After 3 straight league defeats, Itchington badly needed a win on their travels to Woodbourne. Roger Eadon spent the car journey persuading the skipper to bat first, and then promptly changed his mind when he saw the home side’s wicket. Clark lost his first toss of the season, and on one of the hottest days of the year so far, the visitors were invited to bat on a green strip freshly cut and marked out.
Clark shuffled the batting order, after chatting with Tom Perks in the week, and not only did it pay off, it was a major difference between the 2 sides. Perks batted the whole innings, only getting out in the last over, after making an excellent 103. He played positively and correctly and this innings will stand him in good stead for the future, and at the moment he is the first name on the team sheet.
Eadon was the first to go with the score on 26 and after 20 over’s, Itchington were 69 for 2. Perks continued to bat well, and was again very well supported by James Clark, who had an excellent afternoon. He made another solid 41, before Alex Jack came in, and for a spin bowler looked a class act with the bat, and was in excellent form, making 41 with some exquisite leg side shots, to rally the total to 230 for 5 in the allotted 45 over’s.
Montgomery picked up 2 wickets in his 10 over’s as did Rooney, and to be fair to Woodbourne the pitch played a lot better than Clark first thought. The fielding side stuck to their task in the heat and 2 drinks breaks were also required.
Even though 230 was a good effort, if Itchington were going to bowl like they had done in the previous weeks, there was still much to do. Early wickets were the order of the day, and that’s exactly what Chalky White served up, taking 2 for 19 in his opening 5 over spell, although Cleary he is an injury doubt for next week, as he was unable to bowl again due to a back injury. Montgomery had a good all round game for the home side, making 59 before being caught by George “Bucket hands “Insall. Eight Woodbourne batsmen failed to make double figures as the 5 Itchington bowlers plugged away. The skipper hobbled through his ten over’s taking 3 for 23 after fielding like the 42 year old he is!..And that was after intercepting the ball with his right foot instead of the hands. Richard Cressey was back to his old self bowling well, as did Andy Wood.
A win is a win, and 20 welcome points were taken back to the Green Man…However that’s all it is, and with many hard games in front of them, Itchington need to improve in the fielding department and several chances again went down. Richard took an excellent chance in the covers to dismiss Jenkins but others were not so successful. Itchington looked a bit a laboured in the last half hour in the field, but after getting through the top order it was only a matter of time before the win came, and in the heat we shouldn’t complain
All in all it was a good day at the office…. the skipper is an injury doubt for next week as is Craig, so selection could be delayed this week for the home tie against a strong Bidford upon Avon side. The first win of year was a welcome one, and let’s hope for many more……4 down 14 to go…. we shall see.