Dodgers Awards 2004

It's back, the Dodgers Awards, or 'Dodgies' if you will. Wrapping up the 2004 season in style. As usual there will also be the real awards that are calculated on the performances of the season - Best Batsman, Best Bowler and the prestigious Player of the Season. For the first time we are also taking votes for Best Fielder and Most Improved Player here on the website. And then we have the now traditional extra awards that don't come with any trophy as such but leave recipients with a glowing feeling nonetheless.

The awards will be announced at the AGM and Social 2004. Watch this space for details.

New design (finally) launched

Luxuriate in the new Dodgers website design. A bold new adventure in blue and orange! Not all of the pages are in the new style yet but fairly soon everything will be rolled over.

Buckhurst Hill photo gallery

Relive the summer Sunday end of season Buckhurst Hill game with these photos courtesy of JC2, JH and Sian.

Dodgers in 4DA's Sports Day runner-up shock

The mighty Dodgers rounded off an excellent season with a solid and somewhat surprisingly good display in the inaugural 4DA's Sports Day at Chiswick last Friday. Heavy morning rain meant that the start was delayed and the withdrawal of two teams led to a hasty reshuffle. Unlike at the DfT Sports Day, we avoided the big guns and were drawn in a group of 3 with ISG and OFGEM.

The team: Carr, Cooper, McBarron, Hilary (J), Matthews, Welle-Skit

Match 1, Pitch D

Batting first, Dodgers set a healthy total of 70 against an erratic ISG side. Openers Hilary and McBarron set the pace before a misjudgement saw McB run out at the Fuller's End. One over went for 24 which included 7 wides (4 for the ball itself plus 3 overthrows).

ISG batting line-up featured one pretty decent left-hander who scored most of their runs. All the Dodgers bowlers including new recruit Ian Welle-Skit were reasonably economical and kept the scoring under control. JC had about 24 runs to play with come the last over and we ended up winning by about 15.

Match 2, Pitch D

Dodgers won the toss against OFGEM and elected to field. Late arrival Trushar Patel somehow ended up playing for the oppo. Opening bowler Cooper's first ball was a wide but this obviously lulled Patel into a false sense of security as he lobbed the next one to McB at mid-off. All the other bowlers took wickets except for JH who made up for this by conceding a mere 3(?) runs. OFGEM were bowled out for 32.

Patel made amends for his early dismissal by delivering a highly accurate first over which again went for only 3. This left Dodgers needing 30 off four. Welle-Skit opened with Hilary and we made good if unspectacular progress. It came down to 14 off 2 but by the end of the over we had won.

The Final, Pitch D

Agricola, the official DEFRA team, made it to the final from the other group which also contained New Barbarian Weasels (Home Office) and Bristol Badgers (DEFRA). We approached the final in relaxed mood despite having seen balls being hit to all parts on the adjacent pitch. It was quite clear that we were going to be in for a tough game.

Agricola won the toss and inserted. The bowling was accurate and economical. Despite steadily losing wickets, we made it to a creditable 37 runs. This included a first trip to the 6-a-side crease for Cooper although it was for the last ball of the innings and at the non-striker's end!

It was a small total to defend but hopes lifted when Cooper took a wicket in the first over. A snick behind and the Cat flying to his right to pouch it. The incoming batsman launched the next one and Hilary's valiant chase nearly resulted in a splendid catch. The ball didn't quite stick and went over the boundary for four. Welle-Skit made sure this didn't matter too much by bowling the same guy in the next over. We kept things reasonably tight and it came down to them needing 8 off the last over. A couple of singles and a two meant it was 4 off 3. A pull through midwicket off JC beat Cooper and it was all over. But we were not disheartened as we performed much better than we could have ever expected.

- -

SPARTA, whom we were representing, won the overall competition. Our 3 points proved crucial in the outcome. We were presented with runners-up medals by Perm Sec David Rowlands.

To round things off, we entered the quiz in the evening with a team comprising JC, JC2, McB, JH and Sian. And, you guessed it, we came second!

4DA's Sports Day Photo Gallery

4DA's Sports Day Friday 10 September 2004 - John Hilary

4DA's Sports Day Friday 10 September 2004 - John Hilary

4DA's Sports Day Friday 10 September 2004 - John Hilary

4DA's Sports Day Friday 10 September 2004 - Phil McBarron

4DA's Sports Day Friday 10 September 2004 - Phil McBarron

4DA's Sports Day Friday 10 September 2004 - Phil McBarron and Ian Welle-Skitt

4DA's Sports Day Friday 10 September 2004 - Ian Welle-Skitt, John Cooper and John Carr

4DA's Sports Day Friday 10 September 2004 - The end of the final

4DA's Sports Day Friday 10 September 2004 - The presentation by David Rowlands

On the cards

Scorecards for the last two games of the season v Superstars and Buckhurst Hill are now published.

4DA's Sports Day - 10 September 2004

A Dodgers Select VI will represent ODPM/DfT in the 4 DA’s Trophy Inaugural Sports Challenge Between DTI, HO, DEFRA and SPARTA (ODPM/DfT) on Friday 10 September 2004. The team is: Carr, McBarron, Matthews, Hilary, Cooper and Patel. The cricket starts at 10.30am and will follow a similar format to the DfT's own Sports Day.

Minutes of Committee Meeting 26 July 2004

The minutes of this meeting are now in the My Dodgers section along with previous AGM and Committee Meeting minutes and the Constitution.

Buckhurst Hill - Man of the Match

Simon Cousins, who had impressive figures of 5 for 35 off 17.3 overs in the victory over Buckhurst Hill last Sunday, wrapped up the Man of the Match by taking 10 votes. Matt Taylor, who hit a Dodgers best of season 64, received 1 vote (Simon's!).

Superstars Man of the Match votes

From the match on 31 August

Bass - 5
Priest - 3
Cousins - 2
Cooper - 1

Me end of season avrij!

Check out the end of season batting, bowling and fielding figures in the Stats section.

Buckhurst Hill Photo Gallery

Dodgers v Buckhurst Hill 5 September 2004 - Phil McBarron

Dodgers v Buckhurst Hill 5 September 2004 - Phil McBarron

Dodgers v Buckhurst Hill 5 September 2004 - Matt Taylor

Dodgers v Buckhurst Hill 5 September 2004 - Matt Taylor

Dodgers v Buckhurst Hill 5 September 2004 - Matt Taylor

Dodgers v Buckhurst Hill 5 September 2004 - Neil Priest

Dodgers v Buckhurst Hill 5 September 2004 - Neil Priest

Dodgers v Buckhurst Hill 5 September 2004 - John Carr (in usual pose) and Matt Southwell

Dodgers v Buckhurst Hill 5 September 2004 - Kim 'The Cat' Matthews

Dodgers v Buckhurst Hill 5 September 2004 - Simon Cousins

Dodgers v Buckhurst Hill 5 September 2004 - John Cooper

Dodgers v Buckhurst Hill 5 September 2004 - David Pope

Dodgers v Buckhurst Hill 5 September 2004 - David Pope

Dodgers v Buckhurst Hill 5 September 2004 - The Dodgers

Dodgers v Buckhurst Hill

Phil McBarron reports...

Dodgers won by about 20 on a desparately low and slow pitch. BH contained a mixture of old and new faces but were generally stronger than normal.

Amazingly JC won the toss and sensibly decided to bat first in view of the very hot weather. We managed 160 all out in 47 overs. 64 for Taylor who batted most of the overs and rode his luck well (a vital and impressive knock in the context of the game) and a very slow 23 for McB (Taylor and I put on about 75 for the 1st wicket aided by a large number of extras).

My dismissal was controversial - low catch claimed by point which I thought had been scooped up on the half volley. None of their players seemed sure and the umpires were in no position to give it. I stood my ground briefly and asked the fielder if he was sure the catch was good. He said he was so I walked. I'm pretty certain it wasn't out and absolutely certain fielder couldn't be sure, but what do you do?! (Stay in! Ed.)

Priesty looked in good touch but was run out for 18 when sprinting for a 3rd which Taylor declined for some unfathomable reason (the great man was not best pleased but to be fair didn't dwell on it). The Cat scored 10 to pass 100 for the season to universal acclaim (even BH applauded). Single figure scores for the rest including clean bowled ducks for Hilary, Southwell and Pope (the first two goldens).

160 seemed about 20 short in the conditions but BH found the pitch as difficult to force the pace on as we did. Four of their top five were very decent players but all got out in the 20s (3 played on via inside edges - it was that type of pitch). Star of the show was Simon Cousins with 17.3 overs 5-35. John Cooper picked up 2 or 3 and David Pope managed his obligatory couple near the end (including the BH wicketkeeper again!). They were finally out for about 140 in 42 overs (15 balls were left remaining of the final 20 when we got the last wicket).

Overall, a pretty good performance and for the second time in a week we held our nerve when under the cosh and coming 2nd best in the field. I think our record for the season is 16 wins, 4 defeats (all fairly narrow), one tie and one winning draw (first Superstars game). Pretty remarkable considering we failed to score 200 in any match (199 against Weasels being the best). Testimony to how well we bowled and some improved fielding. Superstars have also failed to score 200 this season which says a lot about the weather and pitches. (And their crapness! Ed.)

Innings of Dodgers

McBarron    c ?         b Mangara        23
Taylor      c ?         b Stander        64
Priest                  run out          18
Carr                    b Sabini          5
Matthews                run out          10
Whitrod     lbw         b Sabini          7
Hilary (J)              b Sabini          0
Southwell               b Ball            0
Cousins                 b Ball            6
Cooper                  not out           0
Pope                    b Sabini          0
___________________________________________
Sub-total                               133
Extras                                   27
Total                                   160

Buckhurst Hill bowling

           O   M  R   W
Baid       9   3  21  0
Sawar      5   0  20  0
Stander   15   2  46  1
Mangara    8   0  31  1
Sabini     6.5 1  19  4
Ball       3   0   4  2
 
Innings of Buckhurst Hill

Sabini                  b Cousins     20
Briscoe             c & b Hilary (J)   3
Grey                    b Cousins     22
Adeel                   b Cooper      23
Stander                 b Cousins     31
Smith       c Southwell b Cousins      0
Magara (R)  c Taylor    b Cooper       0
Yasser                  not out       14
Magara (P)              b Pope         1
Rose        c Carr      b Pope         2
Ball                    b Cousins      3
________________________________________
Sub-total                            126
Extras                                14
Total                                140

Dodgers bowling

             O    M  R   W
Cousins     17.5  4  35  5
Hilary (J)   7    0  35  1
Cooper       7    0  27  2
Pope         5    1  27  2
Southwell    4    0  13  0

Our Finest Hour

Phil McBarron reports...

We were inserted on a slow and low pitch, which coupled with an
ovegrown outfield, made runs hard to come by. We stuggled to 162 all
out off 39 overs - a patient half century by Priest, a fluentish (in the
context of the game) 30 by Carr, some lusty blows by Warren and our old
friend extras being the main stays. Ducks for Taylor and Cousins and
not many from the rest of us. Superstars bowling was steady but
unspectacular and backed up by good fielding. An Asian off-spinner we
had not seen before picked up a five-for - decentish bowler but his
figures did flatter a little.

We felt 180 would have been a good score but 162 was at best only par.
When 14 came off Warren's first over, including two boundaries by Conway
and four byes we ferared the worst. Fortunately, Conway soon holed out
and the scooring went into reverse as 24 off 3 overs became 36-1 off 13.
The spinner who opened the batting with Conway was out shortly
afterwards and JC/Neil decided now was the time to gamble with Alex. 15
runs came off his first over as the Superstars no 4 James launched into him.
As is the way, runs also started coming at the other end and at 90 odd
for 2 off 25 overs Superstars were favourites. Wickets then started to
fall steadily but Block batting at 6 was playing well and ensured the
Rats were always up with the run rate. However, when he was out caught
in the deep, 17 were needed off 4 overs with only one wicket left. This
was down to 6 needed off 7 balls when Mike Taylor horribly wiped over a
straight semi-long hop from John Cooper and was clean bowled via his
pad.
A goodish Dodgers fielding performance and all the bowlers did well. 4
wickets for Warren Bass in 3 spells, excellent economy from
Cousins up front (10 runs from 8 overs), steady spells and wickets for
Cooper and Hilary and a good comeback from Alex who claimed the vital
wicket of Block. The main thing is we held our nerve in a game we were
often coming 2nd best in.

Three-nil, three-nil, three-nil, three-nil...