It's All Been Done

Disclaimer - if you have never heard of the Barenaked Ladies, their songs or lyrics, then the below isn't going to make much sense. If you have, then enjoy...

It's been one week since I last played cricket, but two weeks and four seconds since the WSB were in action. We were top after the first round of matches and very much lovin' life.

Our venue? Morley Lane, home of the Shepshed Cricket Club, and for one night only - Leicester All Stars. I've only been to Shepshed once and that was for Football - I won't say the name of their ground - it's rude... Google it - I dare you... But it was nice to say "Hello City" on my return. We were only here for One Night, so we better enjoy.

Shepshed first, and for the driver of my vehicle, it was like looking through their old apartment,t as this was where they used to live. We parked 42 steps from the pitch.

We felt confident, after all, it's the perfect time of year, somewhere far away from here

We felt fine enough, I guess.

Injury meant that Linda was missing on the pitch, but she still travelled to lend her support. Jan made her first league start of the campaign. Enid and Jane were not available.

FLIP, the coin was tossed and skipper Lucy won the toss and we decided to bowl first. There was some fantastic batting from the Shepshed openers, but we wrestled ourselves back into the match, Kinarri picked up one, Rachel picked up one, someone else did, maybe Katie... *checks notes, yes Katie picked up one and Jo picked up two and Shepshed closed on 284.

We were confident of chasing it down, so we decided to tell the bookie put a bet on "not a damn thing will go wrong"... and the odds are that we will probably be alright.

We weren't.

Kinarri and Jo went out and tried to push things forward with one foot on the pedal, one hand on the wheel, and we were looking up successful run chases on this ground, but one little slip left us falling for the first time this season. It has to be said that all the partnerships contributed, but ultimately Shepsheds' total was higher than an invisible fence, and we fell 26 short.

We didn't dwell and decided to get back up, we wanted to get the whole stadium on their feet, and we knew it's not about a victory or a defeat.

A couple of changes for the 2nd game, Anna and Kinarri stepped aside, and Jodie played with Karen (Batting) and Sarah (Fielding), sharing the final position in the team.

Everyone contributed, Jo (10), Lucy (14), and Rachel (12) were the most notable, and a target of 281 was set.

Wickets were key. Get them, and the pressure built. Did I say that out loud?

There was runners, poo on the ball, controversey surrounding a catch - did it carry? No one knows for sure. Everything but wickets. Bowling was tight, but the All-Stars were always slightly ahead of the target and ended up 29 ahead.

Did we deserve to lose by 26 and 29? Probably not.

Have I completely lost the plot with the theme of this? Probably.

I thought about writing on the theme of Britney Spears, but this proved a little toxic. I thought about Shania Twain, but that didn't impress me much. I thought about the Bee Gees, but that would have ended in tragedy. Should I have stayed away from music and done some fish and herb puns instead? I don't think so, it's not the Thyme or Plaice for that.

The roving reporter would like to offer a full apology to Ed Robertson, Jim Creegan, Kevin Hearn, Tyler Stewart and Steven Page, and all that have been affected by the above text.

I am clearly lost.... oh, it's a good life, good life, oh it's a good life, good life....

Thanks, that was fun...No regrets.. Except maybe one...