Sunday 26th April
As the sun rose over the village green on Sunday, so dawned a new season of cricket and the weight of expectation after last year’s stellar season hung heavy in the air.
With local clubs having seen pre-season games called off over the last few weeks, Wick had timed their curtain raiser perfectly and the sun shone down as we welcomed Llantwit Major Cavaliers Cricket Club to The Home of Village Cricket®. The green has seen some improvements over winter, namely the shed has been tidied up to make it easier for Kenny to store the mower, and a ‘big net’ has been put up opposite the pavilion to stop the ball from going on to the road.
All this has been done as part of the 10-year plan to make the Village Green a test cricket ground. Big thanks go to the Vale and Andy for funding the net, work is now underway to officially name it ‘The Andy Ellis Big Net’ in recognition of his generosity…and in the hopes he might fund another one should it be needed.
With good availability, returning Captain Russell had the luxury of having to make selection decisions and with an XI included two debuts and three players under 22 it’s great to see the club continue to grow and the enthusiasm the local community has for proper village cricket.
Anyway, to business. The Wick CC Toss Committee unanimously agreed that we’d want to bowl first to – in their words – “get it out of the way”, so it was no surprise when Captain Russ lost the toss and we were put in to bat.
Wick CC - 154 All out (36.1): Ryan Birns 34, Russ Milne 32, Steve Collins 25
Llantwit Major Cavaliers 155 for 8 (30.2): G. Singh 77, Gareth Dixon 2-13, Tom Fenn 2-16
SCORECARD
Now there’s four things that are certain in life: death, taxes, Kenny taking wickets and Steve and Dicky opening the batting. Steve, continuing the fine form he found at the end of last season got off to a strong start, batting with his trademark steadiness and putting putting away the bad ball Steve kept the scoreboard ticking over. Rob and Tom came and went for a few runs each before Steve was joined at the crease by young Ryan. With Steve ticking away Ryan got the scoreboard moving by playing some big shots, even hitting the only 6 of the day for the Wick side.
At points there was real concern from the Wick players on the boundary that all the running young Ryan’s (17 years old) was making Steve (54) do would be too much for him.
With Steve bowled Ryan was joined by Owen for a few overs before he fell for 34 and Russell Joined Owen at the crease…before Owen swiftly departed a few balls later. The rest of the Wick innings was relatively uneventful, with Russ scoring some runs as partners came and went. Highlights included Andy scoring a blockbuster 12 and debutant Saurabh managing to run himself out off a no-ball that confused everyone. Self-confessed all rounder Gutsy and Ben, fresh off a big score of 80 for Vale the previous day departed scoreless. Wick and the Village Green always know how to keep players humble.
Russell, no doubt shaking off the early season rust fell for an uncharacteristically low score of 32, leaving John stranded on the other end 0 not out and setting Llantwit a target of 154 to chase.
Captain Russ elected to open with a pairing of youth and experience in Ryan and Gutsy. Legend has it that in the 18th and 19th centuries ‘The Wreckers of Wick’ used to stand on the nearby cliffs and use lamps to lure ships on to the rocks below to plunder their cargo. 37 ships known to have met their demise on that treacherous stretch of coast.
Over 250 years later another wrecker joined their ranks, this time it was Gutsy luring ships (opening batters) to their doom using his lamp (surprisingly aggressive bowling) to plunder their cargo (wickets). That is to say that Gutsy, opening the bowling managed to take two wickets in his spell, and with Ryan going for just 8 runs in his 4 overs, Wick were looking good.
On next to bowl were Wick youth product John and Tom, but a change of bowling brought no respite for the Cav’s batters. With Tom bowling a consistent line and length he took two wickets in his 5 overs and accompanied by John taking a wicket straight out of the Owen Thomas bowling textbook – wide, wide, wicket – The Cavs were 4 down for not many runs.
Now this is where things started going wrong for Wick. Having spent most of last season patting themselves on the back over the high standard of fielding, Wick went on to drop around 7 catches off one batter. The other problem was that said batter was 15 years old and doing his best impression of that big hitting IPL teenager everyone’s talking about.
He hit the ball to all corners of the green, clearing our brand-new net with ease and leaving a trail of injured players in his wake. New addition Tom, a doctor by trade, was kept busy with the first aid bag; strapping up Russells hand and sending Dicky on his way to A&E with a badly busted thumb. As of writing Dicky is still at the Royal Glam awaiting surgery – get well soon Dicky!
Special mention to young Ben who put his hand in front of a very fast-moving ball and got a considerable bruise for his effort…sadly this match reporter still considers it a dropped catch and an opportunity missed, but to be fair to him he was very brave about the whole thing.
With Dicky heading off to A&E it did make way for Wick royalty Kenny to come on as a substitute fielder, dressed head to toe in Brazil paraphernalia – Kenny claims Brazil is ‘his team’, not Wales – he was more akin to Kenaldinho than anything seen on a village cricket ground.
And this was pretty much the tale of the Cavaliers innings, the youngster chasing down the total with Ben and Saurabh picking up a couple of wickets at the other end. The Cav’s youngster reached a blockbusting 77 before Wick finally made the breakthrough with Owen getting the stumping off Steve’s bowling.
Sadly, it was too little too late for Wick as by the time the wicket fell the scores were level and a few balls later Llantwit brought home the win in the 31st over.
Having gone all last season unbeaten at home, Wick fell at the first hurdle in 2026 but no doubt this loss will act as a catalyst for the team, lifting of the weight of expectation means Wick will approach the rest of the season with the freedom and trademark expressive cricket they’re known for…and hopefully less dropped catches.
Thank you as always to our sponsors The Star Inn, Wick for the post-match hospitality and to CGI for their kit sponsorship.
Next up for Wick is the visit of our friends from the Big Island, Barry West End on Sunday 3/5.
– Owen Thomas
