Long Itchington Cricket Club

M Rawbone (capt)

J Clarke (wkt)

W Grindal

A Jack

T Perks

S Rawbone

A Wood

M Clark

S Chapman

G Insall

T Cooper

LI invited their hosts to be bat first on a pleasantly dry strip bearing in mind the amount of rain that had fallen leading up to the weekend. Skipper Jack Jones was first out in the 10^th over with the score at 32 and when fellow opener Duncan Whitehead went for 28 the score was 48-2 after 16 overs. Hedges was joined by Horley as lots of defence was mixed with occasional boundaries. Hedges was 3^rd out for a solid 22 in the 32^nd over as Horley began to try and accelerate. LI’s managed to keep a lid on the rate until the last  few overs with Horley, making the most of his two lives, finally being dismissed for 69 in the last over as Ashorne finished on a creditable 194-5. Tom Perks took 2-31 and was ably assisted by the 6 strong visiting attack. LI soon found themselves on the back foot sliding to 38-4 in the 16th over, with Frank Jones 1-17 off 10 overs, particularly effective. The middle order however came to the rescue marshalled by James Clarke. He and Nick Brooks began the recovery by adding 79 in good time before Brooks was dismissed by the returning Jack Jones for 34. Stephen Rawbone (13) helped Clarke add another 43 as they kept on top of the required rate. Clarke was finally joined by Perks (16 n.o.) and they knocked off the remaining runs in just over 4 overs to get home by 4 wickets with 10 balls to spare, Clarke finishing on with an excellent 88 not out.  

Best Performances:-

M Rawbone (capt)

J Clarke (wkt)

N Brooks

W Grindal

R Cressey

A Jack

T Perks

S Rawbone

A Wood

M Clark

S Chapman

After inserting their hosts LI got off to a wayward bowling start allowing their opponents to reach 47-1 off 10 overs. The introduction of skipper for the day Nick Brooks and Martin Clark both slowed down the rate and wickets began to fall. Once the experienced Roger Wickson was run out for 22 and top scorer Welsby bowled for 33 the innings began to crumble. Only Cox and Bishop reached double figures as seven players perished to outfield catches four of whom went to Brooks. Clark finished with 3-23 off 9 with fellow slow bowler Steve Chapman taking 3-3 in 5 overs to mop up the tail as the total slipped from 97-4 to 119 all out. LI lost a wicket a 12 before Richard Cressey provided a hard hit 28. At 50-3 Shipston were still in it but once the change bowlers came on LI, via Martyn Rawbone (43 n.o.) and James Clarke (37 n.o.), took their time and saw the visitors home by 7 wickets despite Taylor taking 2-28 and Wickson a tight 0-23 off 10 overs.

Best Performances:-

LI came out on top in a high scoring contest against Temple Grafton on Saturday. The home side elected to field and as a unit began bowling tightly to the extent that the total was only on 45 when the first wicket fell in the 19^th over. Grafton skipper for the day Khan was still in residence however and together with Killian (20) and Joyce (28) began to up the tempo by hitting the boundary. The returning Nick Brooks accounted for Joyce and Khan who was 5^th out at 145 for a well constructed 65. At 151-6 in the 40^th over LI had done well but some excellent late hitting from Russell took the score to 199 before he succumbed to the last delivery of the innings for 39. Brooks finished with 4-46. LI lost an early wicket at 14 but Martyn Rawbone and Richard Cressey kept their cool adding 90 in 19 overs before the latter was dismissed for 43. Alex Jack maintained the momentum as the bad ball was punished. The flagging visitors accounted for Jack for 46 at 190 but Rawbone remained unbeaten on 82 as LI got home by 7 wickets with more than 5 overs to spare. Joyce the best visiting bowler with 2-44.

Best Performances:-