Dodgers broke new ground this year with our first ever tour, taking wing to the Cotswolds for a weekend of food, drink, and general revelry. And cricket. At 11am on Saturday we had a strong contingent at Cheltenham College for the thrills of bottom-of-the-table Division 2 County Cricket. Luckily the good company (and an admittedly lovely ground) made up for what can best be described as the more lacklustre end of professional sport between Gloucestershire and Worcestershire. Obviously we all love a bit of red ball, but a run rate hovering around 2.6 for hours on end and without many wickets to break the flow takes a toll on the best of us.
Instead we filled our time with conversation, pints in the sun, and an entirely appropriate amount of people watching. Highlights of that latter observation included: a semi-serious scorecard keeper to our left (who refused to use his clip on sunnies and wore a blazer over an unbuttoned shirt, as well as shorts that Karan described as the shortest he'd ever seen), a very serious group setup with a table and drinks to our right (much to the ire of busybody security personnel who felt aggrieved by this for unclear reasons), and a lad who followed me into the urinals to loudly and abruptly ask what I thought of the ongoing third wicket partnership (I was too stunned by this egregious breach of social decorum to reply).
Leaving the game (early) we reconvened at the Coconut Tree for a tasty dinner of Sri Lankan food and a healthy dose of discounted cocktails. Jack had thoughtfully prepared a fun quiz for us, questions divided into half Dodgers and half general cricket, and helpfully boomed over the loud soundsystem to deliver it. Mike & Crawf's team narrowly won despite putting down Stuart Broad as the all-time leading left-arm wicket taker in tests (total left arm wickets: 0), but hey they knew who hit more fours between Stockers and Hoggy so fair play.
From there we rushed to our next booking, downing unlit cocktails in seconds. The destination: Flight Club. The problem: Jack had arrived on time to secure our slot and therefore had an unfair amount of practice before the rest of us could get our eye in. He finished top of the leaderboard across our fun round of mini games, but Stockers secured more highlight reel moments. Ralph also had a really funny celebration after his checkout. Gary & Izzy put their pub-running experience to good use as well, swapping out and throwing from the 'professional' distance line.
Your humble reporter was humbled by his underwhelming efforts and deliberately steered the group to ten-pin bowling as our next activity, naively believing that a youth happily spent in the bowling alleys of the great state of New Jersey would return him to some glory. Unfortunately these hopes were dashed by Karan, who pulled out a narrow but well-deserved victory. I will spare (ha) the others the disservice of describing their efforts here, but let's say they'd all be more likely to strike (ok I'll stop sorry) while bowling a cricket ball than a bowling ball. Maybe next time we'll all try lawn bowling to really mix things up and compete on a level playing field?
A few rounds of pool concluded our evening, where Karan once again triumphed, but the champagne moment (or Coors Light moment more accurately) came when I potted the 8 with a behind-the-back shot to win a doubles game. Exciting! With the bar closed, and a cricket match of our own looming on the morrow's horizon, we called it a night and went our separate ways- although a small contingent did conclude with a quick Burger King stop. Nothing at all happened after that point and I am not available to elaborate further.
Man of the Day
Jack, obviously, for organising the whole thing and making it happen- we're in your debt!
Bucolic English scenes at Cheltenham College
Reverse angle- it really was very nice
Before the dinner & quiz (some of us running late, a running theme)
The stare of a killer with his eyes on the prize
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