Whitchurch-on-Thames Cricket Club

Cold even for September, the brilliant sunshine at Britwell Salome was more than fair compensation as we began another match at the trailing end of the 2012 season. Fielding first, the opening bowlers of Heard and Shannahan held the scoring in check for the first 20 overs or so, and took a few wickets along the way.  A diving opportunity at midwicket by Heard - it may have looked harder than it actually was - and more catches to Killer, Lyn and Paul V were all held.  The smaller number that went down were all much harder.  John Steward was totally committed behind the stumps, stopping almost everything, and has plenty of opportunity to make this his position next season. Francis and Killer took over the bowling and kept up the pressure, so that with 30 overs gone the score was only about 110 or so.  But with the tea interval fast approaching, and possibly the best Britwell batsman now at the crease, the run-rate accelerated over the next 14 overs to bring them to...

Watch and Learn Boys On one of the nicest days of the year, Whitchurch put up a decent performance but came up short to Wokingham, in a match played in an excellent, but still competitive spirit. After a delayed start, Whitchurch batted first and were 130 for 3 off 18 over at drinks. But in a spirit of competitiveness, our obligatory collapse kicked in to make sure we were all out ( only 9 unfortunately due to some miscommunication on the skipper’s part) for 164, from only 25 overs. A stunning catch from Paul Vaughan helped make early inroads into the oppo, with Scooby bowling 7 tight overs for 2 wickets. However an excellent stand from Wokingham took them up to the finish line.   With Micheala the Wokingham batswoman showing Whitchurch how to bat according to the match position. Wokingham eventually winning with a couple of overs to spare. Watch and learn boys, watch and learn. Oxfordshire Village In Lock Down The police were put on red alert on Sunday afternoon when, in a...

Crowthorne, batting first, amassed 153 for 8 in their alotted 40 overs on a difficult slow turner: Andy M. found some luck (I'm glad I wasn't out to either of those two lbw decisions!!); Nick T found some rhythm; Mark B. found some turn; Lyn lost his head in not running out the opener but Charlie V. kept his when running the same guy out at the other end; Closey found he'd forgotten how to bowl but Floody suddenly remembered he could; Higgsy found out what the big gloves on his hands were for; Jon, in a style reminiscent of Tom Daley, found he could dive (making a few great stops at gully); Cormac found inner peace in the field (rarely seen!!); and, Vaughanie remained lost in the big field thinking about his duck (and three catches) from the previous day. An excellent tea and then it was Whitchurch's turn with the bat.  Andy M. lost all his previous luck and found the fielder(0 for 1); Vaughanie found the middle of the bat...

Wickets fell regularly as as Greys Green made hard work of scoring on a difficult pitch that showed sideways movement and irregular bounce.  A wicket in the first over, then the third (which also included Andy Heard hitting the stumps off a rare front-foot no-ball) and then there's the catching!   Francis snaffled that rarest of things, an actual catch at first slip; whilst Paul Vaughan took three standing at extra and short extra.   Killer added a fifth for the team. Jon Steward didn't get a catching chance but performed very well as newly installed keeper.  I think he surprised himself, having originally done the job "only until Floody gets here", but now fancying another keeping opportunity tomorrow. All the bowlers performed well, including the colts, Matt Kilford and Scooby , who as it happens are due to face each other in a make-or-break U15 game the following day. Greys Green 138 - 9 dec. If we congratulated ourselves at tea, this proved to be a mis...

This picture is probably familiar to most members, though you've probably never really looked at it in much detail.  It's clearly a team photo - when did we last do one of those? - and I'd guess it was from the 50s. Sadly, there's nothing on the back to say when it was taken, who the people are or whether some victory was being celebrated. These folk probably all pre-date even Mike Butt, but I wonder whether there's just possibly someone from the village who recognises someone from that distant time? Andy H.