Crowthorne & Crown Wood Cricket Club

Scorecard

Holyport v Crowthorne & Crown Wood Cricket Club Crowthorne Sunday XI on Sun 22 Aug 2010 at 2:00
Crowthorne & Crown Wood Cricket Club Lost by 31 runs

Match report 10-man Crows Sunday suffered a defeat at the hands of Holyport on Sunday.

The sun was shining, the birds were singing and the feint smell of Horse excrement from the adjoining farmers field made it a perfect Sunday afternoon for Cricket in Picturesque rural Berkshire.

Holyport won the toss and unsurprisingly elected to bat first. Crows took to the field with just 8 men after Stevesie and Saviour were late on parade. The stragglers soon arrived, though and the Crows were upto their familiar 10-men.This is the 3rd time this season that we’ve fielded 10 men in a Sunday fixture and narrowly lost, a lesson to be learned for next season.

Crows made immediate inroads though, with Dan Partridge taking the new ball with Marshall Miller. Partridge made the initial breakthrough tempting Bailie with a wide one, who gladly accepted the chance to hit it straight at Pete Daines at point, who held on to a sharp catch. The Partridge/Daines double act had not been seen in action for many a year.

Partridge then took a return catch from the dangerous looking Harris and the Crows were on their way. Miller joined the party by inviting Homer to play on to his stumps. An invitation that was gratefully accepted and Homer departed for 9 leaving the hosts at 25-3.

This lead to the introduction of Kahuna at the Ditch End to replace Miller. Colin continued where he left off in previous games by squeezing the run rate and picking up vital wickets. In fact Wickets fell at regular intervals throughout the Holyport innings.

At the Horse-field End Sheppard replaced Partridge and mixed it up a bit with a variety of different deliveries off about 2 paces. However this unique brand of bowling didn’t lead to a breakthrough despite a couple of close shaves.

Sheppard was duly replaced by Pete Daines who came steaming in with menace and intent. He got an almost instant reward when he knocked back the off-peg of Hawkins for a meagre 2. It was like watching the late, great Hansie Cronje in his pomp.

Ingram plugged away at the other end and picked up his customary couple of wickets. His miserly bowling also induced a run-out. The ever–alert Miller through down the stumps at what appeared to many of his team-mates to be the wrong end. However Miller was shrewd enough to keep his calm and calmly dismiss the furious Moore who had not yet troubled the scorers.

With Daines tiring, there was growing clamour in the Crows ranks for the introduction of The Frenzy. Skipper Shaw sensed that the time had arrived and called for Brendy to extinguish his cigarette and begin his extensive warm-up routine.

The Frenzy almost made an immediate impact but spilled a tough caught and bowled chance with his very first ball. It looked for all the world that he’d pulled of a spectacular catch, but as the ball appeared from his midriff, and rolled agonizingly away from the sprawling Frenzy his teammates could only groan in unison and disappointment. However The Frenzy was not to go wicketless. He lured Belby into offering a chance to the safe-hands of former goalkeeper Shaw who doesn’t miss many*!

After a splendid tea, and dispatching the blood-oozing Hatchet to Heatherwood Hospital to get his nasty gash tended to, Crows started their response in stuttering fashion. Daines and Stevesie Northall ambled out to the middle to knock off the runs. Daines was in aggressive mode, buoyed on no doubt by his spell with the ball earlier in the proceedings and a belly full of the buffet. He survived several close shaves, whilst Northall scratched around at the other end before joining the Duck Club for the season.

Colin Ingram strode purposefully to the crease before getting involved in a farcical run-out with Daines. This bought the ailing Partridge to the crease to bat with his old wingman Daines. They weathered the storm and looked to build a partnership of great importance before Daines was undone by one that kept low as he attempted to mow it into the pavilion.

Skipper Dave Shaw bludgeoned his way to 28, taking a particular fancy to extremely slow bowler Cox, who was offering tempting “donkey-ploppers” to both Partridge and Shaw, neither of whom were willing to show him much respect.

With a heavily leg-side biased field, Shaw eventually succumb to a great catch at mid-off attempting an unfamiliar offside shot. Partridge departed soon after attempting to smack Cox into the next postcode but mistiming and being caught comfortable at deep midwicket.

Sheppard briefly looked like he might steer the Crows towards that target and was ably assisted by Miller, who avoided his 7th duck of the season.

When Sheppard departed trying to force the ball into the gaps on the leg-side, Miller was joined by fellow Duck-boy James Carson. Miller resisted obvious temptation to Run-out Jimmy for 0 and instead went about trying to salvage the game for the Crows.

Carson was as resolute as he had been on Saturday watching the ball carefully and eventually getting off the mark to avoid a 6th blob of the season.

With the run rate getting away from the Crows and the spectre of the Duck Prize fading in the mind of Carson and Miller, the Crows Swordsmen decided to have some fun. Miller hit a superb 28, with a variety of lofted drives, whilst Carson, free from the shackles of survival-mode, joined the fray and opened his shoulders too.

Crows fell a bit short of their target much to the delight of the octogenarian contingent of home supporters that had gathered in the late summer sun to watch the gripping contest.

News filtered through that Hatchet had been stitched up at Heatherwood (meaning surgically stitched up not metaphorically) and was OK, and 9-men Crows raised a glass to the missing man and headed back home, mostly in desperate search of a petrol station.

Cheers to those who played, hope you enjoyed it despite the loss. Especially Hatchet who soldiered on despite his obvious flesh-wounds and pain

Holyport Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 10 wickets
0
164 (0.0 overs)		     
K Baille ct  Daines b. Partridge 3
J Harris ct  & b. Partridge 13
A Homer b  Miller 9
A Drewitt ct  Northall b. Ingram 5
M Taylor b  Ingram 17
A Hawkins b  Daines 2
P Moore run out  Miller 0
M Lappin ct  Partridge b. Miller 53
O Belby ct  Shaw b. MacKenzie 25
Kas b  Sheppard 12
Cox Not Out  0

Crowthorne & Crown Wood Cricket Club Crowthorne Sunday XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Marshall Miller8.0130215.003.75
Dan Partridge8.0134217.004.25
Simon Sheppard4.2024124.005.54
Colin Ingram8.0326213.003.25
Pete Daines4.0022122.005.50
Brendon MacKenzie4.0026126.006.50

Crowthorne & Crown Wood Cricket Club Crowthorne Sunday XI Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 9 wickets
0
133		        
Steve Northall ct  Homer b. Bilby 0 1
Pete Daines b  Bilby 14 1
Colin Ingram Run out  1
Dan Partridge ct  ? b. Cox 16 2
Brendon MacKenzie ct  Hawkins b. Cox 0
David Shaw ct  Kas b. Moore 28 1
Simon Sheppard b  Moore 14
Marshall Miller b  Kas 28 1
James Carson ct  ? b. Homer 7
Harry Stent   ABSENT HURT
A.N. Other  

Holyport Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Bilby8.031125.501.38
Lappin5.011200.002.40
Cox8.0139219.504.88
Moore7.0321210.503.00
Hawkins5.001200.002.40
Taylor3.00300.001.00
Homer2.00919.004.50
Kas1.30313.002.00
 
Photos and video of Holyport v Crowthorne & Crown Wood Cricket Club Crowthorne Sunday XI on Sun 22 Aug 2010 at 2:00

holyport1.jpg

Holyport Pavillion