After the battle of Waterloo, the Duke of Wellington was heard to say "it was damned close-run thing", and after struggling to raise 11 players for the tournament, Rob, continuing to Captain in the absence of Duncan, knew how he felt. However, 11 players were eventually found and on paper it looked like we had a reasonably strong team. We therefore went into the first match again UWE full of expectation since Rob's reign as Captain had started off with a good victory a few days previously, and the 40 over game against UWE last season had proved quite close although the club had since folded and been re-born. How wrong this expectation proved to be. Perhaps it was just because it was uncommonly early for us to be playing cricket, perhaps it was the grey and relatively cold sky, or it might even have been because our mind was on the England game taking place that day. Whatever the reason, never in the history of the Venturers has the team played so poorly. At least 10 catches were dropped, ones were turned into fours, over throws were given, but things started off quite differently. Duncan Rance and Kev opened the bowling, doing a reasonable job with Kev picking up a wicket in his first over. However, by their second overs, they started to take some tap and so Gregory came on for Kev but was soon getting the same treatment. Simon replaced Duncan and tighten things up, but the team was generally giving away runs left right and centre, and UWE had 94 runs on the board by the 10 over mark. Johan, making his debut replaced Gregory, bowled tidly and got two wickets for his trouble, one of which was notable because it our only catch of the game; Owain doing his duty to salvage some pride for the team. However, it was late in the innings and so with UWE having wickets in hand, they threw the bat which meant that both he and Steve went for a few runs. Rob eventually brought himself on for the final over, bowling a tidy and economical final over, which prompted Simon to comment that he under-bowled himself. Oh the weight of Captaincy!

After giving away so many runs, and considering how badly we played, the general feeling of the team was that we had come back reasonably well to limit UWE to only 157. However, our incredibly poor form continued with our batting display. Owain, Betty and Adam had been and gone with the score only on 4. Owain was especially unlucky as he struck a powerful cut right down backwards points throat, for an unusually good catch to be taken on second attempt. Betty was so briefly at the crease he didn't even have time to attempt his famous late cut! It was at this point that the team took some comfort from the fact that the sun was at least showing itself as the prospect of getting to 40 for a batting point seemed slim indeed. If the situation was already bad enough, Rob shamelessly took advantage of the fact that he was Captain by promoting himself to bat at 5 and surprisingly wasn't out with the first few balls. Indeed he actually introduced to team to his pull shot, by carting their fast Australian bowler for 4, and this surprisingly effective shot was to feature throughout the day. Indeed, he tried to repeat the feat a couple of balls later only to get a top edge to sky what should have been an easy catch to the keeper. However, it seemed that UWE had been taking lessons on fielding from the Ventureres, as the ball went to the floor via the gloves, and the score book recorded as an abysmal miss! Simon and Rob put on a few more runs, getting the team to the 40 runs needed for the bonus point. Given that about 10 overs had gone by this point, the run rate clearly need to improve if the second batting point was to be reached and so Rob, attempted a reverse sweep to take advantage of a significant gap in the field but totally missed the ball and was given out LBW by Owain. Kev, Toby and Johan all came in, hit a few shots for a few runs but got out, and so the team was quickly out for 72 and a good thrashing.

The team retired to the club house for sandwiches and chips, and the hope that the day would get better. We consoled ourself that at least the bar would be open in the afternoon and that lightening doesn't strike in the same place twice so we couldn't be as bad for two remaining games. That however, looked to be complete cobblers when we had a bit of practice before our second match again Bristol. We didn't take any catches then either, so it was no surprise when the Bristol batting seemed to carry on where UWE left off. They however, were to reach 169 and only lost the one wicket! Kev and Duncan agained opened the bowling, again taking tap with good (and bad) balls being spanked for boundaries. Gregory came on and took even more abuse than he did against UWE; during his second and final over, the Bristol batsman plundered 18 runs. Upon Gregory's instruction, Rob brought himself on, getting a much needed wicket in his first over but it was to be the only one the team was to get. Rob and Adam bowled tidly and relatively economically but the runs kept coming. Indeed by this point their batsmen were hitting everything, and Rob took a full blown rocket like smash on right on the foot which saved a four but held up play for a few minutes whilst he walked it off. Owain came on for an over but was a bit wayward and took quite a bit of tap, so it was left to Johan and Steve P to finish off the innings but with 169 scored, it wasn't looking like our best performance. Throughout, Toby had kept wicket well, and was unlucky not to be given a very very good catch taken diving on the leg side. The umpire said the ball bounced but it was unclear to many people when (if at all) that had taken place.

Since James C arrived towards the end of the Bristol innings, Gregory decided that he would make way in the final game given that he had to get up to Durham the next day, so he was promoted to open the batting with Simon. He lasted 2 balls before being bowled. Owain lasted a little longer but was soon on his way back to the team huddle. Simon made a few but it was left to Kev and Betty to show the team how it was done. Perhaps it was the couple of pints of cider he had been consuming on the boundary edge, but Betty timed the ball nicely, and hit some tasty shots to all parts of the ground. Indeed it was looking like his long promised 50 was there for the making when he fell for a well made 36, perishing in the hunt for quick runs as the team looked to get to the 100 needed for the second batting point. With Kev gone too, things were looking dicey but Adam hit some swift strokes to see us collect the points before being caught nicely square of the wicket. Toby and then Johan came in to hit a couple of stout shots, giving the team a far more respectable 109-7.

Having seen the wonders of alcohol on Betty's performance, several more of the team enjoyed a fermented beverage (or two) with what can only be described as a proper cricket tea. Hot tea, sandwiches, crisps, cakes, sausage rolls a plenty, we all tucked in and wished we had this type of spread at our home fixtures. Perhaps it was this feast, perhaps it was our improvement against Bristol, or perhaps it was the rumour that Cardiff only had 10 players and had already been killed by both UWE and Bristol, but the team seemed more up for the final game. Having had no luck batting second, when Rob won the toss he decided to make a change and bat first. Adam and Owain were sent out and made a solid, if slow start. Aware that they had to start picking up the pace, they started to hit a few more shots but found it a little difficult on the slow, low pitch with variable bounce. Owain was eventually run out with the score on 32 in the eight over, which brought Simon to the crease. He immediately showed Betty, and indeed the rest of the team, how the late cut should be played, and generally got the scoring rate moving upwards nicely. Having scored a quick 18, he missed a very straight one and had to be given plumb LBW which brought Betty to the crease. He seemed to pick up from where if left-off against Bristol, and was soon scoring nicely. Adam was really getting into the swing of things, and looked set for a maiden 50, but was unlucky to be bowled by an off spinner who got one to shoot on the ground (which should have been a no ball). Rob again decided to shamelessly use his Captain's powers to promote himself up the batting order and came in looked to swing the bat with wickets in hand and only 4 and half remaining overs. Initially he found it hard to connect with the ball given the lack of bounce and so had to rely on Betty's big hitting, and quick running between the wicket. However, he soon unleashed a series of pulls which generated a rapid 18 for him although he was out on the last ball of the innings, attempting to make space but ending up stepping on his wicket. This left Betty undefeated on 20, giving him 50 for the day, if not quite the 50 in an innings that has long been promised. Nevertheless, quite an impressive effort really considering that he spent most of the day turning 3s into 2s, and 2s into 1s! Of course, he did hit quite a few 4s so I suppose we really should view him as our very own Inzamam. That does raise the question of whether Betty would cause a riot if we called him a potato, or indeed, if Inzamam requires the same number of sweat bands. Still, perhaps Betty-ul-Haq can help us with those questions.

With runs on the board the team felt confident of being able to make a game of it. Duncan and Kevin once again opened the bowling, kept things tight and each picked up a wicket in their allotted 4 over spells. With our noses ahead, Rob turned to Simon and Johan who kept up the pressure nicely and continued the fall of wickets. The whole team played its part, fielding with a lot of energy and were so much sharper that in the previous two games. Having clearly seen the results on Betty's batting, a rumour spread the field that this improvement was due to the benefits of the beers that many had consumed earlier in the day, although it might more reasonably be attributable to the team sensing there was a victory to be had. Adam was particularly impressive with his fielding on the boundary, and Johan, fielding on the other boundary, showed everyone how to do things with an impressive head first diving stop to turn a certain four into a single. With Cardiff clearly stuggling, Rob brought James and Steve P on for a couple of overs each and although a little more expensive than those before them, did their job to make sure Cardiff didn't get away from the team. Simon came back to finish from one end, picking up a couple of quick wickets, and then Rob bowled a final tidy over to restrict Cardiff to 86-7 to complete a well deserved victory.

Given the way the team played, everyone was happy to have won one game and therefore to have come third in the four team competition. Much fun and banter was had on the day and it was the general feeling that we will aim to make a much better fist of it should we be invited to play again in 2006.