Crowthorne & Crown Wood Cricket Club

Scorecard

Crowthorne & Crown Wood Cricket Club Crowthorne Saturday 1st XI v Sulhamstead & Ufton 2 on Sat 27 Jul 2013 at 1:30
Crowthorne & Crown Wood Cricket Club Won by 5 Wickets

Match report CROWS PULL OFF BIG WIN TO CEMENT PLACE AT TOP OF TABLE. Ant and Jeff Cluett pulled off a miracle win for the Crows with Ant taking 5 wickets and an unbeaten ton and Jeff taking 2 victims and an heroic 46 not out despite a crippling back injury that almost forced him out of the game. Go Crows!

The Alternative Match Report 3- Crowthorne I v Sulhamstead II


The great Michael Jordan said- “Talent wins games, but teamwork wins championships”. The mighty Crows have displayed both in equal measure throughout the season to date, but this is what every member of the league leaders wake up with on their mind on a fateful Saturday morning; the knowledge that the next few weeks will decide the destiny of their own championship. The first hurdle? A gutsy Sulhamstead team they had only just squeezed past earlier in the season, who lie in a justified third place in the league and continue to dream of consecutive promotions.

Striding confidently out onto the sun-scorched New Ground amphitheatre, stand-in skipper Partridge knows that despite the current blue skies there is slim chance of a full ninety overs as the forecast suggests heavy rain is due later in the day. Flipping the coin confidently into the air though his steely gaze clearly rattles the young Sulhamstead captain who guesses incorrectly and the knowing Partridge sends him off to deliver the unwelcome message to his team- they will be batting first.

For the second time this season Marshall “the destroyer” Miller and Cluett J join forces with the new ball, and like Torvill and Dean their partnership immediately clicks as they make the ball dance around the inexperienced Sulhamstead openers. Left-handed, right-handed, it matters not- they both apply such pressure that chances flow aplenty, and it’s Cluett who is rewarded with the first wicket as he clean bowls one Sulhamstead opener who pays the penalty for his glacial footwork. What follows is one of many mini-revivals from the opposition; wild shots and sensible defence doled out in equal measure they set what could have become a useful platform, but for the in-swinging yorker of Cluett who sends the lanky number three back to the pavilion as he picks up his second leg before.

Sulhamstead have not come to give the game away though, and they continue to play their shots against the tiring opening bowlers and first/second change Mike Chalmers and Dan Partridge alike. It is this aggression that proves the downfall of the number two batsman though as he slaps a Chalmers delivery dismissively into the leg side, only to see it plucked out of the air for an unlikely dismissal. All of this leaves honours fairly even at drinks with the visitors 100-3, but the unexpectedly out of sorts Jouanides steams in with a memorable over of beamers, banter and boundaries after drinks as the contest tilts for the first time in favour of the underdog visitors. This is exaggerated soon afterwards in a bizarre twist as Cluett J jogs in from square leg to field a ball and ends up crumpled in a foul-mouthed heap as his back gives way, hobbling off to be examined by physio/superfan/frustrated non-player Ross Chalmers.

Fortunately the ball has now found its way into the hands of off-spinners Arshad and Cluett A, who like the look of the dusty New Ground strip despite the potentially intimidating score of 140-3 off 24 overs. With an understanding developed over dozens of overs batting together this season the spin-twins wrestle the game back into Crowthorne’s hands, sending both established batsmen back to the pavilion and thus exposing the woefully long tail. A flurry of shots, wickets and runs ensues, and as the dust settles back onto the rock hard strip three things are clear: Sully have been dismissed for 209, Cluett A has taken 5 wickets and nobody thinks it will make a jot of difference as the rain begins to fall.

Tucking into tea both teams for some reason believe the shoddy BBC forecast and prepare to shake hands, but with the spitting rain easing off the second innings must commence. Surely after scoring truckloads of runs with ease this season at New Ground Crows must cruise to this under par total though? Well, after just ten overs this is certainly not the case. MS Arshad, AJ Outram, SJ Davies and RB von Richthofen all come and go, neutering the usually prolific Crows’ top order and rendering them a disappointing 44-4. W Avrili steps in at six though and lends some much needed composure to proceedings, helping Crows to their hundred off 18 overs with some impressive hitting.

However one batsman has not been mentioned so far, and it is at this stage that it becomes his tale. Avrili departs to one that keeps low with the score 108-5, and as he watches his virtually crippled brother hobble out to the crease it falls to the ever-present “Colonel” Ant Cluett to make his move. For once his farming of the strike comes as a blessed relief to the other Cluett, and Ant pushes beyond his usually sedate scoring pace to keep the determined Crows above the required rate. He quickly moves into the seventies then eighties, a top innings full of clever running punctuated with numerous boundaries; even, and please pinch me, including an uncharacteristic massive six for the free-flowing “Colonel”.

At this stage Crows seem to be snatching victory from the jaws of defeat, but God has other plans as he sends His rainclouds over New Ground to dampen the league-leaders’ hopes as Umpire Brown reluctantly ceases play and thus the heroic chase just forty runs from success. Shoulders are shrugged, kit is packed away, cars are started, but wait. What’s this? How could we have doubted, of course, God is a Crows fan. Miraculously the rain stops for a brief window and gives the Cluetts a chance to knock off the required runs for a spectacular and satisfying victory. After an initial brief spell of short, hostile seam bowling at the stationary Jeff that makes him look a bit suspect the junior Cluett decides to stop f***ing about and tee off, attempting gallantly to knock off the runs before his brother gets to his maiden ton of the season. This effort is fruitless though as “the Colonel” chops away another boundary to bring up what is surely his most crucial century for the club, swiftly following with another boundary to score the winning runs, and deny his forgotten sibling his own fifty as he is marooned on 46 not out. Still they stride off shoulder to shoulder, happy in the knowledge that their beloved Crowthorne are one huge step closer to that elusive Championship.

“If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs…you’ll be a man, my son.”

I think an unbeaten hundred and five wickets counts.


Captain: D Partridge MBE
Keeper: W Avrili Esq
Ducks: J Davies
Catches: Partridge, A Cluett, Outram, Miller, Barron, W Avrili
Stumpings: W Avrili
MOM: A Cluett.

Sulhamstead & Ufton 2 Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
3nb 2w 1b 5lb 
for 10 wickets
11
209 (43.0 overs)		     
Doole b  J Cluett 4
Hill ct  N Outram b. M Chalmers 42
Belcher lbw  J Cluett 12
Dove ct  A Cluett b. MS Arshad 59
N Mughal ct  R Barron b. A Cluett 28
L Mughal ct  M Miller b. A Cluett 18
Hopper-kelly ct  W Avrili b. A Cluett 8
Ingoe b  A Cluett 18
Bradfield ct  D Partridge b. MS Arshad 0
Lattimore Not Out  1
Smith st  W Avrili b. A Cluett 8

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

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Jeff Cluett9.0229214.503.22
Marshall Miller5.002300.004.60
Michael Chalmers6.0129129.004.83
Dan Partridge5.003000.006.00
Luke Jouanides1.002900.0029.00
Muhammad Shakeel Arshad9.0328214.003.11
Anthony Cluett8.003557.004.38

Crowthorne & Crown Wood Cricket Club Crowthorne Saturday 1st XI Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 1w 10b 5lb 
for 5 wickets
17
212		        
Muhammad Shakeel Arshad Caught  2
Anthony Cluett Not Out  108 18 1 1
Nick Outram Caught  3 1
Joe Davies Bowled  0
Richard Barron Bowled  12 1 1
Will Avrili Bowled  24 4 1 1 1
Jeff Cluett Not Out  46 8
Michael Chalmers  
Marshall Miller   1
Luke Jouanides  
Dan Partridge   1

Sulhamstead & Ufton 2 Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
No records to display.

  • Umpire :
    A Brown
  • Scorer :