Scorecard

Crowthorne & Crown Wood Cricket Club Crowthorne Saturday 1st XI v Waltham St. Lawrence on Sat 21 Jul 2012 at 1:30
Crowthorne & Crown Wood Cricket Club Lost by 5 Wickets

Match report Waltham St Lawrence won the toss and elected to field.

Following the unscheduled mid-season break caused by the recent tropical storms, the Crows played their first game in 3 weeks against the team tipped to win the league this season.

On a damp wicket, the skipper lost the toss and the Crows were sent into bat first. With the pitch looking damp and unpredictable, this was a crucial toss to win, especially with the sunny day forecast for the rest of proceedings.

With Barron (AKA Joseph and his Techni-colour Dreamcoat) still doing his walk of shame after the previous day's jolities at the Oval, Saviour was sent in to partner Ant.

With tight lines and lots of early movement the WSL's usual suspects of Jackson and Gearing made it difficult for the Crows to score quickly. Saviour hitting a rasping boundary to get off the mark as both batsmen made a solid but watchful start. With score at 12 from 9 overs, Saviour nicked one behind and in came Smokey Joe.

Having seen a ball clear his head from just short of a length, Joe was soon back in the pavilion, as he was run out from a bit of fielding magic for his first duck as a Crow. Ricky joined Ant at the crease to help steady the ship, however it was Ant's turn to return to the hutch as a defensive shot hit bat, thigh and pad before knocking the bail off. At 14 for 3 from 11 overs, the initiative was firmly with the away team.

In came Will Avrili, looking to make up for his golden duck in his last outing. Ricky and Will began to build a very solid partnership, rotating the strike and not surrendering their wicket in a very tense 17 overs. Some finely timed cuts and drives moved the score forward and laid the foundations for the Crows to accelerate.

The pair saw Crows through to 51 before Ricky was undone by the spinner and Jeff came in to partner the solid Avrili. However after a couple of singles, Jeff powered a loose full bunger straight to midwicket and the Barron was sent in.

Despite still being tipsy, the stalwart hit 2 boundaries with perfect timing, before a calling mix up with Avrili saw Barron fall on his sword and run out. At 36 overs gone, Crows were on 85-6 and needed to push for a score to protect. In came Chalmers, but with the ball starting to pop, he was sent back quickly following a simple catch.

Avrili was seeing the ball well and having played some delightful drives, was showing maturity in not surrendering his wicket and keeping calm as batsmen came and went. In came the skipper to proceeded in smashing the ball into his face to avoid getting caught. The partnership lasted 4 overs with both batsmen opening their shoulders in the quest for quick runs.

With the score at 120 from 42 overs the skipper skied one and in came Turbo Terry, making his first appearance of the season. Avrili was continuing to fire on all cylinders, but in the 43rd over Turbo was adjudged to be stumped, when it appeared that he was safely in.

Partridge came in to support Avrili for the final push. Crows required 12 from the final over to obtain another batting point, and with Avrili hitting a 6, Crows obtained 4 byes from the final delivery to make it to a very respectable 150.

A fired up Crows went into the field determined that they could win this game if early progress was made. The skipper was now feeling the effects of his injury and the 12th man (Jimmy "the cat" Carson) was called up to sub in the field.

Chalmers and Cluett used the new ball intelligently and chances coming thick and fast. First a miss pull fell just short of 3rd man, then a top edge fell between the on running Jeff and Avrili, and Turbo was unable to hold an attempted pull. Gearing, fresh from bowling all his overs, started walking down the wicket to JC, however Jeff's movement found a genuine edge, however the catch went down in the slips.

The Crows were buoyed by the chances and Chalmers finally pinned the opening bat leg before and the breakthrough was made. In came the next bat, but it was Gearing who was next to go as a fine diving catch from Ant Cluett rewarded Ross for his good movement and tight lines. WSL were 34-2 and the Crows could sniff a chance (or may be that was the alcohol pouring out of Barron).

Big JC continued to probe and was rewarded as another genuine edge was nabbed at 2nd slip by Joe. A fine dismissal and great catch. The Crows could feel the opportunity, but with Jackson (also fresh from bowling his full quota) now at the crease, it was critical that another break through was made early.

Ant Cluett was brought into the attack in place of Ross, and with barely 60 on the board, Jackson hopped down the track and missed. Avrili took off the bails in lightening time, however the batsman was adjudged to have retreated in time. It appeared to have been another critical point of the match, as Jackson then made himself comfortable at the wicket (including the largest 6 that has been seen at Crows HQ as he cleared the tree).

The Crows continued to plug away whilst Barron had been hard at work studying the Jouanides school of fielding as he threw the ball behind himself.

Turbo came on for Jeff and having bowled tightly, he was rewarded with the scalp of Jackson, LBW to give Crows a glimmer of hope. 118-4 but with 15 overs still to play.

The seamers continued to work the batsmen and Ross was unlucky not to have one caught behind after a loud noise was heard by everyone. The finger was not raised, but Crows continued to battle. The boys were rewarded with a another wicket at 134 as Jeff and Avrili combined to run out a very mouthy Javed.

Crows continued to fight to the very last with some fantastic fielding from all including a fine Ricky diving stop in the covers to save a certain 4, however with 7 overs to go, WSL completed their victory.

Umpire Alan summed it up after the match by saying it was a good game of cricket but the Crows really fought from first to last ball. Had the toss gone the other way, things may have been different.

The skipper was very proud of all that played as the spirit and never die attitude was shown in every area of a game. A few crucial moments didn't go our way, but the guys can be proud of what they did against arguably the best "team" in the league.

Special thanks to Jimmy for providing ice and then stepping in to field for the bleary eyed captain.

ALSO, thank you to all those who attended to cheer us on and help with teas. There was a great amount of noise coming from the sidelines, which really gave us a lift.

The Crows continue they're progress as a team and really showed a lot of character today. Well done.

Skipper

Man of the match: Will Avrili
Duck: J Davies
Sixes: W Avrili
Catches: A Cluett, J Davies
Run Outs: J Cluett
Baggy Greens: No

Crowthorne & Crown Wood Cricket Club Crowthorne Saturday 1st XI Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
5w 10b  
for 9 wickets
15
150		        
Simon Sheppard ct Woolford Jackson 4 1
Anthony Cluett b Jackson 10
Joe Davies Run out  0
Recardo McDowell b Lahir 15 2
Will Avrili Not Out  76 11 1
Jeff Cluett ct Lahir 3
Richard Barron Run out  8 2
Ross Chalmers ct Woolford Jackson 1
Mark Knight ct Ali Jackson 15 3
Terry Charles st Lahir 2
Dan Partridge Not Out  1

Waltham St. Lawrence Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
A Jackson12.052947.252.42
P Gearing12.041900.001.58
B Rialudin5.001200.002.40
A Ali7.013600.005.14
Z Lahir11.0044314.674.00

Waltham St. Lawrence Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
2nb 3w 2lb 
for 5 wickets
7
151 (37.5 overs)		     
P Gearing ct A Cluett R Chalmers 14
A Jaufer lbw R Chalmers 16
M Riazuddin ct J Davies J Cluett 0
A Jackson lbw T Charles 67
W Javed run out (J Cluett) 23
A Ali Not Out  21
M Connor Not Out  3
J Woolford  
Z Lahir  
B Rialudin  
A Smith  

Crowthorne & Crown Wood Cricket Club Crowthorne Saturday 1st XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Ross Chalmers12.0244222.003.67
Jeff Cluett9.5137137.003.76
Anthony Cluett7.004700.006.71
Terry Charles9.0221121.002.33

  • Umpire :
    A Brown
  • Scorer :