BAGGY BLUES CRICKET CLUB 
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11 things the Baggies learned from Season 2010
Info
1. The Falcons were worthy winners of the league. Last year we believed we could beat them but this year they improved so much - it will take alot to dethrone them next year. Start scheming and/or recruiting now.
2. Without Andrew the club might not have survived the season. Not only has he been a great leader on and off the field yet again but without his rallying and enthusiasm, plenty of Baggies might not have signed up for and played in our matches. He puts hours into the club, don't let's take him for granted.
3. Mike and Marianna are the kind of people all good cricket clubs need and love. Their generosity, involvement and cheerfulness are constant. We thank you both.
4. Ralph Bownas, playing in an adult league, bowled as well as the adults. Again.
5. Sadly, we were still not able to attract more native Hungarians to play cricket. Your Christmas holiday homework: Seduce a Native.
6. Nets were about as popular as a kick in the privates.
7. When Onka bowls well he is the best in the league..... and the Croatians never want to bowl to Eddie again.
8. Complete this sentence: If you ask 40 adults to sign up YES or NO on a Doodle Sign-In ePage, the number who will manage that will be: ...........
9. League or cup matchdays when four teams plus fans were at the same ground at the same time (i.e. when one match followed directly after another) had a great atmosphere. Hoping for more of those next season. Could be even better at Sződliget.
10. The HCA board has decided to split the league into two leagues of four teams each. This means that the BBFTs may end up as the top league's whipping-boys or as League Two title contenders or as heaven-knows-what. Judging by the season 2010, there is a danger the club will not enter a second team in the league for 2011 - not enough players were available, we needed between two and five guests every match.
11. New willow worked wonders. Several of us got our hands on or made the right use of good bats this season. Some amazing sixes were seen from the bats of Eddie, Nick Palmer, Mahesh, Andrew, Mike, Sharath, Dom Ward and even Chris.
A Happy Christmas, especially to Ricky Ponting!
1. The Falcons were worthy winners of the league. Last year we believed we could beat them but this year they improved so much - it will take alot to dethrone them next year. Start scheming and/or recruiting now.
2. Without Andrew the club might not have survived the season. Not only has he been a great leader on and off the field yet again but without his rallying and enthusiasm, plenty of Baggies might not have signed up for and played in our matches. He puts hours into the club, don't let's take him for granted.
3. Mike and Marianna are the kind of people all good cricket clubs need and love. Their generosity, involvement and cheerfulness are constant. We thank you both.
4. Ralph Bownas, playing in an adult league, bowled as well as the adults. Again.
5. Sadly, we were still not able to attract more native Hungarians to play cricket. Your Christmas holiday homework: Seduce a Native.
6. Nets were about as popular as a kick in the privates.
7. When Onka bowls well he is the best in the league..... and the Croatians never want to bowl to Eddie again.
8. Complete this sentence: If you ask 40 adults to sign up YES or NO on a Doodle Sign-In ePage, the number who will manage that will be: ...........
9. League or cup matchdays when four teams plus fans were at the same ground at the same time (i.e. when one match followed directly after another) had a great atmosphere. Hoping for more of those next season. Could be even better at Sződliget.
10. The HCA board has decided to split the league into two leagues of four teams each. This means that the BBFTs may end up as the top league's whipping-boys or as League Two title contenders or as heaven-knows-what. Judging by the season 2010, there is a danger the club will not enter a second team in the league for 2011 - not enough players were available, we needed between two and five guests every match.
11. New willow worked wonders. Several of us got our hands on or made the right use of good bats this season. Some amazing sixes were seen from the bats of Eddie, Nick Palmer, Mahesh, Andrew, Mike, Sharath, Dom Ward and even Chris.
A Happy Christmas, especially to Ricky Ponting!
Baggy Blues Full-Tossers
It
If the Baggy's second team's debut season 2009 was about stumbling haplessly forward in the dark then the 2010 season was more a contrast of highs and lows. This year we finished on 9 points - A whopping NINE - compared to zero last year. For those who still don't get it: that means we climbed from NO wins in 2009 to a majestic TWO wins in 2010. With a bonus point! So, 2 teams finished below us this year after we had taken the wooden-spoon last time...
Sounds OK, yeah? Well, it wasn't too bad. I cannot identify a match lost this year which we really should have won. Amazingly, we found ourselves in a position where we could have won against Artosz in the last 10 balls of that match and I think Phoenix caught us on a very bad day but, all in all, we can have no complaints about our nine points. We were well beaten by the top two teams in the league, no argument there.
There's no point me trying to kid myself that we are a strong team, though, and if you look in the scorebook you will see some poor Full-Tossers performances every game with both bat and ball and often our fielding was equally poor. More often than not we were 4 or 5 wickets down for around 35 after 5 or 6 overs.
Happily, that made some of the highlights more memorable, such as Sharath's fifty, Alex J's forty and some decent bowling from 'on loan' Mark Bownas. He also took catch-of-the-season for us at close cover. One or two opponents commented that they were sure that Ralph Bownas will be a bowler to reckon with in the future and, having kept wicket to enough of his overs this year, I can happily concur with that. Martin East bowled accurately for most of the time and Hiran improved as the season progressed. I would have liked to see more Hungarians turning out for us but it was not to be.
The sadder aspect of this year was the commitment and availability of players. As with 2009, we needed 2 or 3 guest players every single game this year, and every week it was a case of the skipper mailing and phoning around frustratingly often.
But let's finish on a higher note: When I was standing knee-deep in stinging-nettles in a backpacker's hostel garden in Skopje, news came through to me that Sean had, in my absence, led the side to its first ever win in Hungarian League history and I whooped and pumped the air in triumph, letting damp, pristine white laundry fall to the dusty floor. A Bonus Point too! The league table does not lie, I thought, we may not be top drawer but, of the weaker teams in the league, we are the ones to beat now!
The laundry had to go back in the machine...
Players of the Season: Mark Bownas, Martin East, Hiran da Silva and Sean Morrissey.
CP, October 2010.
If the Baggy's second team's debut season 2009 was about stumbling haplessly forward in the dark then the 2010 season was more a contrast of highs and lows. This year we finished on 9 points - A whopping NINE - compared to zero last year. For those who still don't get it: that means we climbed from NO wins in 2009 to a majestic TWO wins in 2010. With a bonus point! So, 2 teams finished below us this year after we had taken the wooden-spoon last time...
Sounds OK, yeah? Well, it wasn't too bad. I cannot identify a match lost this year which we really should have won. Amazingly, we found ourselves in a position where we could have won against Artosz in the last 10 balls of that match and I think Phoenix caught us on a very bad day but, all in all, we can have no complaints about our nine points. We were well beaten by the top two teams in the league, no argument there.
There's no point me trying to kid myself that we are a strong team, though, and if you look in the scorebook you will see some poor Full-Tossers performances every game with both bat and ball and often our fielding was equally poor. More often than not we were 4 or 5 wickets down for around 35 after 5 or 6 overs.
Happily, that made some of the highlights more memorable, such as Sharath's fifty, Alex J's forty and some decent bowling from 'on loan' Mark Bownas. He also took catch-of-the-season for us at close cover. One or two opponents commented that they were sure that Ralph Bownas will be a bowler to reckon with in the future and, having kept wicket to enough of his overs this year, I can happily concur with that. Martin East bowled accurately for most of the time and Hiran improved as the season progressed. I would have liked to see more Hungarians turning out for us but it was not to be.
The sadder aspect of this year was the commitment and availability of players. As with 2009, we needed 2 or 3 guest players every single game this year, and every week it was a case of the skipper mailing and phoning around frustratingly often.
But let's finish on a higher note: When I was standing knee-deep in stinging-nettles in a backpacker's hostel garden in Skopje, news came through to me that Sean had, in my absence, led the side to its first ever win in Hungarian League history and I whooped and pumped the air in triumph, letting damp, pristine white laundry fall to the dusty floor. A Bonus Point too! The league table does not lie, I thought, we may not be top drawer but, of the weaker teams in the league, we are the ones to beat now!
The laundry had to go back in the machine...
Players of the Season: Mark Bownas, Martin East, Hiran da Silva and Sean Morrissey.
CP, October 2010.
Baggies well beaten in T20 semi
:
It might have been ridiculously dark in the final overs of our BCCH cup semi-final against the Falcons but that still did not stop the likes of Khyber, Shiraz and Suleiman from pinging our enforced spin 'attack' for boundary after boundary and the Baggies found themselves dumped out of the cup by an admittedly better side.
We could moan about the match starting nearly an hour late, at 3.30pm on a gloomy October afternoon, due to the glacial pace of the immediately preceding semi-final, won by the Royal Tigers, but it was the same for the opposition so let's focus more on the plus points
Our openers, Mike Glover (27) and Eddie Allnutt (49) set us up brilliantly in a partnership of 82, Mike playing Mr. Reliable to Eddie's Mr. Aggression. Dom Ward was unlucky to fall early and Andrew Leckonby was hitting well enough when he too went before time. Sharath (22) was a rock in the middle overs and Nick Palmer and Mahesh 'The Cobra' Singh accumulated well and with some solid batting still to come, the Desperados finished on 175 for 7.
Not a bad score in worstening light, but the Falcons know a few things about swinging and hitting as they proved. It was unfortunate that we were without key bowlers that day and that we were obliged to bowl spin in the gloaming, but still the opposition raced to the target with 3 overs to spare, despite some alert fielding by the Baggies and some good early pace bowling from Andrew and Mahesh.
The Falcons were to lose the final the next day to the Tigers by throwing wickets away chasing a much lower score in decent light...
Result: BBD 175 for 7 off 20 LOST to Falcons 180 for 5 off 17 by 5 wickets.
MOTM: Shiraz (excellent bowling, 4 wickets)
Baggies were: Chris Priest (c2), Eddie Allnutt, Mike Glover(+), Andrew Leckonby (c1), Dom Ward, Sharath, Nick Palmer, Mahesh Singh, Tony O'Brien, Balogh Mátyás, Shobit (G, DCC.)
It might have been ridiculously dark in the final overs of our BCCH cup semi-final against the Falcons but that still did not stop the likes of Khyber, Shiraz and Suleiman from pinging our enforced spin 'attack' for boundary after boundary and the Baggies found themselves dumped out of the cup by an admittedly better side.
We could moan about the match starting nearly an hour late, at 3.30pm on a gloomy October afternoon, due to the glacial pace of the immediately preceding semi-final, won by the Royal Tigers, but it was the same for the opposition so let's focus more on the plus points
Our openers, Mike Glover (27) and Eddie Allnutt (49) set us up brilliantly in a partnership of 82, Mike playing Mr. Reliable to Eddie's Mr. Aggression. Dom Ward was unlucky to fall early and Andrew Leckonby was hitting well enough when he too went before time. Sharath (22) was a rock in the middle overs and Nick Palmer and Mahesh 'The Cobra' Singh accumulated well and with some solid batting still to come, the Desperados finished on 175 for 7.
Not a bad score in worstening light, but the Falcons know a few things about swinging and hitting as they proved. It was unfortunate that we were without key bowlers that day and that we were obliged to bowl spin in the gloaming, but still the opposition raced to the target with 3 overs to spare, despite some alert fielding by the Baggies and some good early pace bowling from Andrew and Mahesh.
The Falcons were to lose the final the next day to the Tigers by throwing wickets away chasing a much lower score in decent light...
Result: BBD 175 for 7 off 20 LOST to Falcons 180 for 5 off 17 by 5 wickets.
MOTM: Shiraz (excellent bowling, 4 wickets)
Baggies were: Chris Priest (c2), Eddie Allnutt, Mike Glover(+), Andrew Leckonby (c1), Dom Ward, Sharath, Nick Palmer, Mahesh Singh, Tony O'Brien, Balogh Mátyás, Shobit (G, DCC.)
Baggy Blues League averages 2010 - Top 5s
Info:
Artosz:
Batting: 1. Dom Ward (19.0), 2. John Murphy (18.0), 3. Eddie Allnutt (16.8), 4. Andrew Leckonby (16.3), 5. Onka (15.0)
Bowling: 1. Onka (4.5), 2. Felix Nelson (5.2), 3. Damien Naughten (6.6), 4. Andrew Leckonby (7.5), 5. Nick Palmer (12.5)
Full Tossers:
Batting: 1. Sharath (23.3), 2. Alex Johnson (21.5), 3. Chris Priest (13.2), 4. Mark Bownas (8.7), 5. Hiran de Silva (8.4)
Bowling: 1. Martin East (16.6), 2. Mark Bownas (18.5), 3. Hiran de Silva (23.2), 4. Ram (23.25), 5. Sean Morrissey (29.0)
To be included here, players had to have batted or bowled in TWO or more matches for their team. Sharath is listed here as an FT player since his great half-century was scored for the FTs. Despite ending the season with a batting average of 38, Matt W-B misses out since the better of his two innings this term (23*) was for the Kangas, as a guest.
Worth noting:
1. BBA bowling looks (and no doubt was) significantly better than BBFTs bowling
2. We were hoping for some batting averages over 25 in both teams.
More analysis coming in October, after the last cup games.
Artosz:
Batting: 1. Dom Ward (19.0), 2. John Murphy (18.0), 3. Eddie Allnutt (16.8), 4. Andrew Leckonby (16.3), 5. Onka (15.0)
Bowling: 1. Onka (4.5), 2. Felix Nelson (5.2), 3. Damien Naughten (6.6), 4. Andrew Leckonby (7.5), 5. Nick Palmer (12.5)
Full Tossers:
Batting: 1. Sharath (23.3), 2. Alex Johnson (21.5), 3. Chris Priest (13.2), 4. Mark Bownas (8.7), 5. Hiran de Silva (8.4)
Bowling: 1. Martin East (16.6), 2. Mark Bownas (18.5), 3. Hiran de Silva (23.2), 4. Ram (23.25), 5. Sean Morrissey (29.0)
To be included here, players had to have batted or bowled in TWO or more matches for their team. Sharath is listed here as an FT player since his great half-century was scored for the FTs. Despite ending the season with a batting average of 38, Matt W-B misses out since the better of his two innings this term (23*) was for the Kangas, as a guest.
Worth noting:
1. BBA bowling looks (and no doubt was) significantly better than BBFTs bowling
2. We were hoping for some batting averages over 25 in both teams.
More analysis coming in October, after the last cup games.
Date changes for Tossers crunch match v DCC and other news
Created Aug 27th 2010
Someone give Andrew a medal for sorting out the fixtures pile-up this week... The final league match for the Full Tossers will now be played
*on the weekend of September 11th/12th*
Any Tosser who would like to help the team win TWO games in one season should now sign in (again) on the re-drafted 'Doodle Box' on our Matches page, click here to go there!!
If you could play on either of those dates then please sign in YES for both. You will see what I mean when you see the tick-box...
Some of you may remember the golden-age of those tick-boxes when as many as 12, 14 or, wait for it...even 15 players ticked YES for a game and it then became a selection issue for the skipper.
Well, I would like the luxury of having to select a side for the first time in over a year...
Otherwise, please offer umpiring services through Andrew or Chris (it is paid work this season!) for any remaining match if you can.
Maybe see some of you at Beckett's for Johnny Murphy's 30th birthday gig Saturday 28th at 8. They say he is the new Engelbert Humperdink...
This allows Chris (and the Serbian squad) the chance to take a decent hangover into the Hungary A v Serbia match the following morning.
cheers, Chris and Andrew
Someone give Andrew a medal for sorting out the fixtures pile-up this week... The final league match for the Full Tossers will now be played
*on the weekend of September 11th/12th*
Any Tosser who would like to help the team win TWO games in one season should now sign in (again) on the re-drafted 'Doodle Box' on our Matches page, click here to go there!!
If you could play on either of those dates then please sign in YES for both. You will see what I mean when you see the tick-box...
Some of you may remember the golden-age of those tick-boxes when as many as 12, 14 or, wait for it...even 15 players ticked YES for a game and it then became a selection issue for the skipper.
Well, I would like the luxury of having to select a side for the first time in over a year...
Otherwise, please offer umpiring services through Andrew or Chris (it is paid work this season!) for any remaining match if you can.
Maybe see some of you at Beckett's for Johnny Murphy's 30th birthday gig Saturday 28th at 8. They say he is the new Engelbert Humperdink...
This allows Chris (and the Serbian squad) the chance to take a decent hangover into the Hungary A v Serbia match the following morning.
cheers, Chris and Andrew
A brief update....
Created Aug 23rd 2010
Hello Cricket fraternity,
After a chaos-related hiatus: a brief update on life amongst the Baggies...
Artosz are still up there in the league despite a cruel defeat to the Tigers. By all accounts our lads should have prevailed but the felines in sky-blue had other plans. Damo bowled Phoenix out and a grand "Lamb Pörkölt" was enjoyed by all at Gödöllő, thanks to Mahesh and Erika. Happy Birthday Mahesh!
The Tossers had their trickiest 2 games of the season back-to-back (Tigers and Falcons) and boy did they get a-pasted. See local obituaries for details. To quote the skipper: "Get that microphone away from me!"
Sződliget has had some setbacks too - some bureaucratic and some to do with theft and vandalism. The HCA would welcome any voluteered hours you could offer to supervise the ground while materials are being delivered there over the coming weeks, especially in the evenings. Contact Chris on 06 30 559 4190 if you can help.
The Macedonia squad continues to be feted. Andrew and Janos Matyasfalvi gave a long interview about the success to Eurosport Hungary who then declared the team as their "Team of the Month" for July. Congratulations again. Semi-finals weekend is approaching, please sign up for the squads ASAP and please note that there is a very strong likelihood that the final BBFT match v DCC will be on that weekend (Sept. 4th or 5th) Confirmation coming ASAP.
There have been rumblings about practice evenings in the Varosliget too...
Maybe a new face should run that as Andrew and Chris have THIS much other stuff to arrange...
Otherwise, enjoy the remainder of the summer and see you soon.
Hello Cricket fraternity,
After a chaos-related hiatus: a brief update on life amongst the Baggies...
Artosz are still up there in the league despite a cruel defeat to the Tigers. By all accounts our lads should have prevailed but the felines in sky-blue had other plans. Damo bowled Phoenix out and a grand "Lamb Pörkölt" was enjoyed by all at Gödöllő, thanks to Mahesh and Erika. Happy Birthday Mahesh!
The Tossers had their trickiest 2 games of the season back-to-back (Tigers and Falcons) and boy did they get a-pasted. See local obituaries for details. To quote the skipper: "Get that microphone away from me!"
Sződliget has had some setbacks too - some bureaucratic and some to do with theft and vandalism. The HCA would welcome any voluteered hours you could offer to supervise the ground while materials are being delivered there over the coming weeks, especially in the evenings. Contact Chris on 06 30 559 4190 if you can help.
The Macedonia squad continues to be feted. Andrew and Janos Matyasfalvi gave a long interview about the success to Eurosport Hungary who then declared the team as their "Team of the Month" for July. Congratulations again. Semi-finals weekend is approaching, please sign up for the squads ASAP and please note that there is a very strong likelihood that the final BBFT match v DCC will be on that weekend (Sept. 4th or 5th) Confirmation coming ASAP.
There have been rumblings about practice evenings in the Varosliget too...
Maybe a new face should run that as Andrew and Chris have THIS much other stuff to arrange...
Otherwise, enjoy the remainder of the summer and see you soon.
Artosz avoid upset in final over!
Created Jul 25th 2010
July 24th - In the friendly-fire match between Artosz and the BB Full Tossers it went right down to the final over before a timely boundary helped the title contenders bag the 4 points which they nearly threw away as the light faded.
Chris won the toss and chose to bat but, characteristically the FTs lost early wickets until Sharath and Mark Bownas restored some order. Runs accumulated, with Artosz leaking plenty of extras but the plaudits have to go to vice-captain Sean Morrissey who went in at 80-odd for 6 and then frustrated the first-team bowlers for 22 vital and intelligent runs (not out). Sean, guest player Ranjit Kumar and Chris Priest then kept the scorers busy with the Tossers ending on a defendable 136 all out, the Artosz bowlers not being quite as incisive as usual.
Eddie Allnutt and Dominic Ward started well, Dominic showing what he and a Mongoose can get up to but soon enough the breakthroughs came. Catches were held and one or two straight balls were walloomphed at and missed. Mark Bownas kept a tight line and Ram bowled with more accuracy than in previous weeks. No Artosz batsman got a real start and at around 25 overs gone with Artosz still needing 25-odd to win the FTs perhaps saw a chance to win. It was a nervy end for the larger-than-usual crowd but Tosser hopes evaporated with 2 balls to spare as Charles and guest Andy Grieve scraped out the required 5 runs needed off Matyas Balogh's final over.
Any neutral observer wondering whether this game might be following a suspiciously co-operative script were left in no doubt by the end, with many an anxious Artosz face on plain display in the stand and all 11 Tossers fielding in close to the bat.
July 24th - In the friendly-fire match between Artosz and the BB Full Tossers it went right down to the final over before a timely boundary helped the title contenders bag the 4 points which they nearly threw away as the light faded.
Chris won the toss and chose to bat but, characteristically the FTs lost early wickets until Sharath and Mark Bownas restored some order. Runs accumulated, with Artosz leaking plenty of extras but the plaudits have to go to vice-captain Sean Morrissey who went in at 80-odd for 6 and then frustrated the first-team bowlers for 22 vital and intelligent runs (not out). Sean, guest player Ranjit Kumar and Chris Priest then kept the scorers busy with the Tossers ending on a defendable 136 all out, the Artosz bowlers not being quite as incisive as usual.
Eddie Allnutt and Dominic Ward started well, Dominic showing what he and a Mongoose can get up to but soon enough the breakthroughs came. Catches were held and one or two straight balls were walloomphed at and missed. Mark Bownas kept a tight line and Ram bowled with more accuracy than in previous weeks. No Artosz batsman got a real start and at around 25 overs gone with Artosz still needing 25-odd to win the FTs perhaps saw a chance to win. It was a nervy end for the larger-than-usual crowd but Tosser hopes evaporated with 2 balls to spare as Charles and guest Andy Grieve scraped out the required 5 runs needed off Matyas Balogh's final over.
Any neutral observer wondering whether this game might be following a suspiciously co-operative script were left in no doubt by the end, with many an anxious Artosz face on plain display in the stand and all 11 Tossers fielding in close to the bat.
Tossers first ever win!
Created Jul 22nd 2010
It's not all Macedonia around here, you know... On Sunday 18th July the BB Full Tossers recorded their first ever win in the home league. Stand-in skipper Sean Morrissey lead the boys back from the brink to see off the Danubian Kangaroos by 79 runs. After a poor start with the bat (22 for 5 at one stage) the ship was steadied by an 80-odd partnership between Mark Bownas and returning Baggy Alex Johnson who top scored with 42. The total of 147 all out proved too much for the Kangas (all out for 68) with the Bownas Boys, Mark and Ralph, and Hiran pegging the opposition back in style.
Even one or two comedy run-outs failed to stop the FTs scooping up a bonus point to ensure they won't finish bottom of the league two seasons running.
How will the blossoming Tossers fare on Saturday 24th against fellow BB side Artosz? Come and watch at Godollo Uni, 2pm.
Created Jul 22nd 2010
It's not all Macedonia around here, you know... On Sunday 18th July the BB Full Tossers recorded their first ever win in the home league. Stand-in skipper Sean Morrissey lead the boys back from the brink to see off the Danubian Kangaroos by 79 runs. After a poor start with the bat (22 for 5 at one stage) the ship was steadied by an 80-odd partnership between Mark Bownas and returning Baggy Alex Johnson who top scored with 42. The total of 147 all out proved too much for the Kangas (all out for 68) with the Bownas Boys, Mark and Ralph, and Hiran pegging the opposition back in style.
Even one or two comedy run-outs failed to stop the FTs scooping up a bonus point to ensure they won't finish bottom of the league two seasons running.
How will the blossoming Tossers fare on Saturday 24th against fellow BB side Artosz? Come and watch at Godollo Uni, 2pm.
Skopje Breaking News:
Created Jul 19th 2010
On Saturday 17th July, Hungary Senior Men won the final of the non-elite Euro T20 championship in Macedonia, beating Russia by
4 wickets in a nail-biting finish. The victorious XI included four Baggy Blues: national team skipper Andrew Leckonby, wicketkeeper Mike
Glover, star bat Eddie Allnutt and team manager Chris Priest.
In the final Andrew took 3 key wickets and lead from the front throughout, Mike was as lethal as ever behind the stumps in all matches,
Eddie kicked off the tournament with a man of the match performance to beat Croatia, and Chris made crucial late runs in the semi final win over
Bulgaria as well as taking several good catches in the week. The Baggies members held every catch that came their way and overall contributed
strongly towards the tournament victory. More news and pictures to follow.
The Final: Russia 165 for 7 (20 overs) lost to Hungary 166 for 7 off 19.5 overs.
That's right.... with 1 ball to spare!
Created Jul 19th 2010
On Saturday 17th July, Hungary Senior Men won the final of the non-elite Euro T20 championship in Macedonia, beating Russia by
4 wickets in a nail-biting finish. The victorious XI included four Baggy Blues: national team skipper Andrew Leckonby, wicketkeeper Mike
Glover, star bat Eddie Allnutt and team manager Chris Priest.
In the final Andrew took 3 key wickets and lead from the front throughout, Mike was as lethal as ever behind the stumps in all matches,
Eddie kicked off the tournament with a man of the match performance to beat Croatia, and Chris made crucial late runs in the semi final win over
Bulgaria as well as taking several good catches in the week. The Baggies members held every catch that came their way and overall contributed
strongly towards the tournament victory. More news and pictures to follow.
The Final: Russia 165 for 7 (20 overs) lost to Hungary 166 for 7 off 19.5 overs.
That's right.... with 1 ball to spare!
The winning team!!
Baggies in Macedonia
Created Jul 14th 2010
The Baggies are well represented in the Hungary Senior Men's XI in Skopje, July 2010. Here skipper Andrew Leckonby delivers rallying words just minutes before the side demolished the host team Macedonia.
Hungary scored a beefy 177 for 3 off our 20 overs and then dismissed the Macedonians for 64 in 14 overs. First up, Eddie Allnutt continued his good vein of power batting with a quick 19 and took a great catch at his now favoured mid-on, Andrew rested his bowling arm, perhaps with the semi-finals in mind and scored 5 before playing a rash shot. Chris took another decent catch at cover point to go with two against Romania the day before and new boy Balogh Matyas made a pround debut, fielding well and bowling medium pacers, unfortunately unrewarded, with one skied hit off his bowling just evading the diving Habib (Falcons) at cover.
The win ensured that Hungary face either Russia or Wales CB in the semi-finals after a rest day. Do we need that rest day? Yes, we do...
The Baggies are well represented in the Hungary Senior Men's XI in Skopje, July 2010. Here skipper Andrew Leckonby delivers rallying words just minutes before the side demolished the host team Macedonia.
Hungary scored a beefy 177 for 3 off our 20 overs and then dismissed the Macedonians for 64 in 14 overs. First up, Eddie Allnutt continued his good vein of power batting with a quick 19 and took a great catch at his now favoured mid-on, Andrew rested his bowling arm, perhaps with the semi-finals in mind and scored 5 before playing a rash shot. Chris took another decent catch at cover point to go with two against Romania the day before and new boy Balogh Matyas made a pround debut, fielding well and bowling medium pacers, unfortunately unrewarded, with one skied hit off his bowling just evading the diving Habib (Falcons) at cover.
The win ensured that Hungary face either Russia or Wales CB in the semi-finals after a rest day. Do we need that rest day? Yes, we do...
Matyas Balogh on debut posing in helmet even though he was not called upon to bat.
Both teams together after the match
Baggies in training ahead of Macedonia trip
Created Jul 7th 2010
Mike Glover training at RAFC with the Hungarian Senior Men's team prior to their departure to Skopje, Macedonia in July 2010. The team, also including Baggies Eddie Allnutt, Andrew Leckonby, Chris Priest and Balogh Mátyás, will contest the non-elite Euro 20/20 Cup with group games against Croatia, Romania and hosts Macedonia. A longer preview of the Skopje tour can be read below on this page.
Mike Glover training at RAFC with the Hungarian Senior Men's team prior to their departure to Skopje, Macedonia in July 2010. The team, also including Baggies Eddie Allnutt, Andrew Leckonby, Chris Priest and Balogh Mátyás, will contest the non-elite Euro 20/20 Cup with group games against Croatia, Romania and hosts Macedonia. A longer preview of the Skopje tour can be read below on this page.
Baggies brunch club debut sitting
Created Jun 28th 2010
Scrambled eggs before battle; the Baggies do brunch prior to tonking the Kangas in June 2010. The eggs didn't do this quartet much good, though, none of them troubling the scorer much, although it turned out to be an odd game of 61 runs in total (click here to see results for details). Other brunch meet-ups are planned for this summer, with the airy upstairs terrace at "Café Most" in the Zichy Jenő utca (near the Opera) mooted as the next venue. Invitations coming soon.
Scrambled eggs before battle; the Baggies do brunch prior to tonking the Kangas in June 2010. The eggs didn't do this quartet much good, though, none of them troubling the scorer much, although it turned out to be an odd game of 61 runs in total (click here to see results for details). Other brunch meet-ups are planned for this summer, with the airy upstairs terrace at "Café Most" in the Zichy Jenő utca (near the Opera) mooted as the next venue. Invitations coming soon.
Onka shines in low-scoring game
Created Jun 28th 2010
In one of the oddest games we may see this season the Artosz boys made a drama out of chasing the 30 a/o set by the Kangaroos, losing 5 wickets in the process. Maybe the low target made us complacent but still, nothing should be taken away from Man of the Match Onka Ozkul, whose 6 victims (mostly bowled) could find no answer to his pace and accuracy. We won our bonus point to go joint top of the league with Pheonix at roughly the half-way stage.
Onka's figures: 5-1-6-6 ...and no Artosz batsmen reached double-figures.
Click here to read more information about it!!
Created Jun 28th 2010
In one of the oddest games we may see this season the Artosz boys made a drama out of chasing the 30 a/o set by the Kangaroos, losing 5 wickets in the process. Maybe the low target made us complacent but still, nothing should be taken away from Man of the Match Onka Ozkul, whose 6 victims (mostly bowled) could find no answer to his pace and accuracy. We won our bonus point to go joint top of the league with Pheonix at roughly the half-way stage.
Onka's figures: 5-1-6-6 ...and no Artosz batsmen reached double-figures.
Click here to read more information about it!!
20/20 Boundary Feast for 10-Man Baggies, June 24th 2010
Created Jun 26th 2010
Records tumbled at RAFC last night as the BBs trounced Dunabogdány in the 20/20 Cup. Put in to bat, Nick Palmer (51) and Mahesh Singh (24) dispatched the ball to all corners and soon achieved possibly the Baggy's first ever 100 opening partnership. A little later, Andrew Leckonby (55) and Mike Glover (28) also traded mostly in boundaries as the scoreboard almost caught fire. Tony O'Brien joined the plundering and even though wickets fell towards the end we still racked up a massive 249 for 9 on the Flikx pitch, 65 of which were Extras.
DCC then performed a comedy of errors and were all out for 65 in 13 overs in fading light with Tony O'Brien having a great debut, inflicting most of the damage (4 for 15) and four wickets coming via Mike's neat keeping.
The BB 20/20 record breakers were: Chris Priest (c), Nick Palmer, Mahesh Singh, Mike Glover (wk), Andrew Leckonby, Martin East, Mátyás Balogh, Zsolt Horváth, Onka Ozkul and Tony O'Brien.
Click here to see current Cup table along with full reports and scorecards!!
Vienna Sixes - July 2-5
Created Jun 18th 2010
It's that time again; the Vienna six-a-side tournament. Last year there were two Hungarian teams competing, one a piece from both sides of pre-reunified Magyar Krikett, but this year, as everyone knows, we are all much better friends and may even sit near each other at the barbeque... Whether anyone buys anyone else a beer or not... well, as they say down in Kőbánya... ki fog derülni!
This year there will again be two squads in Vienna from the HCA; the Baggy Blues and a Mixed HCA squad, all going for glory in a tournament which is having to expand to 4 days compared to last year's 3 to accommodate the influx of new teams. The sides to beat from last year were Denmark (all Sri Lankan Danes) and the Munich Cricket Club (mostly Aussies and Brits). The Baggies got to the final in 2009 by defeating the Danes with 3 balls to spare only to see the Müncheners do in the final what they had been doing all weekend: tonking sixes.
For those of you who don't know about six-a-side cricket, it is played on a full-sized pitch but, with only 6 fielders per side, that means a lot of ground to cover for those in the field. It is not untypical to see the wicketkeeper scampering back to field byes and leg byes in the unmanned fine leg and third man arc and to see deep mid-on patrolling about 90 yards of boundary and trying to catch anything catchable that goes there. Desparing dives on the boundary are common, although the anguish for fielders is limited since matches are 8 overs per side.
Only Eight? Yes, the dynamics of a match are unusual; few teams are bowled all-out and bowling changes are frequent, so batsmen are happier to risk bigger hits. Good teams score anything from 80 to just over 100 off 48 balls.
In Vienna they have a very batsman-friendly artificial wicket and the lasting memories of 2009 were of the beefier hitters launching sixes at will over the bowler's heads. The key to winning in Vienna will be boundaries, lots of them, and teams who are not adept at slogging will go home empty handed. It won't quite be enough to rely on tight bowling.
The Baggies squad for 2010 is heavy on the all-rounders:
Andrew Leckonby (C), Mike Glover (wk), Dominic Ward, Pip Gamble,
Eddie Allnutt, Mark Bownas, Chris Priest, Onka Ozkul and Damien Naughten
Get practicing your lofted drives, boys, I think you are going to need them....
As an aside: we are always made very welcome by Siva and his team at the Vienna Cricket Club, his charm and hospitality now legendary and it is great to think that last year's dedicated co-organizer, Brett, is now recovering from the near-fatal illness that struck him down over the winter. So, see you in two weeks, Brett!
Click here for the match schedule!!
HunCup in Nemzeti Sport
Created Jun 15th 2010
Click here to read the report about the cup competition!!
4 Baggies selected for Euro 20/20 tournament 2010
Created Jun 11th 2010
Congratulations to Eddie Allnutt, Andrew Leckonby, Mahesh Singh and Mike Glover who have all been selected to represent Hungary at the annual (non-elite) Euro 20/20 tournament which this year will be held in July in Skopje, capital of FYR Macedonia.
All four Baggies have seen Euro 20/20 action before, namely at last year’s tournament in Carmel, Wales and their individual roles remain the same; Mike is in as the senior of two wicketkeepers, the other being Sameer of the Royal Tigers and the team will surely hope to rely on Mike’s batting as either opener or as a middle-order accumulator, if not a runner of 3s.
Eddie had a quiet tournament in Wales in 2009 but seems to have found his rhythm with the bat this season and is selected as a top order hitter. He is perhaps the only one of the squad who knows most of verse one of the National Anthem too, so look out for him leading the singing. There is a paradox in there somewhere as any of you who have heard Eddie singing will have registered.
Unsurprisingly, Andrew continues as National Team skipper, his ability to lead and unite both on and off the field being beyond any doubt. As an all-rounder we are likely to see him in the thick of the action with both ball and bat and we look forward to hearing his ex-Yorkshire baritone regaling us all with "Good spell, mate!" and "Need 16 an over now, boys!"
King of Gödöllö, Mahesh Singh, will be there not just as an ace-up-our-sleeve all-rounder but also as official Morale Raiser, offering renditions of beautiful Hindi love songs and one or two impersonations never before seen by anyone, honestly. He will no doubt be invaluable to us at those trying moments on the borders between Balkan states when non-plussed guards scrutinise our cricket gear and ask Eddie if his new bat "…is a semi-automatic?"
It will be interesting to see how the Baggies quartet gets on against first round opponents Croatia and tournament debutants Macedonia and Romania. Arguably, Hungary are in the easier of the two pools (Pool A) and any team hoping to win the trophy will have to reckon with tournament favourites Russia and Carmel/Wales, both starting in Pool B.
Away from the cricket, Mike is under strict instructions from the official Team Hungary scorer (who will have at least 4 sets of coloured pens with her on the trip) to book up a nice hotel room so he may not see too much of the rest of the squad in Skopje.
Due to an absence of support from the Powers That Be In Hungarian Sport, others from the squad will be in bargain-bucket accommodation, the Leckonby’s are threatening to camp here, there or anywhere and Eddie will be late for dinner most nights as he will be taking his work with him and attempting to Flog-a-Dog over the web as only he can. How he plans to get 20 Chihuahuas and Stacey the Poodle through customs is anyone’s guess at this stage.
Another Baggy who will be in Skopje, in the new role of Hungarian Team Manager (i.e. as fixer, scams, bribes etc.), will be Chris Priest, who isn’t sure which will be the trickier; getting the fairly exotic squad through Serbia on the way there or averting an incident involving proudly-hellenic Marianna desecrating the city-centre statue of Alexander "A Great Macedonian Hero! "
Please follow our fortunes on the tournament website…
www.eurotwenty20.eu/news.php?id=60 CP 2010
About us
Baggy Blues is an ever-expanding cricket club based in Budapest, Hungary. Formed in 2007 – at the same time as the first ever Hungarian Cricket Association. Baggy Blues participate in the Hungarian Cricket League, and from 2009 will begin to have club tours outside of Hungary as well.
Our club is welcoming and inviting to all - regardless of cricketing experience or ability - and has an exceptionally strong team spirit which extends well beyond the regular players, and well beyond the boundaries of the playing fields, to include wives, partners, and others who recognise that a Cricket Club is about much more than just what happens on the field. A regular social calendar with our very international player base ensures that a good time is had by all.
Having said that, we also have high playing targets and expectations of our top team – coming from 4th out of six in 2007 to 2nd out of eight in 2008, the ’Baggies’ are looking to strengthen their skills and performance levels even further in the seasons ahead.
To cater for the wide variety of player experience and talent within the club, as well as the rapidly growing player base, the Baggy Blues will have at least 2 teams participating in the HCL. Combining this with the regular training sessions (indoors in winter and outdoors when weather permits) focusing on skill developments for players of all abilities and knowledge of the game, and the recently confirmed financial support of our sponsors, the Baggy Blues look set for a very exciting future.
If you would like to be a part of all that it is to be a ’Baggy Blue’, please contact us – we look forward to welcoming you to our club!
