Scorecard

Thatcham Town Cricket Club Thatcham 2XI- Saturday v Cove 3 on Sat 12 May 2012 at 1:00pm
Thatcham Town Cricket Club Won by 7 Wickets

Match report Thatcham Town 2nd XI produced the perfect start to the season with a clinical win against Cove 3rd XI on Saturday watched by a plethora of Ex-Thatcham legends, namely, Messer’s Sean ‘rubberdog’ Kleingeld and Sir Dr. Andy (AC) Bright, BSc(Eng), BEng, DSc, EngD.

Captain Steve Bird was thankful that the result of the coin toss was incorrectly called and took little time to decide to insert the visitors onto a very soft pitch that looked like it would, under a day of predicted sunshine, only get better to bat on.

Cove started cautiously not quite knowing whether to attack or defend on a track that despite it softness proved to hold no real demons. Notwithstanding Cove’s watchful approach Thatcham’s opening bowlers Callum Johnson and Jack Andrews bowled extremely well with only 16 runs being conceded from their 13 over combined spell with Johnson’s efforts rewarded with the wicket of Clarke, bowled with the perfect middle stump delivery.

Bowling changes at both ends saw Matt Taylor and returning veteran Perry Moore into the attack who both continued the good work of the opening pair. Taylor struck first with two consecutive wicket maidens, with Moore joining in with both wickets and an economical bowling performance that reduced Cove to 35 for 5 from 27 overs.

With the withdrawal of Taylor spinner Nick Monger was introduced with the unenviable task of defending a very short sided leg boundary. Coves batsmen Muir and Lynch both recognized the chance to up the rate and attacked Monger from the start, however with the simple cricketing theory ‘you miss I hit’ in play Monger removed both batsmen for 21 and 14 respectively.

Hartley came to the wicket and continued to attack the short boundary dispatching his second ball for 6. This aggresive approach from Cove lead to the reintroduction of Thatchams opening pair who both added wickets to their tallies. The visitor’s innings coming to an end on 95 as their final pair attempted what looked like a standard single only for Jamie Young to swoop in from point to produce the perfect direct hit.

With tea not quite ready Thatcham’s openers Chris Rochfort and Matt Watts were asked to negotiate a tricky 4 over spell with Watts falling LBW to Muir to the ball that he ‘just missed’ leaving the umpire no choice but to raise the finger, sending Watts for the dreaded early shower. Tom Mahoney came to the wicket with 3 balls left before tea and enticed hope within the visitor’s ranks by hitting the last ball at a very catchable height through the covers, luckily for him nowhere near a fielder.

After Tea Thatcham lost Rochfort with the score on 31 and Mahoney’s justification, of not picking up a bat since last August, for his slightly hesitant form started to diminished with each passing over, as he built a match winning innings combining watchful defense with attacking shorts, leaving balls he didn’t need to play at and stroking those he did with ever increasing confidence.

Mahoney’s slightly dubious excuse for his early season form was put into perspective as the returning Simon Gale, absent from cricket for an estimated 8 years, batted as if time had stood still with the elegant left hander amassing a faultless 20 not out. Mahoney finally fell for 38 but the damage was done as Thatcham reach the Cove total with the loss of 3 wickets.

Cove 3 Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
9w 3b 1lb 
for 10 wickets
13
95 (41.5 overs)		     
A Gudge b  Taylor 15
A Clarke b  Johnson 4
C Delaney lbw  Taylor 1
P Clarke ct  Moore 2
N Swannell ct  Moore 0
J Muir b  Monger 21
S Lynch lbw  Monger 14
M Hartley Run out  16
J Taylor lbw  Andrews 9
D Collins lbw  Johnson 0
R Farmaloe Not Out  0

Thatcham Town Cricket Club Thatcham 2XI- Saturday Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Callum Johnson10.531728.501.57
Jack Andrews8.0311111.001.38
Matt Taylor7.03924.501.29
Perry Moore12.0128214.002.33
Nick Monger4.0026213.006.50

Thatcham Town Cricket Club Thatcham 2XI- Saturday Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
17w 1b 2lb 
for 3 wickets
20
96		        
Matt Watts Lbw  5 14 1 35.71
Chris Rochfort Lbw  13 42 2 30.95
Tom Mahoney Caught  38 64 4 59.38 1
Simon Gale Not Out  20 35 3 57.14
Jamie Young Not Out  0 5 0 1
Stephen Bird  
Nick Monger   1
Jack Andrews  
Callum Johnson  
Perry Moore  
Matt Taylor  

Cove 3 Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
R Farmoloe2.01500.002.50
J Muir3.0011111.003.67
A Gudge5.021200.002.40
D Collins7.03900.001.29
S Lynch5.0313113.002.60
N Swannell3.002300.007.67
J Taylor2.0020120.0010.00