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Tuesday 3rd

Tuesday 3rd July

Tuesday morning sees the great Lions hunt.  Bideford is not the capital of rugby in the UK.  Far from it.  Task number one is to find a bar that opens at 10.30am and has Sky TV for the latest Lions match in Australia.  After much research two bars are selected and one opens up early.  Rush for the front seats near the TV to be greeted by a Gaelic football match.  Thanks to Mr. Murdoch, Sky TV has switched off all the big sports events on Sky analogue channels to try and get everyone to upgrade to digital. All the sports clubs and bars around the land that were paying private subscriptions rather than the ₤2500 a year for clubs cannot afford to upgrade and are now left with European Ballroom dancing on Eurosport and QVC as the sole entertainment.  After much searching, no other bar was showing the rugby which was a shame as the Lions won in the last minute thanks to a try from Healy, demonstrating his sidestep is much better than his skills as a tour diarist and diplomat.  
Gonzo comes in for some severe stick after his bowling performance yesterday mostly from his own club mates and especially scorer ‘Perks’ who brands him “a disgrace”.  He is promised a net session before today’s play with him bowling at an A4 sheet of paper on a good length. Several players feel that he had better try a double duvet to start with.   
Gonzo was starting to feel that he should not have come on tour.  After Hilly had given him the fines book to look after on Monday he of course left it sitting around and - no prizes here, it was swiped and he was heavily fined.  Hilly was of course fined for trusting him with it in the first place.  
The fines were pretty steep today.  One tourist was heavily fined for several large love-bites, including one on his backside.  Not sure who was looking and actually saw it but nothing escapes the fines committee.   

The North Devon CC ground is also the home of David Shepherd and the tourists were honoured by a brief appearance of a familiar figure on a bench at the sea end before the rain fell.  Captain of the day CLT also managed to instruct a fielder to “go and stand near that dog” without realizing it was Mr Shepherd’s dog,  “skipper”  DavidShepherd.jpg (7589 bytes)

The Ducklings innings starts off with some confusion.  Hanno, who was due to open the batting again, was told by Bloggy that there was no way he would be opening the batting two days in a row and that he and his wife should finish his lunch in the pub. He then turns up two minutes before the start with three other guys all padded up ready to open.

 In the field, and having to defend a meager total. The intensive coaching of Gonzo appears to have worked and coming off a short run, Gonzo bowls with some control.  Gonzo also proves that he has absorbed all the lessons from Adey and any loose deliveries are punctuated with the same cries of f*** that usually emanate from his tutor.   

A feature of recent Ducklings tours is the presence in the opposition of ‘frog in a blender’ action leg spinner Staddo.  His unique bowling action accounts for both Gonzo and Steve Abbott to horrible slogs against the spin.  Steve gets the honour of carrying the tour duck around as the first to get a nought on tour.  This must be with him at all times unless he is on the field of play.  
Some interclub rivalry surfaced during the match.  Peter Matthews was left kicking his heels in the deep all afternoon while the bowlers- all from Three Bridges, toiled away for little reward.  John Murray was fined the next morning for suggesting that Peter should have worn a Bridges jumper then he would have got a bowl. 
back to index page    Wednesday 4th July