Results and Match Reports 2004
Wiltshire League Matches|Friendly Matches
Wiltshire League Division 3
Moredon Royal Oak vs Avebury
Date : Sat 01-MayType : League
Result : Cancelled
Avebury score : -
Opposition score : -
Called off due to rain. Each team gets 10 points.
The Wiltshire Gazette & Herald reported: ONLY one game survived the weather in the Wiltshire Cricket League. The monsoon-like conditions were best summed up by Buscot Park skipper Hamish Millar. He said: "We decided not to open the bowling from the shallow end" after their game against Beanacre in Division Two had been cancelled. The league programme was a complete washout except for the Division Four game at Wilcot.
Wanborough vs Avebury
Date : Sat 08-MayType : League
Result : Cancelled
Avebury score : -
Opposition score : -
Called off due to rain. Each team gets 10 points.
Blunsdon vs Avebury
Date : Sat 15-MayType : League
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : 175 for 9
Opposition score : 150 all out
A beautifully sunny day for the first playable league match. Blunsdon is a really pretty ground and it was lovely to sit under the trees and watch the game. Lots of supporters were there including all the Miltons plus two extras, Steph, Matthew, Daniel and Jo. Avebury batted first but didn't really take advantage of it, with some cheap dismissals, but the tail-enders did really well with Mike P helping out Gater's innings and Vince and Pete F-J holding on at the end and gaining a point for getting the score to 175, and also stopping Blunsdon getting all the batting points.
In reply after tea, Avebury looked as if they hadn't played cricket for a while with some sloppy fielding in places which helped Blunsdon get the score going. I went shopping and when I got back it didn't look too good as Blunsdon were about 120 - 6 with plenty of overs remaining. However Greg and Pete's bowling mopped it up eventually. Pete took three very useful wickets - catches by Rhino and Dom, and Greg got five wickets including their number one bat who was on 92. Henry helped Greg get the last man with a great catch at the boundary and Avebury won - hooray!
Highworth vs Avebury
Date : Sat 22-MayType : League
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : 222 for 4
Opposition score : 103 all out
On a dry, bright but cold afternoon Avebury lost the toss and were asked to bat. Convenient, as that's exactly what we would have done if we'd won it. Dom and Rhino got the innings off to a reasonable start, and the score had ticked along to 55 without loss in the eleventh over before Dom was bowled trying to force a ball on off stump through mid wicket. Henry got off to his usual impressive start, and he and Rhino continued to add runs at a rate of around four an over. Henry's dismissal was again an unforced error, as he tried to cut a ball too close to off stump and was caught behind. Rhino was next to go, bringing Gater and Dix to the crease for a stand that was not broken until the forty fifth over, when Greg was bowled trying to hit a six. Highworth's bowling was pretty tight throughout, and it was to our batsmen's credit that we didn't panic when we couldn't score six an over, and that we didn't throw wickets away trying to hit shots that weren't there to be hit. We were reasonably confident at tea, as our score meant a chase of nearly five an over, which no one has done against us before (touch wood!).
Highworth's reply got off to a good start, with runs coming freely before Vince 'rolled the poles' of their opening bat. Highworth's number three looked intent on smashing every ball indiscrimately out of the ground, and indeed looked more than capable of doing so as evidenced by his towering six over the pavilion. However, he followed this shot by wandering down the pitch to Rob and sneering "Have some of that!". As we all know, cricket is a fickle game, and if one is confident at the crease, the worse thing to do is let the bowler know. Gater followed up next over with a beautifully judged yorker which kissed the leg stump of the aforementioned batsman, and the major threat to our total looked to be over. Highworth's innings lost its momentum after this blow, with Vince settling into a steady rhythym from the top end, with good support from Rob and then Dom at the bottom end. Dom picked up three cheap wickets with the rarely tried method of bowling at the stumps, whilst Greg's mixture of perfect medium paced inswingers, and the odd high full toss, proved too much for the batsmen facing him. Highworth were all out for just over 100, and Avebury can feel pleased to have comprehensively wrapped up a game that was not without its moments of concern. Of particular note was the fact that our fielding is back to "business as usual", with a stunning catch by Mike Pearce the highlight.
Swindon III vs Avebury
Date : Sat 29-MayType : League
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : 87 for 1
Opposition score : 85 all out
Avebury lost the toss and were asked to field first. After a couple of wayward overs Rob and Vince settled into a steady rhythm, getting the ball to move in the air (due in part to the muggy conditions) and off the seam. The strip did not look like something you would want to bat first on, and this was borne out as wickets tumbled steadily through the Swindon innings.
Play was disrupted for a time due a small invasion of sheep onto the field, but these naughty animals were swiftly dealt with by Andy Blake and Henry Fry.
Eventually, Rob and Vince ran out of steam and were replaced by Pete FJ and me. I took the wicket of the Swindon skipper, and Pete took the last three wickets to end the Swindon innings in the 30th over with their score a disappointing 85.
In reply, Rhino and I started quickly, working the ball around the ground and pushing quick singles on a pitch that was never going to be easy to swoop in on a ball and throw the stumps down. Despite the loss of John with the score on 52, Avebury never looked troubled by the Swindon bowling and Henry finished things off for us in the 13th over. A good win, and for the third match in a row we have managed to take all 10 wickets - something we definitely struggled with at times last year.
Cherhill vs Avebury
Date : Sat 05-JunType : League
Result : Avebury lost
Avebury score : 139 for 5
Opposition score : 138 all out
Avebury made the long 3-mile trek over the hill to Cherhill, where they found a good-looking pitch in a beautifully tranquil setting. Cherhill won the toss and, having noted that over 400 runs had been scored on the wicket in a friendly during the week, decided to bat first. With the heat and cloud cover the ball was swinging for both Rob and Dom early on, particularly for Dom who could barely keep it on the cut strip. Goodness knows how far Vince would have got it to move in the air, but we were without our strike bowler so had to make do. Cherhill quickly advanced to 45 without loss after ten overs, before both Rob and Dom were rewarded with wickets. The Cherhill batting line-up, which had looked pretty solid early on, transpired to be rather long in the tail, and the introduction of Greg and Henry accelerated their demise, Henry in particular bowling pretty accurately for someone whose bowling has earned him the nicknames Revels (mixed bag) and Bertie (bassett - allsorts). The final wicket fell in the forty fourth over with Cherhill's score a modest, but not insignificant, 138.
Avebury began their reply with Rhino and Dom both doing their best to curb their natural instincts and play in the Mark Richardson / Michael Papps mould. However, all this seemed to do was to increase the pressure on the batsmen as they plodded to a pathetic 12 without loss after ten overs. Rhino soon flashed at one outside off stump, and Dom decided to run himself out several overs later. Predictably, Greg and Henry steadied the ship and had taken the score to around 80 before Henry tried to push a straight ball to midwicket and was bowled. Greg soon followed trying to hoick Cherhill's left arm spinner Ben Webber into the next county, and Blake soon followed, padding up to another of Webber's straight balls. Throughout the innings Cherhill's bowling had been impressively accurate, and it was not until Rob and Neil started to knock the ball around a bit (albeit in the air) that Cherhill's heads started to drop a bit and the game moved conclusively in our favour.
Once again (and we can say this about every game this season), a good victory on paper, but not without its moments of drama!
Lambourn vs Avebury
Date : Sat 12-JunType : League
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : 110 for 2
Opposition score : 109 all out
On 12 June we trundled off to Lambourn for our fifth game of the season, and our third away fixture on the trot due to the unavailability of the Lambourn pitch in August. Greg is still to find his rich vein of form with the coin, and Lambourn elected to bat first. Rob Gater and Vince Ogbourne kept the Lambourn openers quiet with some tidy bowling, although Gater was soon whingeing about bowling uphill and into a still breeze. Wickets tumbled at a pleasing rate, and it was only with the introduction of DMF into the attack that Lambourn's run-rate started to tick above two an over, with Lambourn skipper Paul Annetts clattering the luckless left-armer for five boundaries through the off-side. Paul then had a rotten bit of luck as an inswinger from Avebury's ageing Chairman caught him sharply on the right wrist, impairing his movement and (more unfortunately for Lambourn) preventing him from opening the bowling. Vince finished with 4-43 from his 15 over spell and was replaced by Dix, who returned the even more extraordinary figures of 4-5 from a much shorter spell. Lambourn were eventually all out for 109 in the 38th over.
In reply John Rheinberg and DMF started carefully before John was caught behind off the bowling of Steve Mundy. Henry Fry then joined his brother at the wicket, and the two gave an impressive display of how brotherly intuition does not appear to help with running quick singles. To the disappointment of all those who had been enjoying this com?die d'erreurs, Henry was then caught behind off the same bowler, leaving Greg Dix to finish the game off with 48 not out, scored at an ever increasing rate. Avebury won by eights wickets in the 38th over, and will hopefully cling onto their spot at the top of the table as a result. Bad luck to Lambourn though, who were an excellent side when they were promoted with us, and more than capable of beating any of the teams in this division, but have had their batting weakened through absence and injury. We look forward to the return fixture in August, and wish them well in the meantime as we think they are a good bunch.
Wroughton Wranglers vs Avebury
Date : Sat 19-JunType : League
Result : Avebury lost
Avebury score : 174 for 9
Opposition score : 175 for 3
On a cold, overcast day with thunderous clouds all around, G.Dix won the toss and elected to bat. Not that he had much choice, with only 8 players having turned up on time, and missing opening bowler V.Ogbourne, as well as wicketkeeper N.Hollister. R.Gater and J.Rhineberg opened the innings and took advantage of the short boundary (literally, an under-11 pitch) and difficult bowling conditions (it kept raining) to race to 104 without loss in 23 overs. The rains then came down, soaking the rather decrepit artificial pitch that Wroughton are embarrassed to have to play on at the moment (their old ground being revamped at the moment) and rendering the bounce unpredictable. This, however, cannot excuse the lamentable batting collapse that followed, which saw Avebury lose nine wickets for 70 runs, closing the innings on 174-9, and relying on some solid lower order hitting from Adam Duncan to see us up to this miserly total.
Worst of all, the sun then started to shine, causing the pitch to dry out and substantially improve in terms of consistency of bounce, and the outfield (literally, the worst we have played on in three divisions of Wiltshire league cricket) speeding up considerably. Despite one or two early wickets, Wroughton took advantage of the fact that they were only chasing a shade under four an over, and with 30 overs gone had scored 85 for 3, leaving them needing exactly six runs an over for the final 15. Unfortunately, our change bowlers proved uninspired, with G.Dix, T.Buxton and P.Force-Jones all bowling loose balls which were easily despatched by some solid Wroughton middle order batting. In the end, a biased reporter might say that "Wroughton scraped home with seven balls to spare" but in reality they got much the better of us. One could also lament the absence of 15 solid overs from Vince, and the batting of N.Hollister in the middle order, but, facing facts, we had easily enough batting ammunition to put this game beyond Wroughton's reach, and we didn't manage it. Fair play, as they say, to them.
On reflection, there were two big disappointments to this game. The first was the quality of the pitch and the wicket. We have all put lots of effort into Saturday cricket in order to play on decent surfaces, but this place was worst than anything we had seen in divisions five and four combined. The outfield was genuinely dangerous, with J.Rhineberg's black eye the condemning evidence. The second was our middle order batting performance, which had carelessness written all over it - the great start lulling us all into a false sense of security. Roll on next week....
Heytesbury vs Avebury
Date : Sat 26-JunType : League
Result : Cancelled
Avebury score : -
Opposition score : -
Rained off again
Moredon Royal Oak vs Avebury
Date : Sat 03-JulType : League
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : 209 for 9
Opposition score : 162 all out
On a blustery July afternoon, with clouds scuttling hurriedly across the sky, the home side won the toss and asked Moredon Royal Oak to take the field. J.Rhineberg and DMF got off to a reasonable start before J.Rhineberg got a leading edge trying to turn a ball behind square and was caught at midwicket. DMF then teamed up with H.Fry and the score started to tick, before H.Fry called a dubious two to deep cover and was run out (not by much, surely?) coming back for the second. This continues the amusing history of DMF and H.Fry batting together, where a run-out is always on the cards. DMF and G.Dix then shared a healthy partnership, before the introduction of Mo Farooq into the Moredon attack which slow the run rate and brought about the downfall of G.Dix, caught at the wicket trying to cut a low ball outside off stump. DMF and R.Gater then had a nice little partnership, pushing the ball around where they could and scampering singles like men 15 years their junior. DMF got to his fifty before R.Gater was also caught out playing an expansive cover drive. A.Blake and DMF then nudged the score up to 170 before DMF was out for 91, pulling a ball to mid-wicket which, in retrospect, probably wasn't there to hit. Some spirited hitting from N.Hollister and the tail (PFJ, Snasher and Vince) improved our score to 209 for 9 at the close. All in all, I would definitely say Moredon are a better bowling side than their league position would suggest, particularly the change bowlers who bowled sensibly and straight. On the Moredon web-site it says that "only one batsman looked comfortable all afternoon" - Greg, Hen, Rob, Rhino, Holly - did you get that?
Moredon's innings got of to a racy start, with their opener carting R.Gater back over his head for what sensationalist TV commentators refer to as "the maximum". However, V.Ogbourne and R.Gater soon got amongst the wickets, and sent the openers back to the pavilion. Moredon's batsmen continued to mix some pretty impressive shot-making with periods of stagnation, and as the run-rate slowed, so the errors crept in. Once we took the wicket of the dangerous former Wiltshire player Steve Williams, things began to look good for us. The introduction of the geriatric DMF brought another couple of wickets, and some sharp catching put Moredon 8 down with 122 on the board. Unfortunately, a combination of some rather disinterested bowling and some impressive tail-wagging from the Moredon lower order saw their score rise to a credible 162 before the innings was finished off by P.Force-Jones, R.Gater taking a good catch at the agricultural corner of the ground.
It was one of those nice games of cricket where the pitch behaved, everyone contributed and we had a nice drink with the opposition after the game. At the end of the day, league positions, tables, promotion and relegation count for very little if you can have days like this for the price of a match fee. It wasn't one of those ones where you go out to bat and you have ten people all saying stuff like "He doesn't like it there, does he?" and "You've got 'im now, son!". It was just a good game of village cricket, and I definitely think Moredon will improve their position in the table with the team that played us. Finally, congratulations to P.Force-Jones who did the teas, and did not fill a single sandwich with fish paste!
Wanborough vs Avebury
Date : Sat 10-JulType : League
Result : Cancelled
Avebury score : -
Opposition score : -
Another miserable day of weather, another miserable cancellation. That's brings us up to four for the season - far more than last year and more than the infamous foot and mouth season of 2001. I had an interesting chat with Colin Cooper (the Wiltshire League results secretary) this week about the number of washouts this season, and whether or not the League would decide to move to a "points per game" system as they did in 2001. He said that they have been thinking about it, but that last time they did it didn't make much difference to overall promotions and relegations. However, they will look at it again if more games get rained off. We've had it bad with 4 wash-outs, but other teams have had five weekends lost to the weather which is extraordinary. The forecast for this week isn't great either, you know.
Blunsdon vs Avebury
Date : Sat 17-JulType : League
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : 170 for 5
Opposition score : 169 for 4
The second Blunsdon fixture was perhaps one of the most anticipated of this half of the season and so it was vital that we imposed ourselves from the outset, be it with bat or ball. On yet another overcast day with the threat of early rain present, Blunsdon won the toss and so elected to bat. Runs came quickly as Blunsdon raced to 16 from the first 3 overs (largely from the outside edge) while Sam Weston-Simons (SWS) trued his sights. This minor flurry soon dried up, and the Blunsdon opening pair crawled to 50 in 22 overs, with credit going to SWS and Gater for their intelligent bowling.
A bowler short, Avebury employed their "Dr Martens League" bowlers in Messrs. Dix, Force-Jones and Fry.H, who continued with a good show of control, despite going for a few more runs per over. With 15 overs remaining Blunsdon were 100 for 3, and it appeared that a significant score was looming given this platform. However, the recycling of Gater and SWS into the attack with 10 overs to go seemed to stem the flow of runs, and Blunsdon eventually rallied their score to 169 for the loss of 4 wickets.
Although Avebury had limited what was a strong batting side to under 175, their hard work could have been rewarded further had they caught their catches (at least three dropped by (mentioning no names) Blake x2, Rheinberg, FryH x ? chance and Dix, ditto?) and had Hollister removed the bails rather than swiping at thin air during a clear run out opportunity.
The target was set. So far this season we have not had to chase more than 138 runs batting second. Could we do it? The run rate required was approximately 3.8 per over and steady batting by Gater and Rheinberg ensued, reaching 50 runs in just under 15 overs. Things were looking fairly comfortable until a mini collapse occurred between 60 and 90 runs. Following the departure of Gater for twenty-something, Rheinberg for forty-something and Fry.H (thanks for turning up), Dix and SWS were left to build on what had been steady progress - with the run rate required still around four an over. The two new batsmen began a measured offensive on the total and Blunsdon's bowlers soon became embroiled in the task of trying to dismiss either or both of these two (the result of which could well have exposed a "twitchy tail"). However, the pair never looked in trouble and played in a manner befitting a potentially fragile situation.
It was eventually with some ease that these two reached the required 170 in the 41st over through finding the boundary rope and in some cases, soaring over it - to the elation of the home crowd. Blunsdon had now been beaten twice, which reinforced Avebury's confidence in their quest for more League success.
Highworth vs Avebury
Date : Sat 24-JulType : League
Result : Avebury lost
Avebury score : 198 all out
Opposition score : 211 for 4
On a warm and muggy day, the sight of a green wicket, coupled with a weakened batting line-up, led G.Dix, following advice from his team, to decide to bowl first. At this point, several things went a bit haywire. First, the wicket was actually a good one to bat on. Second, the outfield was going to be difficult to field on. Third, the absence of Rob opening the bowling meant we missed some crucial accuracy in the early stages of the game. Fourth, missing Hollister behind the stumps meant that we lost Blake's dynamic fielding in the point region, and a couple of catches went down behind the wicket. And finally, we produced a pretty average fielding performance. However, special mention must be made of the bowling of V.Ogbourne and H.Fry, who both looked good throughout their spells, particularly Henry who bowled at the stumps at the end of the innings and restricted the run flow. The most poignant moment of the Highworth innings was after 30 overs, when their opener was run out by a country mile at the bowlers end from a throw from fine leg from D.Fry, only for the umpire (the batsman's brother) to claim he was unsighted and adjudge it not out.
In reply, we got off to a pretty average start. Some tight bowling meant that D.Fry and J.Rhineberg couldn't make the explosive start they were hoping for to chase down a score which required a rate of 4.7 runs an over. The pressure told as the required rate ticked up to 5 an over, and Rhino was caught behind flashing at one outside off stump. A nightmare followed next over against the medium pace of Lee Beevor - first, Henry was bowled off his pads, and second, Greg got a first-baller to a ball which pitched half way down the track and rolled under his bat. 18 for 3, with a long tail and the rate going up all the time. A.Blake walked to the crease and survived some early prods outside off stump before settling in and producing the kind of composed innings we have missed from him so far this season. With D.Fry clattering the ball to all parts at the other end, the pair added 122 in 17 overs, of which Blake had made an attractive 31 before he was bowled by a straight one from the spinner. D.Scattergood, coming at number 6, looked in great touch, intent on playing his usual game, and hitting some great boundaries just at the time when our innings needed some acceleration. Then, with the score a healthy 168 for 4, requiring 43 runs from the last 10 overs, D.Fry was caught at deep backward square off the spinner, and trudged off to the pavilion with yet another missed century. Despite some occasional big hits from a long tail comprising D.Bradfield, S.Nash, V.Ogbourne, P.Force-Jones and M.Pearce, we lost the remaining five wickets for 30 runs and were all out for 198.
All in all, not a bad performance after a poor start, but we really did throw this one away towards the end of our innings. It just shows that without a full strength side, we can look a bit exposed both in the field and with the bat - but how do we improve this situation? Aside from the poor top order performance, should we be spending more time helping our lower order (on Sundays perhaps) to try and place the ball and run singles, rather than the swipe/swipe/hit approach adopted today?
In one sense it didn't really matter too much in league terms, as Blunsdon lost this week as well, but a win here would have given us a certain amount of welcome breathing space at the top. Onwards and upwards, and let's hope we can get back to winning ways against Swindon next week.
Swindon III vs Avebury
Date : Sat 31-JulType : League
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : 216 for 4
Opposition score : 212 for 5
On the hottest day of the season so far, you could see the regret etched into the face of the captain as he walked back from the toss, contemplating 45 overs under a beating sun set in in a sapphire blue sky. Fielding first was never going to be easy, but Gater was right on the button in his opening spell, giving nothing away to the Swindon openers. The same cannot be said for D.Fry, who had spend the morning assisting in our inaugural juniors coaching day and was 'reet knackered'. The Swindon openers, in their immaculate whites, sponsored shirts and exotic bats, looked nothing like the openers from our last encounter. That's because they were different people. Anyway, despite looking like county players the two openers weren't finding it too easy to score on a pitch with the usual Avebury low bounce, and the odd ball moving off the pitch sideways. Indeed, one of their batters laughed sardonically when a ball from D.Fry skidded through outside off stump at about ankle height. Anyway, having moved to fifty without loss, one of their openers inexplicably lobbed a catch up to Rhineberg at short cover, who gratefully accepted the gift. This brought in Swindon's number 3, who looked in great touch and smote a couple of mighty boundaries before chipping one to backward square leg where T.Buxton, running in, held onto an excellent diving catch. A long partnership then ensued between the remaining Swindon opener and their number 4, a certain G. James, who played for Kent's Under-19 side last year and certainly looked in a different league as he calmly accumulated runs. The partnership was not broken until the 150-mark with the introduction of P.Force-Jones, replacing the luckless H.Fry at the pavilion end. The 'Force' immediately brought about the downfall of the great James tempting him to hoist a catch to R.Gater on the deep long-off boundary. Pete took two more wickets as Swindon accelerated their scoring in the last ten overs to leave them on a healthy 212 for the loss of only five wickets. In retrospect, their classy top six batters must have wished they had really tucked into some mediocre opening and change bowling from Avebury, as they could easily have posted a bigger total in the oppressive heat.
In reply, Avebury opened brightly at around four an over for the first twenty overs, with J.Rhineberg and D.Fry content to have a look at the Swindon bowling, which was proving fairly accurate and effective. D.Fry looked to have nothing left in the tank though, as he sliced a drive to backwards cover and was on his way for 35. H.Fry and Rhino started to accelerate past the 100 mark, only for Rhino to get himself out caught behind for a nicely paced 41. This brought R.Gater to the crease, who also looked in good touch and, with the help of H.Fry who started finally to look like the Avebury's best batsman after a disappointing season to date, gradually took the Avebury score towards the magic 213, always matching but never exceeding the required run rate. When R.Gater was finally bowled for 33 trying to force a ball on leg stump through mid-wicket, the task was all but done. A few choice boundaries from G.Dix left us within 10 runs of the target, and when he was bowled, H.Fry tidied the innings up with three consecutive boundaries and a healthy 55 not out. A nice effort from the top five, contributing 170 runs pretty evenly.
No doubt about it, this was one of our toughest games. Swindon managed to find 9 new players for this fixture, only 2 names recognisable from the team that played us earlier in the season. If they continue to field this side (and I hope they do) they will give some of the other sides in the division a bit of a surprise, as they did us. Leaving this aside, the nice thing about this game was the contrast in the ways the two sides played their cricket - Avebury with their usual quiet calm in the field, encouraging the bowlers and fielding athletically, and Swindon barracking and heckling before, during and after every ball, with the obnoxious wicketkeeper doing his best to continue to encourage the bowler throughout his run-up and delivery. But isn't this the stuff that great days out are made of?
Cherhill vs Avebury
Date : Sat 07-AugType : League
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : 149 for 8
Opposition score : 50 all out
Another glorious day at Avebury, another lost toss. Only this time, the Cherhill skipper looked at the crumbling, dry and fairly soft wicket and decided to field first. This was greeted with great cheer in the Avebury dressing room, as the temperature was well over 26 degrees and there wasn't an awful lot of cloud around. Rheinberg and Fry started cautiously against the accurate Cherhill attack, with Wiltshire Over-50's bowler Les Wilson very effective from the top end. He struck early on when John got a ball that stopped on him which he could only pat back to the bowler. Four overs later Fry got one that cut in through the gate outside off and hit leg stump. G.Dix and R.Gater steadied the ship for around ten overs, bringing the score to 60 from 18 overs. However, neither batsman could score quickly, and both were soon out, bringing in N.Hollister and A.Blake. These two started to get the run rate ticking up towards three and a half an over, but the accuracy of the bowling and some interesting bounce meant that neither batsman could really go for their shots. Hollister was the next to go, and R.Harding put up some fine resistance before succumbing to the legendary Cherhill left arm spinner Ben Webber. P.Force-Jones played a similar supporting role to Harding, as Blake continued to pick up singles where he could, although not managing to farm the strike and protect the tail as one might have hoped. When Force-Jones was out, the score stood at a crummy 107 for seven, with 10 overs still to go. Enter V.Ogbourne, who played himself in and then started to punish anything loose from the Cherhill bowlers, and shared in a face-saving partnership of 41 with the steady Blake. 18 runs came from the last two overs and we were in sight of an extra batting point. But when Blake was out to a full toss off the penultimate ball of the innings and S.Nash could only scamper a single off the last ball, we closed on 149 for 8, with K.Scattergood the unlucky batsman not to get an outing!
At tea, a plague of wasps descended, attacking all and sundry and showing a particular likeness for Stef's delicious lemon drizzle cake. Congratulations to Greg and Stef for the tea though - first time we have ever had real lettuce in sandwiches as far as I can remember! Our bellies full, we set out onto the field to defend at total requiring a meagre 3.3 runs an over for victory.
The skipper then made what in hindsight will go down as one of his more successful change of tactics. With V.Ogbourne still tired from his marathon innings, Dix decided that R.Gater should switch from his usual end and open the bowling from the top end, with the ageing DMF providing support from the bottom end. Both bowlers were still licking their wounds from their failures with the bat, and eager to make amends. DMF had a number of shouts for LBW turned down, which prompted the left handed opener to turn round to the slips and keeper and ask "Why does he keep on f**king appealing?" The answer from Dix and Rhineberg was "Stop using your pads and try to hit it with the bat, mate!" He did, and promptly chopped a ball outside off onto his stumps. Cherhill 8 for 1 off 7 overs, and Avebury on their way.
With the required run rate moving up above four an over, Cherhill's batsmen were making heavy work of some accurate bowling. Gater then produced a squalid set of deliveries which accounted for the dangerous Cherhill number three, Sollis. Gater gave him two full tosses on leg stump, followed by a long hop which he tried to power through mid wicket and was clean bowled. Two balls later, the number four was on his way, LBW to Gater from a ball which kept low.
The rest is the stuff of dreams. Gater bowled unchanged from the top end, bagging season best figures of 6 for 15 from 14 overs, Fry 1 for 16 from 10 overs, and P.Force-Jones 2 for 12 from 4 overs, including the wicket of B.Webber, their last recognised batsman. When the Cherhill number 11 called a quick single in the 28th over, DMF hit the stumps at the bowlers end from short mid-on and it was all over, Cherhill all out for 50. What more can be said other than this was a marvellous victory against by no means the weakest team in this league. Everyone contributed in the field, R.Harding holding a great catch, S.Nash and K.Scattergood not letting a single ball through in the covers, and N.Hollister having a tidy game behind the stumps. A great day, and the evening was very pleasantly spend by some of us BBQing at Gater's house, where the toffee vodka and alcopops flowed all night. Hurrah for the Summer!
Lambourn vs Avebury
Date : Sat 14-AugType : League
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : 176 for 5
Opposition score : 71 all out
Avebury were without opening bat J.Rhineberg and captain G.Dix for this fixture, so it was with some trepidation that R.Gater, winning the toss, decided to bat. Disaster struck early as D.Fry was caught behind off the third ball of the innings off the bowling of Paul Annetts, now recovered after a six week lay-off after D.Fry broke his wrist in the away fixture. H.Fry followed shortly as he chipped Annetts to silly mid-off, and Avebury were 6 for 2 in the eighth over. R.Gater and A.Blake then set about the task of rebuilding the innings, but could only do so slowly against some accurate bowling. After 20 overs Avebury had crawled to a meagre 32 for 2, but some bowling changes and greater confidence from the batsmen soon saw the run rate ticking slowly upwards.
Sixty runs were added in the next 10 overs as Gater moved past 50, and a further 84 runs came from the last 15 overs. Having lost Blake for a hard fought 25, Gater was joined by Hollister, then Adam Duncan, with Adam and Mike Pearce finally getting us over the 175 mark off the last ball of the innings. Rob?s 94 was easily the best knock any of us have seen in the Wiltshire league this season, and the feeling at tea was that momentum had swung our way.
Lambourn?s start mirrored the Avebury innings, with D.Fry and V.Ogbourne bowling tightly, and wickets soon starting to fall at both ends. The Lambourn run-rate never accelerated above 2 an over, Fry picking up 3 wickets (including a dangerous looking South African batsman we hadn?t seen before) and Ogbourne bagging two from an excellent fifteen over spell. The stage was set for the introduction of seventies throw-back Pete Force-Jones, whose bewildering run up and ?man trying to kill a snake in a phone box? bowling action accounted for skipper Annetts and completely befuddled the Lambourn tail. Pete ended with figures of 4 for 22 from 5 overs, and Lambourn?s innings closed on 71 with Avebury picking up maximum bonus bowling points.
The win puts us 42 points clear of Wanborough, who lost at Blunsdon, and therefore means we need 9 points from 2 games to secure promotion. However, the league title is still very much within our grasp if we win our last two games. Blunsdon have two games in hand over us, thanks to their rearranging fixtures on 3 (yes, 3) weekends this season. Can any of Heytesbury, Moredon or Swindon give them a surprise?
Wroughton Wranglers vs Avebury
Date : Sat 21-AugType : League
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : 241 for 6
Opposition score : 55 all out
Avebury entertained an understrength Wroughton side at home and thoroughly compensated for a lacklustre away performance earlier in the season, where a shoddy Astroturf wicket and an almost hazardous outfield had seen us lose our unbeaten record.
Avebury batted first and scored a season-best 241 for the loss of six wickets. R.Gater was again in form with the bat as he helped himself to 78, with G.Dix finally showing some form with a fantastic 86 not out. Contributions from openers Rhineberg (18) and Blake (8), plus single figure scores from Hollister, Scattergood, Bradfield and Ogbourne saw us to a very defendable total, albeit against a team that had successfully chased 174 against us last time.
This time, however, it was not to be for Wroughton. Vince Ogbourne effectively tied up one end of the track, bowling 11 overs on the trot and conceding just 20 runs. R.Gater was even more economical, going for a massive 4 runs in 9 overs of tight swing bowling. The heroes, though, were the second-change bowlers G.Dix and P.Force-Jones, both of whom bagged 3 wickets as Wroughton were bundled out for 55.
Avebury took 25 points from this game - the fist time we have achieved the maximum all season. Having bowled out three sides in a row for under 75, we are looking an impressive bowling unit, and the batting is not shabby either. Once again, someone always steps up to the plate and makes a big score around which everyone else can bat.
Having secured the necessary 9 points needed to guarantee second spot, all we need to do now is to win convincingly on Saturday against Heytesbury and hope that Blunsdon don?t manage to score 24 points a game from their remaining 4 games. Then we will be champions - AGAIN!
A win next Saturday will also give us an impressive set of statistics for our first three seasons playing Saturday cricket - played 54, lost 7.
Heytesbury vs Avebury
Date : Sat 28-AugType : League
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : 131 all out
Opposition score : 112 all out
We arrived at Heytesbury to find a very damp and soggy pitch, but it was in the interests of both teams to play, and so play we did. Heytesbury skipper Justin Wagstaff won the toss and had no hesitation in asking the visitors to bat. The late arrival at the ground of Rhineberg meant that Gater was sent in to open with D.Fry, and the two looked quite comfortable against the opening salvoes from Wagstaff and Barnes, despite the odd variable bounce. Indeed, the score had ticked along to fifty before Gater was out, and there then followed something of a collapse against the woeful bowling of a chap called Atkin-Berry, who sent down a series of long hops and half volleys to which we had no response. Big guns like D.Fry, G.Dix and S.Weston-Simons all perished to some genuinely bad bowling to which the pages of the MCC coaching manual are useless. At 71 for 7 we were staring right down the barrel of our lowest every Wiltshire League score (which I think is 110 against Coates last year) but a superb partnership between Rhineberg and Mike Pearce say us scamper past the dreaded 110 mark. Mike's innings eventually came to an end for an entertaining 12, and Simon Nash and Pete Force-Jones hung around long enough with Rhineberg to take the score to 131 all out with an over to spare.
For the record, the tea provided at Heytesbury was not half as bad as other teams in the league had led us to believe, although Henry was predictably amused by his chicken roll and onion sandwich.
With yet another low total to defend, Avebury could at least take solace in its track record of bowling sides out when defending a low total - indeed, only 4 times this season have we failed to take 10 wickets in a match. The bowling was even tighter than usual, with the metronomic accuracy of Gater from one end and Sam Weston-Simons from the other being too much for the Heytesbury openers, who were more than happy to play defensively, safe in the knowledge that they required less than three an over to win. However, after 20 overs they had only reached 33 for the loss of one wicket, and momentum was slowly moving in our favour. Sam finished his spell of 10 overs having conceded 22 runs, and was unsurprisingly wicketless as most of his deliveries had the batsmen playing and missing outside off stump. D.Fry replaced Sam at the top end and got a sneaky wicket with a long hop that hit the stumps.
The skipper now had a dilemma - with Gater's spell of 15 overs (for 16 runs!) now complete, who should replace him at the bottom end? The original plan was to get D.Fry to come on at the bottom end and get Sam to finish from the top, but G.Dix had a hunch that P.Force-Jones might tempt the hitherto cautious batsmen into hitting the ball in the air. "Operation Starfish" was put into effect, and Gater, Weston-Simons, D.Fry and H.Fry all took their usual positions around the leg side boundary. Less than 12 overs later the game was over - Pete took 7 wickets for 34 runs as the batsmen were incapable of doing anything other than trying to whack his juicy looking bowling all round the ground, and ended up holing out to one or other of the deep catchers. Only one of Pete's wickets, that of the captain Wagstaff, was actually bowled.
So we finished the league season on a real high, having secured another 20 points to secure our slot at the top of the table. News also filtered through that Blunsdon, those sneaky re-arrangers of games on weekends affected by the weather, had only managed 21 points against Moredon Royal Oak, and therefore cannot secure top spot even by winning their rearranged games with maximum points. Another season, another divisional title, and a whole host of happy cricketers sitting in the New Asia Grill in Marlborough on Saturday night, covered in balti and cobra and generally enjoying another successful season.
Friendly Games
Dauntsey vs Avebury
Date : Sun 18-AprType : Friendly
Result : Cancelled
Avebury score : -
Opposition score : -
Abandoned due to a waterlogged pitch at Dauntsey. The scheduling of this fixture can only be described as ambitious, and the crappy weather in the preceding weeks has taken its toll. We have been lucky in the last two years to be able to play, but this year we have returned to more "normal" spring weather patterns.
President's XI vs Avebury
Date : Sun 25-AprType : Friendly
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : 107 all out
Opposition score : 70 all out
Strong bowling from Scat's elite XI got the captain's side out for only 107 runs, Vince mopping up many of the wickets with figures 3 wkts for 11 runs in just over 6 overs. Holly being the only batsman making a noteable score with 24 runs. However Greg's XI came back after tea to get the president's team all out for 70.
Redlynch and Hale vs Avebury
Date : Sun 02-MayType : Friendly
Result : Avebury lost
Avebury score : 131 for 7
Opposition score : 235 for 9
With only 10 players on the Avebury side, this was always going to be a tough match, paticularly on Redlynch's home ground which was a bit hillocky in places. The Redlynch guys seemed to deal with it ok and were on about 150 for 3 when Rob put Adam on to bowl and he got three wickets in his first over, beginning with a ball which the batsman pulled strongly to short mid-wicket where Gater managed to hold onto it with an amazing reactions. This storming result made things look rosier, and Adam went on to get what must be his best ever figures taking 5 wickets in all for 14 runs in only 3 overs.
Redlynch's final total of 235 for 9 looked pretty strong and unfortunately no-one really got into his stride in the Avebury innings. John & John opened, but Rhino was suffering from a finger that had been dislocated and put back early in the first innings and then got hit in the throat by a ball that bounced very high whilst he was batting, and he ended up by being run out. Collie lasted a bit longer, but was out cheaply in the end. Gater was the only person who got a decent score with 46 before he was bowled by an appaling shooter which he tried to bash and didn't. Rob Harding did well at the end with a personal best score of 11(?) not out. But it was fairly dismal in the end, better luck next week guys.
Cirencester Nomads vs Avebury
Date : Sun 09-MayType : Friendly
Result : Cancelled
Avebury score : -
Opposition score : -
Sadly Cirencester Nomads couldn't get a team out for Sunday...
Mildenhall vs Avebury
Date : Sun 16-MayType : Friendly
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : 245 for 4
Opposition score : 204 for 7
Another gorgeous sunny day, and another pretty ground in Mildenhall, right near the Kennet, which made Greg and Rhino want to go fishing... Once again there were lots of supporters including Margaret and Carol, and Gillian. Minal had a young-ish team which meant that Avebury didn't find the batting too hard and we knocked up a decent score. However Minal had some very good batsmen and in the heat Avebury weren't finding it easy to get wickets, Dom's spinners didn't work for some strange reason and no-one really found their bowling form, despite Greg giving almost the whole team a chance with the ball. There was some nice fielding, especially from Dave Bradfield who did a lot of running about and in the end Minal couldn't make the total.
Goatacre vs Avebury
Date : Sun 23-MayType : Friendly
Result : Cancelled
Avebury score : -
Opposition score : -
Goatacre cancelled by text because they said they couldn't get a team out. But we had a good day anyway in the sunshine because we decided to play a double wicket competition for those who were up for it.
In pairs each team played for 6 overs, losing 10 runs for each wicket lost during that time and everyone had to bowl. Greg and MP were the victors in the end with Greg boshing everything about all over the field, they were dropped about 3 times and only lost 1 wicket. Adam and Scats came second - again only losing one wicket, and the rest of the teams came in after that. The other teams were Jo and Rhino, Neil and Dave W., Dom and me, Simon and Gater. The bowling was fairly mixed, with me and Jo probably losing most to extras - luckily they didn't count my no balls. Nashie fielded the best taking a couple of catches and showing off his strong throwing action. Quite a lot of people dropped catches - I ran away from all mine - and there were a couple of incidents of fielding in the outfield where the ball 'bounced funny' and went over the boundary when it really shouldn't have. Great afternoon though and it made me appreciate how hot it gets running around in all the kit...
Haydon Wick vs Avebury
Date : Sun 30-MayType : Friendly
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : 216 for 5
Opposition score : 67 all out
Lavington vs Avebury
Date : Sun 06-JunType : Friendly
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : 239 for 6
Opposition score : 120 all out
On a classic sunny June day, Avebury elected to bat first against old friends Lavington. Our innings got off to a poor start with Collie back in the pavilion after just two balls, but Rhino and Dave Scattergood soon settled in, tucking in to some at times generous "buffet" bowling. Dave's cameo innings, containing precisely nothing in the way of defensive strokes, came to an end when he was caught at the wicket and then Adam Duncan, coming in at number four and playing some nice shots, was bowled by the same guy who got Collie. Hollister, down in the book as "Harvester", came in at number five and he and Rhino were soon tonking the ball around the park nicely. Harvester's demise brought debutant Tim Buxton to the wicket, who looked in pretty good touch (despite claims about having not played for a while) and built a good partnership with Rhino before being caught for a brisk 27. Gater became Rhino's next partner, but didn't last long. Dom came in at number 8, and shared in a stand of 120 in ten overs as Rhino helped himself to his second century of the season, and the innings was closed at 239.
In reply, Lavington lost quick wickets to the ever-beguiling combination of Pete F-J and Dave Bradfield, and indeed the bowlers were jumping up and down in their respective fielding positions to get their hands on the ball as wickets continued to tumble. Tim Buxton was introduced from the pavilion end and had an immediate impact, adding to a number of catches in the outfield, the final one (off Dom's spinners) being a spectacular one-handed diving effort at deep long-on. Lavington's innings trickled past the hundred mark but it was not long before Simon Nash and Neil Harvester finished the innings off. All in all, not the most competitive outing for an ever-improving Sunday side, but great fun nonetheless and after the high dramas of these Saturday games, exactly what we needed!
CS Nomads vs Avebury
Date : Sun 13-JunType : Friendly
Result : Avebury lost
Avebury score : 134 all out
Opposition score : 135 for 5
Owing to the burning desire to watch England play France, this game started early on Sunday at Midday, in sweltering heat on a dry but typically lifeless pitch at Avebury. Avebury opened up with Collie and Hollie who both looked comfortable in the opening exchanges. Collie's departure brought in Mike Pearce, promoted to number 11 and looking every inch a number 3 as he nudged and nurdled the ball around. Unfortunately, he missed a straight one and was bowled, as did Rhineberg, as did Gater. Adam Duncan played some classy shots but like everyone else was soon out, and the Chairman showed just what a poor batsman he can be if he puts his mind to it, edging a wide to the Nomads keeper. All credit to the Nomads, though, who bowled straight throughout the Avebury innings, frustrating the batsman who would have wanted to see the ball flying across the grass on this lightning outfield. Despite a stalwart fifty from Hollie, our ten-man team's innings ended when Simon Nash was bowled for 0 with the score on 134.
After a cracking tea (thank you Amanda Milton - we'll let you do it again if you're good!) Avebury crawled out into the mid-afternoon heat to defend their meagre total. Tight early overs from Rob and Dom put some pressure on the Nomads, who lost wickets at regular intervals throughout the innings. With fifteen overs remaining the Nomads still needed nearly five an over with only five wickets in hand, and the danger man Hendy Alleyne back in the pavilion. However, some loose balls from the second, third and fourth change bowlers were easily helped over the boundary, finally exposing our paltry total for what it really was - simply not good enough. Nomads made the target with just seven balls remaining, thereby ending a tense and exciting game of cricket which we all enjoyed.
The Chairman would like to publicly apologise to all those players on his team who he offended by getting cross about the uncanny ability of our bowlers to serve up juicy full tosses at inopportune moments during the latter stages of the Nomads' innings. He is a badly adjusted individual as we all know, but definitely hasn't mastered the art of losing gracefully!
And very finally, well done to Alex Milton who fielded in for us for the majority of the Nomads' innings - he did a great job and didn't let anything through. Apologies to his younger brother Harry for not being allowed to join in as well - you can play for us just as soon as you are taller than the stumps!
Compton Basset vs Avebury
Date : Sun 20-JunType : Friendly
Result : Abandoned
Avebury score : -
Opposition score : -
Match abandoned due to rain
Bishops Cannings vs Avebury
Date : Sun 27-JunType : Friendly
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : 148 for 3
Opposition score : 147 for 9
Swindon United Churches vs Avebury
Date : Sun 04-JulType : Friendly
Result : Cancelled
Avebury score : -
Opposition score : -
Rained off
Fulham Taverners vs Avebury
Date : Sun 11-JulType : Friendly
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : 209 for 6
Opposition score : 110 all out
Despite another day of threatening rain clouds, we actually managed to get a full game in against the Fulham Taverners. They had played Winterbourne Bassett the previous day and had trounced them, bowling them out for around 50, so it was with some trepidation that we strapped our pads on. Batting first, we managed a respectable 209-6 in our 40 overs, which was competitive enough, but is still only 5 an over for a team in form. We reached a sensible compromise in our batting order this week, so that it was properly mixed up rather than simply reversed. Again Rhino showed what a boring batsman he can be if he wants to be, as he scored 2 runs off the first 11 overs! Anyway, it didn't matter as we had plenty of fuel in the tank, and our middle order held up properly for once and delivered.
After a splendid tea, Pete and Rob opened our bowling and took some useful early Taverners wickets, with Simon Nash taking two sharp catches at mid off. The only disappointment was that he split his finger trying to hold on to a third, very well hit drive through mid off, off the Chairman's dolly drops. In the end I think the Taverners got to about 110 or so before the last wicket fell, and again it was nice to see a spread of wickets - 3 for Pete, 3 for Neil, 2 for Dom, 1 for Rob and 1 for Greg.
Winterbourne Bassett vs Avebury
Date : Sun 18-JulType : Friendly
Result : Avebury lost
Avebury score : -
Opposition score : -
Unfortunately with most of the Avebury squad on holiday, unavailable or playing for someone else we were only able to field a team of nine who managed to lose to Winterbourne Bassett
CS Nomads vs Avebury
Date : Sun 25-JulType : Friendly
Result : Avebury lost
Avebury score : -
Opposition score : -
Another game with only 9 Avebury players and another loss...
Dauntsey vs Avebury
Date : Sun 01-AugType : Friendly
Result : Cancelled
Avebury score : -
Opposition score : -
Unfortunately Dauntsey couldn't get a team together for this fixture.
Corsham I vs Avebury
Date : Sun 08-AugType : Friendly
Result : Avebury lost
Avebury score : 116 all out
Opposition score : 216
This game had some potential, as our thrilling fixture with Corsham's side last year meant that we knew they would bring a strong side. A huge moment of hilarity occurred during the start of the Corsham innings, when their opener (sorry, never caught his name) walked out to bat in full Surrey CC regalia. "Do you play for Surrey?" we asked. "Used to" he replied, with a touch a false modesty. "You'll find the wicket a little different to the Oval!" we jeered. The chap managed to belt a few nice boundaries, but was then flummoxed by Force-Jones and was bowled. How humiliating! Being bowled is never a nice feeling, but imagine what it must be like turning up in your county gear and being bowled! By Pete! (No offence Pete). Anyway, Corsham had a number of good-looking batsmen (in the cricketing sense of course - if you asked me what they looked like I'd say they were all zitty teenagers) who played well and got their score to 216 off 40 overs. In reply, Avebury stuttered at stumbled to around 116 all out, which was a pity as I think we went into tea thinking it was a perfectly gettable score. I hope that this batting performance won't mean that we go back to playing their Sunday 3rd XI side next year! Maybe an extra bowler or a batter might have made a difference, but then again, maybe not.
Stanton St Quinton vs Avebury
Date : Sun 15-AugType : Friendly
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : -
Opposition score : -
This fixture was always in danger of turning into "another Woodlands", and so it proved to be. Despite a gentle shuffling of the batting order that saw us in trouble at 37 for 3, Avebury positively roared to an impressive 299 for 4 in a mere 30 overs, thanks to some woeful bowling, inept fielding and batting that needed to be merely competent in order to take advantage. DMF scored 179 from far fewer balls, and Henry Fry 87 not out at much the same pace. Rob Gater very wisely declared the Avebury innings after 30 overs, realising that more runs were probably not required. Responding to this monstrous total, Stanton St Quintin I'm afraid looked all at sea, and even with a selection of "buffet" (help yourself) bowlers being used, could not manage more than 120 all out.
Again this proved the difficulty of sorting out Sunday fixtures. If we try to "up the quality" of our Sunday opposition, we leave ourselves in danger of being exposed (as we were last week against Corsham). If we choose to retain fixtures like Woodlands, Stanton etc. then we risk having these totally imbalanced fixtures where we struggle to make a game of it. What should we do about it? Answers on a postcard please...
Lavington vs Avebury
Date : Sun 22-AugType : Friendly
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : 119 for 9
Opposition score : 118 all out
We arrived at Lavington to discover that the Elisha Field appeared to have been turned into EU subsidised set-aside, with foot-high weeds in the outfield, outbreaks of fungus all over the wicket, and long cow-grass all around the outfield. If anyone wanted to paint a picture of the decline in village cricket, then a snapshot of this once immaculate ground would be perfect. Avebury lost the toss and Lavington elected to bat first, much to the chagrin of the assembled Avebury side who saw the opportunity to gorge themselves on a buffet of boundaries go begging. Lavington's batting was predictably woeful, held together by their captain who appeared to have no respect for the awesome father and son combination of Keith and Dave Scattergood, and managed a number of boundaries. Predictably, there was no answer to the lolloping gait and whirling arms of Pete Force-Jones, and he finished with three wickets from his 8 overs. The Scattergood pair cleaned up with 7 wickets between them, and Lavington's innings closed on 118 in the 32nd over.
In reply, Avebury's innings got off to an awful start. Rhineberg had a swipe and missed, as did Mike Pearce, Greg Dix, DMF, Dave Scattergood, and Neil Hollister. At 62 for seven we were looking in real trouble, as batsmen played silly shots, often citing the frustration of chasing such a small total as the explanation for getting out. Hmmm, not sure about that one! Anyway, what followed was surely one of the highlights of the Sunday season as the experienced John Collie and the youngster Simon Nash shared a partnership of 53 for the eighth wicket, taking the score to 115 and saving the game. After the unfortunate demise of the excellent Simon Nash for a classy 12, Keith Scattergood came in and hammered his first ball through the covers for four, leaving us victors by a slim two wicket margin.
Mildenhall vs Avebury
Date : Sun 29-AugType : Friendly
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : 120 for 3
Opposition score : 119 all out
Mildenhall won the toss and elected to bat. They had some quite solid-looking players in their top order, but they eventually capitulated against the "Sunday Specialist" bowling of Dave Bradfield, Rob Harding, Simon Nash, Andy Blake, John Rhineberg and in fact almost everyone. Particularly pleasing for the Chairman (watching from the sidelines) was seeing Simon Nash take the wicket of perennial top-scorer Nick Cook. The Mildenhall tail refused to wag despite some occasionally generous "buffet" bowling, and they were all out for 119 in 33 overs.
Avebury replied with a bright partnership between Rhinberg and Blake, and various others (Hollister (with a massive six over mid off), & Dix etc.) finished it off by about six o'clock. Sadly we didn't get to see the batting of a new, young player, Nick Daley, but he showed his enthusiasm in the field.