Results and Match Reports 2006
Wiltshire League Matches|Friendly Matches
Wiltshire League Division 2
Swindon Civil Service vs Avebury
Date :Type : League
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : 160 for 7 in 44 overs
Opposition score : 156 for 8 in 45 overs
At last, the Summer has arrived. A cloudless day, a gentle breeze, a light beige coloured wicket and a lush outfield greeted us as I arrived (late) at the ground. Avebury had lost the toss and were asked to field in the worst of the afternoon heat. Rob Gater and Vince Ogbourne bowled tidily to start, and the run rate soon settled to a shade under three an over. They appeared to have swapped roles today, for it was Rob who kept things tight from the bottom end (finishing with 1 for 24 from his 12 overs) whilst Vinny went for the occasional boundary but took 4 great wickets. Wickets never really fell in quick succession, but we managed to get one every eight or ten overs, so that after 25 overs Swindon were 90 for 3. DMF replaced Vince at the top end and was fairly economical, but the ball (with its split seam and spike marks on both sides) wasn't swinging for him as he hoped. He did, however, take a rare caught and bowled off the Swindon number 4, a catch requiring lightning reflexes that had all his team-mates gasping in awe (who writes this stuff?). Pete F-J was introduced from the pavilion end, and did what he does best - buying wickets in exchange for the occasional boundary. Despite Swindon CS's opener batting for 42 overs for a well-crafted 65, no other Swindon batsmen got going and their innings closed on 156 for the loss of eight wickets in the allotted 45 overs. Vince picked up a few more wickets in his second spell and finished with 4 for 38 from 11 overs - a good haul, and once again showing some real pace and adding a vital edge to our attack - we definitely miss him when he's not around!
Avebury's reply got off to the worst possible start, with Dom being bowled for a golden duck by a Pete Force-Jones double-hopping bowler from the top end. Hen Fry and Andy Blake steadied the ship and got us nicely past the 50 mark with no further alarm bells, before a mix-up between the batsmen left Henry run out by a country mile for a hitherto chanceless 26. This brought the Skipper to the wicket, looking to carry on his excellent form of last Sunday. Blakey then departed for a somewhat stodgy 8 runs in just over an hour, and we were left hoping that Greg and Rob together would take the game away from the opposition. This, however, did not happen at all. Rob punched an off-drive straight down the throat of long-off when facing the spinner, and Greg soon followed having attempted the "Dixie Dab" to a ball which cut back towards the stumps. At 83 for five, things were not looking good at all, and our fate was left completely in the hands of John Rheinberg and Neil Hollister, two capable batsmen who seem often to lose concentration or give their wickets away playing unnecessary shots.
Today, however, was the day that these two finally came of age as batsmen, participating in a wonderful partnership of 73 in 15 overs. Both players were watchful in defence, and quick to latch on to the rare bad balls that came their way. Their running between the wickets was swift, their calling accurate, and both players seemed very aware of the responsibility on their shoulders as the slow bowlers came on and were pushed around the ground for singles, with the big heaves being kept to a bare minimum. We got to the required 156 at the end of the 44th over, requiring just one run for victory. As the field was brought in, a couple of rather ugly mix-ups saw Rheinberg and then Bradfield run out in successive balls, but it was only a matter of time before an extra crept into the scorebook, and on the fourth ball the bowler slung one down the leg side which ran away for four byes, as Adam Duncan and Neil scampered home. Given the failures of the top order (50 runs between the top five, who average a combined 200 in league cricket) this was a remarkable victory, set up by the bowlers but wonderfully executed by Nellie and Rhino, who have not played better innings for the club.
Once again, the Swindon CS over rate was pitifully slow, a direct result of the jekyll-and-hyde character behind the stumps, Mr Spackman, changing his field twice every over and jabbering away in the field with the sole intention of putting the batsman off. And, as per last year, he walks off the field and is the nicest chap you could hope to meet, sharing a beer with Rhino and being as friendly as can be! Well done Avebury - a great win in tough conditions and we have probably held on to top spot for another week!
Seagry vs Avebury
Date : Sat 06-MayType : League
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : 169 for 6
Opposition score : 164 all out
The first game of the league season is always a mixed bag, with most people a little out of sorts after the long winter lay-off, and the weather doing its best to remind us all that cricket is a sport best played in July and August. Thermal underwear and triple sweaters were the order of the day, and the cold weather appeared to slow Avebury's scoring rate as openers A.Blake and D.Fry plodded towards the half century mark. D.Fry was undone by a straight one by opening bowler N.Lancaster, and H.Fry held the innings together with a fine 75 not out. However, the middle order of G.Dix, N.Hollister and R.Gater didn't really fire, and A.Blake found scoring difficult after a fine start.
Some lusty blows by M.Pearse and H.Fry towards the end got us to a reasonably respectable 169 for 6, but it didn't look like being enough as we know Seagry have some lusty hitters. Indeed, their innings got off to a steady, if slow start and it wasn't until V.Ogbourne, bowling as quickly and as well as I have ever seen, got one to move off the seam and attract the edge of the Australian opener 'Gilly', well caught by G.Dix at first slip. Thereafter, Seagry continued to score at over the asking rate, but continued to lose wickets, with the introduction of D.Fry at the top end bringin the prize scalp of A.Fereday, who looked to be in a bit of a hurry.
Thereafter, both teams appeared on edge, as Seagry inched towards the modest total, but losing wickets all awhile. M.Milton picked up the prize wicket of middle order batsman 'Thommo', who looked to have the game in the bag, and the re-introduction of R.Gater stemmed the frlow of runs from the bottom end. However, Seagry needed less that 24 from the final 4 overs, and continued to take well-placed singles so that only 6 were required from the final over. This was bowled by the inspirational V.Ogbourne, who had barely bowled a bad ball all day and needed just three balls to take the final wicket of the Seagry number eleven. Avebury triumphed by 5 runs, and can reflect with pleasure on winning a game that really wasn't theirs to win.
Collingbourne vs Avebury
Date : Sat 13-MayType : League
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : 102 for 3
Opposition score : 101 all out
We hadn't played Collingbourne since beating them in the National Village Knockout Championship about eight years ago, so had no real knowledge of what to expect from this former Division One side. Winning the toss, Greg had no option but to insert the home side on what looked to be a very bowler friendly pitch. This proved to be the right decision, and despite the lack of early breakthrough the ball was doing all sorts of amusing things off the pitch, and Vince Ogbourne and Rob Gater soon made inroads into the Collingbourne top order. Vinny carried on pretty much where he had left off last week, bowling with as much pace and accuracy as we have ever seen, whilst Gater managed to settle into a decent line and length, looking ever more like the much lauded 2004 model, which was so successful with both bat and ball.
The constant pressure under which these two bowlers put the batsmen paved the way for Pete Force-Jones and D.Fry to clean up the rest of the innings, using the extremely uneven bounce in the pitch to induce a number of errors from the opposition batsmen, who could with some justification blame their groundsman as much as themselves! Dom managed to bag a five-wicket haul, and there was excellent support for all bowlers from the fielders, in particular Henry Fry with two catches, and Adam Duncan with a superb three, of which one was particularly firmly struck, and the other a skied drive which seemed to hang in the air forever and would certainly have struck him on the left temple had he not managed to catch it cleanly.
The last Collingbourne wicket fell with the score on 101, leaving Avebury the task of occupying the crease and not letting the wicket get the better of them. In the end, the total was overhauled in the 17th over, for the loss of three wickets, namely Andy Blake (who had looked full of confidence and had played some nice shots before being bowled by a straight one), Greg (who, for I believe the fourth time in four innings this season missed a straight one) and Benry who benignly decided to give the short square leg some early season catching practice. Dom carried his bat to finish on 40 not out, and Rob rounded the innings off with an increasingly composed 28 not out, again starting to look like the player of old - words which will surely have opponents around the county quaking in their boots. All in all it was a convincing win and an enjoyable day out, marred only by the chavs at the Blue Lion who decided to reverse into Rhino's car in the car park.
Blunsdon vs Avebury
Date : Sat 20-MayType : League
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : 229 for 6
Opposition score : 115 all out
From the author's point of view, the day did not get off to the best of starts, with an over-enthusuastic bit of driving on the A4 coming past West Overton being rewarded with three points and a £60 fine from an officer in an unmarked police car. This delay caused the author to be ousted from his opening berth, forcing Avebury began their innings with the untried opening pair of Henry Fry and Andy Blake.
These two got off to a fine start, running well between the wickets and keeping the scoreboard ticking at around four an over. Hen was unfortunate to be out driving at a ball outside off stump, and was replaced by Dom, who carried on where his brother had left off. Probably the most inept piece of cricket of the day (month? year?) then followed, when Dom edged to the keeper, who dropped it. Thinking the ball was running towards the boundary, Dom set off for a run. Blakey, at the other end, started yelling at Dom to get back, whilst the slightly bemused Blunsdon keeper was`alerted to the presence of the ball at his feet, and whipped the bails off. Dom departed for 40, and his name was added to the shortlist for the 2006 Darwin Awards.
The innings of the captain Greg Dix, coming in at number 4, had a familiar feel about it to anyone who has studied his form this season. A series of swashbuckling strokes all round the ground, followed by missing a full straight one which bowled him for a breezy 11. Rob Gater carried on his good form from last Saturday with some lovely strokes before he too was bowled for 31 with the score on 183.
Rob's departure brought John Rheinberg in at number 6. This position in the order clearly suited Rhino, allowing him to unleash his expansive repertoire of shots at just the right time in the innings. Blakey, who had anchored the innings beautifully up to this point, was now able to free his arms, playing a series of elegant strokes in all directions, including a superbly struck straight six to the long end of the ground. He was eventually bowled for a fine 55, [his highest score in league cricket for Avebury], bringing Saturday debutant Matt Chatfield to the crease. Matt, who I would describe as a well-organised cricketer, he played a breezy innings of 16, accelerating the scoring nicely and running well between the wickets despite a back injury incurred during the week. Neil Hollister finished the innings with Rhino pushing the score up to 229 in the 45 overs, a healthy score on a damp wicket and a lush outfield.
After Neil and Rosa's delicious tea, Blunsdon set off to chase the total. Henno opened from the top end and bowled pretty well, with Rob Gater getting some early swing from the bottom. The Blunsdon openers got to 50 without loss, but the introduction of the second string bowlers, Pete Force-Jones and DMF, brought rich rewards, with Dom removing the dangerous M.Wilson, and Pete doing what he does best on a damp wicket - enticing the batsman to play expansive shots, leaving gaps in the field for them to aim at, and watching as wickets start to fall in accordance with the law of averages. Pete finished with superb figures of 6 for 33 in 9 overs, with Dom providing some support to the master craftsman with 3 for 19 in 11 overs. We definitely missed the pace and economy of Vince Ogbourne to lead our bowling attack, but all credit to Henno for stepping into his shoes today. Vinny, we hope you're going to be back next week for the Cooper Avon game! Blunsdon were finally all out for 115 in the 36th over, and Avebury enjoyed a third consecutive league win.
I probably don't mention Rob McGowan enough in these reports, but once again he had an immaculate game as umpire and I struggle to think of ANY incident this season (or last) for that matter where he has made a dubious decision or looked anything other than a picture of calm authority. Very few umpires at our level have the qualifications that Rob does, and I think that he is more than worth his fee! In addition, as he proved last week, we now have a valuable addition to our Sunday side!
By the way, the reason this report is longer than usual is that it is raining at the moment (Sunday morning) and the chances of having to write another report for today's game are slim to say the least.
Cooper Avon Tyres vs Avebury
Date : Sat 27-MayType : League
Result : Cancelled
Avebury score : -
Opposition score : -
Another rain filled weekend meant that we didn't play Cooper Avon - so 10 points each...
Buscot Park vs Avebury
Date : Sat 10-JunType : League
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : 195 for 4
Opposition score : 193 for 7
A continuation of last week's glorious weather saw the villagers of Avebury travel to beautiful Buscot Park, with the ground nestled amongst the trees with a lovely thatched pavilion and not a building or road in sight. Greg did what he quite often does on very hot days, and we were inevitably asked to field first. However, this side is not one that wilts easily in the heat, and our opening bowling combination of Rob Gater and Vince Ogbourne did a great job of keeping the run rate down on a decent batting pitch and a lightning fast outfield. After ten overs Buscot had just 14 runs, and just 34 after 20. Predictably, the scoring rate increased as the heat started to take its toll, but the second string bowlers (Pete F-J and DMF) worked quite well together, Dom keeping things tight at one end and Pete getting a bit of 'tap' but creating chances at the other.
The one thing that really started to suffer at this point was our fielding, with catch upon catch being put down by the most unlikely suspects. Buscot had only reached 107 after 35 overs but had plenty of wickets in hand and began to make the most of it, knocking the ball to all parts and closing on a decent enough 193 for 7. Vince was our most profific bowler with four wickets, Dom got one, and Rob and Pete got one each I think. Greg's verdict at tea was that he would have been happy with the score if offered it at the start of the innings, and when you look at Buscot's stellar batting line-up (including some seasoned heavy scorers, and bolstered by a shiny new Australian, fresh out of the box from Sydney or somewhere) you would have to say that they failed to make the most of the conditions.
Blake and Dom had a great time at the start of Avebury's reply, with both opening bowlers spraying the ball all over the place and the extras column rattling along at a prolific rate. At 35 for nought after four overs things looked good until Blakey nibbled at one outside off stump and had to tuck his bat under his arm. Hen Fry came in and the two left handers steered things along nicely towrds the hundred mark before Hen tried to cut a ball which kept low and took an inside edge onto the stumps. Greg came in and had to be fairly watchful of some painfully slow dibbly dobbly bowling, which was proving very effective on a lifeless pitch. Dom got bored of defending and tried to hit one of these slow travelling projectiles, and was adjudged LBW by the Buscot umpire who was having a prolific afternoon and had bagged four victims by the end of the day. Rob Gater's innings was noteworthy for its brevity, lasting exactly the same length of time as the Chairmans' innings last week - one ball. However, despite a few nervous moments an unbroken partnership of 50 between Greg and John Rheinberg saw us safely home in the 43rd over, with Greg finally opening his shoulders and biffing some tired looking bowlers all round the park.
All in all, a very satisfying win. Buscot were a few bowlers short today but their full strength side must be quite a daunting prospect, filled with supersonic batters, Australians, and, we're told, an ex-Derbyshire Second Eleven Man to boot. Avebury, meanwhile, continue to field exactly the same side as we did for our games in Division Five, and continue to do alright...
Moredon Royal Oak vs Avebury
Date : Sat 17-JunType : League
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : 105 for 4
Opposition score : 104 all out
When we arrived at Moredon Royal Oak's ground we were somewhat surprised to see that a wicket hadn't actually been cut on the square, and the Mordon players were walking dejectedly up and down trying to work out which wicket would be the least dangerous to play on. The one they settled on was hard and green and uneven, a bit like the outside of a conker. Moredon Royal Oak won the toss and decided to bat on the wicket, the third time in the row Greg's lost the toss on a hot day, but actually we would have chosen to field first in any case.
It took just two balls for the wicket to play its part in the game, with Vince getting a ball to come back from well outside off-stump to bowl the legendary Mo Farooq for a duck. Both Vince and Rob bowled economically and took full advantage of the uneven bounce, restricting the Mordon scoring rate to under two an over. The introduction of Pete Force-Jones to replace Vince usually results in wickets and boundaries in equal measure, but this time Pete was very economical going for just seven runs in his spell and picking up two wickets. Dom came on to replace Rob and picked up a couple of wickets but for some reason couldn't control his length very well and was repeatedly slapped to the mid-wicket boundary by the Moredon opener, who had played very sensibly whilst wickets tumbled around him. Rob's re-introduction after a well earned rest brought the Moredon innings to a close as he picked up three quick wickets in a couple of overs.
Moredon's score of 104 was certainly not the biggest total we have chased down, but the pitch meant that there was always something in it for the bowlers and the two openers went out after tea with the sole intention of preserving their wickets and not worrying about the scoring rate. This plan worked well until the score reached 35 at which point both Andy and Dom were out, but a healthy partnership between Greg and Henry kept things going nicely. Greg was eventually out for four (his highest score in five visits to this particular ground), and after a short visit to the crease from Rob, a strong partnership between John Rheinberg and Henry Fry saw us safely home in the 31st over. This is now the third consecutive game in which John has been not out, and as a result his average on Saturdays is somewhere north of 100.
Avebury took 21 points from this game, which was a great result on a pitch which made cricket something of a lottery, and we are sure that Moredon will have better games than this in the rest of the season.
Burbage & Easton Royal vs Avebury
Date : Sat 24-JunType : League
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : 188 for 8
Opposition score : 176 all out
Another week, another Saturday afternoon toiling away in the heat. To his own surprise after a miserable run of form, Greg won the toss and decided to bat. D.Fry and A.Blake got off to their usual fluid start against some fairly accurate medium paced bowling on a slightly bouncier pitch than some of the puddings we play on (ours to name but one). Dom threw his wicket away, driving uppishly to mid-off for no apparent reason. Henry again came in too early in our innings, again looked confident and full of runs, and again was out playing his favourite pull shot. Greg was unlucky to get one that popped up on him off a good length and was caught at third slip. Rob was bowled by one that came back in off the pitch. To sum up, wickets were falling fast and it was a combination of uneven bounce and poor shot selection that was the trouble. However, it set up a real opportunity for our under-utilised middle and lower order to show what they were made of. N.Hollister, M.Chatfield and J.Rheinberg all played brilliantly throughout the second half of our innings, ensuring that we didn't lose momentum despite the loss of wickets. A.Blake had held up an end for thirty overs before he finally lost patience and played all round a straight ball. The others scored runs quickly, ran hard between the wickets and pushed the run rate up from a miserable three an over to over four. In the closing overs, Rhino really started to unleash his big shots, and was joined at the other end by Dave Bradfield. Dave hasn't played many Saturday innings this season, but he did hit a fluent 20 against Nationwide last year to remind us (and himself) that he is perfectly aware of which end of a cricket bat to hold. Today he was fantastic, smearing a series of half-trackers to the leg-side boundary and sharing in a potentially game-saving partnership with Rhino towards the end of the game.
Once again we failed to achieve what we believe to be our true potential as a batting side, but 188 was a decent enough total on a pitch which was playing much more unevenly than we had first thought. Burbage's innings got off to a similar start as ours, with runs hard to come by. As the pressure built, the batsman needed to force the pace, and this brought a wicket as one of the openers cut Rob Gater hard to backward point where H.Fry held on to a great one-handed catch. Rhino looked like he was back to his form of old fielding close to the bat and giving the batsman something to think about (and, I suppose, someone to talk to). Vince continued to bowl quickly and accurately, but very sensibly took himself off after seven overs to save himself for the end. G.Dix turned to Dom to replace him at the pavilion end, with the express instructions to keep things tight and bowl straight. This he managed for at least the next seven overs, whilst Pete Force-Jones, brought on to replace Rob at the other end, was quite clearly irritating the Burbage batsmen with his nagging length and his "You really think it's there to hit, but somehow it never really is" style of bowling, which brought him 3 wickets. This twin change slowed the scoring rate, and Burbage needed around seven an over going into the last ten in order to overhaul the total. Dom was getting tired, bowling badly and late for an evening celebration at Goodwood (for the record, he was 1 hour and 2 minutes late, but wasn't missed). He was removed from the attack (as was Pete), and the opening bowlers came back on and took the game by the scruff of the neck. Despite moments of anxiousness on a small ground with a very fast outfield, the bowlers kept the opposition well under the required rate, and a flurry of wickets for Vince in the final over saw the opposition all out for 176.
All in all, a really good fun game which we managed to win having once again (and you have to say this isn't the first time this has happened this season) failed to bat to our true potential. We look forward to our top-of-the-table game with Spye Park next week, and hopefully we will actually play as well as we can for once. Highlights of today were:
1. Matt Chatfield's friends coming to watch, taking a healthy amount of piss out of him and revealing his nickname to us (Stavros the Cornish Kebab Seller)
2. Matt asking for his helmet to be put back in the pavilion at the end of an over, provoking a great comment from a Burbage fielder "Oy, you've left yer wig in there!"
3. Bradfield - a legendary finisher. Dave, don't forget how well you can hit a cricket ball when you don't talk yourself out of it
4. Rheinberg - outrageous batting, taking us to a competitive total
5. The team - for fielding like we we used to when we first started playing league cricket in 2002.
At this stage in the season we feel as though we have done enough to secure our place in this league for next season. Where we end up doesn't matter so much, and we'd do well to remember that - the second half of the season will see many absences through holidays and other commitments, and we should remember that we are very lucky to have been able to keep such a close nucleus of players over the last few years. Even more lucky for us is that this core has been supplemented by some talented newcomers.
Spye Park vs Avebury
Date : Sat 01-JulType : League
Result : Avebury lost
Avebury score : 174 all out
Opposition score : 200 all out
If we lose every single Saturday game for the rest of the season, and have as much fun as we did on this occasion, then I think we will have had a great time. All temperature gauges read "Scorchio" as Dix lost another hot-weather toss and the home side were condemned to a 3-hour slow roast in the afternoon sun. None of the Avebury bowlers were particularly at their best, but all stuck to the task and heads didn't drop as they might have done as the Spye Park total mounted and the wickets continued to prove hard to come by. Certain lapses of concentration didn't help (like Dom throwing a ball from mid-on to the fine leg boundary for four overthrows when the batsman was well in), but if Rob thinks that whingeing about it and saying to the skipper "I don't want him anywhere near me when I'm bowling" is going to help, then think again please! Anyway, a few good catches and some straight bowling at the death saw the Spye Park total trimmed to a neat 200, having been well positioned at 150 for 3 after 30 overs.
Avebury's reply was assured enough until Blakey nibbled at a decent ball outside off stump and was caught behind off the bowling of Spye park's living legend N.Church, the man who, according to the web-site, "bowls a bouncer powerful enough to take your head clean off". Hen made the cardinal mistake of trying to hit the spinner against the spin early in his innings and was caught for 9. Dix was unlucky to be bowled for a duck off his pads, and Gater even more unlucky to be given out LBW to a ball that looked to be drifting down the leg-side. "Yes! Plumb!" shouted the ecstatic umpire. Rheinberg didn't last too long either, as he too succumbed to the tempting tweakers of M.Hulse. However, as anyone who has been watching this season knows, our batting line-up is deeper now than it has been for a long time, and Dom was able to put together two decent partnerships, one with Neil Hollister who scored a typically spritely 32, and then Matt Chatfield with a well put together 25. Both partnerships looked like developing into match winners, as we kept abreast of the required run rate throughout, and didn't see anything in the bowling to cause us any worries. However, as the rate started to creep up the pressure started to tell, Vince and Dave Bradfield both fell cheaply, and with 26 required from the final 20 balls Dom chipped an ordinary ball from D.Beal to mid on and the game was over.
The positives from this performance were once again the lower order batting, the bowling and fielding in hot conditions, the absence of inane on-field banter, and the great spirit in which the game was played. Afterwards we had a super barbeque next to the pavilion (but crucially, with the barbeque itself positioned safely away from the pavilion and supervised at all times) and not only had 50 people turn up, but also many of the opposition who stayed around for a beer afterwards and seemed like a thoroughly decent lot. They were the better side on the day, but I'd like to think that on another occasion we might have won. What a pity, then, that we will have such a weak side when we play them at the end of the season.
Seagry vs Avebury
Date : Sat 08-JulType : League
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : 157 for 1
Opposition score : 156 for 9
On an overcast and breezy day we trooped off to Seagry hoping to get back to winning ways after a disappointing performance against Spye Park. Importantly we were missing Vince (gone camping) and Blakey (gone christening) so we were a little apprehensive when Seagry won the toss and decided to bat first.
Rob and Dom opened the bowling, and even when both lost control a little towards the end of their spells the Seagry run rate remained less than 3 an over. Pete Force-Jones was introduced at the far end and was incredibly effective on a slow pitch. Greg replaced Dom and was less effective, largely due to problems associated with not being able to let go of the ball at the appropriate stage in the whirling of his bowling arm. The captain had seen enough of himself after two overs, and decided to introduce Henry Fry at the top end instead. Henry generated a healthy amount of movement in the air and bowled very accurately for someone who's bowling nickname is 'Revels'. After 30 overs Seagry were well placed for a large total with the score at 100 for 3 and 15 overs remaining, but they seemed to lose their way a bit and both Pete and Henry snapped, snaffled and nipped wickets as Seagry tried to push the run rate along. Despite another flurry of wickets falling upon the re-introduction of the two opening bowlers we were unable to take all ten wickets and Seagry's innings closed on 156 for 9.
Our response to this total was a cautious one, with Dom and Matt Chatfield nudging the run rate along at about one an over, whilst we saw off the dangerous Nick Lancaster at one end and Mr William Tidmarsh (the one who wrote the letter) at the other. After the unfortunate downfall of M Chatfield, chopping a wide loose delivery onto his stumps, Henry Fry joined his brother in the attack and started hitting the ball to all parts. This dramatically incrased the run rate until we overhauled the Seagry total in about the 33rd over. Henry finished on a fine 80 not out, and Dom stooged around for a not particularly elegant 60 not out. A pleasing win and a thoroughly enjoyable game played in great spirit by both sides.
Collingbourne vs Avebury
Date : Sat 15-JulType : League
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : 211 for 6
Opposition score : 193 all out
More brilliant weather, same miserable record for Greg of losing tosses on hot days. Happily, the Collingbourne skipper decided to take the field. Collingbourne looked a very different side to the one we played earlier in the year - plenty of young, athletic cricketers all with important-sounding badges on their shirts. Dom played on to his stumps and went early on, but Hen and Andy put a decent partnership together before Blakey departed for an unusually aggressive 31. Greg and Hen put on a super partnership of somewhere near 100, Hen in particular hitting some great shots including a six 30 yards over the long midwicket boundary. Whilst both batsmen lost their wickets in the frantic last 15 over period (Greg to an appalling run-out decision), Matt Chatfield, John Rheinberg and Dave Bradfield ensured no loss of momentum with some lusty blows, in particular from Rhino who once again finished with a not out score to no doubt push his average up towards the 100 mark.
In response, Collingbourne got off to a racing start but were pegged back from increasingly tight bowling from Vince at the top end. Rob looked a bit jaded and was replaced by Pete, who continued to both delight and frustrate his fellow team-mates with overs of controlled tight slow bowling followed up with some real howlers. Dom replaced Vince at the top end and looked out of rhythm, Hen was asked to replace him and did a decent job of slowing the run rate again. After 25 overs Collingbourne had reached 107 for the loss of just four wickets and looked in complete and utter control, but a fantastic run-out by Blakey fielding at gully brought an end to the partnership and thereafter wickets tumbled at regular intervals, albeit with the scoreboard continuing to tick over nicely. Collingbourne only needed five an over from the last ten, but some tight bowling from Dom at the bottom end and Vince (immaculate again) from the top restored order to the proceedings and ensured that Collingbourne fell short of the total, with the final wicket falling in the 44th over.
Another great close finish, another game played in excellent spirit by both sides and another sigh of relief for an Avebury side that seems addicted to close shaves on Saturdays! Man of the match for me was jointly awarded to Hen for his 83, and Vince for a superb haul of 6 wickets for 36 runs in a split twelve over spell. Well done to Collingbourne though - the side they have out at the moment could beat any other side in our league I suspect.
Blunsdon vs Avebury
Date : Sat 22-JulType : League
Result : Cancelled
Avebury score : -
Opposition score : -
Thunderstorms and rain called this game off for all the league except Cooper Avon Tyres playing Burbage and Easton Royal.
Cooper Avon Tyres vs Avebury
Date : Sat 29-JulType : League
Result : Avebury lost
Avebury score : 169 for 9
Opposition score : 170 for 4
Cruelly shorn of the Club's best batsman, fastest and most ecnomical bowler, and the leading wicket taker in the Club's history, this fixture against the pugnacious and perenially chippy Cooper Avon Tyres was always going to be a struggle. The opposition had clearly been to charm school over the Winter season because they weren't quite as aggressive when taking the field as they have been on previous occasions, but nevertheless they have their own unique brand of "constant noise" in the field, to which a few new voices have been added - notably the hilarious "Beefy" Wiltshire and his side-kick "Neck-Ache" from Lavington CC. Anyway, enough of all that. Avebury batted first, Blakey was out to the mildly irritating "Neck-Ache" (the fire and anger of a 90mph bowler with the speed of a 50mph trundler), Dom popped a return catch to R.Jory, Rob was bowled, and Greg didn't last long either. Fortunately we have more strength in depth in our batting line-up than in years gone by, and we were indebted to a fine 60 from John Rheinberg and supporting roles from Matt Chatfield and Neil Hollister to get our score up to a respectable but by no means adequate 169 for 9 from 45 overs.
Special mention must go to "Neck-Ache" for coming into the pavilion at drinks to apologise for his aggressive outbursts on the pitch, to which the Chairman (in a rare display of diplomacy) had chosen to ignore. I think back to myself at his age and I would never have had the decency to come in mid-way through the innings to say sorry to whoever I had just offended, so well done to you my friend.
Anyway, with only 2 recognised bowlers in the side, Avebury were always going to struggle to contain this hyper-intense bunch of Melksham lads, and despite a couple of early wickets for Rob, both opening bowlers looked a bit out of sorts, and Cooper Avon were not going to give their wickets away. Their captain provoked some hilarity when facing up to the bowler and saying "Feed me!", which is the sort of thing you can imagine Robin Smith saying in his pomp, but not some guy who has been dropped four times on his way to 50. Some controlled spin bowling from wicket-keeper Neil Hollister at least saved us the embarrassment of having to stop the game due to a lack of bowlers, but the tyre men were always ahead of the run rate and a victory for them was assured.
With some ten overs to go, Mick-Hucknall-and-David-Boon lookalike Dean "Deano" (brilliant nickname eh?) Wallington hit a thunderous straight four which bounced once and smacked Kate straight on the side of the head, which was a trully horrible moment and is now the second time in as many weeks we have had a near miss with head injuries for spectators. After an evening in A&E Kate was fine (although she has sported an attractive black eye all week which has now faded to David Bowie-style eyeshadow, with a brilliant mix of purples, yellows and violets).
Next week sees us understrength once more as we face Swindon Civil Service - No Henry, no Rob and no Pete again. One thing that separates the strong sides in this league from the weaker ones is the ability to get the best team out week in week out - I don't think we can realistically compete on that front during the month of August!
Swindon Civil Service vs Avebury
Date : Sat 05-AugType : League
Result : Avebury lost
Avebury score : 235 for 5
Opposition score : 237 for 5
An understrength Avebury (without Pete, Henry and Rob) went off to Swindon Civil Service in search of a much needed win. In short, they came very close but were not rewarded with the fabled cigar. After a poor start on a dodgy wicket which left us in tatters at 28 for 3 with Messrs. Blake and Dix already back in the hutch. Dom and Matt Chatfield then had a nice stand of around 120 to claw the innings back towards respectability, helped along the way by a woeful catching display from CS. After their departures, A fantastic 49 not out from Neil, and a gentle wag of the Avebury tail got us to what looked like a pretty competitive total of 235. However, we always knew that with only 24 overs available from the regular Saturday bowlers (Vince and Dom) there was always a chance that we would leak runs as the overs ticked by.
This proved to be the case, and despite some periods of brilliance from the stand-in bowling attack of Greg, Neil and Trevor, we couldn't apply any real periods of sustained pressure and the ball continued to disappear to all parts. Dom came on at the end with the opposition needing around 7 an over, and some tight bowling pushed this up to 10 needed in the final over. However, couple of woeful deliveries from the Chairman and a couple of inspired strikes from the CS number 8 meant that they got the runs off the last ball and the Chairman had to go and hide in a hole for the rest of the night.
Buscot Park vs Avebury
Date : Sat 12-AugType : League
Result : Avebury lost
Avebury score : 180 all out
Opposition score : 181 for 5 in 44 overs
Avebury batted first with Matt Chatfield and Andy Blake giving the side a steady start by reaching 84 before the first wicket fell when Matt was bowled in the 20th over. This was a shame given his colourful innings up to then - the highlight being a magnificent upper cut six he had just hit from a rather wayward beamer. Andy then fell to his worst enemy - his heavy feet - by being given lbw soon after. A few more runs were added before Henry was bowled by a rare good delivery from Buscots 'effort bowler' Mr Cook. At 124 for 3 the game was not lost but it needed some effort from Rob and John to amass a respectable total and this they partly achieved by reaching 165 before Rob was bowled having batted well for his 41. It then took precisely 22 more minutes and just 15 miserable more runs scored for Avebury to be skittled in 42 overs.
Having set Buscot just 181 to win, and in the knowledge that they certainly had the artillery to knock them off, you had to favour them for victory. However, they made fairly hard work of it despite our lack of bowling that day and thanks must go to Neil and Bradders who had the rather unenviable task of bowling out the last 8 overs. Even though Rob and Vince bowled pretty well, a good unbeaten knock of 79 from Buscot's Mr Tunna (who I think played for the University of Brighton's Mens 1st XI given his training apparel he wore afterwards) ensured them a relatively comfortable win in the 44th over for the loss of just 5 wickets. Pete bowled well, bagging 4 wickets including their Wizard of Oz (Mr Foley) and the two Fernandeses who we understand have caused some problems for opponents this year.
Come on Avebury, (including me) let's start boshing some runs and giving the oppo more of a challenge!
Moredon Royal Oak vs Avebury
Date : Sat 19-AugType : League
Result : Abandoned
Avebury score : -
Opposition score : -
With poor weather all around, we knew we would have to work pretty fast today to secure a badly needed victory to chase "Cooper Lavington". Avebury won the toss and elected to field first on a green wicket and clouds all around. In Rob's absence, Vince and Dom opened the bowling and things went very nicely, with wickets tumbling at regular intervals and Dom going for only 4 runs in 8 overs. An heavy shower forced the players off for an early tea with the score on 110, and Avebury were able to wrap up the tail soon thereafter. This was an efficient display of bowling and fielding by an Avebury side that was missing key players and didn't let it affect their performance.
The first spots of rain were already threatening as Avebury went out to bat, with Dix and Rheinberg promoted to the top slots in an effort to finish things off quickly. This strategy proved remarkably effective, and although Dix perished in the cause, well caught at cover, Henry joined in with the same sense of urgency, and the score was rattling along at over ten an over. When the next rain shower came over, however, things started to look very bleak for the home side, and there followed a tense 90 minutes of sitting in the pavilion watch the rain come down.
To the very great credit of Barry, the MRO Captain, he was prepared to do everything he could to keep his team at the ground until the rain finally stopped, but unfortunately this never happened. When the rain finally slowed to a drizzle we went out and covered both ends of the pitch in sawdust and there was the faintest glimmer of hope of getting the game finished, but when the umpires cam out to inspect the pitch they were accompanied by some of the more reluctant MRO players, who insisted on pointing at the pitch, rolling their eyes and patting their stomachs in a theatrical display of mock laughter. "We can't play on that!" they guffawed, "Not with our long run-ups and fast bowlers!" Despite the blatant lack of anyone in their side able to project a ball down the wicket at more than 12 miles an hour, the umpires concurred with their assessment of the wicket, adding that "If someone got injured then we might get sued". As the only member of the assembled company with an honours degree in law, I pointed out the near impossibility of this ever coming to pass but no-one (unsurprisingly) wanted to listen. The game was abandoned and we were left to lick our wounds and contemplate a missed opportunity that would have taken us to second spot in the league.
Still, having played over half our games this season without a full strength Saturday side, we can't really complain. Other sides (Cooper Lavington being one) appear far more willing and able to secure consistent availability of their top players, and I guess that's really the only difference between the two sides.
Burbage & Easton Royal vs Avebury
Date : Sat 26-AugType : League
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : 200 for 5
Opposition score : 127 all out
Avebury's innings got off to the worst possible start, with Cornish legend Matt "Stav" Chatfield bowled off the first ball of the match. By all accounts the ball was totally unplayable, but later test revealed that what actually happened was that the bowler ran in and bowled with the seam in an upright position, angled towards fine leg. This is called an "in-swinger", and that's why it seeemed to curve "magically" in the air and hit the wickets. Dom and Blakey then shared an entertaining stand of 110, with runs coming at around four an over and none of the bowlers troubling the batsmen in any real way until Dom lobbed a full toss to mid-wicket. Greg came in and thrashed an angry 31 before being caught trying to "take on" the man at long-on, Rob came and went in about the same length of time as it takes to say "You're not having much luck this season are you?", and Neil was adjudged LBW in the very strongest sense of the word "adjudged". Blakey and Adam Duncan finished our innings off in fine style, with a couple of lovely fours from Adam taking us near to the 200 mark, and a 2 off the final ball getting us home. Blakeys 90 not out was his highest Saturday score in any division and was his finest display of batting for the club.
After the culinary orgy that is a Pete Force-Jones tea, we went out to bowl at B&ER with only three bowlers and gloveman Hollister standing in with his Chris Gayle off-breaks. A freak run-out got us underway, and a couple of wickets from Rob got us into the middle order. The required run rate started to drift downwards as Pete and Neil came on, with chances coming just as regularly as the ball crossed the boundary rope. The entertaining "Ashley" came in to bat and hit a succession of enormous sixes, giving hope to the B&ER dressing room and causing an outburst of double teapots all over the outfield. Dom came on and removed the miscreant with a straight ball that hit the wicket, and it was left to Rob to mop up the tail and finish with a creditable 4 wickets, including that of Mildenhall regular Nicky Cook, for whose wicket the Chairman had offered Rob ?500, halving for every additional ball it took him to take the wicket. The final bill was ?31.75 to a charity of Rob's choice.
Given the absence of players next weekend, and the very real possibility that we might not beat Spye Park, this win was probably enough to guarantee us a top four spot (i.e. exactly where we were last year) and the possibility of participating in whatever reorganisation of the league that is scheduled to occur next season. This will bring the culmination of a dream - a side started from scratch four years ago rising to play in the top division of the Wiltshire League. Quite an achievement if you think about it.
Spye Park vs Avebury
Date : Sat 02-SepType : League
Result : Cancelled
Avebury score : -
Opposition score : -
Another game victim to rain
Friendly Games
Marlborough vs Avebury
Date : Sat 15-AprType : Friendly
Result : Cancelled
Avebury score : -
Opposition score : -
President's XI vs Avebury
Date : Sun 23-AprType : Friendly
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : 252 for 6
Opposition score : 180 all out
Lechlade vs Avebury
Date : Sun 07-MayType : Village KO
Result : Conceded
Avebury score : 216 all out
Opposition score : -
Sunday?s game was a re-run of last years? regional final of the National Village Knock-out Championships against the controversial market-town-turned-village Lechlade (ha ha only joking) except it was the first round match. Having been well and truly thrashed last year the team was anxious to demonstrate they were capable of scoring more than a paltry 122 runs in 40 overs. This time we got off to a flying start thanks to some wayward bowling and carefree exuberant batting from R. Gater and the stylish D. Fry, who looked every inch the county player as he caressed [that?s enough of that - Ed]. Their partnership was broken in about the 15th over with the score on 80-odd when Gater was caught at the wicket for a well crafted 29. This bought H Fry to the crease and he proceeded to continue in the same ebullient style until his over-excitement lead to an unfortunate incident in which D. Fry was run-out returning for the second run.
Thereafter, despite a breezy 17 from G Dix, Avebury?s middle- and late-order could only serve up a series of single-digit scores, with the last seven batsmen mustering just 10 measly runs between then. Several massive sixes from H Fry into the beech tree on the north side of the ground kept the scoreboard ticking over but all too frequently wickets were being lost at the other end. Despite the failure of the tail Avebury?s innings closed on 216 in the 40th over - a respectable total and one which we felt would be difficult for Lechlade to achieve given the fact that we had our full strength Saturday bowling side.
As the players settled down to a magnificent tea (apart from the sandwiches - hee hee) the clouds rolled in, the heavens opened and after a downpour of about 45 minutes the game was abandoned. Given the perennial problem of having to cancel previously arranged fixtures in order to accommodate the following rounds of the knockout championship, captain R. Gater consulted with the team and it was agreed that we should forfeit the game in order to retain our existing fixtures and to give some of our newer players a chance on Sundays. Then we had a nice pint in the Red Lion and went home.
Minal vs Avebury
Date : Sun 14-MayType : Friendly
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : 121 for 5
Opposition score : 120 all out
Heightened interest surrounded our routine trip to Mildenhall, with the news that three new players were to make their Sunday debut, namely Matt Chatfield, Rob McGowan (our Saturday umpire) and Damian Holloway. The irrepresibly Phil Myles won the toss for the home side and decided to take first use of the well-prepared slope that is the Mildenhall wicket. DMF (captaining in Rob's absence) decided to put the bowling skills of M.Chatfield to the test, and his disappointment at seeing the first two balls disappear over the leg side boundary was eradicated by the same bowler taking the prized wicket of Nick Cook two balls later, clean bowled. Since Cookie has a nasty habit of scoring hundreds against us, this changed the whole perspective of the innings, and allowed the visitors to relax somewhat.
This relaxation soon turned to sloppiness, and despite taking wickets Matt and Greg were proving expensive and were removed from the attack. The second string pairing of Dave Bradfield and Damian Holloway were more effective, with Dave proving difficult to get away, and Damian generating some lively pace once he had adjusted his length so as to get the ball to land in the batman's half of the wicket. These two also took wickets, and allowed the captain the luxury of experimenting with a third string pairing of the lively Rob McGowan at one end (who was somewhat stirred into action by the taunts of opposition captain Phil Myles that he couldn't play the game) and the rapidly improving Keith Scattergood at the other. Despite some lusty blows, wickets continued to tumble and Mildenhall finished their innings on 120.
After tea, the new opening pairing of Andy Blake and Matt Chatfield set about the task of knocking off the runs, a task which they started well but ultimately did not finish. Blakey was bowled by yet another mystery straight one, but Matt played himself in nicely and was soon knocking the ball all over the park, finishing with a very well constructed 58. After an unfortunate duck for Simon White, cameo knocks from Damian Holloway, Neil Hollister, Keith Scattergood and Rob McGowan saw us home in the 30th over. A nice day out, and we certainly hope to see a lot more of these three debutants over the course of the season!
Winterbourne Bassett vs Avebury
Date : Sun 21-MayType : Friendly
Result : Cancelled
Avebury score : -
Opposition score : -
Rain all day meant this game was cancelled. It was the only fixture against the Winterbourne team so it was a shame but hopefully the weather will improve next week.
Corsham vs Avebury
Date : Sun 28-MayType : Friendly
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : 231 for 2
Opposition score : 191 for 8
With the predictably awful May bank holiday weather ruining most of the scheduled cricket on Saturday, Avebury were very grateful to Corsham's groundsman for allowing this Sunday's friendly fixture to go ahead on a hastily prepared greentop. Losing the toss, Rob Gater's side were asked to bat first and opened up with the two 'fields - Brad and Chat (sound like a couple of American tourists don't they?) - who were unable to repeat their form of games gone by, Chat dancing down the wicket to a fresh-faced legspinner and being well stumped for 2, and Brad getting bowled by Corsham's senior bowler, known to all as "Rocket" for 4. Avebury's fortunes changed at this point, with Rob and Greg sharing in a splendid and potentially record unbeaten partnership of 199. Greg hit 3 sixes and 12 fours for his 93 not out (by some distance his highest score this season, and probably more than the aggregate of his last six innings), and Rob hit an unbeaten 87 with a similar spread of boundaries. Avebury's total of 231 was augmented by a massive 45 extras, resulting to a large extend from Corsham's umpire, one of their 1st XI players, calling anything remotely down the leg side as a wide, presumably teaching the younger players a lesson they won't forget in a hurry.
Two of Corsham's seemingly endless supply of talented young players opened the innings, and progressed slowly but steadily to 71 without loss in 19 overs. Pete F-J and Rob McGowan both went for 28 in their eight overs without managing to take wickets. Thereafter, Corsham's innings lost its way a bit, with a series of run-outs, and wickets for Rob Gater, Will Thomas, Dave Bradfield and Matt Chatfield making the run chase increasingly difficult. Corsham's innings closed on 191 for 8 in 40 overs, Avebury ending a fairly long losing streak against Corsham and winning by 40 runs.
Highlights of the game were obviously the fantastic partnership between Gater and Dix, but also the bowling of Will Thomas (who bowled a great line and length and is looking like a very useful cricketer) and the fielding performance of the whole side in getting 3 run-outs.
Hopefully this excellent performance (and indeed our unbeaten record in all games this season) will continue into next weekend, with two very important games coming up - a Saturday showdown with Swindon "Civil" Service (the irony of this name will not be lost on anyone who played in last year's fixtures), and a Sunday game against Lavington, who humiliated us on their (rapidly deteriorating) pitch last year.
Lavington vs Avebury
Date : Sun 04-JunType : Friendly
Result : Avebury lost
Avebury score : 112 all out
Opposition score : 156 for 8
I don't know who won the toss but I rather suspect that it was Lavington as they chose to bat on a hot and sunny afternoon at Avebury. Despite some occasionally wayward bowling, Avebury managed to restrict Lavington to a less than impressive 142 in their allotted 40 overs. A number of Avebury bowlers got amongst the wickets, notably Will Thomas, Damien Holloway, Rob McGowan and of course old timers Dix and Gater, and they were supported by economical spells from DMF and Ian Thomas. The Avebury players trooped into tea feeling as though the game was all but won.
The wheels of the sight screen fell off after tea as it was moved from one position to another and this just about summed up the entirety of Avebury's innings. There are many ways to chase down a smallish total but being 13 for 6 after 9 overs isn't one of them. Is it the fact that Lavington had numbers and nicknames on the backs of their shirts that put off the Avebury batsmen? Was it the chirpy chattering in the field? Was it the sit-up-and-hit-me bowling that we faced? I have no idea, but whatever it was it was remarkable effective, as we ended up a good 30 runs short of the total with the team all out. Having lost to Lavington twice in successive years they are now starting to look like our bogey team.
Other than that I have to report that the match was played in fine spirit and that Adam Duncan's tea was very good particularly with the welcome addition of Mr Kipling's iced fancies which really are the caviar of an English cricket tea. Regrettable we decided in the close seaon not to schedule a second fixture with Lavington, on the premise that we would try this season not to play any games on pitches worse than our own. However on the strength of our collapse and humilating defeat today, it seems rather a shame that we're going to have to wait until 2007 to set the record straight.
Performances of note today were Damien Holloway picking up three wickets in his eight overs, Will Thomas bowling a very tidy four overs for one wicket, and Dom sharing a partnership of 85 for the seventh wicket with Dave Bradfields, keeping Avebury's chances alive and ensuring that Avebury club didn't have to open up early. Lets hope we can get back to winning ways next week against CS Nomads.
CS Nomads vs Avebury
Date : Sun 11-JunType : Friendly
Result : Avebury lost
Avebury score : 164 all out
Opposition score : 165 for 3
This match took place on a a very hot and sultry afternoon at Avebury. The Sunday captain, Rob Gater, and the Dix's were amazed to see DMF and Kate arriving at 1.15, rather than 2 minutes before the game was due to start. This early start turned out not to be a good idea for Dom as he subsequently seemed to wilt in the sunshine. Avebury put themselves into bat first and Dom and Dave Bradfield had the honour of opening. Bradders didn't really get a chance to play himself in and lost his wicket after a few overs, Dom fared a little better in partnership with Rob G who came in as number three but was bowled, leaving the field open to Greg. I don't know how Gater's wicket went because I was eating an icecream at the time, but Greg batted with Rob McGowan for a while before he was caught near the beech tree - he was trying to power it to cow corner but didn't quite get there. Then McGowan showed off his classy batting together with David Scattergood and scored some nice shots, he fell eventually and was replaced by Keith. The Scats partnership of hard helmet and natty straw panama ended quite early when Keith missed a shot which was on target for the stumps. John Collie came in next and showed some flashes of his earlier form before being replaced by Ian Thomas with the score on about 160 and 5 overs to go. At this point CS Nomads decided to keep the run rate down and bought back their opening bowler who was a bit quicker and who very soon got Scats out. Will Thomas came to join his dad, but was unfortunate in that he had to face the quick chap and couldn't play himself in gently. Finally Trevor came out but CS Nomads soon took Ian's wicket and the innings finished.
After a very good tea from Trevor and Anne, CS Nomads came out to bat in fighting form. Trevor and Rob McGowan opened the bowling, but failed to make an early breakthough. They were followed by Dom and Rob, and then Will Thomas who showed good form. Trevor eventually got Hendy out but the breakthrough came too late for Avebury with CS Nomads making it to the total with the loss of only three wickets.
Warminster vs Avebury
Date : Sun 18-JunType : Friendly
Result : Avebury lost
Avebury score : 147 for 7
Opposition score : 148 for 6
Today we had the privilege of playing on the delightful First XI ground at Warminster, with its hard wickets, nicely prepared square, lush but flat outfield, and a fancy scorebox to boot. Avebury won the toss and elected to bat first and Matt Chatfield and DMF were chosen to open by skipper Rob Gater. They got off to a pretty good start to the accurate medium pace bowling of the Warminster openers, but Dom soon edged a drive to third slip and was off the pavillion for yet another dismal personal score. Rob then came in and had a good partnership with Matt, proving that runs were available if we were patient enought to wait for the bad ball. Matt was unlucky to be adjudged lbw to the second change spinner, but this brought Greg Dix to the crease and he and Rob took the score past the 100 mark in the 30th over.
The next ten overs should have been all about watching Greg and Rob plunder boundary after boundary, but both of them were out before they had a chance to open their shoulders. Some useful runs from Mike Milton together with Dave Bradfield and then Ian Thomas, got us up to around the 140 mark but at this point the Warminster opener was reintroduced and picked up the wickets of Ian and then Simon White in consecutive balls. The field was brought in for the hat-trick ball and Avebury at last had something to cheer about as Keith Scattergood smeared the ball to the cover boundary for four. Our total of 147 didn't look like quite enough, but the two positives were that the lower order got a few runs and we didn't loose all our wickets as we have been doing in these games.
Avebury started well after tea with Trevor Startup bowling tightly up the hill and Rob Gater picking up two key wickets with his first two balls. However with the exception of Rob, who took himself off having achieved the excellent figures of 2-2 in 7 overs, all of the Avebury bowlers were guilty of bowling at least one and occasionally two bad balls in each over which were smacked to the boundary by the competent Warminster batsmen. Greg's second over was certainly one to remember, with the first two balls disappearing over the trees at the bowlers end for enormous sixes, the third ball being smacked through mid-wicket for four, and the fourth resulting in a wicket with Keith Scattergood covering an enormous distance and clinging onto to a fantastic catch at deep long-on when many people might have wagered against it.
Despite a few more wickets falling to Greg, and a tidy spell from Will Thomas at the other end, the coltish Warminster side cruised to victory in a little over 30 overs. This makes it three losses in a row on Sundays, however each game has had its amusing moments and we seem to be getting closer to a Sunday win each week. We should mention the scorers in the Avebury innings. They may have missed a few minor details (like a change of bowler or two), and got confused by complex things like the four overthrows in the first over, but they got the hang of the technicalities of the scorebox and, helped by Jack White, they kept all the spectators and the cricketers fully up to date on the score and the batsman's totals at all times!
Bishops Cannings vs Avebury
Date : Sun 25-JunType : Friendly
Result : Cancelled
Avebury score : -
Opposition score : -
Bishops Cannings decided they'd rather watch England in the football than play cricket so the match was cancelled. See you next year lads.
Swindon United Churches vs Avebury
Date : Sun 02-JulType : Friendly
Result : Avebury lost
Avebury score : 200 all out
Opposition score : 201
Much hilarity throughout the day, with D.Fry winning the toss and asking S.U.C. to bowl to them. H.Fry anchored our innings with a fine 100, with good contributions from Ian Thomas, Rob McGowan, Trevor Startup and Keith Scattergood, with Simon White registering a personal best for Avebury (7). The score was healthy enough, but with Rob McGowan behind the stumps rather than leading the attack, we weren't able to pressure S.U.C. from the outset and runs came fairly easily at the required rate. The introduction of the debutant Peter Blackall into the attack brought a flurry of runs but, more importantly, the crucial wicket of the S.U.C. number four, who was beginning to look dangerous. Ian and Will Thomas both bowled tightly from the top end. Dom had a few overs from the bottom end and was relatively economical, and Will Thomas took a great catch behind square leg to keep the wickets column ticking over. In the end S.U.C. needed about 20 from the final two overs. Peter Blackall was reintroduced into the attack to try to conjure up a few wickets, but somehow it didn't quite happen, and, despite a run-out opportunity nearly every ball, S.U.C. made 11 from it. Hen bowled the final over which was very tense at the end of a long day, and a run-out and some tired fielding left the visitors needing 2 from the final ball to win. The ball went to third man, the second run was prevented by Will Thomas' strong throw in and the match ended in a tie.
All in all, a great end to a great weekend's cricket - lots of family entertainment, an excellent tea from Rob & Lorraine, good to see some new players (Peter Blackall and David Oakey), and a nail biting finish. The only blemish on a great day on Sunday was the appallingly slow over rate of S.U.C. - worse than the West Indies in the early 80s! This game will need to start at 1.30 next year if we are to have any hope of finishing at a decent time.
Fulham Taverners vs Avebury
Date : Sun 09-JulType : Friendly
Result : Avebury lost
Avebury score : 211 for 5
Opposition score : 212 for 5
Today's fixture had an unusually early start time of midday as our opposition, the Fulham Taverners (aka Tavs on Tour), wanted to shoot off after the game to watch the World Cup Final. Despite an ominious looking cloudy sky and a heap of overnight rain, we were able to start on time and were asked to bat by the Tavs. In the usual Sunday friendly tactics we opened with Ian Thomas and Rob Gater who got us off to a steady start on a very slow, damp wicket which required an awful lot of patience to get the ball off the square. Ian was caught fairly early on and Rob was joined by Greg, who tucked into some wayward bowling and pushed the score well past the 150 mark. There was an unfortunate incident in which the young daughter of a spectator on the footpath by the side of the ground was hit by a ball. This halted the game for a while whilst we all tried to make sure she was alright and the ambulance was called. Her father later came back and told us she'd been checked out by the doctors at the West Swindon hospital and that she had a nasty bruise under her eye but was luckily otherwise OK, which was a huge relief for us all.
After the ambulance had gone off we stopped for tea, and then finished the Avebury innings which, perhaps unsurprisingly, went completely flat with barely thirty runs scored in the final ten overs, although Greg did manage to complete his centuary and was finally out for a very respectable 124. Our total score of 211 for 5 wickets looked OK on paper but previous encounters with the Tavs have been very high scoring and it was probably below par when you consider that last year we scored 290 against these guys.
And so it proved to be, as the Tavs got off to a flying start and maintained the momentum throughout their innings with the Avebury bowlers unable to make much impression on a wicket that bore no resemblance to the one we'd started batting on. That the game went to the final over was probably due to the re-introduction of Rob and Dom into the bowling attack, but really Sunday games for us showld be able putting a big score together and giving everybody a chance to bowl rather than having to defend a low total using the Saturday bowlers. The Tavs required seven off the last over to win, and managed six off the first five balls and then won it on the last ball of the match. We'll have to get our revenge next year!
Malmesbury vs Avebury
Date : Sun 16-JulType : Friendly
Result : Avebury lost
Avebury score : 154 all out
Opposition score : 158 for 4
An even hotter day than yesterday, and off we went to a sun-baked field above Malmesbury for a new fixture with this Division 1 side. We won the toss, decided to bat and got off to an appalling start, with wickets tumbling faster than batsment could pad up, and the young Malmesbury side (again, "designer" cricket shirts very much the rage) tearing through our top order. The entire English literary tradition could not provide a more apt summing up of our predicament than the simple digits 57-9, which I think needs no further explanation. The two beacons of hope, Rob and Trevor, shone out brightly in this sea of mediocrity, and tucked into some generous bowling to post excellent scores and a partnership of nearly 100, with Rob scoring his first century of the season and maybe last season as well if my memory serves me rightly. I hope that this is the beginning of Rob's season with the bat, and would love him to carry some of today's form into next week's games.
Needless to say, our total of 154 all out was not enough against a strong side packed with batsmen. Somewhat irritangly, their worst batsman (a ginger chap) got a fifty, but there was plenty for Avebury to cheer about when Guy Perkins held onto an absolutely murderous blow straight back at him on his follow-through, with the luckless Malmesbury number three shaking his head in disbelief as he walked from the ground. Guy also held onto another great catch off Rob's bowling, Will Thomas again bowled a good spell, Dom bowled as fast as he has done in a long time (his eight overs going for just 12 runs) and Greg had a very tidy game behind the stumps, stating after the game that he "couldn't see why people thought it was so difficult". Hmmm, sounds like the rebirth of Hollister as a Saturday spinner if you ask me....
Anyway, Malmesbury won, Avebury notched up a record SEVENTH successive Sunday fixture without a win, and 28th May when we won at Corsham seems like a very long time ago indeed. Next Sunday we are playing the wretched Civil Service Nomads away, so unless we can stop the "Hendy Alleyne Batting Show" we will be heading into uncharted territory and will sink to record lows. Can someone pull us out of this slough of despond? Who will put their hand up and make it happen? How will we do it? Does anyone care? Answers on a postcard please....
CS Nomads vs Avebury
Date : Sun 23-JulType : Friendly
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : 271 for 2
Opposition score : 270 for 3
Having confirmed a 14:00 start with my counterpart at the Nomads just a few days before, it was a little disappointing that this wasn?t communicated to their players themselves. Avebury ended up having a full fielding practice on the pitch while they waited an extra half hour for the last of the Nomads (Mr H Alleyne) to show up (and you?ll see why they had wanted to wait for him in a minute).
Nomads batted first and after 10 overs were 30 for 1 with Trevor having broken through early on. After 20 overs Avebury were still managing to tame the Nomadic batters with the score at just 84 for 1 with both Vincent and Tim very much being the pick of the bowlers at this stage. However, good bowling spells, like 'all good things' come to an end, and this was soon apparent at 30 overs when the Nomads had accelerated to 165 with Mr Alleyne clearly enjoying the short boundary (about 40 yards away, down the slope) and looking a quite comfortable too. Work in the field was both hard and humourous as we found ourselves hunting for the ball in the adjacent pasture and watching each other drop batches of catches. The final 10 overs saw the Nomads (Hendi, basically) add over 100 runs to the total as he cruised to a fine 173 not out, with the Nomadic score reaching 270 for 3 at 5.05 pm, some 3 hours after the agreed start time (I?m not bitter).
Finally, Greg, are those your worst ever bowling figures?(4-0-53-0)
So, the Nomads must have fancied their chances when Mr Hussein came thundering in from the pavilion end down the hill (which one?) and took Rob?s off stump in the 3rd over. However, some sensibly aggressive batting from Matt 'Stavi' Chatfield had kept Avebury very much in touch with the run rate as he dispatched the odd quarter pounder to the boundary in the early stages. Unfortunately business dried up for Stavi after 10 or so overs when his off stump was also uprooted by Mr Hussein. At 49-2, this is where the Avebury wickets dried up for the Nomads and the boring bit (and the self-congratulation bit) begins.
Having vowed to score more runs than they were hit for, Dix and Secretary started batting cautiously but with positive intent given the c.8 runs per over required at the time. They began to make up for some of their Sunday Roast bowling and discovered that the carvery was still open luckily and still serving between the hours of 6pm and 8pm as the opposition struggled to find their line and length. The left/right hand combination took full advantage of the short boundary (incidentally, hitting 13 sixes) and somehow put together a partnership of 222 to reach the winning score of 271 for 2 in 37 overs. And very satisfying it was too but sorry no one else got to bat...
Well done Avebury Sunday XI, this is the first fixture we have won in 7 games!
Cranleigh St Andrew vs Avebury
Date : Sun 30-JulType : Friendly
Result : Avebury lost
Avebury score : 114 all out
Opposition score : 137 all out
Today's game was a new fixture against a touring side from Surrey called Cranleigh St. Andrew. They turned up in a minibus and all had lots of good cricket kit and matching shirts and stuff (things Avebury can only dream of), but fortunately for us had spent a couple of hours at the pub, which on balance had the effect of evening things out a bit. Rob loss the toss and CSA (not the Child Support Agency) elected to bat. Amusingly, the side appeared far less competent with the bat than anticipated, and couild only struggle to 137 all out in a shade under 40 overs, with wickets coming to Trevor (who bowled immaculately from the bottom end), Rob (who marshalled his bowlers effectively over the innings), Dave Bradfield (once he got his line right) and Dom, with special mention to Matt Chatfield (alias Stavros the Cornish Kebab Merchant) who served up some delicious stuff from the bottom end.
Mike Pearce made the teas, and it certainly appeared that he had taken to heart the praise heaped upon him for his egg sandwiches made with delicious free range eggs from his own chickens. They should have steeled us for the task ahead. Unfortunately, it basically didn't. work for us, and we got into one of those horribly depressing spirals, whereby the more wickets we lost, the more CSA felt sorry for us and put "the muppet show" bowlers on to bowl, and the more these bowlers bowled, the more wickets we lost. To fail to chase a total of a shade over 3.5 an over is pretty poor when you consider we had 3 Saturday batsmen in our side, but they all failed, and nobody else seemed to want to hang around and actually THINK how to score runs, with the exception of another fine cameo from Dave Scattergood. That we only failed to win by 23 runs I think flatters us a little - we were never in the game from a batting point of view and CSA had a right laugh putting their "Operation Starfish" bowlers on, and having great success with it.
By the way, I heard a great quote from David Lloyd on yesterday's highlights of Eng v Pak, referring to the (woeful) new ball bowling from the Pakistani seamers - "It's dip yer bread in time!" he said gleefully. Definitely one for the quote book.
Compton Bassett vs Avebury
Date : Sun 06-AugType : Friendly
Result : Cancelled
Avebury score : -
Opposition score : -
Compton Basset couldn't get a team together this time, so we'll see them next year.
Double Wicket Competition vs Avebury
Date : Sun 13-AugType : Club Day
Result : Keith and Pete
Avebury score : -
Opposition score : -
Last year's double wicket competition was played on a beautiful summer's day, but we weren't so lucky this year. Sixteen hopefuls turned up to try their luck, and Henry's first task as umpire for the day was to sort out the pairings. Whilst he got on with this job, the two dogs, Churchill and Megan provided entertainment to the crowd as Megan pursuaded Churchill to chase her (the minx) and then hid between Keith's legs (she spotted the gentleman in the crowd obviously). Play got underway after Henry had run to the car for his camera and the competition began. Highlights were - Rosa basing her batting stance on baseball players, Jen hitting the ball almost every time, me (kate) getting spin on my last ball, Neil hitting my bowling for six into the schoolyard, Dave's very considerate loopy bowling which gave his opposition a good chance off hitting it, Jo's run out of Nick, Neil & John's enthusiastic fielding at whichever was the most likely position for a catch, Peter Slough coming along, Megan running onto the field to see Matt, Trevor's ridiculous wig which seemed to help his batting, the enthusiastic comments from the cub scouts who were watching, and Nick's strong fielding and bowling - I'm sure there were many others - all contributions will be added!
Bowling seemed to be the key to winning this year, with the better bowling teams getting higher points - although it also depended on how likely Hen was to give wides. The final results in reverse order: Rob & Rosa, Dave & Jen, Jo & John, Kate & Trev, Nick & Matt, Guy & Peter Slough, John C & Neil and the winners were Keith & Pete.
Christian Malford vs Avebury
Date : Sun 20-AugType : Friendly
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : 197 for 6
Opposition score : 102 all out
This was a really fun game against a team who we've not played before. On a damp day with the threat of rain ever present, Christian Malford won the toss and very sensibly asked us to bat on what cricket journalists would describe as a sticky wicket. Avebury's top order flattered to deceive with Matt, Dom and Simon White all getting a few runs and boundaries but getting out soon after (apart from Matt who stuck a bit longer). Senior pros Greg and Rob steadied the ship and took our score from 64-3 to around 185-4 before both perished looking to accelerate the score past 200, some lusty blows from Ian, Keith and Guy got us to a pretty decent score considering the state of the wicket. Christian Malford bowled pretty well throughout, and fielded keenly as well, the highlight being one of their junior sprouts catching Ian one handed at cover.
Tea deserves a special mention as it has to be one of the finer away efforts we've had this year, with well cut sandwiches (why is this good? - Ed), fresh cakes and brownies, delicious welsh cakes and lashings of tea for all! This set us up nicely for a few overs of fielding, although Guy and Trev didn't quite get their lines right to start with and were given a few slaps around the park. However Trevor managed to get the key wicket of their senior pro opening bat, neatly caught at mid-off. With the score racing along at over five an over and only two wickets down, the Malfordians were in control until the introduction of Dom and Will. Will immediately struck, with the batsman skying the ball to Rob on the cow corner boundary, and he continued with some fine bowling. Dom took three wickets, some with good balls some with bad, and Rob came in to finish up along with Guy at the other end. Scat took a superb catch off Guy's bowling to take the 9th wicket and was rewarded for this by being given an over from the bottom end which he used to great effect, getting the last wicket with the other half of the Scat-attack (ie Keith) taking a fine catch at mid-off, his third catch of the match. Dix also had a fine session behind the stumps, proving that Avebury at least has strength and depth in one department of the game as he is the 8th wicket keeper we've used on Sundays this year.
The final score is probably a bit harsh on Christian Malford as they played well throughout and their top order looked very capable of over hauling our total. We look forward to playing them again next week.
Minal vs Avebury
Date : Sun 27-AugType : Friendly
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : 222 for 5
Opposition score : 135 all out
Rob won the toss and we batted. Dom and Rob McGowan opened. Rob got caught at fine leg, which is an unusual place to get caught. Dom got bowled, which isn't unusual at all. Ian was out LBW to a ball he thought was going harmlessly down the leg side until it swung back in and hit him slap bang in front of middle. Greg and Rob played patiently as Mildnehall's attack probed patiently in the off stump corridor, and tucked into everything else. Rob was out for a well-made 50, and Greg got an even higher not-out score, the exact number of which I do not have in front of me.
Lizzie and Michael Daly were on their inaugural tea duty and did a fantastic job, earning themselves an inevitable recall for 2007. The opposition set off eagerly in chase of our decent total, with father and son combination Ashley and Phil Miles running between the wickets as if their lives depended on it. However, some classy bowling from Will Thomas at one end and the indefatigable Trev at the other put the brakes on, and Will picked up two wickets in his first spell and a further one (the kingpin Nicky Cook) on his return. In between, we saw some promising slow spin from Nick Daly, some surprisingly tidy stuff from Keith "The Specialist" Scattergood and of course six good overs from the metronomically accurate Guy Perkins. One of the real hiughlights was one of the Mildenhall batsmen hitting a sharp front drive back down the wicket, slap into the left buttock of the luckless Phil Myles, to the hilarity of everyone on the field and in the pavilion, with the possible exception of Phil. "Turn the other cheek, Phil!" was the general advice. The rest of the wickets duly tumbled to the abovementioned bowlers plus Dom, and Mildenhall were all out for about 135 and we were in the club bar by seven o'clock which was something of a rare treat.
Bishops Cannings vs Avebury
Date : Sun 03-SepType : Friendly
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : -
Opposition score : -
I will have to get the scorebook out today to check the scores, but in the end it turned out to be a comfortable win against our nearest cricketing rivals, Bishops Cannings. We lost the toss (D.Fry standing in for Rob Gater) and were asked to field first. Our opening bowlers (the experienced Guy and the experienced veteran Trev) looked steady and picked up wickets, with the young Bishop?s Cannings batsmen unable to control themselves and seeking to whack the ball to all parts. We also picked up the prize wicket of Tim Hues (who plays for Spye Park) early on, but we couldn?t dislodge Charlie Moss, who played a fine innings of 80-odd before being brilliantly caught by a slightly surprised Whitey at midwicket. The introduction of Julian Phelps from the pavilion end looked like being a master stroke, as he bowled full and straight, swinging the ball away from the right handers and picking up three wickets in addition to two catches in the outfield.
I said I would issue a summary of Matt Chatfield?s tea on these pages, and I will do so in outline. First, Matt is going to have to realise that processed, pre-fabricated coconut cakes from Somerfield are not going to cut the mustard in the cut-throat, competitive world of village cricket teas. Second, he will now have realised that using the ends of loaves of bread to make sandwiches is rather like serving fish fingers at a dinner party. And finally, he will have learnt that preparing and serving the tea is only party of the job, with clearing up and leaving the preparation areas clean and hygienic an equally important part of the process.
After that little rant (it?s a joke, Matt!) back to the cricket. Our openers looked good but didn?t get enough runs, Dom came in and looked good but didn?t get enough runs, in fact, everyone came in and looked good but didn?t get enough runs, with the exception of Greg, who came in and looked good and DID get enough runs, and so we won the game. Fairly easily, for that matter. Once again, a great day out against our local rivals, and we look forward to continuing our winning ways against them next year.
Corsham 20-20 vs Avebury
Date : Sat 09-SepType : 20-20
Result : Came third
Avebury score : -
Opposition score : -
Split into 2 separate games: Avebury v Marlborough and Avebury v Devizes.
Our first game, against our nearest ?serious? club, Marlborough, was an absolute belter. We elected to bat first, and Henry and Matt Chatfield got us off to a flying start against some good medium paced bowling from Marlborough. Matt was caught, but Greg joined Henry and the two of them were really making hay at around 8 an over, the scoreboard rattling along at a surprisingly good rate. Greg finally perished after another massive heave towards the boundary, and Dom managed to keep things ticking along with Henry until, finally, Henry perished for an excellent 86. Rob hit a few nice shots but was bowled, and some enthusiastic running from Dom along with partners Bradfield and White saw us to a decent enough 170 in our allotted 20 overs. In response, Marlborough got off to a great start in terms of run rates, but we icked up a few wickets and it was really their opener Rob, who played an excellent innings, that really took the game away from us. Certainly our lack of fielders (we were 1 short) didn?t help us in defending this total, but perhaps more relevant were the 9 dropped catches which will go down as something of an achievement in a 20 over innings. In the end, though, the game went right to the last over, with 2 runs required from the final two balls and Marlborough scaping home.
This unfortunate loss meant that we had to play straightaway against Devizes, who put us in to bat. Unfortunately, we never really got the same degree of momentum going in this games, against a chippy, chirpy Devizes side desperate to get through to Sunday?s finalists day have had a dismal season in the doldrums of their Saturday league. A measure of their intent was the fact that their were all wearing specially made ?pyjama? one-day uniforms, with lurid yellow tops and shiny blue trousers. Despite some spirited hitting from the top 6, we were all out for 123 in our 20 overs, setting Devizes a relatively benign target of just over 6 an over. In the end, we didn?t manage to create the same number of chances as we had against Marlborough, and despite taking seven wickets (my personal highlight was clean bowling their Sri Lankan overseas star with a slower ball) Devizes overhauled our total with around four overs to spare.
The real highlight of the day (for those who stuck around to watch) was the subsequent game between Marlborough and Devizes, with Marlborough skittling Devizes for a meagre 112, and then scraping home with one wicket and just a handful of balls to spare. I?m afraid to say that there was absolutely no impartiality on the part of the Avebury team watching the game, with Pete, Matt, Dom, Hen, Rob, Bradders and Whitey all cheering noisily for Marlborough, who play friendly cricket in the same spirit as we do, and overcame the home side in a very exciting game. All in all, as they say, a great day and (with some hesitation) probably something we might like to be involved in again next year, subject to Devizes learning how to behave themselves a bit!
Malmesbury following yesterday vs Avebury
Date : Sun 10-SepType : 20-20
Result : Avebury lost
Avebury score : -
Opposition score : -
Having been squeezed into third place at yesterday's 20/20 group matches (OK, so it was out of a group of three, but who's counting) we were invited to go and play a 40 over fixture against Malmesbury, a division 1 side whom we played earlier in the year and to whom we lost pretty heavily.
Spye Park vs Avebury
Date : Sat 16-SepType : Friendly
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : -
Opposition score : -
Proof, if ever it were needed, that end-of-season friendlies can be full of fun and purpose. This was not quite the edgy, top-of-the-table clash that we might have anticipated, but turned out to be an eventful game with plenty of incident (particularly the helicopter).
Corsham vs Avebury
Date : Sun 17-SepType : Friendly
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : -
Opposition score : -
Kennet Valley vs Avebury
Date : Sun 24-SepType : Friendly
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : 235 for 7
Opposition score : 57 all out
A wonderfully calm and relaxed, family atmosphere greeted us at the picturesque Kennet Valley Cricket Club, buried in the heart of the Marlborough downs in the delightful village of Lockeridge. As agreed by prior arrangement, we batted first and scored a whole bunch of runs - 235 of them to be precise, and from a variety of sources - a predictable 50 from Henry, a wonderfully fluid 40 from Keith Scattergood, an entertaining flurry from Guy Perkins, small offerings from Will Thomas, Ian Thomas, Simon White and Rob McGowan, and 30 from a temporarily right-handed Dom.
This looked like a pretty good total on a wicket that had appeared to have soaked up most of the rain that had fallen in Wiltshire overnight, and we certainly had our fair share of luck in compiling it, with four or five catches going down and Hen getting bowled off a no-ball. In responding to our total, Kennet Valley didn't help themselves by losing wickets to a couple of silly run-outs, and no-one appeared to want to occupy the crease for any amount of time. They also came up against an in-form Will Thomas, who bowled full and straight and let the pitch do the rest, bagging his first 5-for since first pulling on an Avebury shirt (OK, so I haven't ordered the shirts yet, but there you go...) and taking the final wicket with Kennet's score marginally under 60.
On paper this looks like a boring one-sided game, but in reality it was full of entertaining incidents and played in great spirit, and Kennet were unlucky in that they didn't really get the rub of the green throughout the course of the game. We look forward to a return fixture at our place next year.