Sellsy's Sunday Supplement

Arrest stops play. Mother is held on pitch – a headline from the Daily Telegraph on Wednesday which caught my attention this week. The story is of simmering tensions between a local mother and the cricket club which spilled onto the pitch as she protested of balls flying into her back garden. She was subsequently arrested and was given a penalty notice for public disorder and being verbally abusive.

The lady in question, along with her husband, only moved to the village of Bearsted Green, in Kent, some five years ago and has since been locked in a long-running dispute with the cricket club since they bought their £1.2 million property facing the village green.

How wonderful they must have thought when they found this ideal property in a beautiful village, as the moved from the city. Unfortunately lady, my views, along with most others I would think, is that cricket has been played on that village green since 1749 and you come waltzing in from nowhere and try to get it stopped – oh dear! Only one winner there I think.

The funny thing about this story is that two of the cricketers are policeman who subsequently handcuffed her as she remonstrated on the pitch; now the matter is in the hands of her Solicitors. Now if they had done their job correctly in the first place, wouldn’t they off pointed out the fact the property is bang opposite a village green where cricket is played. Or surely the couple would of noticed that themselves when they visited the property before the purchased the place.

A similar thing happened to Over Stowey while they played a tour fixture away to Marldon in Devon some 20 years ago. If you don’t know Marldon, it’s a lovely little village just outside of Paignton, and has everything any village would have – church, quaint cottages, a Post Office, a wonderful pub, a local cricket club and people who move in from the cities who try to change things without thinking about it.

This couple from London purchased this property right next to the cricket ground, in fact on cow corner (target practice!), and balls do end up in their garden. Marldon Cricket Club to their credit has erected a net to minimize the problem, but the odd one does get over. On this particular afternoon Stowey’s Phil Rich was in full flow, smashing the ball to all parts of Marldon, one even went through the pub window and landed in someone’s Sunday dinner!

However Phil’s favourite shot is over cow corner (no disrespect there Phil), and unfortunately more than a few balls ended up in this city boy’s garden. He came over to remonstrate, but this fell on deaf ears as he was told in no uncertain terms to go back to London!

Lord’s – ticket purchased, coach booked, cider in the fridge and bridesmaid dress at the ready! Surely this is now Somerset’s time to win a final after losing in the last four they played in the past three seasons. I see that some bookmakers have made Surrey favourites to win, which is quite understandable the way the qualified. Saying that Somerset was clear favourites to beat Leicestershire in the T20 final and we know what happened there, Ken Pook put £30 on Leicester to win!

With the elusive County Championship quest now over (where are these experts who said Somerset would win it at the start of the season), after Somerset lost to Yorkshire and both Warwickshire and Lancashire winning, the best position Somerset can hope for is fourth. Making things difficult for Lancashire next week must be high on the agenda for Somerset, especially with Cup Final places up for grabs.

As Somerset can’t finish any higher than fourth my 2011 bet looks a bit desperate. However a win on Saturday and I will have a small profit, which, after last season is better than a kick in the shins!

Have you noticed how the critics have gone all quiet about Alastair Cook’s captaincy? When he was appointed the knives were out for him, saying things like “he wouldn’t even get in my one day side”, or “he has never made a one day ton”; well all I have to say is where are those critics now?

His form as ODI captain has been more than good, with eight wins out of 11 games played, scoring at nearly run a ball and averaging over 60. Cook will be England’s next Test captain when Andrew Strauss decides to call it a day (probably after the next Ashes series), so why not make him ODI captain, great experience and a cracking batsman as the last 12 months have proved (he has even hit two sixes!).

Over Stowey’s season is all but at an end, with the 1^st XI playing their last game on Saturday when they visited Hinkley Point. Scoring a competitive 195 off their 40 overs, Stowey seemed to posted a good total; however Point knocked them off with overs to spare, giving them a fighting chance of avoiding relegation.

The 2^nd XI has the dubious honor of playing the last game of the season, when they entertain West Monkton on Saturday. Best of luck to Carl Woodley’s boys on Saturday, sign off with a win and we can then turn our attention to the presentation evening and who is going to win the Hole in the Hand award – a lot of candidates this year I think.

Well, it is 10.57, time for a pint and for those of you travelling to Lord’s next week, I’ll see you in the Tavern Bar, I’ll be the one wearing the bridesmaid dress!