Quokkas Cricket Club

Kidmore End CC 221-9 dec (Egg 2-17, Seagull 2-27) beat Quokkas CC 130 all out (Oliver 36, Evil Dave 28)

How was your winter? I was shot at, murdered and had my babies stolen. Well, not me personally, but my nickname’s sake. Despite being the most regularly featured animal in BBC news stories, on the Red List of Birds of Conservation Concern and a national survey showing that winter gull population is declining. Despite this, Seagulls are under attack from air rifles in Sussex, crossbows in Ayrshire, anti-seagull measures in Dumfries and Galloway such as egg and nest removal, culls and control licenses. The idea that we are a nation of animal lovers seems to only extend to cats and dogs these days. God help you if you are a bird with a love of chips.

Quokkas CC 198-7 (Faggie 93 no, The Driver 34, Sohail 26) beat ACME CC 97 all out (Smruti 3-2, Driver 3-14, Seagull 2-17)

It is independence day and if you weren’t aware, Major League Cricket is here, debuting at a sold-out stadium in Texas of all places, backed by IPL brands and with an array of international stars only too happy to have another set of franchises willing to pay them big bucks. With the sport intrinsically linked to spectator eating and drinking, offering a never-ending series of breaks for television commercials, a feast of stats and continuous point scoring…it is perhaps the sport the yanks have always wanted. Actually, cricket really was the US national sport back in in the 1800s and in 1844 a cricket match between the United States and Canada was the first international sporting event, predating the first England Australia test by thirty odd years. Cricket is said to have been played in the US since the early 1700s, but it was Benjamin Franklin that helped to formalise the game when bringing a copy of the Laws of cricket back to the States after a visit to England.

Quokkas CC 191-1 (Tugboat 85no, Faggie 65no, Arunav 27) beat North Stifford CC 187-7 (Seagull 2-9, Skip 1-12)

It’s that time of the year again, when I have a good old moan about the world’s ills, outline the long and painful winter that I’ve had, before providing a short description of the first Quokkas defeat of the season. However, my winter wasn’t all bad this time around. Saints were obviously woeful (I’d put a fork in us back in February) and lost most weeks. The Eagles lost in the Superbowl. My freedom to protest was lost, as was my ability to swim in our waterways and move freely in Europe. However, I did move one step closer to becoming an Olympian, acquired my first trombone and ploughed my way through several cases of a lovely Chateauxneuf Du Pape.

Harpenden Dolphins CC 185-9 (Smruti 3-18, Harry 2-25, Mike 2-34) beat Quokkas CC 184-7 (Seagull 52, Faggie 48, Tugboat 40)

It was a weekend of birthdays. Paul McCartney made it to 80 and The Yak is slowly catching him up. Both seemed to enjoy the celebrations. Neither seem to age. The similarities possibly end there unless Tom is also carrying pictures of Chairman Mao that I wasn’t aware of.

Paul may have been seen to break up the fab four when he wouldn’t delay the release of his solo album and then gave an answer to a journalist’s question that “The Beatles no longer existed”, but the truth is John Lennon quit the band some time previous and then they all kept quiet about it until they got their (tax) affairs in order. I’m no expert, but Yoko may have had something to do with John’s decision and maybe George’s desire to have his song writing skills recognised would have seen him jump ship if John hadn’t got to the punch first.