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Cup Glory the Aim for CCC

GAME "COULD ACTUALLY GO AHEAD"

The biggest game of CCC’s season so far will take place at the Medicals Ground tomorrow night as the hosts line up against Midweek League giants Whickham Glebe in the Cup 1st Round.

Glebe, formerly known as Beamish, will prove a stiff challenge to a Computing side that hasn’t managed so much as a stroll round the boundary yet this season, following vindictive weather conditions that wiped out the first two scheduled fixtures. The Medicals groundsman is confident the match will go ahead after the sun made an appearance this morning for the first time in several days: "Though there's been a fair bit of rain, the sun is back from behind the clouds and the pitch has been drying quite nicely, so I think the game could actually go ahead," he warned.

CCC are expected to name a strong line-up with Simon Woodman and Derek Marshall available again, and confidence is high in the camp. "We reckon we’ve got a great chance. I’ve got a full squad to pick from, and to be fair Whickham won’t be relishing a trip to Heaton. It’s a tight little ground, the crowd will be behind us and the potential for a banana skin is there," said captain Simon Edwards. "We’ve not got a good record in this competition, but last year two lower division sides (Kibblesworth and Fenham) contested the final, so you never know. We've just got to be at our best."

Team: Edwards (c), Rian, Holburn, Woodman, Planchant, Woolhead, Boyes (w/k), Reed, Campbell, Marshall, Hall (Sub: French)

May fixtures...

CCC V Whickham Glebe @ Heaton Tues 11th
CCC V Genetics @ Heaton (Re-arranged) Thurs 13th

Another Game Cancelled...

5th May V Sage - Game Off

Curfew Demanded for Unruly Cricketers

A SPECIAL REPORT FOR TONIGHT WITH TREVOR MACDONALD

It seemed like any other normal mid week evening on the rain spattered streets of Newcastle’s student suburb of Heaton. Young couples promenading past the Edwardian town houses. Youths skateboarding over carelessly parked cars. Suppliers of chemical stimulants exchanging quips with their customers on street corners. Then we saw them. A gang of about 10 middle aged men "hanging tough" outside an Indian restaurant, their slightly raised, partially inebriated voices piercing the night air...

I’ve filed reports from many of the world’s troublespots: Baghdad, Belfast, Blyth... But, the atmosphere here was intimidating. All I could hear was talk of "smashing boundaries", "annihilating the opposition" and mysterious talk of an enigmatic "Man With Many Nicknames". This is the voice of insurrection, of disillusioned middle aged professionals seeking new kicks – perhaps even a new political agenda to impose upon decent society. It wasn’t just the aggressive hyperbole, but also the physical appearance of these rebels for whom society apparently doesn’t cater: a disturbing morass of side-partings, denim jeans, draylon jackets and faded tee shirts. These are the clothes of insurrection.

Meanwhile normal citizens fear for their safety. One local resident who refused to be named for fear of being "recruited on the playing side" commented: "these people, every summer, they hang out near the curry house and the cricket ground and the local pub. They drink our drinks, they eat our food, they pollute our air with their foul rhetoric. It’s time the government acted."

But the government claims it is powerless to act: "Britain is a free democratic country," said David Blunkett. "Unless these people commit a crime we cannot do anything. There is nothing criminal about standing talking with your hands in your pocket. The Man with Many Nicknames is known to us, but he has committed no crime." Local politicians and police are acting, however. "We are looking into the possibility of a curfew for middle-aged male professionals after 7pm," said a police spokesman. "That way the streets can be reclaimed by old people and charvers and us. That would make our job much more fun."

GAME OFF ...

Tonight's opening game V Genetics (28/04/04) @ Heaton is cancelled due to waterlogged ground.