Captain’s Report

On an overcast August afternoon, Wilcot’s finest arrived at the Old School Ground for their return fixture with Marden.  Wilcot had been victorious in their first game at Marden earlier in the summer and were keen to have a repeat for their last game of the season.

Pete Williams had prepared another excellent pitch and with the skipper winning the toss, Wilcot donned pads and prepared to do battle with the bat.

Wilson Saraj and Ted Cartlidge were chosen to open the batting.   Each settled quickly but with some accurate bowling the pair were pegged back and whilst the scoreboard ticked over, by the ten over mark only 32 runs were on the board.  A change of bowling did little to advance the run rate, however, both Wilson and Ted fell within two overs and Wilcot were struggling at 56 for 2 in the 16th over.   

With the run rate never advancing to much more than 4 an over and Wilcot’s batmen’s seeming obsession at playing across the line to straight deliveries Wilcot wickets continued to topple.  The only partnership of note was between the Captain and Charlie Maidment (33) but when Charlie was caught on the boundary trying to advance the run rate, a big score felt more and more out of reach.

Wilcot reached their 35 overs with 8 wickets down and 137 runs on the board.  Pre match discussions seemed to agree that 180 was a par score and so 137 felt woefully short of where we needed to get to.  However, with a very slow outfield and a sturdy bowling attack, Wilcot’s captain wasn’t too despondent and tea was taken with a feeling that with some tidy bowling, the team might be in with a chance. 

As usual, an excellent array of culinary delights awaited our weary batsman and the Captain was particularly struck by the variety on offer.  Some excellent egg sandwiches were accompanied by some very tasty smoked salmon pastry parcels (a very welcome first at WCC) and a very delicious mushroom & pepper quiche.  For those with a sweet disposition, home made cookies, banana & chocolate cake, pear cake (v. seasonal) and some swiss roles provided sufficient sustenance to ensure that Wilcot’s heroes returned to the field fully refreshed and confident that their batting total could be defended.

In the interval, Wilcot’s Captain had slyly studied the opposition’s scorebook which revealed that opener Oakley had scored a ton the week before (alongside several other big scores throughout the season) and it was therefore imperative that we try to take this wicket early.

Returning Wilcot stalwarts Charlie Maidment and Ed James were chosen to open the bowling.  Both bowled well but Marden’s main threat Kye Oakley was clearly keen to get things wrapped up quickly despatching each bowler with seeming ease to the boundary rope and Wilcot were in deep trouble with 6 overs bowled and 50 runs already on the score board.  

The introduction of Jack Chatfield into the attack in the 7th over provided the breakthrough that Wilcot desperately needed:  Kye Oakley was making his way back the pavilion having scored a rapid 39, trapped LBW.

Whilst the key dangerman was back in the pavilion, Marden’s other opener S. Drewitt was also looking dangerous and so another quick wicket was essential if Wilcot was to stand any chance of defending such a low total.  Thankfully Ed James bowled a peach to have Drewitt caught behind and suddenly the game took on a very different complexion.  

Jack and Ed continued to bowl very tidily and were rewarded for their efforts with another wicket each and suddenly, with the score having advanced from 50 for 0 in the 6th to 59 for 4 in the 11th, Wilcot sensed an upset on the cards. 

The introduction of Mark Windsor into the bowling attack sealed Marden’s fate.  Mark’s precision bowling restricted the batsman to such an extent that the run rate plummeted and wickets started to fall out of frustration.  The only resistance to Mark’s wicket inducing spell was that of Tallentine (bat 5) who put on 25 runs but eventually fell trying to advance the scoring. 

With such a low target to reach, Wilcot couldn’t afford to relax at any point but with other notable bowling contributions from Ted and Samson Cartlidge (bowling his first ever maiden for WCC), Wilcot were able to apply sufficient pressure and restrict the run rate sufficiently that by the 29th over, the result was never in doubt. 

Wilcot wrapped up the remaining wickets with three overs to spare with Mark Windsor finishing his bowling with five wickets taken for only 11 runs conceded:  a remarkable bowling performance and a career best for Wilcot. 

Victory snatched from the jaws of defeat is not an expression that one hears very often within Wicot cricket club but Wilcot’s exceptional bowling performance meant that they were able to defend a mediocre total.  Some excellent fielding (most notably from Ed James stretching to catch one that looked like it had cleared him and the Captain (who has to mention his diving effort to add another to Marks’ wicket haul) helped heap the pressure on to the batsmen and Wilcot’s Sunday team finish their season on a high.

Marden have provided us with two very exciting games of cricket this season.  Both have been played in an excellent spirit and the Captain looks forward to continuing these fixtures next season. 

Wilocot finish their season with 6 matches played (out of 8 scheduled), one cancelled to rain, one cancelled due to insufficient opposition players, 2 won and 4 lost.  The Captain is very grateful to the Watherston clan for the on-going support and help with teas, to Pete Williams for his continued dedication to ensuring that we have such a beautiful place to play cricket and to Martin F-G for his enduring help.

 

Saraj                          Bowled                      35

Cartlidge. T               Bowled                      14

Chatfield                    Bowled                      6

Watherston               Bowled                      34

Blake                          Bowled                      10

James. E                   Bowled                      2

Windsor. M                Bowled                      5

Maidment. C             Caught                       23

Dannreuther             NOT OUT                  1

Cartlidge. S               NOT OUT                  1

 

Maidment                  7          0          37       1

James. E                   7          0          36       2

Chatfield                    7          2          16       2

Windsor                     7          0          11       5

Cartlidge. T               4          0          10       0

Cartlidge. S               1          1          0          0