only to find that his web site tickets were for bus tickets to the game and not for the match itself.

 I cannot imagine the sheer disbelief as they too trudged off !!. Apparently the web site he used had two tickable boxes -one for coach tickets- one for match tickets.

I shall always think of Simon and Percy when bus tickets are mentioned in the future !!

The Wolf Rises again

We managed to get a brand new sign board made and erected at the side of the building. Metal alloy and treated to withstand the elements

It shows our logo and motto but what is the strange looking creature?

Is it a GRIFFIN ?

Or perhaps a GRYPHONN

No IT IS A WOLF breathing ( or even vomiting) fire and is taken from the original Miller Mundy crest. Described by one member as an ugly bastard -perhaps so- but its our ugly bastard

The new sign was donated and was designed with the help of David Shaw. It also serves in memory of Steve O'Keefe who designed and erected the original board but sadly passed away a few years ago.

A Presentation Event

This has become an Annual Event for Shipley when the lads and lassies who distinguished  themselves during the season receive their medals and awards. An extra dimension was added this year with the presentation of medals to the ladies who played in the Summer Soft Ball Festivals

James C and Simon did the talking and James was fulsome in his praise of the efforts made by all

He signalled out Simon ( here here!) and Timo who had worked hard with the youngsters

                                            

Yes Timo is the big kid with the football and his coaching methods obviously worked for all the junior teams had good results although perhaps Joe got on the wrong side of him

The boys ,girls and ladies received their medals with varying degrees of skill. Here is Arthur 

who won the Under 13 award. Brother  Joe looked really pleased for him but realised he was getting older and wiser and no longer  qualified  for an award. Never mind Joe , Arthur's not in the 1st XI and hasn't got a batting average below ONE. 

Jack managed to drop his award much to the disgust of his Dad who will shortly need a bigger Trophy cabinet as both the lads received awards

The Junior Player of the Year award went to Harriet Parkin who not only played above her age group with Derbyshire Girls age group teams but also played senior cricket.

The spectators were as enthusiastic as ever and the support they provide is much welcomed. Carole and David were paying attention but needed a cup of tea to fend off the cool weather

Another season done and dusted !!

The first rumblings of Emancipation

It has been a pretty mundane season as far as Shipley cricket is concerned. The 1st XI were consistent at being inconsistent and the twos fell away after a bright start. With the 3rd XI a small embryo in it's first season it was the first rumblings of emancipation that caught the eye.

Were the bastions of our male dominated empire about to be threatened ? Perhaps not quite yet but the first rumblings appeared as our ladies formed up to take part in the DCB organised Women's Soft Ball Festivals around the county.

Eight players playing a version of Kwik Cricket may not sound earth shattering but in a neglected area of the sport at club level the introduction of this competition could be far reaching.

At Shipley our ladies somewhat reluctantly agreed to take part and, after a few basic practice sessions our team was ready for the off. They assembled at the heights of Belper on Sunday 5th August at 10.30 and got off to a good start with a win over Denby. They followed this up with later visits to Belper Meadows and Duffield where they added further wins to their tally. Overall the team won 6 of the 11 games they played.

What was more important was that they enjoyed it and vowed to continue-winter training and hard ball are the next targets. Well done to all !!

 At Belper Amateurs and Meadows

The best yet!

There are lots of pictures of the ground available and I could bore anyone by going back over them but the aerial shot recently taken from a helicopter comes near the top of my list. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder but WOW

Blast from the Past - David Shaw

Catching up with ex players is always a pleasure and David Shaw popped down to the ground on Saturday. David was one of those almost players who loved cricket but never quite displayed his true talent. I think it was more his lack of self belief than technical ability but what do I know! He was certainly pleased to see the Shipley ground looking so well and expressed his long held affinity with the surroundings.

David is living near Chevin Golf Club with a move to Allestree imminent. He looks very fit thanks to a strict fitness routine which he shares with his partner.

Don't leave it so long next time.

Farewell Timo

Timo joined us this season whilst on holiday from South Africa. He quickly became a popular member and played in all of the season fixtures averaging 39  with the bat and taking 47 wickets  at 14.85.

His run total of 853 included 2 hundreds and 2 fifties ( one of those was an annoyingly out on 99)

He was well looked after and goes back to SA next week somewhat chubbier than when he arrived. Whether this was the result of the home cooked fare with the Parkins or his exploration of every pub in Derby and Nottingham is questionable.

Well done indeed