AMERSHAM CC

Scorecard

High Wycombe 2 v AMERSHAM CC Saturday 1st X1 on Sat 22 Aug 2009 at 12:30
AMERSHAM CC Won by 1 wicket

Match report LINES LAUNCHES AMERSHAM OVER THE LINE

Amersham won their game against High Wycombe 2nd XI on Saturday by 1 wicket with 1 ball to spare. Considerable discussion after the game focussed on how many of the 99.5 overs Amersham could have been considered favourites for. Opinions ranged from a maximum of 25 overs to a minimum of 3 balls. Either way, Amersham were not in command of this game in the way that they have been in command of many games this season, but the result was the same.

On a pleasantly warm day the players were greeted by a firm track on one edge of the square, meaning there was a 40 yard boundary on the river side of the ground. Amersham were able to revert to their strategy of choice after Luke Jackson managed to win the toss for the first time in a month, and asked High Wycombe to bat. The fate of 2nd IXs is to fall victim to selectorial & availablity issues from the 1st XI and it soon became clear that the easy 8 wicket win recorded against High Wycombe 2nd XI 2 months ago was the product of precisely that.

RObbie Jones (64) batted very steadily for his 64, while his opening partner, Jon Stevens (34), was the primary aggressor in an opening partnership of 79. Alex Lines (3-56) & Chris Cann found rhythm hard to come by early on, and the extras count mounted as quickly as the runs off the bat. Andy Viney eventually induced an outside edge from Stevens which brother Rob gratefully accepted behind the stumps. The 2nd wicket partnership, between Jones & Ali Birkby added a further 52 before Birkby was trapped LBW shuffling across his stumps by David Atkinson (5-56). For the remainder of the innings the balance between bat and ball was fairly even and wickets and runs were traded. Atkinson plugged away from the town end and collected a complete set of possible dismissals-Robbie Jones was stumped by Rob Viney, Jack Scriven & Lee Hardy were bowled and Paul Robinson was caught in the deep by Chris Fleming to add the the earlier LBW decision.

Alex Lines returned to claim three wickets. The names in the scorebook suggest they were classic seamer's wickets-ct Owen b Lines ought to indicate a catch at second slip, not a skier held at deep third man, whilst it is unusual for an opening bowler to claim a stumping.

236 was undoubtedly a competitive total, but the Amersham players felt that they had done well to fight their way back into the game after a poor start. However, much of this good work appeared to be undone when Chris Fleming & Chris Owen fell before the score reached 20. Chris Cann's dismissal with the score on 40 was a further blow, but this brought Luke Jackson & Rob Viney together. Jackson was in belligerent mood and launched a vigorous assault on the Wycombe bowling. His 67 contained 13 fours and a six and swung the game back in Amersham's favour. However, his dismissal was followed too rapidly for comfort by that of Andy Viney and Hugh Jackson, leaving Amersham on 156-6, still 79 short of victory. While all this was going on Rob Viney was batting serenely at the other end. His watchful defence and ability to despatch the bad bal to the boundary was invaluable and his 62 ensured a sense of stability throughout the Amersham innings.

The Amersham tail is made up of the bowlers who displayed the resilience earlier in the game, and they brought the same characteristics to bear on the run chase. Abhay Mayer, whose 31 was crucial, put on 17 with Rob Viney, and then a further 32 with Tom Dixon. Alex Lines then joined Dixon and got off the mark with an enormous 6. Dixon fell with 12 still needed and 8 balls remaining. David Atkinson managed not to get out to either of the first two of these, leaving Lines to decide what to do with the last over. His intentions were clear when he drilled the first ball hard and flat to long off. The fielder dropped the catch over the boundary for another 6. The second ball was either well left (if you are the batsman) or beat the batsman ( if you are the bowler), but the third followed the first over the boundary, for four. Scores now level, Lines punched the 5th ball past square leg for four more to win the game.

This maintained Amersham's third place in the league, 22 points off the top of the league, and they visit local rivals Chesham next week in the penultimate game of the season.

High Wycombe 2 Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 9 wickets
0
236 (0.0 overs)		     
J Stevens ct  R Viney b A Viney 34
R Jones st  R Viney b Atkinson 64
A Birkby lbw  Atkinson 25
M Lance ct  Dixon b Lines 43
J Scriven b  Atkinson 0
S Bird ct  Owen b Lines 25
P Robinson ct  Fleming b Atkinson 0
R Curzon Thompson st  R Viney b Lines 12
L Hardy b  Atkinson 1
F Higgins Not Out  2
R Baker Not Out  1

AMERSHAM CC Saturday 1st X1 Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Alex Lines11.0056318.675.09
Chris Cann6.003000.005.00
Andrew Viney5.0127127.005.40
Tom Dixon7.012000.002.86
David Atkinson16.0256511.203.50
Abhay Mayer7.003200.004.57

AMERSHAM CC Saturday 1st X1 Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 9 wickets
0
240		        
Robert Viney b  Curzon Thompson 62 1 2
Chris Fleming ct  Lance b Bird 5 1
Chris Owen ct  Higgins b Bird 0 1
Chris Cann b  Bird 9
Luke Jackson Run out  67
Andrew Viney ct  Lance b Curzon Thompson 18
Hugh Jackson lbw  Curzon Thompson 0
Abhay Mayer ct  & bowled Birkby 31
Tom Dixon ct  Lance b Curzon Thompson 10 1
Alex Lines Not Out  24
David Atkinson Not Out  0

High Wycombe 2 Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
P Robinson9.016100.006.78
S Bird9.0342314.004.67
R Curzon Thompson15.0155413.753.67
A Birkby14.5171171.004.79

  • Umpire :
    League
  • Scorer :
    Peter Davies