Results and Match Reports 2007
Wiltshire League Matches|Friendly Matches
Wiltshire County Cricket League - Division 1 Results 2007
Wiltshire League Division 1
Spye Park vs Avebury
Date : Sat 05-MayType : League
Result : Avebury lost
Avebury score : 145 all out in 41 overs
Opposition score : 277 for 6 in 45 overs
Avebury CC has come a long way since it's first taste of league cricket in Division 5 of the Wiltshire League some five years ago, but Saturday's game was one of those sharp wake-up calls that makes you wonder why you don't just carry on playing Winterbourne Bassett in a 40-over friendly on a Sunday afternoon.
Avebury lost the toss, was asked to field first, and watched the opposition get off to a flyer, spanking the wayward bowling of Fry D. and Gater all over the place and racing along at over 6 an over. The introduction of Force-Jones and Fry H. into the attack slowed things somewhat, and no less than three of Spye Park's top order batsmen found themselves victims of Force-Jones' puzzling deliveries. However, with many wickets in hand an a bottomless pit of batting talent at their disposal, Spye Park cruised happily to an enormous 276 for 6 after their allotted 45 overs.
Avebury's response contained the odd bright patch - each of the top five or six hit at least one shot to remind themselves that they can play the game, and the reslience of Force-Jones, Pletts and Bradfield in the tail was admirable - but was for the most part woeful, as the batsmen quailed at the task in front of them.
A charming day out for all involved, but you can't help thinking Spye Park had more fund than we did. Another notable gap in our make-up is the absence of nicknames ending in the letter y. They had Churchy, Huesy, Bealy Hulsey and a host of others, whereas most of our surnames do not necessarily lend themselves to such bolt-ons. Something must be done!
Buscot Park vs Avebury
Date : Sat 12-MayType : League
Result : Abandoned
Avebury score : -
Opposition score : -
"The rain, it raineth on the just, and also on the unjust fella;
But mostly on the just because the unjust steals the just's umbrella!"
Thanks to Ogden Nash for a rain-themed introduction to this abbreviated match report.
Chances of play were always going to be slim with so much rain around, but at least we got a start, being asked to field by Buscot Park and having some success on a very damp wicket, reducing the opposition to 86 for 5 before the rain finally put an end to proceedings.
The only other ray of sunshine in an otherwise damp day was the chance to tuck into an excellent tea organised by the Captain, with a good number of the sandwiches laced with his special "farmhouse" chutney. Mmmm, you can almost taste the oak beams, woodburning stove and flagstone floors in it.
Sutton Veny vs Avebury
Date : Sat 19-MayType : League
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : 165 all out in 42 overs
Opposition score : 120 for 6 in 45 overs
Having lost our first game against the mighty Spye Park and had the next game against Buscot Park abandoned with Avebury in control, today was an important day for our Saturday team to register a win for the first time this season and avoid the moniker "lowly" being tagged to the front of our name in every single Gazette & Herald match report.
On a damp-ish wicket that dried throughout the day, Avebury lost the toss and were asked to bat. As with every single one of our games this year, we failed to bat out the allotted 45 overs and finished on 165 all out from 42 overs, the Chairman top-scoring with a not particularly impressive 42. Sutton Veny's bowling attack was not particularly fearsome, but the irrepressible Rob Nash and his partner in crime "Tesco" Trolley, bowled accurately and didn't give much away.
Sutton Veny made a bit of a hash of their response, and didn't really push hard to end the game quickly, instead getting bogged down against some tight bowling from Gater and Fry D. Wickets fell at regular intervals, and the second string bowling attack of H.Fry and P.Force-Jones did particularly well, conceding just 56 runs from the middle 20 overs. In the end, Sutton Veny scrambled to 120 all out with kingpin Rob Nash top-scoring with 37. All in all a fun day out and a small morale-booster for the beleagured Avebury Saturday side.
Box vs Avebury
Date : Sat 26-MayType : League
Result : Avebury lost
Avebury score : 139 all out in 44 overs
Opposition score : 140 for 4 in 27 overs
I didn't actually play in or watch this game, and know nothing of the details of it apart from what people have told me on the phone, so here goes a completely fabricated match report:
Avebury, missing D.Fry, H.Fry, A.Millward and V.Ogbourne, hosted Box in their fourth ficture of the league season. Avebury batted first on what was presumably the usual slow, low green-top that opponents see fit to comment on time and time again as if it's a real surprise, and stuttered to a completely unimpressive 139 all out, with M.Chatfield and D.Scattergood the only run-makers of note, with 28 and 27 respectively. The Box bowling was apparently unremarkable, save for the efforts of the impressive-sounding Ganguly, who took 4 for 23.
After what was presumably another flawless collection of cakes and sandwiches, Box made short work of overhauling Avebury's meagre total, with the evergreen G.Hayward (who was playing for Box 10 years ago when I played for Marlborough so is something of a veteran for their team) top-scoring with 42.
I am not sure that there is much more to add here. Availability continues to plague our Saturday side. We continue to be grateful to our Sunday players for willingly standing in on a Saturday, and we hope that the prospect of playing in a series of one-sided affairs doesn't put them off too much. Equally, we hope that our Saturday opponents derive much satisfaction from playing us, and we apologise that we don't appear to be able to make much of a game of it these days.
Potterne vs Avebury
Date : Sat 02-JunType : League
Result : Avebury lost
Avebury score : 155 all out in 32 overs
Opposition score : 156 for 2 in 30 overs
With our cricket boots specially modified to take account of the sloping ground, we trooped off to the dank valley hamlet of Potterne hoping to make a better fist of a Saturday fixture than one or two of our previous efforts.
Despite the absence of the legendary, nay mythical, Gaiger brothers, Potterne fielded a strong side led by pugnacious Mr Paul Clarke, whose witty comments and banale banter continue to frustrate opponents, umpires and fellow team members.
Avebury batted first and proceeded to 50 without loss and with few concerns despite a damp pitch with variable bounce. Thereafter, a collapse ensued and despite pockets of resistance from Chatfield, Dix and Rheinberg (who continues to win friends round Wiltshire with his confrontational approach to dealing with sledging from opponents) we only managed 155 all out, and once again did not bat out our allotted overs.
Being a full hour ahead of the scheduled tea break, Potterne went straight out to bat and were immediately on the back foot as the ebullient Clarke was lbw to the first ball of the innings from Gater. Irrespective of the outcome of the game, it was difficult to suppress a smile at this juncture. However, all smiles were soon wiped off the faces of the Avebury players after tea, as Potterne's classy batsmen punished our feeble attack to all parts of their undersized ground, and numerous bowling changes by the skipper failed to uncover any bowler capable of bowling straight on a regular basis.
Potterne polished the game off in the 30th over, much to the delight of their team and the assembled bunch of octogenarian supporters who provide so much "colour" to games at Potterne with their informed commentary and expansive knowledge of the laws of the game.
Swindon Civil Service vs Avebury
Date : Sat 09-JunType : League
Result : Avebury lost
Avebury score : 135 all out in 42 overs
Opposition score : 199 for 8 in 45 overs
Today we played against Swindon Civil Service at their ground in North Swindon - the only cricket pitch in Wiltshire with a sign at the side saying "No Ball Games". We were invited by the rectangular Mr. Spackman to field first, and our opening efforts were much enhanced by the appearance of Mr Vincent Ogbourne for the first time this season. Swindon CS were in trouble at 34 for 4, but were rescued by former Marlborough player Magnus Painter who hit a fine 80-odd. Swindon's total of 199 in their 45 overs always looked like being too much for Avebury, whose ability to chase or even set a decent total this season has been nothing short of woeful.
Despite a solid start from Fry D and Millward, and a flourishing 47 from Neil "The White Chris Gayle" Hollister, the middle order failed to get any runs, the lower order failed to get any runs, and we were all out for an embarrassing 135. To top things off, the Chairman then lost a lot of money at the Newbury races and none of his horses were placed.
So the season drags on, and once again we will be without Vince next weekend, as well as Alex and presumably some others. One of the things on my list of things to do is to write to all other clubs who have suffered similarly in the past and ask them how they kept morale up within the team during such a low period. Answers on a postcard please.
Bath Civil Service vs Avebury
Date : Sat 16-JunType : League
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : 114 for 4 in 29 overs
Opposition score : 113 all out in 37 overs
Avebury won the toss and elected to bowl first in poor weather conditions and on a damp pitch. The bowlers were very much on song, with Gater and Fry D. taking wickets (including a second-baller from Gater to dismiss the Bath CS opener, caught wonderfully one-handed in the gully by D.Bradfield) and the second string bowling of P.Force-Jones and H.Fry strangling the run rate and restricting the Bath CS batsmen. Pete was particularly effective on this damp wicket, taking 3 wickets for 14 runs in 10 overs, with many of those 14 runs coming in his first over. Bath CS struggled to 113 all out, and Avebury went into tea confident of their chances.
Avebury approached the task of chasing a small total cautiously, with one of the Bath bowlers doing all sorts with the ball on a damp pitch which was still very much a pitch to bowl on rather than bat on.
However, after the dismissals of Chatfield, Fry D., Fry H. and Gater, the ship was steadied by Dix with a fine 31 and Rheinberg with a timely 28 not out to steer us home in the 30th over. Huge celebrations for Avebury, recording only their second win this season and offering a glimmer of hope of being able to remain in Division 1 this year.
Calne vs Avebury
Date : Sat 23-JunType : League
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : 142 for 6 in 42 overs
Opposition score : 141 all out in 42 overs
On a damp day when only one other game in our Division went ahead, we were extremely fortunate to get a game in at Calne. Avebury won the toss and elected to field first, and this looked like being the right decision on a damp wicket with the ball swinging and stopping on the pitch. Unfortunately, Gater and Fry D. (and Fry D. in particular) bowled enough wides to keep Calne's run rate ticking over. However, the introduction of Alex "Millers" Milward into the attack, and Pete "The Force" Force-Jones at the other end stiffled the opposition's attacking intent, and allowed us to take control of the game. Our trump card was the belated introduction into the attack of Vasudev "Vasu" Majumdar, fresh from a marathon game of squash in London and several wrong turns in getting to the Calne ground. Vasu bowled straight but also encouraged the Calne batsmen to hit the ball in the air, and his magnificent haul of five for 30 in just 4 overs was testament to some good bowling and some great fielding from the Avebury team, for the second week in a row.
Calne's total of 141 was worth at least 50 more on such a damp day, and certainly the mood at tea-time in the Calne camp was pretty bouyant. Chatfield opened the Avebury innings by taking the game to the Calne bowlers, showing plenty of positive intent whilst Fry D. stooged around at the other end. The demise of Fry D. brought Millward to the crease, who batted very nicely before being run out by a freak throw from the cover point boundary. Dix and Chatfield played very nicely for their 30s, and Rheinberg mixed dogged defence with reckless attack to score 37, the highest score of our innings.
Gater and Hollister saw the vistors home in the penultimate over to give Avebury their third league win of the season and further optimism in the quest to remain in Division 1 for another season.
Once again, Avebury turned in a much improved fielding performance, holding on to nearly every chance and putting the oppoistion under pressure. Once again we were without our opening bowler and our best batsman, and once again we coped admirably and put in a great performance, which merited another team celebration at the New Asia Grill in Marlborough that evening.
The continuing disappointment of the season remains (i) our inability to field a full-strength side, and (ii) the weather, which is as bad as any of us can ever remember. However, with performances like this, we can seek solace in the fact that team spirit remains strong and that results are not as important as this, in the grander scheme of things. Finally, thanks to Calne for being a good bunch of guys and for playing in the right spirit!
Cooper Avon Tyres vs Avebury
Date : Sat 30-JunType : League
Result : Cancelled
Avebury score : -
Opposition score : -
The absence of any cricket at all in the Wiltshire League is further evidence of the fact that this is the wettest June on record, and so no sides made any relative progress this weekend.
Spye Park vs Avebury
Date : Sat 07-JulType : League
Result : Avebury lost
Avebury score : 120 all out in 40 overs
Opposition score : 149 for 7 in 45 overs
Am off to France early tomorrow morning so what follows is more a stream of unconscious thought than a record of events per se. Despite the tow teams being separated by a whopping 80 points in the league table, this game was a far better contest than our first encounter, and looked fairly evenly matched until the last hour when Avebury, chasing a low target and with wickets in hand, capitulated in a most spectacular fashion to the mighty Spye Park.
Earlier in the game, Avebury had bowled tidily on a damp wicket and restricted the turbo-charged, testosterone-filled batting line-up of Spye Park to a miserly 149 in their 45 overs, the last 50 or so runs coming from the last seven. In scoring this total, Spye gave us an object lesson in how not to panic when wickets are falling, with the indomitable D.Beal and the evergreen A.Ellis steadying the ship and refusing to be tempted by the cunning floaters of P.Force-Jones.
Avebury's reply got off to the most awful start, with M.Chatfield skewing the first ball of the innings to an incredulous mid-wicket. D.Fry and A.Milward cruised nicely past the 50 mark, before D.Fry became the first of five consecutive dismissals resulting from poor shot selection, trying to smash the unerringly accurate M.Hulse over the pavilion.
M.Hulse, by the way, is by a country mile the best bowler in this league, and if anyone were ever sad enough to create a fantasy league of Wiltshire cricketers, he'd be in my team any day. As too, for different reasons, would Simon White, whose tea was a marvel of creativity, and a saultory lesson to all other club members in how to make a really good set of sandwiches. White, that doyen of all matters epicurean, insisted on using only the best crumbed ham for his sandwiches, and his prawns are no doubt caught the same day somewhere of the Newquay coast.
Anyway, to finish off the match report, Avebury's innings was nicely held together by the skipper with a fine 32, and H.Fry with a cautious 20-odd. However, R.Gater and J.Rheinberg couldn't deliver another of their match-winning partnerships, N.Hollister was conspicuous by his absence in the middle order, and I am afraid that there is not an awful lot to say about the performances of A.Duncan, D.Bradfield, V.Ogbourne and P.Force-Jones with the bat, other than the fact that Vince and Pete bowled very well earlier in the day and that Adam and Dave fielded brilliantly too, and that on this basis none of them should be too hard on themselves.
All in all, this game demonstrated why, absent some very obvious differences in skill levels, Spye Park are at the top of the league and Avebury are plumbing the depths. With absenteeism set to increase over the next month, and the weather sure to rob us of more cricket, the future looks bleak for us and I only hope we can turn things around in the weeks to come.
Buscot Park vs Avebury
Date : Sat 14-JulType : League
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : 275 for 4 in 45 overs
Opposition score : 273 for 5 in 45 overs
Bottom of the table clashes always have more of an edge to them than the somewhat more pedestrian games that carry on in the upper echelons of cricket leagues, and today's game was no exception. Avebury, fielding a full-strength side for the first time since mid-2005, won the toss and batted first on the best looking pitch we have played on since the beginning of May.
Chatfield and Fry D. looked very comfortable against the Buscot opening bowlers, but unfortunately Fry D. was caught behind off the keepers ample thigh, bringing Henry smartly to the crease. Having gorged himself on some delicious Sunday bowling last week, Fry Junior began at last to exhibit some sort of form with the bat, and he and Chatfield moved things along cautiously but without undue incident. Chatfield's demise brough t Henry's University soul-mate "Millers" Milward to the crease, and the two shared a century partnership, latching on to some wayward bowling and taking full advantage of a placid pitch. Milward's departure brought the skipper to the crease at precisely the right point in the innings, and he set about the bowling in the manner of a greedy aunt at a Christening.
Having raised his bat to acknowledge the first league century by an Avebury player this year, Henry made way for J.Rheinberg, whose gun-slinging batting style was the perfect foil for Dix and allowed the two to push our total to an impressive 275 in 45 overs, thereby establishing another unique first for Avebury - the first time that we have batted for a full 45 overs in a league game this season. Dix ended with 78 not out in around 11 overs, with some clean hitting and a demonstration of what could be achieved on this excellent batting pitch.
Buscot's reply was, for the first 25 overs, somewhat pedestrian, as they sought to keep wickets in hand and avoid unnecessary risks. Fry D. kept himself in the game to run out one of the openers with a lucky hit from mid-on, and R.Gater caught a wonderful catch off Fry D.'s bowling to dismiss Foley, a.k.a. "the Aussie", who was a bit off his chips today. However, this only brought the volatile R.Fernandez to the crease, and what followed was a brutal assault on the change bowlers, with the ball disappearing far over the boundary ropes with depressing frequency and with the Avebury bowlers seemingly incapable of doing what was required, namely to bowl the ball into the pads and stop those dangerous baseball players arms from swinging too freely.
Fernandez brought up his century inside 15 overs at the crease, and Buscot were cruising towards an improbable victory until Fernandez finally fell to R.Gater, swinging another of his left-field slugs into the hands of the Chairman at Cow Corner.
This visibly reduced the tension within the Avebury team (who were increasingly bickering with each other like school children) and effectively put pay to Buscot's chances, with no other batsman in their side remotely capable of repeating the feats of Fernandez. Buscot required 15 from the final over and 6 from the last ball, but some intelligent death bowling from V.Ogbourne prevented Buscot from pulling off their unlikely victory.
Once again, another fantastic victory in a game that either side could have won. Avebury's win gives them a small but valuable cushion in the relegation battle, which is all the more important given that last week's cancelled game with Cooper Avon Tyres resulted in Avebury being awarded a big fat zero, and the Tyre Men clutching their bellies and laughing like hyenas as they walked away with 20 points for their efforts, or lack thereof.
Rough justice? Who knows. Mike Smith assures me that the Committee's decision was unanimous, but one cannot help but feel slightly disappointed by a decision that may yet come back to haunt us. The only thing we can try to do is keep winning, and hope that in the grand scheme of things this ruling turns out to have been irrelevant.
Sutton Veny vs Avebury
Date : Sat 21-JulType : League
Result : Cancelled
Avebury score : -
Opposition score : -
Rained off. Sutton Veny claimed the pitch was waterlogged (their words). Several of us went down there anyway and took photos of the pitch, which was not waterlogged in any meanginful sense of the word. A little damp, yes, but not waterlogged.
A gentlemanly sense of what is right, and a genuine belief that there is nothing we can do about, prevents us from taking the matter any further!
Box vs Avebury
Date : Sat 28-JulType : League
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : 119 for 3 in 36 overs
Opposition score : 118 all out in 36 overs
The last few weeks have been depressing for Avebury's Saturday team. Losing a game we should have won against Spye Park, being penalised for circumstances quite out of our control in our scheduled fixture with Cooper Avon tyres, and having a game cancelled against Sutton Veny who continue to plumb the depths of this division. Yesterday's fixture at Box was a must-win affair, with Avebury needing to turn the season round, avenge an early-season drubbing, and put some distance between themselves and fellow strugglers Buscot Park.
Dix got things off to a fine start by winning the toss and inserting Box. Vince Ogbourne was right on song from the first over of the day, trapping the dangerous (in all senses of the word) Perrin LBW, and generally causing problems with a mixture of pace and swing. Gater kept things very tight at the other end, and the fielding was pretty good all round. Box certainly appeared to have a side packed full of capable batsmen, but the wickets continued to fall regularly throughout the innings, catalysed in part by the introduction of the legendary Force-Jones, who varied his pace cleverly and induced many a false shot, taking three wickets in his mid-innings spell. D.Fry was decidedly off-form, bowling into the wind at the skipper's behest and still struggling with his outswinger which is tending to fly into the hands of gulley, but nevertheless bagged a couple of wickets, before Rob and Vince returned to polish off the late order. The final Box pair demonstrated what could be achieve with the simple technique of closing one's eyes and swinging wildly, and produced the highest parternship of the Box innings, but when this mayhem ended and the home side were all out, there were only 118 runs on the board.
Avebury's reply was inevitably cautious, the middle order noticeably frail without our most prolific middle order pairing of Hollister and Rheinberg. However, after the departures of Chatfield (ugly pull to mid-wicket having batted very nicely), Fry H. (bowled by a horrible full toss) and Millward (a good inswinger from Box's most impressive bowler "Nobby"), Fry D. and Dix saw Avebury home in the 36th over, Dix hitting a breezy 42 not out and Fry D. a dull but ultimately effective 44 not out.
After the massive disappointments of recent weeks it was nice to (i) play, and (ii) win. It will be even better if we can take some of the form into next week's game with Potterne. The icing will be truly on the cake if this game turns out to be good fun!
A word of warning: our pitch may have been irreparably damaged by the Avebury Sportsfield Association's decision to stage a 6-a-side football tournament on the outfield on one of the wettest weekend of the year. Not sure if this is another little wrinkle in the relationship between ourselves and the parish council or the beginning of the end of our use of the sports field, but either way it's a bit frustrating and we need to think hard about how we protect ourselves.
Potterne vs Avebury
Date : Sat 04-AugType : League
Result : Avebury lost
Avebury score : 156 for 9 in 45 overs
Opposition score : 161 for 4 in 37 overs
Sorry, guys, I haven't had a chance until today to write this one.
Memories of amazing games of cricket tend to stick in the mind for years to come, but this wasn't one of them. Avebury batted first and got off to a decent start, but the failures of Chatfield, Fry H. and Millward to score the 20 or so runs apiece that would have turned our moderate score of 156 into a competitive one, meant that the second half of the game was always going to be tough. An unattractive 66 from Fry D., and a swashbuckling 34 from Dix got us into a decent enough position, but with our late order still missing the aggression of Rheinberg we didn't really wag our tail in any real sense. Credit, though, to the last men in who prevented Potterne from getting that extra bowling point.
In the off-season Potterne have acquired two new batsmen, one called Colyer (less impressive) and one call O.Smith (very good indeed) and these two made batting look very simple on a flat, dead track and did most of the work in knocking off the runs for Potterne.
The first high spot for Avebury in the innings was the run out of Colyer, whose habit of taking his gloves off after every single delivery and carrying them (like a handbag) in one hand must surely have contributed to his run-out, the other factor being a fine throw from H.Fry in the deep. The second was the wicket of O.Smith to a looping pie from Gater with the scores level, giving Avebury what might prove to be a crucial extra point.
All in all, not a very memorable game of cricket, but credit to both sides for the spirit in which it was played. With no Rheinberg in our side to start badgering the opposition, and with P.Clarke of Potterne keeping his chuntering to barely audible volumes, this was a game played the way all games in the league should be played, were everyone involved to remind themselves that at the end of the day it is only a game, and that ultimately none of us are actually very good at all (even the good ones).
Swindon Civil Service vs Avebury
Date : Sat 11-AugType : League
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : 231 for 9 in 45 overs
Opposition score : 109 for 9 in 45 overs
M.Spackman arrived at the ground bemoaning the lack of available players for his Swindon Civil Service side. Avebury could claim similar problems but on nothing like as grand a scale - merely the lack of the Skipper (eating snails and frogs legs in some dodgy European country) and the only bowler in our side capable of propelling a cricket ball at more than 63 mph, Vince.
Anyway, stand-in skipper Gater won a good toss and decided to bat first. Chatfield and Fry D. had an easy time of it against a second-string opening bowling pair, but with the score on 41 Chatfield spooned one to mid-off and the spell was broken. Fry H. chopped a ball onto his stumps, bringing Mr.Reliable Alex Millward to the crease. Having played himself in, he and Fry D. managed to push the tempo up a little, pushing singles and taking advantage of the left-hand / right-hand combination to work the ball into the gaps, which were ever-present despite S.C.S.C.C.'s policy of a fielding change after every single ball.
After a partnership of well over 100, Millward was adjudged LBW, and Fry D. followed soon afterwards to a smart catch behind. Gater steadied the ship with Rheinberg and continued to pile on the runs, and following Rheinberg's demise batted well with Hollister and the tail, the highlight of his innings being a drive over extra cover for six.
Pete and Adam saw out the final few overs to ensure we weren't all out, and we went into tea relatively happy despite the opposition skipper's insistence that it was "nowhere near enough [expletive deleted] runs".
In the absence of V.Ogbourne, H.Fry opened the bowling with the metronomic R.Gater. Gater was right on the button from ball one, and H.Fry was getting some nice movement though hampered by the odd full toss which was duly despatched. However, his introduction at the start of the game used up some valuable time in the game, and allowed Fry D. to assume his preferred role as the strangler of the run-rate in the middle overs of the game. But it was the combination of Pete Foprce-Jones at one end and the offspin of Alex Millward at the other that won the game for Avebury, as they continued to give nothing away and turn an achieveable task for the Swindon batsmen into an impossible one.
Despite some notable dropped catches (four in total) the ground fielding (particularly from Pletts, Duncan, Chatfield and Bradfield) was excellent, Neil's keeping (particularly down the leg side) was extremely tidy, and Rob did a great job of setting the field and switching the bowlers around. With the exception of the two opening batsmen the Swindon side never looked particularly enthusiatic about the run chase, and retreated into their shells to such a degree that over 10 an over was required in the last fifteen.
Avebury were disappointed not to have been able to take the final wicket, but can congratulate themselves on a much improved performance over last week, against a side who have beaten us on several occasions in the past. Swindon CS CC will no doubt be upset with the fact that a number of their batsmen were adjudged LBW, but it is worth pointing out that (i) we suffered a similar fate (4 in total) in our innings, (ii) no batsman EVER EVER EVER thinks he is out LBW, and (iii) whatever the decision, the rather petty reaction of refusing to put the wickets up on the scoreboard "in protest" was perhaps one of the least happy incidents in an otherwise great day's cricket, played in good spirit by both sides.
This win brings Avebury one step closer to relative safety in Division One, and we look forward to renewing our battles with Swindon CS next year!
Bath Civil Service vs Avebury
Date : Sat 18-AugType : League
Result : Cancelled
Avebury score : -
Opposition score : -
No surprises for guessing what happened here. It rained. I had to go to Bath later on in the day anyway, and when I did, it was still raining. When I came back to Marlborough, it was raining, and later that night, after I came back from the pub, it rained. The next morning, it started raining again, and so on and so on.
Calne vs Avebury
Date : Sat 25-AugType : League
Result : Avebury lost
Avebury score : 134 all out in 42 overs
Opposition score : 135 for 2 in 32 overs
The season is now well and trully over and I am writing this posthumously, as it were. Once again, Avebury struggled with availability in this end-of-August fixture, with Henry and Vince once again out of action. Nevertheless, a batting line-up boasting Fry D., Millward, Dix, Hollister and Rheinberg should have mustered up something more than the 134 all out that was achieved, and despite strong resistance from Dix with an excellent 65, the tail obdurately refused to wag and once again the village couldn't bat out the required 45 overs.
Calne's reply was solid - their two openers, cashed in on some bowling which lacked penetration and reached the target easily inside 32 overs. After the game Calne told us that their side was under-strength that week and that aside from the two openers there were no other real batsmen in the team, which makes the defeat all the more depressing.
Some games this season have seen us outclassed, in other games we have fallen foul of the weather, but other still have seen Avebury come up with a poor display that belies the talent and experience within the team. Today was one of those days.
Cooper Avon Tyres vs Avebury
Date : Sat 01-SepType : League
Result : Avebury lost
Avebury score : 140 all out in 34 overs
Opposition score : 144 for 1 in 39 overs
A thoroughly unenjoyable game of cricket, albeit on a much improved Cooper Avon Tyres square. Avebury won the toss and decided to bat first. Gater and Fry took advantage of some crummy bowling to race to 30 without loss after 4 overs. Gater and Dix fell quickly, but Millward and Fry stuck around and took the score past the hundred mark. Thereafter, Millward cut straight into the hands of cover point, and Fry ran himself out in a horrible mix up with Rhino. Once again, the late order struggled with the pressure situation in which they found themselves (despite an excellent couple of boundaries from long-lost son Mike Pearce, back in the Saturday side after a year's layoff) and the innings spluttered to a halt in the 34th over with our score on 140.
Cooper Avon made short work of this total against a bowling attack once again shorn of its spearhead (Vince unavailable yet again, having unfortunately only having been able to play in 5 games this year) and looking utterly dejected at the prospect of having to hand yet another easy victory to a very strong side. We have never enjoyed much luck against these guys and despite some decent bowling from part-timers Alex Millward and Greg Dix, the whole thing was "just too easy" for Cooper Avon.
"We polished you off pretty easily there, didn't we?" was the rather damning comment from Cooper Avon tyres skipper and Wiltshire League Sports Personality of the Year Steve "Rendy" (where do they dream up these nicknames?) Rendell. Thanks for that Steve, so kind of you to point out the blindingly obvious.
Friendly Games
President's XI vs Avebury
Date : Sun 22-AprType : Friendly
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : 211 for 6 in 40 overs
Opposition score : 187 all out in 39 overs
Unseasonally hot weather and an unusually competitive contest. In accordance with tradition the captain's team batted first and looked comfortable at 50 without loss, but no batsman really dominated the innings and all of the top five made decent double figure scores before slipping on some banana skin or other. Debutant Alex "Millers" Millward held things together with 29 off nearly as many overs, Dan Kubler hit a brief 20-odd coming in at number 3, and there was the usual exciting stuff from Rhino and Neil in the middle order. The President's bowling was well led by Vince Ogbourne, moving the ball both ways and keeping the batsmen quiet, whilst Guy Perkins continued to wobble the ball around to the frustration of the shotmakers.
The total of 211 after 40 overs was big but not insurmountable - and the same can be said of Carol's excellent Bakewell tart at tea-time.
The President's men slumped to around 24 for 4 in the opening overs of the game as they insisted on playing all round some straight bowling from the Chairman, but the President himself, accompanied by Cornish legend Matt Chatfield, turned things right round for the batting side and tucked into some wayward second string bowling from a weakened Avebury attack. The eventual demise of the President to Dan Kubler was followed by that of Chatfield for an excellent 76, but thereafter the game drifted back in the direction of an Avebury win with some tidy death bowling from Gater and others.
All in all an excellent contest played in great spirit and providing some much needed middle practice for batters and bowlers alike. The Chairman would like to apologise formally for boring everyone to death with his extremely tedious stories about the construction of the cricket net, which is now well underway. The organisation and background planning for this has facility been nothing short of monumental, and it is an interesting fact (or maybe not - Ed) that the Barclays/ABN Amro merger was structured and announced in a shorter time period than it took to get approval for the relaying of the net!
Winterbourne Basset vs Avebury
Date : Sat 28-AprType : Friendly
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : 257 for 4 in 40 overs
Opposition score : 181 for 7 in 40 overs
The White Horse CC are the team formerly known as Winterbourne Bassett, unceremoniously evicted from their ground which they have occupied for the last 23 years by an Austrian Count (perhaps that 'o' shouldn't be there?). Anyway, the team is still going strong and they have found a more permanent base near to Broad Hinton, so at least some good has come of it. All of which brings the reader bang up to date, to this afternoon's fixture at our ground. We won the toss and decided to bat. Rob and John, anxious for some "middle time" strode out to open and did fine until both missed straight balls with their scores in the teens. Henry hit two fours before top-edging one of his trademark pulls, and Greg and Neil then shared a fine partnership of just over 70 in 13 overs before Neil was caught for 44. Greg and Dom had some fun at the expense of some wayward bowling, adding 130 in the remaining 15 overs to take the total to a near-impregnable 257.
White Horse's batting line up looked less robust than in previous years owing to the absence of father-son combination Des and Nicky Clarke, but James Horton looked in good touch and kept the momentum going despite the odd wicket falling here and there to Fry, Force-Jones and Gater, with contributory wickets being achieved by part-timers Chatfield and K Scattergood. Horton's innings was much discussed in the bar afterwards - he was out for 99 in the 39th over - was he holding his team together, or should he have forced the pace to try and win the game? Anyway, it was another good warm-up for next week's game against Spye Park, and with many of our regular team unavailable it's going to be a tough one indeed.
The Badgers vs Avebury
Date : Sun 29-AprType : Friendly
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : 179 all out in 29 overs
Opposition score : 88 all out in 27 overs
William Scott-Gall of the Badgers CC must have thought the gods were smiling on him when the first two deliveries of his opening over, the first of the match, took the wickets of Avebury's opening bat, Matt Chatfield, and number 3, Keith Scattergood. Two other deliveries of the same over disappeared for four, and this set the tone of the Avebury innings, set alight by some swashbuckling batting from Rakesh Pardeshi in his first game for the club, who made a fine 80 from number 4 and held the innings together. Dan Kubler played some nice shots before being brilliantly caught one handed at slip, and Will Thomas fell to an equally good catch for a first ball duck. Some further resistance was offered by the four senior pros at the bottom end of the order (Perkins, Scattergood, Collie and Startup) who contributed a useful forty odd between them. The other major contributor was the extras column, which read a whopping 42 at the close of our innings after just 29 overs. Given that the whole game was being played at warp speed, Collie hadn't had time to finish the tea, but after a short delay where all hands set to the pump, a fine spread was produced and Collie must take huge credit for his insistence in using proper ham rather than its processed counterpart in sandwiches.
The Badgers response to this eminently get-able total was positive, but Startup took the wicket of the opener. Will Thomas bowled well but without any luck, Guy Perkins replaced him and was immediately successful, and Rakesh continued in his fine run of form for the day with four wickets and some good straight bowling, in particular removing the dangerous number 4, Donald, who looked the Badgers' best chance of getting close to the total, Startup taking a smart catch. Force-Jones wrapped up the tail as only he can, and the Badgers were all back in their sett with just 88 runs on the board and 27 overs having been bowled. All in all a fun day of cricket and we hope The Badgers will return next year once they have finished licking their wounds.
Marlborough vs Avebury
Date : Sun 06-MayType : Friendly
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : 202 all out in 40 overs
Opposition score : 172 all out in 39 overs
Both sides arrived at the ground with genuine Sunday sides but with notable additions of Saturday players on both teams. Avebury won the toss, batted, and despite less successful knocks from Kubler, Fry D., and Thomas I., were indebted to a brisk 50 from Dix and a very fine 70 from Chatfield, looking every inch a true Cornish strokemaker as he pummelled Marlborough legend and former Wiltshire prospect Ben Head all round the ground. Despite a loss of momentum later on in the innings, some cameos from Gater, Hollister, Thomas I. and Perkins saw us scramble over the 200 mark.
Marlborough's pursuit was hampered by their decision to bat their best 4 batsmen at 1, 2, 3 and 4. Had they not done so, and allowed some of their juniors up the order too, we would have adjusted our bowling accordingly and allowed them the opportunity to score runs freely on an enormous outfield. As it was, they stuck with their better players at the top and we bowled accordingly. The effect of this was that, once the danger men had been removed with the score at rounghly 100 from 20 overs, their innings lost momentum as junior players were forced to bat in pairs to chase an ever-increasing run-rate.
Credit is due to the tight opening spell from Guy Perkins, the increasingly consistent Will Thomas, and a productive spell from Martin Pletts. In addition, our fielding was pretty good all round, led by Dan Kubler who took two good catches and was in the game for the full 40 overs.
A grand day out at the beautiful Marlborough ground, and a good result for Avebury against a well-matched team.
Minal vs Avebury
Date : Sun 13-MayType : Friendly
Result : Cancelled
Avebury score : -
Opposition score : -
Unfortunately the Minal (or Mildenhall as they are more properly known) game has been cancelled as they have been unable to raise a side this weekend. Another one onto the "monitor behaviour" list then!
Bradford Town CC vs Avebury
Date : Sun 20-MayType : Friendly
Result : Avebury lost
Avebury score : 158 all out in 28 overs
Opposition score : 276 for 7 in 40 overs
Not really sure where to begin with this one, as it wasn't one of our finest Sunday performances. Bradford Town batted first and amassed a whopping 276 for the loss of 7 wickets, thereby almost guaranteeing themselves a victory and killing the game before it had really begun. Avebury were skippered by Matt Chatfield, and whilst credit must be due for his innovative use of 7 bowlers, some concerns were voiced over his decision to grant himself the last 8 overs of the innings from the top end. "All power corrupts", as they say....
The pain of all this punishment was subsequently soothed by a wonderful tea, laid on by Simon "Mighty" White, who had not only gone to the trouble of laying on exotic sandwiches including such delicacies as salami, ham, cheese and tuna, but had also pushed the boat out to bring us, by special request, a wonderful prawn with lemon mayonnaise which was a real triumph.
Unfortunately, this enormous feast did nothing to improve our ability with the bat. Once again, no-one managed even a fifty as Avebury slumped to 158 all out in a pathetic 28 overs, the Chairman top-scoring for the second time in the weekend with 42, which isn't that good when you think about it. A breezy 32 from Dix and 22 from Dave Scattergood, the man for whom the word "cameo" was invented, brightened things up but never looked like being enough to overhaul Bradford Town's total, with the result that we were forced to concede our first loss of the Sunday season.
Rumours continue to fly about that the practice net will soon be up and running, and with performances like we have seen this weekend, it can't come soon enough.
Lechlade vs Avebury
Date : Sun 27-MayType : Friendly
Result : Cancelled
Avebury score : -
Opposition score : -
Due to the early onset of Monsoon season in North Wiltshire, the game was predictably abandoned and we all went off and did "other things" for the day.
The following day we ran a very successful cricket teas event in the Social Centre in aid of the Cricket Club, and raised over ?500 in the process. Many thanks to all who were involved in this event.
Swindon Civil Service (Sunday XI) vs Avebury
Date : Sun 03-JunType : Friendly
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : 199 all out in 37 overs
Opposition score : 163 all out in 33 overs
Under the guidance of Sunday skipper R.Gater, Avebury batted first in beautiful conditions and managed a healthy 199 all out in around 38 overs, thereby continuing the theme of failing to bat out the allotted overs in any form of the game. Aside from a fine 53 from Dan Kubler and 70-odd from a recovering Chairman, only Dix's 22 stood out in a scorecard that otherwise read like a freephone telephone number.
After a home-made tea from Rob Gater that must have considerably swelled the coffers of those master bakers at Mr Kipling's factory, Swindon CS made a slow start in pursuit of the required five an over, and their innings was superbly held together by 70 from D.Wright, their number 3. Wickets fell at regular intervals, and with the exception of the skipper all bowlers picket up one or two wickets, and performances of note coming from Rakesh Pardeshi (when he lands the ball in the opponents half of the pitch), Trev (another 8 overs straight up the hill), Will Thomas (who continues to improve with every game) and Dan Kubler, completeting a fine all-round performance with two wickets at the end.
All in all a fun day's cricket, somewhat marred by an altercation involving a certain A.Gardener from Swindon CS, and a number of Aveubry players. to this day we're not really sure what caused it, but al the same we're very sorry indeed and hope it doesn't happen again.
Anyway, another good win and a good all-round performance, particularly in the field were we looked enthusiastic and cheerful, which makes a nice change!
Marlborough vs Avebury
Date : Sun 10-JunType : Friendly
Result : Avebury lost
Avebury score : 215 all out in 40 overs
Opposition score : 250 for 7 in 40 overs
Marlborough won the toss on this rather lovely early June afternoon and elected to bat first. Despite the loss of early wickets their score began to click along rapidly as a number of their Saturday First XI players tucked into our bowling and started despatching the ball to all parts of our ground, one of them in particular taking great delight in heaving the ball into the adjoining fields and watching as 15 adults ferreted around in 4 foot high grass to find the blasted thing. Marlborough's innings closed at exactly 249 after 40 overs, which looked to be far to many to make the game in any way competitive.
Avebury's response was impressive in terms of its intent and pace. Kubler and Fry D. shared in a partnership of well over 100 in around 12 overs, reducing the required run rate to a very manageable 4 an over for the remainder of the game. Unfortunately the demise of Fry D. for 68 heralded a slow but predictable collapse, although our final total of 215 was pretty impressive given our line-up and the strength of the Marlborough side.
CS Nomads vs Avebury
Date : Sun 17-JunType : Friendly
Result : Avebury lost
Avebury score : 84 all out in 31 overs
Opposition score : 85 for 6 in 29 overs
On aonther damp day, Avebury travelled into mid-Gloucestershire for the first leg of their annual clash with CS Nomads, and Captain Gater decided to bat first. Some rash shots from two of the three Saturday players (Fry D. and Gater), and an awful bounce for the third of our Saturday players (Dix) meant we were in quite some trouble at 34 for 6. However, this allowed a glimpse into the Avebury Cricket Club of 15 years ago, with a fantastic partnership of nearly 50 between Richard Timmins and Martyn Fiddler getting us past any danger of recording our lowest-ever total and into respectability. However, no-one else made any real contributions of note, and the fact that Simon White's score of 3 was (in his words) the joint-fourth highest score of our innings tells you a lot about how everyone else batted.
Our total score of 84 in 40 overs was not impressive, but gave us a glimmer of hope on a tricky wicket with only one batsman in the Swindon CS side likely to cause us long-term problems, namely the irrepressibly Hendy Alleyne. The bowling was opened by Guy Perkins and the Chairman, with the Chairman being particularly cross with his team's poor showing with the bat and stirred into action, taking Hendy's wicket with an inswinging yorker. Perkins, Gater and Startup all bowled well to continue to restrict the flow of runs, but the occassional loose ball meant that Swindon CS were always able to keep up with the undemanding required run rate of just over 2.
Swindon CS managed to get past our total with just 4 wickets in hand, and proved that our total was probably only 20 runs short of being enough to secure a win. Well played Avebury - but not quite enough runs this time!
Bishops Cannings vs Avebury
Date : Sun 24-JunType : Friendly
Result : Cancelled
Avebury score : -
Opposition score : -
No surprises here - the weather continues to borger on the apocalyptic, and the call from Bishops Cannings to say that the game was cancelled was not exactly unexpected. Once again, the weather is the true winner.
Swindon United Churches vs Avebury
Date : Sun 01-JulType : Friendly
Result : Cancelled
Avebury score : -
Opposition score : -
The game was cancelled and that's about all there is to say. It rained - as it has done quite a bit recently.
Swindon Civil Service (Sunday XI) vs Avebury
Date : Sun 08-JulType : Friendly
Result : Match drawn
Avebury score : 228 for 7 in 40 overs
Opposition score : 131 for 8 in 38 overs
On a sunny day in north Swindon, and on a wicket very similar to our own, Avebury won the toss and elected to bat first.
Unfortunately wickets fell swiftly as Timmins and White managed to pick out the able catchers in the field, both being out for 0 against some relatively steady and accurate bowling. Bradfield offered more resistance crafting some elegant strokes before being dubiously (in his opinion) adjudged LBW by an unnamed team mate/umpire. Millward and Scattergood then picked up the scoring with Scattergood offering up his trusty one-shot-fits-all-7-iron-slap which saw the ball race to the boundary several times before he finally holed out to mid-on. Avebury were at this stage, 39-4 from 12 overs. Happily, things started to improve a little after Fry and Millward had scratched around for another few overs, taking the score to about 60 from 20 overs, steady, to say the least. They began to accumulate runs more freely as The Service started to lose focus in the field. Finally the partnership ended after 184 runs (apologies to those waiting to bat) as Fry fell swooshing to mid on. Slough then came in but departed shortly afterwards, still feeling the effects of Saturday night's excesses no doubt. However, at tea, Avebury had reached a healthy 228-6 from 40 overs. Congratulations to Millward on his maiden half century for the club, reaching 87 not out.
As this was a time-game, Avebury declared at tea having eaten heartily (although I hope that runny quiche didn't cause too many technical difficulties after the game) and our strike bowlers Startup and Perkins bowled with precision and class. The Service were soon 4 wickets down with Startup bagging 3 of these with his recently developed 'slider', or was it a 'slinger', or was it a 'slipper'? What ever it was, it worked. Well done Startup, top bowling. Pletts and Slough then brought on a new dimension to the attack - Pletts with his venomous pace which brought him 2 wickets, and Slough with his quite remarkable 'loopers', the highlight of which led to an even more remarkable catch from fielder White at cover point. Scattergood took the final wicket of the day through some astute spin bowling (coupled with a sharp catch from Perkins) but from that point on The Service dug deep and blocked away as they were entitled to in this format of the game (not my favourite). To their credit, we could not take the final two Service wickets despite concerted bowling efforts from Bradfield, young Scott and Millward - but perhaps their rhythm was unsettled by the racket emanating from the (presumably illegal) riding of a (presumably stolen) quad bike adjacent to the cricket field - unfortunately none of the riders fell off.
The Service finished on 131-8 from 38 overs. A 'winning draw' from our perspective I think you'll agree, and a most enjoyable game played in good spirit by both sides. Thank you to all.
Secretary
Fulham Taverners vs Avebury
Date : Sun 15-JulType : Friendly
Result : Avebury lost
Avebury score : 107 all out in 37 overs
Opposition score : 110 for 3 in 36 overs
On a drizzly day at Avebury, we were put into bat by the Taverners, who looked to have fielded a very similar side to the previous year. Their bowling started swiftly and accurately, and it wasn't long before some cracks began to appear in Avebury's armour, with Kubler, Scattergood, White and in-form-Dix all falling within the first 7 overs, leaving Avebury with a pitiful 19 for 4. Perkins and Fry H resisted for a few overs before Perko missed a straight one which brought D Fry to the crease (hot from a tent at the Marlborough Jazz festival). Unfortunately he gave away his wicket softly being caught and bowled off some very tame dobbley bowling (obviously the jazz had bought on a bout of the blues).
Startup then arrived at the crease and began hitting some impressive boundaries before holing out to mid on. Fry H persisted for a little while but was soon out having reached a relatively uninspiring 50. The score was now 104 for 6 and Avebury had very much underperformed so far. There's no happy ending to this either as Pletts, Young Scott, and Force-Jones added little more to the score, being all out for 107 from 37 overs.
In reply the Taverners set about the run chase in a very pedestrian manner as Avebury's bowlers all bowled accurately throughout. However, we never really looked like taking enough wickets although I would like to warmly congratulate Scott on not just one, but two, most impressive catches. Without these the imminent defeat would have seemed far heavier. Thank you Scott, I/we could have done with your catching skills at Buscot Park, a day earlier!
Anyway, the Tav's eventually got the runs after a comfortable-for-them-painful-for-us-and-anyone-unlucky-enough-to-still-be-awake-watching (Kate), 35 overs.
A pleasant game, and we like the Tav's, they're a good bunch. Its just a bit disappointing we couldn't bat very well and offer them more of a contest.
Secretary.
Lavington vs Avebury
Date : Sun 29-JulType : Friendly
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : 95 all out in 35 overs
Opposition score : 92 all out in 35 overs
Plot writers everywhere would be proud of this encounter - full of twists and turns with a happy ending that even cricket aficionados could not have anticipated.
The match started with the men of Lavington in a pre-match "huddle". A routine not yet adopted by the Avebury boys. Inherited from the professional game, this ritual seems somewhat incongruous on a warm Sunday afternoon in downtown Avebury.
In a game scheduled for 40 overs-a-side, neither team had the stamina or ability to last the pace and complete any more than 35 overs.
Avebury batted first on a green top courtesy of previous weeks of rainfall and absolutely no sunshine. The opening bowling combo soon had Avebury in deep doo-doo with a succession of Avebury batters failing to disturb the scorers from their Sunday Papers. Starting the game with only 9 players, Lavington didn't seem to need a full complement to see off Avebury with ease. Absent Lavington players wandered along later to help oversee the full Avebury middle and late order collapse.
Avebury's batting performance of note came from the veteran Guy Perkins who pottered his way to a significant 21. Only two other players, Simon White and Adam Duncan, accumulated double figures. Thanks then must be recorded for achievements of the standing umpires whose keen eyes made "wides" our top scorer in a measly total of 95!
A splendid tea set the teams up for an engrossing second half and a comeback that even George Foreman would have been proud of. Lavington's response started solidly against some steady bowling. Then against all the odds and expectations, Avebury started to take a steady flow of wickets under the careful guidance of captain Rob Gater and the motivational chirping of the effervescent Matt Chatfield. Avebury were seemingly on the verge of victory with Lavington reduced to 65 for 8. Time then to offer up a few boundaries and contrive a thrilling finish. The game was ended by the safe hands of Andrew Blake who caught a skier off the bowling of teamaker Martin Pletts. Wickets were shared around between Gater, Pletts, Startup and Perkins whose "man of the match" contribution also included 3 wickets for only 17 runs off 8 overs. All were ably supported by some unusually athletic fielding and catching. Catchers included Pletts, Blake, Scattergood, Chatfield and Gater who rolled back the years to take the pick of the bunch.
A game that epitomised everything best about friendly village cricket - late arrivals, varying levels of skill, dodgy decisions, good humour, great spirit, a splendid tea and a close finish. Oh, and not a single jelly bean to be found anywhere on the square!
Questions that remain unanswered include.......
* Why were the Avebury batters so rubbish?
* Why were the Lavington moon-ball bowlers so effective?
* How on earth did Lavington's Ed Coope find himself bowling a hat-trick ball?
* How did Dave Scattergood lap Trev Startup in a manoeuvre that Lewis Hamilton would be proud of?
* Was it really such a good idea to employ that heavy skip-lorry to mark out the boundary line?
For all the answers & more, you'll need to wait on my next guest report.
I wait patiently, maybe more in hope than in anticipation, for the next invitation to drop through my letter box.
Disclaimer: Apologies in advance for any inaccuracies in this report that was produced with a fading memory and without the aid of a safety net or scorebook.
Guest Reporter - President
Compton Bassett vs Avebury
Date : Sun 05-AugType : Friendly
Result : Avebury lost
Avebury score : 235 for 8 in 40 overs
Opposition score : 253 for 6 in 40 overs
Things started going wrong for Avebury on the morning of the game. First, a misunderstanding over availability mean that Richard Timmins wasn't available, and Richard Fry bravely stepped in. Second, it started to get hot - 28 degrees by 10AM, and getting hotter. Third, we lost the toss and were invited to field. And finally, through a scientific experiment conducted at tea-time, it was revealed that four out of our ten out-fielders were incapable of reaching the ground from a standing position!
Trev and Martin opened up and were pretty reliable, only Martin throwing up the odd pie to be smashed through a vacant mid-wicket area. Kubler replaced Pletts and served up a similarly curious mixture of excellent deliveries mixed up with the odd rank one. Force-Jones replaced them with the task of "tying up an end", but he too appeared to be lacking his usual control and the merde continued to fly.
The captain's decision to introduce the young Nick Daley at one end nearly looked like a brilliant piece of tactical awareness, as the batsmen hit the ball in the air time after time. Unfortunately, our fielders were either incapabale of catching those chances or of running the necessary yards to make them into chances, and the runs continued to pile up. Gater brought some contol at the end of the innings, but the irrepressible and vast force that is Ben Webber progressed to a fine hundred, and Compton Bassett to a mammoth 252 in their 40 overs.
Avebury's reply started off in a stilted fashion. Force-Jones, who had bravely put his hand up to go in first and kick-start the Avebury innings, couldn't get himself out of his I-am-a-number-eleven-and they-shall-not-get-me out mindset, and found it hard to get the early boundaries that were going to be crucial to the run-chase. Kubler found himself stifled by his partner's form, and this must surely have been responsible for his downfall as he played across the line to a rare straight one. The captain then shared in an excellent stand with Dix, both batsmen hitting the ball all over the place and taking the required run right back down to under six an over. Unfortunately the demise of the captain to an inevitably dubious LBW decision meant that Dix had to try to win the game batting with a long-ish tail, and though he continued manfully for a few more overs, the required rate started to drift upwards, not helped by the departure of the other lynchpin in the batting line-up, R.Gater. Some stalwart defence towards the end from Pletts, Startup and Daley meant that Compton Bassett were unable to complete a comprehensive win, but ultimately they made hay in the first innings and Avebury's men were always chasing the game thereafter.
All in all, a fine game of cricket, and we will look to exact our revenge next year. On balance, the difference between the two sides was in the fielding, where we suffered in the worst heat of the day and did not have enough players capable of (i) bending down, (ii) picking up the ball cleanly and (iii) throwing it to the wicket-keeper!!
Double Wicket Competition vs Avebury
Date : Sun 12-AugType : Club Day
Result : Adam and Dan
Avebury score : -
Opposition score : -
This years tournament took place on a fine August day on a good looking pitch slap bang in the middle of the Avebury square. This year's competition saw a record turn-out, with no fewer than 22 players competing for the glory of winning a competition with (as yet) no official trophy. A slightly complicated set of rules were followed, which I record here not just for posterity but also to allow us to remember them for next year:
1. Each team to consist of two players
2. Each team bats for 4 eight-ball overs, delivered by two different teams (i.e. each side faces four bowlers in total)
3. Wides and byes count against the bowling side and in favour of the batting side
4. When batting, any player facing three consecutive dot-balls changes ends
5. Any six hit between the pavilion and the gate at the North-East corner of the ground will count as a dot ball
6. Any wicket (including run-outs) counts as a credit of 10 points to the bowler, and minus 10 points to the batsman (or Team.
All of the above was backed up by a complicated set of scoresheets devised by the Chairman and to be modified next year to make things easier.
Anyway, back to the action. First pair in was Nick Bryant and Dave Scattergood, who both produced some big shots (including a huge six from Scats) but also got themselves out 3 times, eradicating their hard earned runs and making their score a giant 2. Next up were the "we've got to leave early so you'd better put us together" pairing of Dan Kubler and Adam Duncan, who hit just one boundary but nevertheless scored a very healthy 39, without losing a single wicket. We then witnessed the skills of Matt Chatfield and Louise, with Matt producing some swashbuckling shots and Louise being cautious in defence and refusing to give her wicket away (although she did, just once). We then say Nikki Thomas striding to the wicket accompanied by a reincarnation of Elvis Presley, holding his bat like a guitar and with sequined flares sparkling in the sun. "The King" and Nikki made a fine score of 32, marred only by a couple of (am I allowed to say needless?) run-outs, probably resulting from Nikki being intimidated by having to bat in the company of a rock n' roll genius. Their score of 32 however was bettered by Rebecca Coles and Martin Pletts, who both ran hard between the wickets and only got themselves run out when Rebecca was laughing too much (indeed, her giggling fits resulted in play being suspended for several minutes whilst medics attended to her). Martin in particular played some great shots and didn't once give his wicket away, prompting (not for the first time) comments along the lines of "why doesn't he play like this all the time?". Next up were Rhino and Jo, who demonstrated a superior degree of understanding and telepathy which one can only expect from the only "couple" being paired together in the rankings for today. Again, run-outs played a part in Jo being out 3 times, but some good hitting all the same and good defensive technique from Jo. Many would have put money on Pair Number 7 (Scott and Pete F-J) to run away with the trophy this year, with Pete a previous winner and Scott running hard between the wickets, but unfortunately being out 5 times between them resulted in their 24 runs turning into a negative 26 runs, i.e. they'd have been better off blocking everything! Another strong pairing came in next, with Guy Perkins provided good support for Will Thomas as he hit an impressive 25, and only one wicket falling between them. Another strong pairing of Rich Timmins and Ian Thomas followed them, and they piled on an impressive 36 with no "outs" to peg their score back, pushing them right up to the top of the leaderboard. Rob Gater partnered Josh Bryant in the penultimate pairing, playing cautiously and rotating the strike, with both players hitting proper cricket shots and only losing two wickets. Ann Ogbourne and the Chairman completed an impressive afternoon of batting, with Ann being resolute in defence and the Chairman scoring a free-flowing 41 despite the constraints of batting in a giant bunny costume (photos to follow).
So how did the bowling display go? Well, visitors to the ground today (including the hoards of very puzzled and bemused tourists) would not have witnesssed the finest display ever. All the "proper" bowlers (quite rightly) turned their hands to slow leg spin or the type of lob bowling traditionally seen on an army training ground as new recruits are taught to us hand grenades. But their were a few surprises along the way. Dave Scats, a past master of the "lob" methodology and holding the highest strike rate of any bowler in Avebury CC history, only managed 1 wicket. Nick Bryant, playing in his first game, looked pretty handy despite protestations that he hadn't played for years. Kubler and Duncan bowled tidily, didn't give away too many wides (which were fast becoming the bane of many of the other teams) and picked up a couple of wickets with straight balls. Chatfield showed us that he can really give the ball a rip when he wants to, and Louise was surprising economical...when her deliveries landed within the neighbourhood of the waiting batsman. Nikki Thomas suffered a similar attack of the "yips" mid-way through her spell, but still didn't give away too many boundaries until the Chairman (rather unfairly, in hindsight) "got hold of" her last 5 deliveries which all went for four - a fact which he no feels very guilty about indeed and hopes she doesn't take it personally. Trev's figures of 1 for 12 were no suprise to anyone and wouldn't have looked out of place in his regular Sunday bowling figures. Martin Pletts bowled tidily and straight but still went for too many, whilst Rebecca Coles overcame more fits of the giggles to complete a tidy spell, although again with a bowling action that the ECB and other supra-national official bodies might regard with some suspicion. The same might be said of Jo's action, but her experience (this must be at least her third double wicket competition) seem to give her greater confidence than some of the debutantes, and the two wickets she took (matching the two taken by John) are testament to her growing skills as a bowler. Scott and Pete together conceded a miserly 18 runs from their bowling (the lowest out of any pairing) with Scott in particular looking like a "proper bowler" in his excellent spell. Will and Guy bowled nicely, Will in particular looking better and better with every game and unlike to be caught out by some of the Chairman's sloggery towards the end. Ian Thomas and Rich Timmins were expensive (38 runs off their bowling) but snaffled a couple of wickets and on balance had already done enough with the bat (i.e. by not getting out) to ensure a top-5 finish at least. Josh Bryant looked promising in his first outing for the Club, picking up a wicket and bowling well in tandem with Rob, whose leg-spinners continue to impress and frustrate in equal measure. Ann Ogbourne also had a bit of an attack of the "yips", but the ones that were straight were very good indeed, especially the "triple-bouncer" which (as many bowlers proved today) is a tough delivery to score runs from.
All in all some fine cricket, and particular praise to the girls, whose unbridled enthusiasm, brave fielding (Nikki's near miss at mid-wicket would have been a candidate for catch of the season - pity she chose to hold on to her water bottle instead!) and determined batting put many of us to shame. The eventual winners, Dan and Adam were in retrospect a very sound bet to win this competition - thrown together by the forces of fate (they both had to leave early) they did the basic elements of this particular format of the game correctly, i.e. didn't get out when they batted, and bowled pretty straight when it was their turn to bowl.
As so often happens in these games, cricket was the winner! Thank you very much to all who played, as it means a lot to all of us to have the support and to have a proper fun day out. Watch out for exciting new additions to next years format, including power plays, new target zones, more fancy dress and free hits. We're away at Corsham next week - back to the relative sanity of 40-over cricket!
Corsham vs Avebury
Date : Sun 19-AugType : Friendly
Result : Avebury lost
Avebury score : 243 for 9 in 40 overs
Opposition score : 244 for 4 in 39 overs
A spirited Sunday game played in high spirits despite the grim weather and drizzle that threatened to put an end to the game. Gater, standing in for Fry D. who was still on his way, won a good toss and elected to bat. The Corsham bowling attack was, to put it mildly, conducive to the assistance of those players seeking to play themselves back into form, and our two openers (Fidler and Kubler) took the score to 44 without incident before a horrible mix-up over a run saw Fidler stranded at the non-strikers end. Technically, Kubler was actually run out as Fidler never left his ground, but Martin nobly "took one for the team" and trudged off. Gater came in and looked in good form, smashing his was to 67 with some genuinely nice looking shots, and was well supported at the other end by Kubler, who made 27 before getting out. Dix hit a breezy 19 before succumbing to some cunning lob bowling, and stand-in Corsham player Sam Thomas (is that right?) departed for an unfortunate duck. The Chairman had great fun tucking into a veritable buffet of slow bowling, hitting 90 from 37 balls, and he found some support at the other end with twos and threes being chipped in from Thomas, White, and Scott Nelson. Scattergood and Pletts saw us home with nine wickets down and a robust if not impregnable score of 243.
Scott Nelson and Martin Pletts opened the attack for Avebury, and you'd have sworn they had been put up to something by the opposition as the steadfastly refused to bowl anything resembing a line (or a length for that matter) and the Corsham openers made hay in a most sever manner. There are many ways in which to successfully prevent the opposition reaching your total, but allowing them to get to 87 for nought off the first seven overs isn't in the manual. Dix and the Chairman managed to calm things down, but it was the third bowling pairing of Gater and young Sam Thomas (poached for the afternoon from the hoards of cheeky young whippersnappers who hang round the Corsham pavilion most weekends) who had the most impact, with Sam in particular impressing with his line and length.
Despite the pressure building all the time as the required run rate crept towards the six mark, the Corsham batsmen played brilliantly, oozing class as they picked off the bad balls and ran aggressive singles, trying to disprupt the happy ship that is Aveubry CC. Dix finished his spell tidily once a newer, less damp ball had been found, and Ian Thomas also bowled tidily for a few. However, the Corsham batsmen got there in the end, on the final ball of the 39th over with one of them reaching a fine hundred in the process. All in all a brilliant game played in excellent spirit.
My only concern, as I sat in the car driving back to London that night, was the feeling that Corsham had simply engineered the entire game from start to finish. They bowled dreadfully at us, quite deliberatly, in order to give themselves enough runs to chase, knowing full well that if any of their top order players failed, the mighty force of Pete Dennett and one or tow other senior players would simply come in and destroy our (at times woeful) attack. The batsmen were therefore able to come in and attack us right from the word go, and we didn't really come up with much of a response. Never mind, it was still a great game and the optimists among us stil felt that we had a chance to win it simply by keeping the batsmen at the crease and stemming the run flow. Unfortunately, we weren't very good at stemming the run flow!
Minal vs Avebury
Date : Sun 26-AugType : Friendly
Result : Avebury lost
Avebury score : 152 all out in 38 overs
Opposition score : 200 for 6 in 40 overs
Another day, another post mortem on how we failed to win a game of cricket. Actually, in most cases that question is purely rhetorical, but in this case the answer is quite simple. We tried to engineer a victory whilst making the game as evenly balanced as possible, and it came back and bit us in the arse.
With Mildenhall below strength and missing two players, Avebury (who had 11) agreed to bowl first. Skipper Fry thought he would give everyone a game, using 9 bowlers in the innings and not using himself at all. Despite a wonderful opening spell of two wickets for 1 run in one over from Martin Pletts, the Mildenhall batsmen managed to latch on to some wayward bowling (from some players who were having their first bowl for some time) and achieved a competitive 200 in their 40 overs.
Chasing this target down (especially with 3 Saturday batsmen (Dix, Fry.D and Fry.H) ought to have been the simplest of formalities, but some decent bowling from Nick Parkinson-Hill (a stand-out player in the Mildenhall side) coupled with some careless batting by Avebury saw the home side crumble to a whopping 48 run defeat, the burning pain of which no amount of carping (see above about the fact that the result was engineered) will assuage. Mildenhall beat us, and that's all there is to it.
Bishops Cannings vs Avebury
Date : Sun 02-SepType : Friendly
Result : Avebury lost
Avebury score : 238 for 3 in 40 overs
Opposition score : 240 for 2 in 37 overs
Approaching 500 runs were scored on the day, making a nonsense of the 'green top' with variable bounce.
The delayed start, as players wandered up at their leisure, didn't appear to be a problem. Not until the last 10 overs that is, when the Avebury fielders were peering through the darkness of another so-called summer evening.
Captain Blake won the toss that seemed to take more time than the Tevez affair. Blake finally elected to bat which is what he duly did with 'Skip' Dix.
Buoyed by added responsibility, the normally phlegmatic Blake uncharacteristically swished a few quick runs before succumbing to a straight one. The positive approach continued as Gater joined Dix at the crease. Gater made a stylish 69 and Dix rolled back the years with a perfectly timed run a minute / run a ball century achieved with one ball of the innings to spare. Other occurrences of note were a quickfire knock from Rakesh that even included one rare defensive shot, the customary muscle injury suffered by 'Sick Note' Fidler and a watching brief from Ian Thomas as Dix reached his century with some cultured blows to all corners.
A fine Thomas tea fed the boys in preparation for the normally expected home win over the local Bishops. However, those well laid cakes and plans soon seemed ill preparation as the best left unnamed opening Avebury bowling attack went at almost 10 an over. The 'first change' tandem partnership of Force-Jones & Gater stemmed the flow of runs and brought the overall run rate required back to 5 an over. Gater even took our only two wickets of the afternoon, nay our only two wickets of a losing cricket weekend. He ended up with 2 for 50, ably supported by catches from Rakesh and Bradfield.
Fidler was a source of constant amusement, to all but himself, fielding at Peg Corner. Though even this didn't distract the opposition from their task. Late tidy bowling from Dix and Thomas couldn't prevent the inevitable as the Bishops' blend of youth and experience sauntered past the Avebury total with overs to spare. A deserved victory, firmly based on the excellent bowling and batting with one young opener looking a particularly fine player.
The game was played in excellent spirit and enjoyed by all. Except maybe by some of those on the ever growing list of walking wounded � Fidler (hamstring), Thomas (side), Gater (ribs & ankle), Pletts (hand) and Bradfield (headache). An updated medical bulletin will be supplied with the next match report.
Disclaimer: Apologies for any factual inaccuracies as this report was compiled in the dark without access to the lead on paper record.
Guest Reporter
Corsham 20-20 vs Avebury
Date : Sat 08-SepType : 20-20
Result : Avebury won
Avebury score : -
Opposition score : -
"It's twenteh-tweenteh! Are you readeh!" so say the tuneful Caribbean singers on Sky Sports intro to the Stanford 20/20 competition. But why should those calypso boys have all the fun? Why not enter a team into Wiltshire's own calypso run-fest, brainchild of Corsham Sunday skipper J-P Storey?
The Corsham 20/20 competition is evolving. From its roots as an end-of-season thrash, suddenly "proper" cricket teams are expressing an interest. This year's tournament saw us pitted against Goatacre and Marlborough in a "regional" grouping, with the mouth-watering prospect of a place in Sunday's "finals day" the prize for the winners of each group.
Once of the great things about the tournament is that, if you lose out on this particular prize, all is not lost - you can still play a 40-over friendly against one of the other teams. And it was on this that Avebury pinned their hopes for the weekend, being keen to have a regular Sunday fixture after the mayhem of the Saturday game.
The first game of the day saw Marlborough take the field (with a very young side and only 1 first team player) against Goatacre. Murmurs of surprise were heard around the ground when it was pointed out that Goatacre's opening batsman Liam "Dorse" Dawson plays for Hampshire and England, making a mockery of poor old J-P's carefully crafted "seeding" policy for senior players. Basically, the two Goatacre boys ran riot against some wayward bowling and racked up a good 212 runs which Marlborough found difficult to chase.
Avebury then took on Goatacre in the next fixture. Avebury batted first and scored 120, thanks to decent knocks from Fry H., Dix, Fry D., Charlie Campbell and Rob Gater. Having just scored nearly double this score in the previous game, Goatacre clearly weren't too worried about the task ahead of them (even talking in the interval about team selection for finals day) and there was a certain amount of carelessness in the way in which they went about the task, losing early wickets to an excellent opening spell from Gater and Fry.D.
The second string bowling of Dix, Fry.H. and Campbell bowled brilliantly, and whilst Goatacre's long batting line-up kept easily up with the run-rate, mistakes started to creep into their game, including an absolute howler in the final over where they miscalculated the number of runs required for victory, believing (as I think we all did) that a tie would suffice. However, once their celebrations (and our own at having not made the finals) had died down, a close insspection of the rule book revealed the fact that, in a tie with the same number of wickets lost, the side scoring the most runs after 10 overs (in this case Avebury) should be declared the winner.
This was news to all of us, and as we basked in the glory of a surprise victory against these giants of Wiltshire cricket it dawned on us that victory against Marlborough in the final game would see us through to tomorrow's "Finals Day" rather than the 40-over friendly at Box that we had all been planning for.
So it was with mixed feelings that we racked up an unassailable 147 against Marlborough (again, good contributions from Rheinberg, Fry.H, Dix, Gater and Fry.D, as well as support from Alex and Josh Milton) and restricted Marlborough to 110 in reply. The game itself was failrly unremarkable - Marlborough had lost the services of two of their senior players leaving them with an even weaker eleven - but some encouragement was taken from the bowling of Alex Milton, the all-round talents of Charlie "CC" Campbell, the outfielding of Greg Dix and in particular Adam Duncan, and the solid glovework of Dave Bradfield, allowing Neil Hollister to turn his arm over.
The post mortem in the bar at the end of the game (by now devoid of any Goatacre players - another problem in the formatting of the competition) revealed availability problems for many of Avebury's eleven for an early-morning fixture at Corsham. However, some willing volunteers stepped up for the job.
Corsham 20-20 vs Avebury
Date : Sun 09-SepType : 20-20
Result : Avebury lost
Avebury score : -
Opposition score : -
Following Saturday's surprise win a somewhat depleted Avebury side took to the field the following day at Corsham for the first of the "Semi-Finals" against the hosts, Corsham.
As the day unfolded, it became apparent that all teams reaching the finals had struggled to put out a full-strength side for the Sunday games, with the exception of Corsham, who had some extremely strong players in their ranks. As a result, the game between Avebury and Corsham was something of a formality in terms of the result, but huge credit should go to Avebury for reaching a creditable 82 for 7 in their 20 overs, facing up to some good bowling from players playing 6 or 7 divisions above them.
In short, no 20/20 trophy for Avebury this year, but a roller-coaster ride to finals day, and the joy of a couple of wins after a five match losing streak. Come on the village!
Second Report
Heroic tales of the previous day's Avebury quarter-final victories coloured the otherwise subdued atmosphere of a very early Sunday morning gathering of Avebury men, dressed for the occasion, in white outfits. Unlike the Corsham boys who posed for team photos still dressed in their green and yellow jimjams!
No bedtime stories for the Avebury openers though – just an unrelenting flow of well directed pacy deliveries. 'Skip' Dix and 'Rhino' squirted double figures onto the radio controlled scoreboard before the first over was out... and thoughts turned momentarily to arrangements for the 'cup winner's' open-top bus tour around the Stone Circle.
Then the wheels fell off the Avebury bus as a succession of partners failed to provide any real support to 'Skip' who was later heard to mutter, not for the first time in his career, "..my batters let me down.." . Dix bashed 36 including a big fat juicy 'maximum' over long on.
The rest of the lads clubbed together to make just 32 between them to enable Avebury to reach a creditable 81 runs off the allotted 20 overs.
Workmanlike Avebury were no match for Corsham's Collier, Collier & Coles who motored to their destination in only 12 overs, without the need to reach for a second gear.
Well beaten by a stronger team, the occasion was enjoyed by all. If only we could have lasted until the 'free lunch' that was served up after the second semi-final. By that time though many Avebury players had returned home to do whatever it is we normally do on a Sunday morning.
Thanks are due to Corsham for organising the event and hosting the finals. What a pleasure to play at such an attractive ground with such wonderful facilities. Corsham are a very strong set-up & very nice people. I hope they invite us back again next year. If you only play in one fixture in 2008, make it away to Corsham.
Guest Reporter
Spye Park vs Avebury
Date : Sat 15-SepType : Friendly
Result : Avebury lost
Avebury score : 140 for 9 in 40 overs
Opposition score : 141 for 5 in 34 overs
A beautiful day at Avebury saw the home side bat first which soon looked like quite a bad idea when our guest player, Josh Bumphrey lost his wicket early on as he drove straight to mid on. Millward and Fry then stabilised things for a short while before Fry called an optimistic single and was pretty well half way down the pitch by the time Millward expressed some concern at his decision and told Fry simply 'No!'. Sadly Fry was run out. Milton M then came in and was looking in good touch (given his lack of time at the crease this summer), batting well with Millward until Millward attempted a leg side shot to ball that pitched on off and hit middle. Dix was then bowled out by a full toss and it was left to the 3 Miltons - M, A, and J to battle it out - to their credit the combined Milton effort added valuable runs to the Avebury total - and we are sorry we don't see them more often! Other net contributors with the bat included Ogborne, Young Scott and Pletts (with his best ever score - thanks to a brand spanking new bat?). Anyway, after some good resistance from our lower order, we reached a reasonable 140/9 from our 40 overs but should have done better higher up the order shouldn't we Greg, Alex M, and Henry?
Spye started off batting very well indeed with one of their young bucks spanking Ogbourne for a fine 6 in his first over, the following delivery was the fastest I've seen a steaming Ogbourne bowl and it cut the batsman right in half, unfortunately bouncing over his middle stump - oh yes, it also hurt keeper Greg's fairy soft hands. Anyway, Spye made good progress from the start and always seemed to be ahead of the run rate and were confident enough to play their strokes throughout. Avebury made a couple of break throughs with good bowling from Josh Bumphrey, Josh Milton and Pete Force-Jones. Once again, we all witnessed another brilliant catch from Young Scott, who seems to attract the ball wherever he fields. I think Spye got the total with half a dozen overs to spare and for the loss of only 4 or 5 wickets. However, everyone 'did something' and I suppose that's what it's about, participating. The stronger team won and there was little we could do about it - our bowling attack was good on paper, but couldn't defend such a lowly total. A pleasant enough day in the field.