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Wherwell, May 16 '09 (home)
Well, well - already as many league wins this season as all last year! A second successive 7 wicket win, and further proof,
if any were needed, of just how much difference there is between this team and the one unceremoniously dumped out of Regional 1 North.
With heavy showers around and after a wet Friday, the game was in the balance until the last couple of hours before the
scheduled start when the massed ranks of the ground staff rolled into gear and prepared what, in the circumstances, was a pretty decent track.
Given the conditions both overhead and underfoot, Captain Turkleton had no hesitation in electing to bowl first on winning the toss. He and Charlie
took the new ball and did an excellent containing job, Wherwell finding runs very hard to come by in the opening exchanges, and Charlie chipping in with
his first wicket of the season when he bowled one of the visiting openers on his way to a fine spell of 7-3-10-1. In what was to become a theme for the day,
several shots just cleared fielders and landed safely in no man's land (no, I don't mean the village just down the A36), much to the frustration of the home
side and supporters. When a chance did go to hand, it was the wily form of the returning Lord Harris, making a brief break in his cricketing retirement
due to selectorial issues at the 11th hour, who was positioned under the ball. Unfortunately, the ball slipped through his grasp, possibly due to the
teflon qualities of his nicotine stained fingers.
JD was introduced from the Church End to replace Charlie, and for the second week in a row, his variety bag seemed to pose problems for the opposition.
Mixing his deliveries like a dyslexic postman, Jim baffled a succession of Wherwell batsmen and picked up 4 wickets for his efforts, including a lovely take
from Lee "better than Phil Mustard" James standing up to the stumps.
Jimmy H took up the attack from the Football Ground End, replacing Turkleton after another miserly, if unsuccessful, opening spell of 8-3-15-0. His extra zip
soon quashed any ideas Wherwell may have had of picking up runs from the change bowlers, the patented Master Plan working well. Carrying a biceps strain picked
up last week when trying to hit the Hungerford bowling too hard, Jimmy struggled a little and finished his spell with a commendable 8-2-17-0.
His withdrawal, and JD finishing his allocated overs with a healthy return of 4-41, left a small gap in the bowling casued by the new regulation reducing the
number of overs per bowler to just 10 each. Fortunately, Turkleton could call on the ample frames of Timmy D and Lord Harris to plug the gap, and taking the pace off
the ball did the trick as, after a couple of lusty blows, the Wherwell danger man hammered a Tubby delivery straight to Turkleton on the cow corner boundary.
In fact, Tubby could have had a very profitable afternoon, but he and Jimmy H dropped high, spiralling, swirling, steepling, spinning catches off successive
deliveries to limit his return to 1-20.
Meanwhile, Lord Harris was putting in his best spell for many years, his retirement obviously having done much to reinvigorate his bowling arm, and he duly
claimed his first scalp of the year courtesy of another catch for Lee "better than Geraint Jones" James.
Turkleton finished the overs off from the top end, also claiming his first wicket of the season when AJ took his second catch of the day.
Wherwell finished with 127-8 from their 42 overs, the result of disciplined bowling and a good ground fielding display, even if the catching wasn't quite top notch.
The run chase started badly, AJ being bowled for a blob by one that cut back at least a foot and a half. Probably didn't even pitch on the cut part of the strip.
Tim, suitably recovered form his cramping episode of last week, was joined by JD and the pair accelerated the scoring, forcing several changes in bowling from the visitors,
before JD, for the second week in a row, top edged an attempted pull and was caught at mid-wicket for 23.
The run rate slowed dramatically as Wherwell introduced their leg spinner from the Church End and swapped the left armer to the Football Ground End. The leggie in particular
caused all sorts of problems, and claimed Tim for 20 to give the visitors a sniff.
But his dismissal merely heralded the arrival of Josh "Mr Cricket" Green to the crease for what would prove to be the decisive, and by far the most fluent, partnership of the day.
Josh didn't appear to have any of the problems of his colleagues in playing the leggie, waiting for the turn and playing him through the offside with consumate ease. Timing the
ball beautifully, his free scoring rubbed off on Jimmy who proceeded to find his form after being floored evading a full toss. This indignity seemed to ignite his stroke play,
and the end came quickly in a blaze of boundries, Josh finishing the job in the grand manner with a huge maximum over the pavilion.
So far, so good, with JD, Jimmy and Josh in particular making significant contributions. Maybe we should all change our names to something beginning with "J"?
Summary
Wherwell 127-8 (JD 4-41)
Whiteparish 131-3 (Jimmy H 39no, Josh 33no, JD 23, Tim 20)
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