Theale & Tilehurst Friendly XI vs BBC Caversham 1st July 2001

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Report by JC

Winning the toss has been a rare luxury for the past year, and more often than not the pre-match deliberations about pitch & weather conditions, balance of the side and match format that might sway the opinion have been rendered academic by a series of incredibly lucky opposing captains. However, when the coin landed the right way up (heads by the way) for the second week in a row, the skipper chose to bowl first, influenced by the thick covering of grass on a typical BBC Caversham wicket, and the humid overhead conditions.

After a bright start from opener Eaves, who was caught at the wicket off Chris Lemm for 25 when looking well set, opposition skipper Phil Stephens took up the attack. A fluent strokemaker, he was looking in ominous form when he pulled Khadim Aslam for a towering six over square leg, but shortly afterwards he was beaten for pace (lack of) by the same bowler and bowled for 22. It was at this point that T&T took control of the innings with Bob Williams and Aslam bowling tidy spells of medium pace, picking up two and three wickets respectively at little cost. The innings collapsed from 59-2 to 76-8, which could have been worse had Caversham's number 7 Jones been given out when clean bowled by Brian Cooper early in his innings. Cooper eventually got his man (again), and the innings ended on 94 when Lemm returned and bowled wicketkeeper McClure.

In reply T&T lost an early wicket when skipper James Codd edged the lively Collingwood to second slip, but Aslam and Dennis Robertson steadied the ship with a second wicket partnership of 69 which turned the match decisively in T&T's favour. As victory approached Robertson picked up a knee strain and retired hurt on 40 and the momentum of the innings was disturbed. John Morris, batting at 4 was run out after a mix-up with Aslam, who then edged spinner Williams to slip soon after for a steady 22. Edward Choules, (back after injury and looking in fine form in the nets until his middle stump was broken by a joyful Osman Mahmood) also succumbed to Williams, as did Mike Orriss and 78-1 became 85-5, but Robertson returned with a runner (Choules) to steady the ship, bringing up his fifty with the winning boundary with five overs to spare, thus completing a comfortable 5 wicket victory.

SCORECARD  
Home Team BBC Caversham Away Team Theale and Tilehurst  
Date of Match 1st July 2001 Played at BBC Caversham  
                                 
  Team pts Result Team pts
Result Theale and Tilehurst   beat BBC Caversham    
                               
1st Innings of BBC Caversham                  
Name How Out Who Bowler 4's 6's Score      
1 Castle ct O Mahmood R Williams     6      
2 Eaves ct A Moore C Lemm     25      
3 Stephens bowled   K Aslam     22      
4 Mansford bowled   R Williams     10      
5 Williams lbw   K Aslam     4      
6 Watkins run out         4      
7 Jones ct J Codd B Cooper     5      
8 Collingwood ct A Moore K Aslam     0      
9 Fullman ct K Aslam  B Cooper     1      
10 McClure bowled   C Lemm     11      
11 Pye not out         0      
            Byes 2              
            Leg Byes 1              
            Wides 3              
            No Balls 0              
                Extras     6      
                             
            Wickets 10 Total     94      
                             
Bowling O M R W                  
1 C Lemm 9.5 2 24 2                  
2 O Mahmood 6 3 22 0                  
3 K Aslam 7 3 19 3                  
4 R Williams 9 1 18 2                  
5 B Cooper 6 0 8 2                  
6                            
7                            
8                            
                             
Fall of Wicket                            
Score Outgoing Bat Stand of                
1 32 2 32                
2 55 3 23                
3 59 1 4                
4 70 4 11                
5 74 5 4                
6 74 6 0                
7 74 8 0                
8 76 9 2                
9 92 7 16                
10 94 10 2                
                             
                             
                             
                             
2nd Innings of Theale and Tilehurst                  
Name How Out Who Bowler 4's 6's Score      
1 J Codd ct Eaves Collingwood 1 0 4      
2 K Aslam ct Stephens Williams 3 0 22      
3 D Robertson not out     4 0 52      
4 J Morris run out     1 0 8      
5 E Choules ct McClure Williams 0 0 2      
6 M Orriss bowled   Williams 0 0 2      
7 A Moore not out     0 0 4      
8 C Lemm DNB                
9 B Cooper DNB                
10 O Mahmood DNB                
11 R Williams DNB                
            Byes 2              
            Leg Byes 0              
            Wides 2              
            No Balls 0              
                Extras     4      
                             
            Wickets 5 Total     98      
                             
Bowling O M R W                  
1 Pye 8 1 18 0                  
2 Collingwood 8 2 19 1                  
3 Williams 9.5 2 24 3                  
4 Fullman 4 0 20 0                  
5 Watkins 5 2 15 0                  
6                            
7                            
8                            
                             
Fall of Wicket                            
Score Outgoing Bat Stand of                
1 9 1 9                
2 78 4 69                
3 79 2 1                
4 80 5 1                
5 85 6 5                
6                      
7                      
8                      
9                      
10