AMERSHAM CC

Scorecard

AMERSHAM CC Saturday 2nd X1 v Wooburn Narkovians on Sat 25 Jul 2009 at 13:30
Match was Drawn

Match report AMERSHAM WALKING WOUNDED NARKED OFF BY WOOBURN'S TACTICS
A very positive all round performance by Amersham on Saturday culminated in a draw as the fear of giving up ground in the league overcame Wooburn Narks and they just managed to avoid a deserved defeat.
With a damp track, a slightly depleted batting line up, and an opposition top of the league, what do you do first on winning the toss - obviously bat!! (the fact that 25 points was a must and their star bowler was missing also had a little to do with the gung-ho decision)
3 hours later the skipper was vindicated
Ketteringham, returning from last weeks promotion and continuing to wonder whether the 1's have a secret handshake he is yet to learn, batted again as the cricket equivalent to morse code - 4,1,4,4,1,1,4. He may be communicating with some higher cricketing being but, if he is, Luke is not understanding it - his whirlwind innings of 37 comprised of 8 fours and 5 singles and came to an abrupt end when caught down the legside off White (2-75)
Chris Cowley on the other hand, looking to stick two fingers up at the skipper having been dropped but re-instated in the week, could be seen listening to his Roy Castle Motivational CD via Ipod before batting. His 52 took just over 40 overs and was the perfect foil to the strong hitting that followed. A well crafted 50 that kept Amersham's innings on track and included many good looking strokes.
Burglar Weston, got in and got out pretty quickly (one day he'll get the 30+ he deserves) whilst Palmer stroked a quickfire 23 with fierce strokes and cheeky singles.
The impetus to get the innings above 200 came from a likely, and two unlikely, sources. Ward got 50* - need i say more. In fact i may as well just cut and paste from every other report this year! His average is now close to 328 and his steady climb up the order will see him opening the batting by the end of the season i am sure.
The unlikely sources are much more interesting. Emsley has allegedly been "studying" over the last few weeks for his Accountancy exams. Rubbish - the only thing he can have been reading is the MCC coaching manual. He was awful at batting before he went away, he was brilliant on Saturday. A well crafted 20 with shots both Boycs and Botham would be proud of was ended as the push was really on.
The Skipper was the other surprise element. Having almost put the bat through the shredder last week the 16 off 7 balls he scored restored a little of his faith. The second of his sixes took the score above 220 in 50 overs and prompted the declaration
Then the injuries set in
Using the old ball, Ash and Dixon opened up but with little effect. Dixon could not make the ball swing as much as with the new and Ash erred in length a litle too often.
Much was made of the pre-game warm up with plenty of ground fielding, unfortunately there was little catching practise - an error that won't be repeated when Sidebottom (1-16) is next in the side.
Four dropped catches, one of them admittedly tricky, by Sidey not only let the Narks off the hook but also prompted an evening in hospital. A well struck straight shot became a "little big" on the Ron Weasley lookalike and the sight of glasses exploding with lenses popping out will remain with all who saw it for some time. To his credit he got up and finished the over - apparantly bowling blind improves your sense of direction and length!
Sidey's removal from the attack, and field, prompted the new ball being taken and Rogers and Ward got to work on the top order.
The Ginger Exterminator White (15) was removed by Rogers whilst the dangerous Pidgeon (39) was well caught in the gulley by Palmer off Ward (1-25). With the top order gone it appeared victory would be a cake walk but unfortunately even with consdierable bowler rotation the wickets required just did not fall.
The Narks batted for the draw from about 25 overs out so a dull afternoon was intermittently lightened by watching the older members of the team injuring themselves - Ward - Hamstring, Weston - Achilles, Skipper - Calf.
Dixon (2-28) returned late in the day to create some excitement, whilst Rogers (3-15) probably bowled his least dangerous spell of the season yet picked up wickets.
A disappointing end to a good ACC performance.
We are by no means out of it but do require a run of victories starting next week away at OMT's
PS Sidey is OK, i saw him being given catching advice by the Under 8's at Shardeloes on Monday night
MoM - Cowley
TFC - Sidey
Thanks - Jack Rogers for stepping from a winning side to a drawing side

AMERSHAM CC Saturday 2nd X1 Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 5 wickets
0
226		        
Elliot Ketteringham ct White 37 1
Chris Cowley ct & Bowled Barker 52 1
Paul Weston ct White 13
Neil Palmer lbw Ashford 23 2
Duncan Ward Not Out  50
Steve Emsley b Barker 20
Matthew Ash Not Out  16
Glen Saffery  
Tom Dixon  
David Sidebottom  
Stuart Rogers  

Wooburn Narkovians Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
J White17.0275237.504.41
R Barker15.0362231.004.13
C. Ashford15.0353153.003.53
T Lees3.002700.009.00

Wooburn Narkovians Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 8 wickets
0
142 (0.0 overs)		     
P. Cooper lbw Sidebottom 17
O. Pidgeon ct Palmer b. Ward 39
J. White ct Ketteringham b. Rogers 15
T. Lees Run out  8
I. Cuthbert ct Palmer b. Rogers 13
D. Jordan lbw Rogers 0
R. Barker lbw Dixon 24
M Sharma Not Out  0
R. Furlong ct Cowley b. Dixon 6
A. Johnson Not Out  0
C. Ashford  

AMERSHAM CC Saturday 2nd X1 Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Tom Dixon11.0328214.002.55
Matthew Ash13.044200.003.23
David Sidebottom4.0016116.004.00
Stuart Rogers9.021535.001.67
Duncan Ward11.0225125.002.27
Steve Emsley2.02000.000.00

  • Umpire :
    Greg Theaker
  • Scorer :