Scorecard

Thatcham Town Cricket Club Thatcham 1XI- Saturday v Kidmore End on Sat 16 Jun 2012 at 1:00pm
Match was Drawn

Match report Firstly, an apology. It was brought to my attention at the back end of last week that whilst true to fact, last week’s report did, in retrospect, contain a shocking oversight on my part. I must sincerely apologise to the party involved for this error and hope that the good name of Thatcham Town Cricket Club will not be tarnished by my thoughtless actions. I should have noted that Chris Rochfort, on the day, did successfully, and intentionally, hit the 100 foot Oak tree and in doing so became the only batsman to accomplish this feat. In the interest of fairness I should say that there were equally bigger hits to the actual boundary but none were as entertaining; apart from the leading edge over mid wicket for six…Anyway I digress; why I didn’t mention this before I do not know, but thank you anonymous tipster (Rochy) who made me aware of my error. Sorted.

Kidmore End at home then…

Summer still continues to grace us with its presence; I’m glad they announced the hose pipe ban when they did. All we need now is Wimbledon and we’re set up for a decent couple of weeks of weather. Hmmm never mind. Knowing all too well the challenge of batting second at home, Stoney kept his successful tossing record for the season going in the hope that we could notch up the first home win of the year. On a side note we’re getting better at the whole hockey business in the warm ups; so much so that Flynny decided to wet himself. You can’t really blame him; we played some quality stuff and deserved the 3-2 win. Back to the cricket - Den and Flynny swapped roles for the day but the latter was the only one of two able to change his fortune. Stoney was BUI (batting under the influence) and fell early for just six to leave us 29-2 inside the first ten overs. I should point out that I am joking – for any committee members reading he was completely sober. Capi-tan Ross and Flynny looked good together and this time made the partnership work. With some pretty inadequate bowling on offer, the field was stretched and Kidmore End seemed very happy to let us bat them out of the game. With the partnership building steadily along came a confusing passage of play; at a time when we had about fifteen minutes rain we somehow stayed off the field for about 50 minutes in the fear of more showers coming in. With all the recalculations sorted we were posed with an awkward situation; 90 odd for 2 after 32 overs and you’ve got twelve overs left in your innings…no choice but to get a shift on then.

We did just that. Capi-tan Ross reached his second successive home fifty and Flynny sensibly left the wedge in the bag to opt for the driver. The next eleven overs were absolute carnage. With Capi-tan Ross missing a straight one for an excellent 67, Johno and Flynny treated the Kidmore End bowling with the respect it, at that time, quite rightly deserved; none. Flynny in particular pulled out the long handle crashing a multitude of sixes around Brownsfield blazing his way past 50 in the process. Stoney in the end felt sorry for the visiting attack declaring with an over remaining on a imposing 203-3. An incredible feat if you consider that over 100 runs were added in that last eleven over session; Flynny regained his touch to end on 89 not out and Johno providing great support with 26. The measure of that assault being the figures of the unfortunate Frost; conceding 50 in his last five overs, ruining what was shaping up to be a spell of great control. Half the job done and done very well if I say so myself - good luck chasing 204 in 41 then boys.

With the old ball pretty much knackered the new ball was taken and again proved somewhat ineffective – my fault; not Gibbo’s. Although it accounted for Dixon early on both Sheldon’s were in and in no mood to give up the game. Just as well really, as there weren’t too many in the changing room fancying a bat in the rain. Webbs and Gibbo once again brought about control and started to exert ever increasing pressure. Both Sheldon’s fell in quick succession; one to Webbs and the other to Willow but they were still handily placed in terms of run rate. Conditions then deteriorated rapidly and autumn descended on West Berkshire; I can’t remember the last time I actually played in rain like it. It worked wonders as the visiting batsmen didn’t seem overly keen on getting their kit wet; to be fair it is a long walk from the changing rooms to get damp pads…Willow bowled admirably given the heavy drizzle blinding him in his delivery stride and was this week rewarded with three important wickets. In yet another twist it stopped raining and even brightened up for a time; not sunny mind you but it was dry and the game built towards yet another exciting climax. And so it came down to the simple equation – we needed four wickets in eight overs. Big ask, but these are good games to win. We got the first three with one each falling to Gibbo, Jenks and Whiskas but out strode a plucky number eleven. I think we should give him credit to be honest; it was getting dark and knowing my radar asked for the light. To a degree he got it and for the second week running it came down to Webbs and a last over decider. Happily Kidmore End blocked out to deny us an unlikely maximum point victory to finish on 152-9 from their allotted 41 overs.

Wickets were again shared around; Willow led the way with three, Gibbo and Jenks collecting two a piece with Birdy and Whiskas each grabbing one. Despite the conditions we again kept it together well as a fielding unit, even though Felix tried to slide on his knees - the result of which was a bit like McIlroy at the US Open; there were divots all over the place. But seriously, we continue to play decent cricket and a rejuvenated batting performance shows what we can do when we keep wickets in hand with two batsmen set. Each week feels like a top of the table clash as the big games keep rolling up as next Saturday sees a nice trip down the road to Burnham. Given our current pattern I fancy an away win; but first we’ll have to see what all the hype is about.

Thatcham Town Cricket Club Thatcham 1XI- Saturday Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
2w 3b 5lb 
for 3 wickets
10
203		        
Ross Schreiber Bowled  67
Matthew Denness Lbw  5
Dan Stone Caught  6
Josh O'Flynn Not Out  89 2
Duncan Johnson Not Out  26
Felix Hartley Russell  
Paul Jenkins  
Nick Monger   1
Chris Bird   1
Scott Gibson  
John Williams   1

Kidmore End Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
No records to display.

Kidmore End Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
3w 4b 5lb 
for 9 wickets
12
152 (41.0 overs)		     
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Thatcham Town Cricket Club Thatcham 1XI- Saturday Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Paul Jenkins7.0035217.505.00
Scott Gibson11.0434217.003.09
Chris Bird13.0338138.002.92
John Williams9.0036312.004.00
Felix Hartley Russell1.01010.000.00

  • Umpire :
    Panel
  • Scorer :
    Ian Martin