Charlton Down Cricket Club
Sunday captain's report
Ibberton versus CDCC Sunday 22 June 08
Sid Batters Ibberton Boundary
After 3 days of miserable weather the clouds broke and the sun came out for Charlton Downs visit to Ibberton in the very heart of Dorset (ie The middle of nowhere) After a journey through some of the smallest roads in the world we arrived at the groud to be greeted by a shed a very undulating pitch and wicket. Toss lost and Charlton Down were told to field.
Afzal and Pretty opened up the CD attack. Afzal started tighly and after a few looseners Pretty was also bowling well. Soon, in the 7th over Afzal picked up where he left off 2 weeks ago bowling 1 of the openers then taking 2 more in his 6th and final over for figures of 3 - 23. Chris Towndrow bowling his first overs of the year showed much rustiness going for 22 in 1 over in a total of 32 in 3 overs. He seemed to be struggling bowling up the slope and would be brought back later at the other end to much greater effect. At the other end Chris Rickard showed great variation, some intentional some not, taking wickets in his 1st and 3rd overs for figures of 2 - 19 in his 7 overs. Wormgoor started well taking a wicket in 1st over as well bowling the well set opener and top scorer for 34 and also takin a good C&B in his final over matching Rickards figures of 2 –19. John Adcock opened up his seasons bowling with a couple of promising overs, his first being very impressive. Towndrow was brought back at the other end and instantly became the Jesus we know and love. He had good lines , lengths and movement and finished up taking the final Ibberton wicket with a much better 2nd spell of 1-8 in 3.2 overs. So with a total of 126 on the board Skip headed in reasonably happy. He would have been much happier that desite some good bowling the team did bowl 22 wides and 6 no balls making up a ¼ of the home teams runs with all 6 bowlers being guilty. However The fielding work was generally good, special mention to Jon Adcock for some very tidy fielding and Rudo for a very odd snake like / break dancing stop at square leg. Also Eric Bradshaw was excellent behind the stumps.
With tea out of the way Sid decided on a slow but steady approach to the batting knowing the score needed to be knocked off with only 3 down to obtain max batting points. With that in mind Andy Smith and Chris Coates Dale were sent into the middle. CCD with 2 50’s from 2 innings so far this term was in a bullish mood. This faded after 4 balls as he was cleaned up for 1. John Moise, up the order after not getting a bat in his first game. This tactic also backfired with John falling without troubling the scorers. So with the score at 4-2 and facing the prospect of a bad result against a team near the bottom of the league Sid needed a captains innings. Having had some early season failures but with a return to form last game Sid led from the front. His first 8 scoring shots were all 4’s and he was chosing his shots well. At the other end Smithy was nudging his way rotating the strike as well as bludgeoning a huge straight 6. With Sid’s 11th boundary his first ever 50 came up before he eventually fell for a high score of 63 including 13 4’s in total. The partnership was 115 and had all but steered CD to max points. Eric Bradshaw finished up the innings with his 1 not out and Smithy had done a superb holding job ending unbeaten on 31.
Max points again and the Charlton Down bandwagon rolls on. Broadstone 2nds at home is the next task next week. Lets hope the show continues.