Scorecard

Thatcham Town Cricket Club Thatcham 1XI- Saturday v Wargrave CC 2nd XI on Sat 08 Jun 2024 at 13:00
Thatcham Town Cricket Club Lost by 9 wickets

Match report Trouts go AWOL on DDay Anniversary
The Gold Trouts were guilty of hiding below the parapet on a dreadful day of cricket just a stones throw from the war memorial at Brownsfield Road. Despite losing the toss and finding themselves in the field, the overhead conditions offered an opportunity and Wargrave unleashed their opening salvo of Jack Clark (4/13) and Faaez Shamsi (1/15) who bowled with pace and accuracy as the Trout’s opening pair of Bartholomew and Denton Powell showed initial discipline before the batting lineup started firing blanks. BDP was the first fuse lit, followed by Bartholomew. Star opening batsman Michael Klichowicz had a few too many tequilas after travelling to watch the Northampton Steelbacks in the T20 Blast on Friday night, and despite needing to pull his finger out on Saturday morning, turned up 30 mins late and hungover. Forsaking his usual opening berth, de Klich slotted in at 4, but was dismissed first ball, followed soon after by Rochy and the skipper. “Fire in the hole!” came the shout from the scorebox, as tailender Chris Bird needed relieving to get his whites on in record time.
To Pull Your Finger Out is associated these days with encouraging someone (in this case our lower order in respect of getting padded up) to get a move on. Like so many English phrases it has a military origin: Loaded cannons would have gunpowder poured into a small ignition hole and held in place with a wooden plug. But in times of battle, when speed was of the essence, the powder would be pushed in and then held in place by a gun crewmember using his finger. Impatient artillerymen, stressed in the heat of battle, would shout at the crewmember to “pull his finger out” so that the gun could be fired. Who knows how many fingers have been lost on the battlefield, but no batsman made double digits. The lower middle order and tail – like their top order teammates - were also blown away; under siege and beating a hasty retreat to the changing rooms; five ducks in all as we were dismissed for a paltry 51. BDP top-scored to keep Baz quiet, contributing 8, as did the Finisher, although Rochy technically scored 9 (four of his runs inexplicably given as leg byes).
With the lunch break skipped, Wargrave came out to bat and set about their task with a full frontal assault. The Trout Forlorn Hope, openers Mike Green and Odhinn Moore, as well as returning paceman Des Hartley Russell, set about defending the breach, with the spinners held in reserve. Mandip Sohi is a batsman who likes to go on the offensive, and his blitzkrieg of 40* off 24 balls led to the Trout defeat in just 7.1 overs. Veteran and chairman Iain Cottingham, watching to the rear alongside fellow veteran Tony Wimbush, and knowing that Oliver Denton Powell was not set to arrive for another two hours at least, signed the official surrender.
“I’ve been coming here since June 1944”, said another veteran Basil Wheeler. “It’s like they weren’t here, hiding in their foxholes, absent without leave, white flag flapping in the breeze. All of us veterans are here, except my mate Colin. It’s a disgrace, a gift to the opposition.”
At the setting of the sun, and in the morning, we will remember this fortnight: our darkest hour. Not even a victory for the Silver Trouts in their fixture at Wargrave, and the arrival of a four-foot stuffed trout, placed in a prime spot in the clubhouse, could lift the gloom. But we will counterattack next week away at local rivals Falkland. We will fight them on the beaches. We will fight them in the fields, and in the streets. And if Thatcham Town Cricket Club survives a thousand years, they will say, that this was their finest hour. #UTFT
DoD: de Klich
Dinger race: Unchanged:
Jack – 3
Arun – 3
Barty – 2
Harley – 1
Oscar – 1
The finisher – 1
Gary – 1



Thatcham Town Cricket Club Thatcham 1XI- Saturday Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
8w 3b 6lb 
for 10 wickets
17
51		        
Steve Bartholomew ct J Child b J Clark 6 38 15.79
Ben Denton-Powell b F Shamsi 8 13 1 61.54
Chris Rochfort b J Child 5 18 27.78
Michael Klichowicz b J Clark 0 1 0
George Wheeler ct J Child b J Clark 0 7 0
Harley Sheridan-Hawkins ct S Bowers b J Clark 0 10 0
Arun Ganesh Madhasaravanan b M Sohi 7 10 1 70.0
Odhinn Moore lbw J Child 8 24 1 33.33 1
Des Hartley Russell b M Sohi 0 5 0
Chris Bird Not Out  0 3 0
Mike Green lbw J Child 0 3 0

Wargrave CC 2nd XI Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Jack Clark9.041343.251.44
Faaez Shamsi5.0215115.003.00
John Child6.031334.332.17
Mandip Sohi2.01120.500.50

Wargrave CC 2nd XI Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 2w  
for 1 wickets
3
52 (7.1 overs)		     
Mandip Sohi Not Out  40 24 6 1 166.67
Peter Dean ct O Moore b D Hartley Russell 8 18 1 44.44
Mayank Gudimetla Not Out  1 2 50.0
Kieran Lall  
Faaez Shamsi  
Louis Dean  
Sam Bowers  
Avi Pasikanti  
Adit Rajeev  
John Child  
Jack Clark  

Thatcham Town Cricket Club Thatcham 1XI- Saturday Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Mike Green4.021300.003.25
Odhinn Moore1.001800.0018.00
Des Hartley Russell2.1021121.009.69