Sunningwell vs Holton & Wheatley
Sunday 10 May 2009
Original Report by John Simpson
Holton domination, but Sunningwell hold out for draw.
We arrived at Sunningwell nice and early for a
Phil Knox and I got off to a reasonable start against an accurate medium-paced attack. Mostly I seemed to score twos (long boundary), but Phil managed to club a couple of fours past their infield. With ten overs down we were 37-0, ahead of our historic run rate, and things we looking promising. Sadly Phil (15) was bowled with the score on 41, and he was replaced at the crease by Hugh Kitchen.
One of the unfamiliar characteristics of last Sunday’s scorecard is that everyone who batted got a good score. So often we start well but plunge disastrously in the middle order. Hugh drove nicely and the score had bounced along to 64 before I was caught on the boundary for 30 (84-2). Then Simon Switala came in, and he and Hugh carried on with the attack promisingly until Hugh was bowled for 27 (93-2).
We were in good spirits, nevertheless, and reckoned we batted right down the order. New recruit Nick Wingfield was next up, and he too surprised the consistent Sunningwell bowling with some expert clouts, rattling up 26 as he and Simon put on a useful 38. Simon’s dismissal lbw (18) was followed soon after by Nick, caught with the score on 139, and still another ten or so overs left.
By now we had our sights on around 180, as Mark Deacon and captain Guy Burford took the attack to the opposition. Guy’s been in good form this season, and he and Mark put on 55 before Guy departed (30), leaving Mark (17*) and another new recruit John Kelly (1*) to bring the final total up to an excellent 195 for 6 of 43 overs. With that score in the bag, we were cautiously optimistic of a result, if our bowlers could deliver.
Holton 195-6 (43 overs)
John Simpson caught 30
Phil Knox bowled 15
Hugh Kitchen bowled 27
Simon Switala lbw 18
Nick Wingfield caught 26
Mark Deacon not out 17
Guy Burford caught* 30
John Kelly not out 1
*Means of dismissal not recorded in the book, so maybe wrong.
Did not bat: Graham Nichols, Graham Hawkins, Neil Robinson
Fall of wickets: 1–41 (2), 84-2 (1), 93-3 (3), 131-4 (4), 139-5 (5), 194-6 (7)
Run rate: 10 overs – 37, 20 – 60, 30 – 112, 40 – 167
Weighed down with an excellent tea, we took the field at around
‘Imagine our surprise’, then, when on his third delivery Graham Nichols brought a beautiful ball back at the Sunningwell no. 1, tying him up completely and bowling him. 0-1. We rubbed our eyes and wondered what would happen next. ‘Imagine our surprise’, again, when Graham Hawkins produced a stunner on his third ball of the next over to rattle back the stumps of the Sunningwell no. 2 (0-2). Things were looking up, and we started to see a slight chance of victory.
As it happened, these two early strikes had the effect of causing the next Sunningwell batsmen to proceed much more cautiously than we might have liked. It seemed as if they thought our total might be out of their reach. After ten overs they were on 21-2, and nos. 3 and 4 were looking pretty solid.
It’s at times like these that the captain needs to bring something out of the bag, and sure enough he turned to our wily old dependable Neil Robinson. Both Grahams had kept the opposition quiet for ten overs, and something was needed to provoke some action. After one maiden over Neil induced the Sunningwell no. 3 to charge him, missing the ball entirely and having to watch Simon Switala remove the bails to stump him (28-3). At the other end John Kelly was producing a tidy spell and soon enough had no. 5 caught behind prodding over-optimistically at a ball just outside the off stump.
With Sunningwell wickets hard to get, but still falling at a fairly regular rate, we were still in with a chance. Graham Nichols came back for another spell and John Kelly bowled another Sunningwellian. Our captain looked around for the final devastating bowling combination as Sunningwell held back from too much adventurous batting and looking to survive to the end of their final twenty overs. As is so often the case, it was the batting team which held out, and after our 38 overs Sunningwell were sitting nervous but pretty on 108-7. A very creditable draw, and one which shows that given the right circumstances we are well able to bat and bowl to victory. Maybe that will come next week!
Sunningwell 108-7 (38 overs)
Graham Hawkins 8-1-21-2
Graham Nichols 8-3-18-2
John Kelly 8-1-25-2
Neil Robinson 8-4-11-1
Guy Burford 5-3-11-0
John Simpson 3-1-16-0
Run rate: 10 overs – 21, 20-28, 30-72
