Theale & Tilehurst Friendly XI vs Crown Wood 10th June 2001

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Report by Mr Ed

The last time a team turned up late for a Sunday fixture and cheekily asked for a thirty over a-side slog, they were politely refused, told to play a proper game of cricket, and then smashed around the park for what was a record high score for T&T. For anyone interested on that occasion it was Moulsford. Crown Wood tried the same scheme last Sunday, not arriving at the ground till past 3 o'clock and were rewarded not with a thirty over slog but a 36.3 over exhibition of clean hitting (well most of the time anyway) which went onto break the highest score for the club. Actually, I'm being more than a little harsh on Crown Wood, who thought the game was at their venue and sportingly came over to our place at very short notice.

If you're a bowler and are due to play at Theale in the near future, I suggest you find something better to do than trying to take wickets on this batting paradise. You time would be more productively spent trying to paint the Forth Bridge with a Tippex brush. Indeed if you bat anything lower than number three in the order, I suggest you bring along a long book to read, because chances are you're not going to get a bat.

Upholding a long tradition, Crown Wood elected to field first after winning the toss. For most of the season, James Codd has usually played some scintillating shots early in the innings, only to get out without doing himself full justice to his ability. This was a different innings entirely. Although James scored quickly, his early shots looked scratchy. This may have possibly concentrated his mind and allowed James to play a terrific innings once he was established. Opening with Alex Moore, the new ball caused one or two early scares, but once the shine had worn off the batsman well and truly dominated this match. N Khan opening the attack for Crown Wood is worthy of much praise in bowling a spell of fourteen overs that only cost him fifty-two runs, which in the context of the rest of his team's bowling figures was positively funereal. James and Alex went on to score ninety-six runs for the first wicket.

Dennis Robertson joined James at the fall of the first wicket, and this is when the fun really started. After reaching his fifty, James informed Brian Cooper who was umpiring at the time that he was thinking of big numbers. He wasn't kidding. James and Dennis brutalized the Crown Wood attack adding a further 163 runs for the second wicket, only three short of the clubs all-time record for any wicket. James would go onto record a club record 151; Dennis contributed with a fine 66 before retiring. In the end, we were able to post the highest score ever by a T&T side finishing on 259-2. Despite batting as high as number four in the last two days, I didn't even get to face a ball all weekend (Breath in, Breath out).

After all the excitement of our innings, it was almost inevitable that the rest of the game would be something of an anticlimax. The wicket was still tailor-made for batting, and we did not have the advantage of bowling with a new ball. In such conditions, Osman Mahmood and Roger Puri bowled well, but were unable to provide the early breakthrough. Turning to spin, David Withington bowled a good spell of eight overs and was able to get significant turn and bounce with his leg breaks, fully deserving his wicket. Brian also bowled tightly, keeping the pressure on the batsman and getting Crown Wood's best batsman, John Cartledge out caught and bowled. The only other wicket to fall in the day went to Khadim Aslam, who bowled Anderson with a beautiful in-swinging yorker. A new bowling partnership was unearthed at the end, with Morris and Orris brought into the attack in an attempt to buy some wickets. It was always going to very difficult to take ten wickets on this pitch and in the end the game drifted to a draw with Crown Wood finishing on 141 for 3, actually facing 3.5 overs more than we had received. It was disappointing that we couldn't force a win, but congratulations to James for his splendid 150.