Long Itchington Cricket Club

Team Selected

1. G. Foster (Capt.)
2. D. Buchholz
3. T. Crosthwaite
4. R. Eadon
5. S. Franks
6. A. Jones
7. S. Parsons
8. J. Rogers
9. A. Smith
10. N. Smith
11. S. Wood

Team Selected to play at Rowington 30th April 2.00 PM Start.
Please be at the pond for 12.55

1. Nick Brookes – Captain
2. James Clark (wkt)
3. Tom Perks
4. Alex Jack
5. Martyn Rawbone
6. George Insall
7. Steve Rawbone
8. Martin Clark
9. Andy Wood
10. Steve Chapman
11. Mat Cox

Long Itchington C.C. vs. Hunningham C.C – Sunday 24th April – 40 Over Friendly

First home game of the season saw L.I.C.C. play host to local side Hunningham C.C.
Home skipper Steve (Tino) Chapman once again lost the toss and was asked to lead his side into the field against an initially weakened side. With a late arrivee and a guest appearance from a potentially dangerous Steve Franks, Hunningham were up to 11 and ready to set the home side a hefty run chase.
Openers Staniforth & Hills walked out to the middle but unfortunately for Hills he was soon walking back to the pavilion after wafting his bat at a full length out-swinging delivery from river end opening bowler A. Smith.
Out came Bowman after the early wicket and together with Staniforth the two rebuilt the away side’s innings albeit relatively slowly. With the score on 59 at drinks Hunningham knew that once they resumed the gears would have to be shifted if they were going to set any sort of a total, but with only 1 wicket down anything up towards 200 was still very much possible.
Another poorly timed effort into the offside bought the Home side their second wicket, this time the shot managed to evade the ready hands in the field only for a misjudged second run to be called and a throw directly over the stumps found Bowman well short of his ground.
After Bowman’s dismissal some very tidy bowling saw very little resistance from the remainder of Hunningham’s batting order, apart from the guesting Franks (16), as they fell to 130 all out off 36.2 overs.
No rush during the tea interval was much appreciated as everyone thoroughly enjoyed the spread provided. Big thanks going to Mrs Coop for setting the bar very high!
G. Foster & M. Rawbone opened up the innings for the home side looking to make early inroads into what was a modest target, one that was still defendable if the bowling was tight enough.
Things certainly started that way as the first 4 overs went by with only 2 runs being scored and most importantly for hunningham the departure of Rawbone who got a leading edge to a low full toss from Maskell, who bowled well for his 6-2-16-1.
Other opening bowler Mesling seemed to have problems with his run up and as such his spell ended at 3 overs bringing young leg spinner Wright in to the attack. His introduction accounted for C. Coop who managed to leave a straight one after scoring just 4, leaving L.I.C.C. on 25 for 2 and in need of some stability.
Ask and ye shall receive as J. Rogers joined Foster at the crease and the two played well to take the home side onto a healthier looking 74 for 3 as Rogers departed bowled by Hills.
For Hunningham that was to be the last of the wicket taking as W. Grindal came in at 5 and with some solid defence and some nicely timed shots from both batsmen, Long Itch cruised to a 7 wicket victory with more than 6 overs to spare.

Long Itchington Performances
Batting – G. Foster 54n.o.
W. Grindal 34n.o.
Bowling – A. Smith 6/1/14/2
P. McKenna 5/1/15/2
C. Coop 5/0/20/2
A. Wood 8/2/8/1
S. Rawbone 5.2/1/10/1

Long Itchington C.C. vs. Tanworth in Arden C.C – Sunday 17th April – 40 Over Friendly

Bright sunshine and an enthusiastic Tanworth in Arden team greeted Long Itchington on their first outing of the season in a 40 over a side friendly.
After losing the toss away skipper Steve Chapman (Tino) and his team were asked to bat first on a good looking track which turned out to have a bit in it for good displays of either discipline.
Opening pair Tom Perks & Alex Jack got Long Itch off to a steady start putting 39 runs on the board off the first 10 overs despite a good opening spell by bowler Lacey.
Unfortunately for Jack his 13 of the opening partnership was as far as it would go as he was dismissed LBW in the 11th over by Tanworth Skipper Pearce. More steady bowling saw Pearce add to his wickets column dismissing Clarke for 11 in the 15th.
With the score at 61 for 2, Steve Franks joined Perks in the middle where the two of them put on 54 runs in 10 overs and during their half century partnership Perks made his first half century of the year including a beautifully timed straight drive for 6. Franks was dismissed in over 26, caught behind off the bowling of Aston Snr leaving Itchington on 115 for 3.
Without ever really taking a firm grip on the game thanks mainly to some good bowling, Perks saw himself to 85 before giving Pearce his 3rd wicket of the game via a smart catch at cover & Long Itch finished their 40 overs on 180 for 7.

After a well-earned tea break the home side embarked on their quest for the 181 runs that would win them the game.
Things did not get off to a good start for the home side as Carl Elkerton dismissed opener Robb completely bamboozling him into playing a very loose shot ending with a comfortable catch for Man of the Match Perks.
The other Pearce joined opener Carey and they slowly rebuilt Tanworth’s innings, taking them on to 57 from 15 overs. At this stage Nick Brooks and Skipper Chapman were into the attack and in Chapman’s third over opener Carey fell to an attempted sweep that was caught at short fine leg by Brooks.
Success in the third was followed by double success in the fourth as Chapman took two wickets in two balls bowling both Braithwaite & Patel.
The start of potentially a match winning partnership was then forged as Hill Joined Pearce and they more than got the home side back on track taking them to 142 for 4 from 32 overs.
With Chapman throwing the ball around searching for a breakthrough, that man Perks popped up with the perfect Yorker to clean up Pearce’s middle stump and with it a way back into the game.
Perks also accounted for the Tanworth skipper as he top edged a bouncer and was caught comfortably by Brooks running round from mid-wicket.
With the game still very much in the balance the returning and extremely impressive Elkerton and Alex Jack reduced the home side to 162 for 9 as the tail was struggling to wag but importantly for Tanworth, Hill was still at the crease and the 19 required from the last 2 overs was still possible.
Jack & then Elkerton both held their respective nerves as Tanworth fell 5 runs short of Itchington’s score, needing a 6 off the last ball to tie the game, only managing a single.

Both captains’ shook hands after the game agreeing that either side could not have had a better first game of the year regardless of result, a result which could all so easily been reversed.
Both teams showed a great amount of enthusiasm and resilience during the game, traits which should stand both teams in good stead for the upcoming season.

Long Itchington Performances
Batting – T. Perks 85
S. Franks 23
Bowling – S. Chapman 6/1/27/3
C. Elkerton 8/4/17/2
T. Perks 4/1/19/2
A. Jack 4/1/8/2

U15 K.O. Cup – Quarter Finals – Thursday 9th June 2011 – Start Time 18:30 - 20 Overs

Long Itchington U15 vs Yelvertoft U15

U13 K.O. Cup – Preliminary Round – Tuesday 10th May 2011 – Start Time 18:00 – 18 Overs

Long Buckby U13 vs Long Itchington U13

U13 K.O. Cup – Quarter Finals – Tuesday 7th June 2011 – Start Time 18:30 – 20 Overs

Long Buckby U13 or Long Itchington U13 vs Hunningham U13