Scorecard

Windsor v Thatcham Town Cricket Club Thatcham 1XI- Saturday on Sat 29 May 2004 at 1.30pm
Thatcham Town Cricket Club Won 1 WICKET

Match report MATCH REPORT : THATCHAM TOWN CC v WINDSOR CC
VENUE : HOME PARK, WINDSOR
DATE : SATURDAY MAY 29th 2004
RESULT : THATCHAM TOWN CC WON BY 1 WICKET

It was nerves all the way at Home Park, Windsor on Saturday, as Thatcham overcame a dramatic lower order collapse and a dressing room break-in to steal all 20 points from a battling Windsor side with Berkshire’s James Theunissen the match winner with both bat and ball !

It was third time lucky for skipper Duncan Johnson as he won the toss and with the threat of interruptions looming, inserted the home side into bat.
An early breakthrough was needed and it came in the form of a peach from James Theunissen in his very first over, getting one to swing late and Chorley obliged with the outside edge and Chris Wright safely took the catch. Thatcham employed the same tactics as previous, with Bradman Ediriweera taking the new ball with Thuenissen and once again both bowlers where unnervingly accurate, giving the Windsor batsmen nothing loose and a score of 12-1 from the first 10 overs was Thatcham’s reward for another fine start. Windsor needed to accelerate and this in turn gave the Thatcham bowlers chances and it was Theunissen again who broke through twice in quick succession, bowling Clarke for 2 and then having Matthews caught by Matt Denness for 8 and at 31-3 from 16 overs the home side were really in the cart. Theunissen finished a fine opening spell of 10 overs 3-26 and was replaced by the spin of Chris Bird. A good partnership between Windsor opener Craig Bird and Smith then followed with Bird obviously remembering last years knock of 73 against Thatcham and seemingly enjoying the same good fortune as he chipped into gaps and survived drop chances to post 45 with Smith, before the latter was undone by Chris Bird, Matt Denness again taking the catch as Smith departed for 21.
Windsor’s South African overseas player Justin Granger then entered the fray and another good partnership of 54 was the result before Nick Bishop got reward for a nagging line and length, Granger losing patience and charging the experienced spinner. Chris Wright did the rest and Granger departed for 14. Theunissen and Ediriweera came back for the final overs as wickets tumbled in the race for a good total. Davis was caught by Steve Wyatt of Ediriweera for 10, and Theunissen picked us his first 5 wicket haul for Thatcham as he bowled Thompson for 3 and had Clifford bang in front LBW, also for 3.
Bird meanwhile posted his century and then next ball was bowled by Ediriweera and it was left to Mohindru and Griffiths to take Windsor up to 181-9 from their 52 overs.
It was another fine effort from the Thatcham bowlers, Theunissen in particular, putting recent Berkshire disappointments behind him and responding in the best way possible, by taking wickets for his Club and finishing a 12 over stint with figures of 5-31. He was well backed up by Ediriweera 13 overs 2-36, Bird 10 overs 1-29, Bishop 11 overs 1-58 and Pete Edgcombe, who took a nasty blow to the hand and needed treatment 0-16 from 6.




The visitors were disappointed that Windsor managed to reach 181 as centurion Bird was put down twice in the innings, once in the 40’s and again in the 60’s and a total of 140 would have certainly been a better reward for the Thatcham bowlers. Worse was certainly to follow however, as upon reaching the dressing room and unlocking the door, several players discovered that valuable belongings were missing as an intruder had broken in through a trapdoor in the shower area and taken off with wallets and phones and also Nick Bishop’s car keys, in which a lot more of team’s valuables had been stored ! Upon reaching his car Bishop discovered that indeed, most of the sides wallets and phones were missing ! As you would expect, a lot of the Thatcham side were in no mood for tea and certainly in no mood to concentrate of a run chase and were rightly more concerned with cancelling credit cards and mobile phone numbers, whilst Nick Bishop’s father raced down the M4 with the spare set of keys so the spinner could actually get home !!!

Ediriweera and Jim Ettridge opened up for the visitors and got off to good start, posting
41 without loss for the first 10 against the pace of Granger and the medium swing of Griffiths. Ediriweera was first to go though, well caught in the gully region by Davis off Griffiths for 24 and this would really see what Thatcham were made of. Last weeks hero Matt Denness’s day then took a turn for the worse as he was adjudged caught behind for 2 off Granger, wicketkeeper Clifford even apologising to him as he trudged off. Chris Wright joined Ettridge and the pair got the visitors to 108-2 from 25 overs and well placed before Ettridge, in sight of 50, pulled Granger to Bird at square leg and departed for a fine 47. Steve Wyatt entered at 5, and collected a nought to go with his phone and wallet in the most bizarre way, as he defended a ball from Granger back onto his stumps and one bail dislodged to leave the unlucky Wyatt looking to the heavens to ask what he’d actually done to deserve such a day !! Duncan Johnson and Chris Wright then added 40, Johnson hitting Granger for 14 off one over as the pacey South African visibly tired, but the spin of Mohindru did for the skipper and he was caught behind the wicket for a quickfire 26. The wheels then came off for Thatcham in the most devastating fashion, as first Chris Wright was adjudged LBW for 38 to a pleading appeal for Granger that was
nowhere near and then Granger bowled Chris Bird for 1, while Mohindru did for Nick Bishop, also for 1 and Gary Hadfield without scoring and in the blink of an eye, 149-5 had become 157-9 as 5 wickets fell for just 8 runs to leave Windsor in sight of victory as the visitors needed a further 25 runs to win with just James Theunissen and Pete Edgcombe left, and Edgcombe could only just hold the bat and found it impossible to play any shots because of his his hand injury ! Could things get any worse for Thatcham ??? They still had 9 overs with which to get the runs though and Theunissen rose to the occasion, banishing all memories of the Farnham reverse sweep, and he was immense, playing his shots including one thunderous pull shot off the mouthy Granger, which certainly put him in his place and gradually the total required was dwindling away ! Edgcombe offered the running and the experience and he guided the pair to within 2 runs of victory, when Mohindru bowled a no-ball and suddenly 1 was required. Theunissen pushed to mid-wicket and set off, but Edgcombe rightly refused and had Chorley hit directly, then the game would have been over, but with the rest of the Thatcham side unable to watch, Theunissen chipped Granger over square leg for the run that would win the game and give Thatcham their third 20 point haul in a row and the unbeaten record remains. Theunissen finished with an unbeaten 22 and Edgcombe 1. Granger picked up 5-85 from a 21 over spell and Mohindru 3-38 from 12. Griffiths was the other successful Windsor bowler finishing with 1-45 from his 12.

It was a fantastic team effort that a Thatcham side, which showed remarkable resolve on a day when it seemed everything was stacked against them. This was a game that could easily have gone Windsor’s way, and maybe a couple of years ago it would have, but it just shows that pulling together as a team can get results and the spirit shown after tea was one which will stand them in good stead if it continues.

North Maidenhead visit Brownsfield on Saturday, also unbeaten and lying joint top with Marlow, 5 points above Thatcham. They boast highly talented South African Jaco Du Plessis and former Berkshire stars Leigh Atkinson and Dave Shaw in their ranks but Thatcham will be a full strength as Rakesh Patel, Robb Fraser and Andy Harland return. Skipper Duncan Johnson will look to name a side from Johnson, Ettridge, Ediriweera, Denness, Wyatt, Wright, Harland, Patel, Fraser, C Bird, N Bishop, Edgcombe and Theunissen, the only doubt being over Edgcombe’s hand injury which will become a little clearer later on in the week.

###EDGE'S HAND IS BUST - COULD BE OUT FOR 6 WEEKS###


Thatcham Town Cricket Club Thatcham 1XI- Saturday Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 9 wickets
0
182		        
Bradman Ediriweera Caught  24
James Ettridge Caught  47
Matthew Denness Caught  2 2
Chris Wright Lbw  38 1 1
Steve Wyatt Bowled  0 1
Duncan Johnson Caught  26
Chris Bird Bowled  1
Nick Bishop Bowled  1
James Theunissen Not Out  22
Gary Hadfield Caught  0
Peter Edgcombe Not Out  1

Windsor Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
No records to display.

Windsor Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 9 wickets
0
181 (0.0 overs)		     
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Thatcham Town Cricket Club Thatcham 1XI- Saturday Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Bradman Ediriweera13.0536218.002.77
James Theunissen12.023156.202.58
Peter Edgcombe6.011600.002.67
Chris Bird10.0129129.002.90
Nick Bishop11.0158158.005.27

  • Umpire :
    Panel
  • Scorer :
    TBA