Crowthorne & Crown Wood Cricket Club

Scorecard

Sandhurst v Crowthorne & Crown Wood Cricket Club League 1st XI on Sat 13 Jun 2015 at 1:30 pm
Crowthorne & Crown Wood Cricket Club Won by 2 wickets

Match report When Spurs fans get the fixtures come through for the season ahead they immediately scan to the games against Arsenal, putting those straight in their diary. For England cricket fans the day after the last Ashes test of a summer they are immediately earmarking the next one, never mind it being a couple of years off. For the cricketers of local adversaries Sandhurst and Crowthorne & Crown Wood the same is true of their own intense local rivalry, and upon CCWCC’s promotion to the BCL Prem it was a long winter for both clubs waiting for the fixtures to come through for one reason- it was time to reignite the dramatic sporting rivalry of the A3095 Ashes.

The auspices were not good on the morning of derby day however, as heavy overnight rain and gloomily persistent cloud cover threatened to dampen the sparks of competition before they could even begin. Even as they turned up to the ground the players and officials were more hopeful than expecting of play, as the lack of sun and wind meant the conditions were still extremely wet, but if ever there was a fixture that demanded to be played regardless it is this one. Resolutely the two captains strode out to the middle, and as Birch of Sandhurst sent his coin whirring up into the heavy atmosphere both captains took one last look at the recently used, green and wet strip, praying that they would not have to be the ones to strap on their pads and take first dibs on this potential minefield. With a squelch the coin landed, and disbelievingly Colonel Ant Cluett blinked at it several times before asking Birch to have a bat, finally having won a vital toss.

It was Birch himself who manfully squared up to face the initial barrage of swing and seam from a Crows bowling attack that had bowled out its last three opponents for 123, 103 and 107, and in much less challenging conditions to boot, accompanied by his able understudy Malca. J Cluett and A Fowles fully expected to carry on where they had left off in previous weeks, but it was they who struggled with the wet conditions much more so than the batsmen, battling with the slippery landing area and firing deliveries down with much less accuracy than usual. In fact, in a cruel twist of fate not only were the conditions proving tough to bowl in, but the wicket was actually playing very well for the batsmen. With the moist sheen allowing the ball to skid nicely onto the bat it was Birch in particular who began to show his power, battering the Crows bowling consistently through midwicket and square leg in particular with his favoured pull shot.

As the innings progressed skipper Birch continued to pose difficult questions for his counterpart Cluett, and despite Sykes, Murray and Arshad picking up wickets intermittently at the other end the Crows were creaking at the seams trying to limit the damage being done by the spirited Sandhurst shot-making. Surpassing his team’s 150, and his own eighty, Birch stepped on the accelerator when a solitary over of spin was plundered for sixteen runs, and suddenly CCWCC were staring down the barrel of conceding a total in access of 200 for the first time in over a year. In what proved to be a masterstroke though The Colonel called Fowles back into the attack despite his indifferent opening burst, and from his very first ball Birch smoked an on drive powerfully to mid-on where Jaffa was waiting to snaffle a low catch that just carried to him, sending Birch back to the pavilion agonisingly short of his ton on eighty-seven. The rejuvenated Fowles was too good for the tail-enders, picking up another couple of wickets to join Murray on three for the day, but a powerful flurry of shots from veteran Shallom brought the total up to a more than competitive 192 before Jaffa ran out the number eleven in the forty-third over.

Tucking into a nothing-short-of-spectacular tea, both sets of players had mixed feelings about the total, a result of the topsy-turvy nature of the Sandhurst innings. The Crows were fresh from a feast of runs at Woodley the week before, albeit they were without destroyer-in-chief Rich Barron, but both teams knew early wickets would put serious pressure on a Crows batting line up that hadn’t been severely tested since their capitulation against Sulhamstead a month before.

It was Tham and Shak who were called on to ease the Crows’ nerves and get the chase off to a steady start, and everything looked serene initially as both men jumped into double figures. However when Arshad slapped a drive to cover and Wedatilake gloved a slow bouncer to the keeper this feeling of calmness evaporated, and when Outram failed to carry on where he left off from the previous week in missing a straight one from the skipper’s younger brother alarm bells were ringing amongst the gathering Crows supporters. At this point Captain Ant Cluett strode out to the middle to join Godbole in trying to rebuild the CCWCC innings, and just when it seemed they had successfully done so the returning Shallom won the dual of the veterans in dismissing Ravi for twelve.

So often in the past in these situations the Crows’ middle order engine room has recovered from such difficult circumstances, but under the extreme pressure of this dramatic derby could they once again fight off the resurgent opposition to claim the win and local bragging rights?

The answer looked to be very much yes, as Syko batted with both Cluetts in turn to bring CCWCC within fifty of their target, Ant being eventually dismissed after a vital twenty-eight by left-armer Hards (who proved the pick of the Sandhurst bowlers in claiming three scalps). However there were further twists to be seen in this epic storyline, as Syko was caught in the deep for forty and Azza and Crook both came and went for eleven apiece, both contributing crucially in creeping the Crows up towards their target.

All three results were still possible at this point as a nervous Murray replaced Crook at the crease, with the Crows still fourteen short of victory and the Camels two wickets short of a famous win of their own, but only a handful of overs remaining. With both clubs’ second elevens having finished the crowd had built up substantially and the atmosphere was febrile as Jeff and Angus set about trying to win the game for their team. Jaffa in particular held the key as the established batsman, and he kept chipping away at the total. The sweat pouring from his brow belied the ice running through his veins as he delivered another thumping swat through extra cover that was met with an approving roar from the onlookers that brought the Crows within four runs of victory with two overs to go. A trio of scampered singles in the penultimate over set up a grandstand finish, and with the scores tied it was Murray on strike and poised to deliver that final blow. Two wild flashes of the blade later it looked like there might be one final reversal in this dramatic dénouement, but the very next ball young Angus flicked one away to the fine leg boundary, securing a heroic win and bringing to a close a truly memorable game of cricket. All that was left was for Jaffa (46*) and Angus (6*) to return to the embraces of their ecstatic teammates and supporters, and for both teams to share a drink to celebrate a brilliant match, hard-fought but very much done so in the right way.

The spirit of cricket was truly alive and well on that emotional and unforgettable June day.

Sandhurst Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
4nb 6b  
for 10 wickets
10
192 (42.2 overs)		     
A Birch ct  J Cluett b Fowles 87
Malca ct  Mahroof b Murray 9
Bird ct  Wedatilake b Sykes 4
Tutty ct  Mahroof b Arshad 11
Hill ct  Mahroof b Arshad 0
Hards ct  Outram b Murray 31
Shallom Not Out  26
Pharo ct  Mahroof b Fowles 6
J Birch b  Murray 0
Whitcock ct  Arshad b Fowles 0
Oniel run out  J Cluett 0

Crowthorne & Crown Wood Cricket Club League 1st XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Jeff Cluett9.014200.004.67
Ashley Fowles9.0031310.333.44
Angus Murray10.0143314.334.30
Alex Sykes7.2026126.003.55
Muhammad Shakeel Arshad6.0025212.504.17
Robert Crook1.001600.0016.00

Crowthorne & Crown Wood Cricket Club League 1st XI Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
4nb 1w 1b 4lb 
for 8 wickets
10
196		        
Thamindu Wedatilake ct  A Birch b J Birch 11 1
Muhammad Shakeel Arshad ct  Hill b Bird 18 1
Nick Outram b  J Birch 4 1
Anthony Cluett b  Hards 28
Ravi Godbole ct  Birch b Shallom 12
Alex Sykes ct  Pharo b Hards 40
Jeff Cluett Not Out  46 1 1
Azarudeen Mahroof ct  Hill b Pharo 11 4
Robert Crook b  Hards 11
Angus Murray Not Out  6
Ashley Fowles  

Sandhurst Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Shallom12.0141141.003.42
Bird10.0140140.004.00
J Birch7.3033216.504.40
O Niel2.001000.005.00
Hards11.0050316.674.55
Pharo4.0016116.004.00