Long Itchington Cricket Club

M Rawbone (capt)

J Clarke (wkt)

M Clark

S Rawbone

N Brooks

R Cressey

A Jack

T Perks

A Wood

S Chapman

A Jones

N Smith (capt)

J Rogers (wkt)

T Crosthwaite

N Hudson

D Buchholz

G Insall

W Grindal

B Phillips

C White

G Foster

S Franks

Cotswold Hills League Division 5
Played 15th August 2009

Acting Skipper Andy Crump maintained his unbeaten run as Itchington convincingly beat Winchombe IIs, away, by 144 runs.

Inserted on a hard track, openers Graham Foster (104) and George Insall (50) set Itchington on the way with a fine stand of 131, before Insall was run out.

Foster hit 16 boundaries in a superb innings, taking full advantage of some good fortune before being 7th out at 209. Wickets tumbled in the search for quick runs but Tom Crosthwaite (22) and Steve Franks (19) maintained the momentum with Itchington closing on 222 (the same score as their first team). Hobbs 4-42 was the pick of the bowlers.

Neil Hudson opened Itchington’s attack and bowled with pace and hostility taking 2-24 off 6 fine overs. Veteran Dave Buchholz maintained control at the other end and took 3-35 off 10 overs as Winchcombe slipped to 53-5.

Craig White replaced Hudson and soon got in on the act taking 3-12 off 5.1 unplayable overs. A run out and a wicket for Crosthwaite off his solitary over saw Winchcombe bundled out for 78.

Long Itchington 2nd XI 222-9, Winchcombe 2nd XI 78 all out.
Long Itchington 2nd XI won by 144 runs.

Long Itchington 2nd XI 22 points, Winchcombe 2nd XI 4 points

A good all round team performance was backed up by good catching as well as enthusiastic fielding from Martin Greaves.

With two games left Itchington remain top but need to maintain this level of performance to avoid being overtaken by the chasing pack.

Tags: Match Reports, Saturday 2nd XI, Winchcombe

LI came out on top in another high scoring encounter against visitors Winchcombe to put behind them their disappointing defeat last weekend. The Gloucs side, batting first on a true and pacy LI wicket, lost their first wicket at 20 in the 7^th over. Skipper Hugget was dropped 2 balls later and again in the following over before hammering four 4’s in an over to celebrate his good fortune. He survived two more difficult chances as he and Durston added 110 before finally succumbing for 74. Durston was 3^rd out for 45 at 153 to spinner Steve Chapman who proceeded to trouble all the batsmen as the visitors slipped to 191-7. No 4 Foster was still in residence however and his unbeaten 43 aided by 17 n.o. from Didcote pushed up the final total to 221-7. Chapman finished with an excellent 5-37. Having chased down 238 at Winchcombe earlier in the season the home side began positively reaching 39-0 off the first 10 overs. Aaron Jones was first out at 72 for a well constructed 29. Richard Cressey joined skipper Martyn Rawbone adding 79 in just 14 overs when Rawbone was 2^nd out for 60 at 151 in the 31^st over. Another 70+ stand followed as Cressey (89 n.o.) and Tom Perks (27 n.o.) saw LI home with 8 balls to spare for an 8 wicket win. S Jones taking both wickets to fall in a 2-49 return.

Best Performances:-

It is with great regret that I announce the recent death of one of the clubs former players Gerald Twaite. He played for the club in the late 1970’s shortly after it was reformed in 1976 until he left the area in the early 1980’s.

He was formerly a rower and was a renowned coach in that sport. He died suddenly whilst on holiday, a cruise, in Gibraltar.

His funeral is being held on Thursday 13 August at 2.50pm at Stourbridge, West Midlands crematorium. Our thoughts go out to his wife Pippa, daughter Alison, son Nick (also a former player) and grandchildren.