Long Itchington Cricket Club

On winning the toss in the last of their Warwickshire League matches the Itchington lads decided to bat. Berkswell bowled very well and Brennan Lumby and George Barber batted very correctly to go through the first four overs without loosing a wicket. Will Eadon and Harry Grant continued the good work and kept the scoreboard moving in the right direction. Jamie Haywood and George Heaven (in his first game) started the acceleration both hitting some excellent shots to put on 16 for the third pair with both hitting 8. James Rawbone and Ethan Jones finished off the innings well with James hitting a couple of 4’s and Ethan batting well and was not out. The lads finished on 231 with only 3 wickets lost, this being the best effort of the year especially against a quality bowling attack.

Jamie and Brennan opened the bowling with Brennan taking a wicket in his first over, a superb diving catch from Will. Both Georges then bowled well with George B taking 2 excellent wickets in his second over to bring the game back to parity. Will and Ethan continued to put the pressure on with Ethan’s first over only going for 1 and Will’s second over a maiden. Berkswell continued to bat properly and crept ahead but an excellent yorker from James gave a glimmer of hope. With no runs off the bat in Harry G’s over, a couple of wickets would have made it interesting. The Berkswell batsman stood firm however to win by 16 runs.

The lads continue to improve with every game and are playing good cricket, tonight if a couple of chances in the field had been taken the result could have gone the other way. With the majority of the side being new to cricket a record of three wins against five losses and a mid table finish is a fantastic effort, not to mention three wins from three in the Rugby League.

Oakfield won the toss and Itchington were asked to bat with Brennan and Peter opening. Both batted well with Brennan playing some good shots and Peter hitting a couple of fours. The two Harry’s then put on 10 for the next pair and the Oakfield bowling was noticeably tight and was backed up with excellent fielding. Ned and Bean continued the good work and put on 13 without loosing a wicket. James then played his best innings of the year hitting three excellent 4’s and, ably supported by Jamie, they put on 27 for the last pair giving a total of 255 with only 4 wickets lost. Credit to the Oakfield bowlers who only bowled 5 wides.

Itchington started well with both Brennan and Jamie taking a wicket in their first overs. This good work was continued by James, Ned, Harry G and Harry M ( who was unlucky his brother dropped a difficult chance off his bowling). Ned redeemed himself however producing an excellent yorker to claim a wicket. In a level contest, the game changed in overs 9-12, Oakfield started well hitting a couple of 4’s but a superb run out by Brennan hitting the stumps from side on and this was followed up with a wicket from Peter. With Harry G only conceding 3 off his second over, the pressure was building on Oakfield. In Peters next over a run out and another wicket meant Oakfield required 40 from the last pair. Ned finished off an excellent spell and ended with figures of 3-6-1 and Jamie completed the match with a wicket in the last over with Brennan taking the catch. The lads ran out winners by 14 runs with the main difference in the teams being the loss of wickets as Oakfield lost 8 compared with 4 by Itchington.

Good  performance from all the lads, keep up the good work.

The lads faced a very tough test against a very impressive Wardens side and it was immediately clear why they were unbeaten and top of the league. Although the scores reflect the current difference in standard and confidence, the Itchington lads should be extremely proud of one of their best displays of the year considering the age and experience of the team. The scores were Itchington 206 with 5 wickets lost and Kenilworth 290 with 2 wickets lost. Instead of a blow by blow account, listed below are the positives each member of the team should take from the match and there were many to choose from.

James Rawbone  – 2 good overs with only 4 runs conceded off the bat and excellent committed fielding.

Harry Mitchell –       Excellent batting without loosing a wicket and as tidy as ever behind the stumps.

Harry Grant –       Excellent defence against a county bowler and worked hard in the field.

Ethan Jones-       Took both wickets in a fine second over and batted very correctly.

Will Eadon  -      Hit the only four of the Itchington innings, took a fantastic catch and bowled 2 overs for only 5 runs with no wides. His best all round display of the season for which he should be very proud.

Brennan Lumby-       Batted very well with no wickets lost and scored 3 runs.

Ned Mitchell -      His best bowling display of the season with pace and accuracy with no wides.

Jamie Haywood –       Batted very correctly without losing a wicket and bowled three excellent overs and on another day could easily have had three wickets.

If the lads continue to play and improve as they showed this week the future looks very bright

This was the lads second game in the rugby league and the visitors were a young team from Rugby CC. Long Itchington won the toss and decided to bat and after a superb first over from the young Rugby opener where he got 2 wickets,  Harry Grant and Brennan Lumby got their heads down and batted well to put on 9 for the first pair. Will Eadon and Harry Mitchell continued the good work and put on another 18. Ned Mitchell and James Rawbone accelerated the scoring with Ned hitting a fine 17 with no outs. This left Jamie Haywood and Peter Armstrong to take the score up to 277 with the last pair not losing a wicket. Credit should go to the bowling and fielding of the young Rugby side.

The bowling started well with Brennan and Harry M  who was unlucky to have 4 over throws against his figures but Brennan with a fine spell of 2-1-2 prevented Rugby from  having a quick start. James put in another excellent spell of bowling (2-4-2) and with Jamie bowling a maiden at the other kept the pressure firmly on the batting side. Harry G and Will bowled well and special mention for Will’s first wicket, cleaned bowled middle stump. Despite a short break for a passing shower the game was finished with Jamie taking over from Peter behind the stumps and Peter then bowling two maidens and Ned admirably bowling off a couple of paces against the slightly younger batsmen.

Itchington ran out winners by 51 runs and have made a good start to the league winning 2 from 2 but there is a tough test around the corner on Monday.

On a pleasant evening, Hunningham won the toss and asked Long Itchington to bat. Harry Grant and Ethan Jones defended well against some accurate bowling which set up James Rawbone (10) and Bean Dunkerton (9) to accelerate the scoring with both hitting good 4’s and without losing a wicket put on 29. Hunningham continued to bowl and field very well and the last two pairs of Ned Mitchell, Will Eadon , Jamie Haywood and Brennan Lumby took the score up to 248 with 4 wickets lost.

This meant that they would have to match Hunningham in the field and things started well with wickets for Brennan (3-10-1) and James (2-1-1) and them giving away very few runs. Harry G, Will and Ethan continued the good work with Harry fielding well with his chin and also taking a wicket. However only 23 were need off the last 4 overs and things were getting tight but with Ned bowling quickly and Jamie (3-5-2) having taken a wicket earlier, took another in the 15^th over and the Itchington lads ran out winners by 9 runs. Special mention should go to Bean who performed admirably behind the stumps especially as it was his first time with the gloves. However, although bowling well the rub of the green was definitely with the lads and the result could have been different if a couple of decisions had gone the other way. Thanks should go to the sporting nature of the Hunningham coach.