Crowthorne & Crown Wood Cricket Club

Scorecard

Crowthorne & Crown Wood Cricket Club League 1st XI v West Reading 2 on Sat 16 Aug 2014 at 1:30 pm
Crowthorne & Crown Wood Cricket Club Won by 120 runs

Match report Crows win in style to cement position on top of league.

A report by Joe Davies...

On Saturday the 16th August 2014, West Reading 2s paid a visit to fortress New Ground. And in recent times it literally is becoming a fortress such is the security presence at the gate, but I digress. Wests are a team that will play attacking cricket with the bat and possess the top wicket taker in the league. Keeping this, and the uncharacteristically pudding-like state of the usually flat New Ground track, in mind the Colonel strode to the square confident of winning his first toss in god knows how long. The Lads knew the toss would be crucial on a pitch that, while soggy and malleable at present, would flatten out as the day’s cricket progressed. Of course, the Colonel lost the toss and the Crows were inserted, heads dropped and the middle order scuttled to the shed to get kitted up and tailenders were mustered from all over the place to give out throwdowns.

Barron and Shak, feared throughout Berkshire, had different ideas. Defying the bowler-friendly conditions, they put on another half-century opening partnership – their third in three innings as an opening pairing. The loss of the established Barron for 22 brought the notorious Nick Outram to the crease, the West Reading boys knew they had little margin for error after his classy fifty against them in the away fixture. Shak departed for a start, which meant the Colonel joined Outram, who was timing the ball well despite the slow, tennis ball bounce of the New Ground strip. Shak bemoaned the Colonel’s inability to capitalise on several West Reading fullies, he was quickly, however, put back in his box as someone pointed out the Shak found himself on the sidelines tending to the scorebook while the Colonel continued to accumulate singles out on the hallowed New Ground turf.

A small, yet significant partnership from Nick and Ant who both got 20s, developed and allowed conditions to improve that little bit in preparation for the onslaught which would follow. The three quick wickets of Ant, Nick and then Joe brought Psycho and Azza to the crease, with the Crows in trouble at around 100/5. While Azza was solid at one end, rotating the strike whilst savagely dealing with short pitched bowling, Psycho responding to pressure in his now standard fashion – aggression. This was not wild swinging, it was hitting gaps and running hard. Ones were turned into twos and twos threes. Crows’ aggressive running between the wickets accounted for upwards of 30 runs in the eventual total of 268. Azza was dismissed playing a late cut, and Jules, after a brief cameo was unluckily given out caught behind. At 6/160 odd, two of the club’s premier ‘genuine’ all-rounders, Psycho and Barrymore, found themselves at the crease with a lot of work still to be done to achieve a winning total.

It was at this point that Psycho, erstwhile accumulating at a near-Colonelesque pace, decided to tee off. The no-nonsense Northener simply does not feel pressure and drew level with Joe in the 6-hitting superstar trophy 2014 – an excellent achievement, I’m sure you’ll agree. Also, he also finished up 104* playing one of the most spectacular innings New Ground has ever seen. With a 360° wagon wheel and a ludricrous display of hitting, he notched up his century in the 44th over off 62 deliveries. He was well supported by Barrymore, who ran well between the wickets, finishing on 26* taking the Crows to a frankly implausibly high score of 6/268 off 45 overs, considering the slowness of the pitch, the West Reading decision to bowl first and the dejection within the Crowthorne camp having lost the toss.

The tea was excellent. Thank you Rich and Lynn.

It was a familiar story in the field as the new ball failed to achieve a breakthrough. West Reading’s openers left the ball well, adjusting to the pace of the pitch, which, over the course of the day had become harder and therefore easier to bat on. WR 2s matched the Crows fast start, getting to 50 off 10 overs and then 70 off 15.

Mirroring his calmness and composure under pressure in helping Psycho to assure a big score earlier in the match, Barrymore came on first change from the Kilometre End, and instantly found a length which instilled doubt in the set batsman’s mind. He was rewarded with the crucial wickets of both openers, both scoring in the 40s. Terry bowled in partnership with Barrymore, sticking to a typically stingy line from the Pavillion End. WR’s 3 and 4 batsmen looked to rebuild their innings, looking to play positively rather than settling for a draw. Drinks at 22 overs and Wests were 2/100 odd.

Jules called it from gully. The next 10 overs would decide the match. This was where the key players from each side would need to lift the standards within their teams and seize the initiative in a game of cricket where the momentum was shifting constantly. Step up the Colonel. A spell of 5/10 (and, as he is keen to remind us, his first over went for 5 so if you take that out his figures were 5/5) changed the game inexorably in the Crow’s favour.

One of the Colonel’s 5 wicket’s stands out; Ross stands at short leg, the Colonel fizzes a flighted off-break which pitches outside off stump and takes the inside edge of the bat before it flies square of the wicket on the leg side. A simultaneous intake of Crows breath is heard as Chalmers scrambles low and right before improbably stretching out an extended right mitt, the ball nestling in the fingertips – a fantastic piece of fielding. Special mention must also go to an absolute specky taken in the deep by Barrymore, a catch that sparked the attention of the Sydney Swans overseas recruitment department. Barrymore is now 6/5 with most bookies to link up with the 2012 premiership winners and current top of the table side in the 2015 AFL season, good luck Chris.

Thanks to a disciplined bowling and solid fielding performance (with one noticeable exception, but I won’t mention Joe’s name), the Crows bowled Wests out for 140, winning by over 100 runs for the second consecutive week at New Ground.

Speaking to Psycho after the game, this reporter got a strong sense of the optimism in the Crows camp: “LETS ALL GET A CURRY, LETS ALL GET A CURRY LA LA LA LA.” Although my sources tell me that jugs were avoided in the bar post-match by two individuals who remain anonymous for legal reasons.

Club stalwart Ross Chalmers was keen to draw attention to his performance, repeating “DID YOU SEE THAT CATCH?” to anyone in earshot.

This latest win for the Crows, their 6th on the bounce, means that promotion to the Premier League of Berkshire Cricket as champions is just one win away.

Crowthorne & Crown Wood Cricket Club League 1st XI Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
2nb 1w 1b 2lb 
for 7 wickets
6
268		        
Richard Barron ct ahmed b raja 22 1
Muhammad Shakeel Arshad ct ahmed b raja 33
Nick Outram ct ul-haq b yousaf 23
Anthony Cluett ct ahmed b asif 19 1
Joe Davies ct ahmed b yousaf 1
Alex Sykes Not Out  104 4 1
Azarudeen Mahroof ct ahmed b raja 21
Julian O'Loughlin ct ahmed b raja 13
Chris Allwright Not Out  26 1 1
Terry Charles  
Ross Chalmers   1

West Reading 2 Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
raja11.0041410.253.73
asif11.0069169.006.27
yousaf12.0168234.005.67
ul-haq5.012900.005.80
ali4.004700.0011.75
z ul-haq2.001200.006.00

West Reading 2 Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 1w 15b  
for 10 wickets
17
148 (36.2 overs)		     
a raja b C Allwright 41
ahmed ct A Cluett b. C Allwright 46
z ul-haq ct Barron b. A Cluett 18
ali b A Cluett 9
w amin lbw A Cluett 0
khan ct Allwright b. Arshad 11
ghaffar ct R Chalmers b. A Cluett 1
yousaf lbw A Cluett 1
raja b Arshad 4
asif ct Sykes b. Arshad 0
ul-haq Not Out  0

Crowthorne & Crown Wood Cricket Club League 1st XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Ross Chalmers6.012800.004.67
Alex Sykes7.013100.004.43
Chris Allwright6.0129214.504.83
Terry Charles5.011400.002.80
Muhammad Shakeel Arshad6.202137.003.32
Anthony Cluett6.021052.001.67