Wreccers back on track

Chris Spooner and Graeme Larby steal the show.

The Wrecclesham Owls recorded a well deserved 69 run victory to give them a valuable 10 points and consolidate their lead at the top of Division IV.

The Owls have been setting the pace in the division since the opening fixture and now look to be well on course for promotion back to Div III.

The Owls knew the importance of getting back to winning ways after last weeks disappointing draw and were handed the task of bowling out Thursley on a decent batting track after the away side won the toss and put the Wreccers in to bat.

Matt 'MB(is he on E)' Parkinson and Chris 'Uzi 9mm' Spooner, who was in particularly determined mood after his cheap dismissal last week, were selected to open up and started in cautious fashion ensuring they took the shine off the new ball and set a good platform.

Thursley openers Steve Wells and Hancock kept things tight and after 11 overs the Owls only had 14 runs on the board but with wickets in hand and a long batting line up the Wreccers were always confident of scoring a defendable total.

As the openers tired, Spooner and Parkinson upped the pace and soon forged a well deserved 50 partnership, good reward from some sensible batting and particularly pleasing for Parkinson who has had few opportunities to impress with the bat but showed his skipper that he is well and truly up to the task.

With 53 for no loss on the board at 20 over drinks the writing was on the wall for Thursley as Spooner and Parkinson were given the nod to accelerate.

Unfortunately for Parkinson a mere 4 overs later he played on from a pretty straight forward Hancock delivery and was dismissed for a well played 24.

Spooner was starting to see the ball well and as a result his scoring rate increased and with some good support from Parkinson, Wright and Caine he reached a well crafted half century and was looking in ominous form.

Despite the steady fall of wickets in the final 25 overs Spooner dominated proceedings and along with Bate pushed the score along well and a declaration was in sight.

Spooner, who has already hit 2 centuries this season was closing in on another fine hundred and achieved the enviable feat of 3 centuries in a season in the 39th over with a well executed pull shot.

Spooner was now in full flow and showed a glimpse of his typical swagger by switch hitting two more boundaries, one just dropping short of a maximum and set up a well timed declaration in the 43rd over as the Owls amassed 207 for 5.

A memorable innings from young Spooner, certainly among his very best during his 5 year spell at the club, holding the innings together well against some accurate opening bowling and accelerating well at the perfect time.

However after Windeatt found last week a superb knock is only truly satisfying when it is followed up with a victory and to that extent the Owls had plenty of work to do to dismiss a stubborn Thursley side.

Oli 'Perma Tan' Caston, who picked up a 5 for last week and Jonny 'Greek God' Elworthy opened things up for the Wreccers.

Caston took a little more time than usual to find a rhythm but generally kept things tight and along with Elworthy who bowled with good pace and swing throughout ensured that despite not making a breakthrough in the opening 10 overs, only two results were looking likely.

Elworthy did eventually take a wicket in the 11th over, opener Cousins, who had been identified as a potential danger man, gloving behind to the ever solid Phil 'The Cat' Caine.

It was scant reward for a particularly good spell of bowling from the all rounder and a fair reflection of his recent poor luck on the bowling front.

Vasey replaced the slightly off colour (no pun intended!) Caston at the top end and again kept things very tight, bowling a good line and length, approaching somewhere near his best form, again without much luck and after 30 overs only 1 wicket had fallen and it was a case of deja vu for the Wreccers.

With only 69 on the board a winning draw, barring something exceptional, was the worst result on offer but the Owls wanted more and skipper Boniface decided to mix things up a bit bringing himself on to accompany Graeme '1000 wickets'Larby who was, as ever, causing problems for the Thursley batsmen.

With runs to play the pressure was off as Boniface using his pace variations well and after Larby was switched to the top end the two seemed to click and chances followed.

The extra pace generated from bowling downhill seemed to offer Larby something extra and shortly after he had Lowry trapped LBW and comprehensively bowled Williams breaking the back of the Thursley innings.

Boniface then compounded Thursley's misery by picking up two wickets in three balls, setting the field back, and after a couple of lusty blows, Wells duly obliged, holing out to Henry 'Granny Basher' Bate.

Then with the final ball of the over James 'Bolt it' Wright showed a safe pair of hands profiting from a quicker delivery that hurried on and looped up off the glove.

All of a sudden the Owls had dragged themselves right back into contention and required just 5 wickets in the final 13 overs for a memorable victory.

Thursley were now throwing caution to the wind and it was that man Larby who struck again using clever variation to get Wells and then Hancock to lob up relatively easy chances that were taken with minimal fuss by Bate and Vasey respectively.

Thursley's only real hope of getting something from the game was with wicket keeper Tye who had scored 70 the previous week and had been batting well and was looking to farm as much strike as possible and hit a few boundaries in the process.

Boniface once again had set the field back and Tye seemingly middling a full length delivery for 6 down to long on but Neal 'Hammy' Harris had other ideas pouching a superb catch deep on the boundary and swinging the game into the Wreccers favour.

Larby was then left with the task of mopping up the tail and using all his experience and skill he was certainly not to disappoint, requiring just 2 overs to win the game for the Owls in a gripping climax which exorcised the ghosts of last weeks failure to bowl out Witley.

Another fine performance and 10 more points accrued in a massively enjoyable game of cricket played in a good spirit by all, which was in stark contrast to last weeks match providing a good tonic for the mighty Owls.


Afterword

Another great display from the boys and with the knowledge that we had batting right down to 11 and another 2 or 3 bowling options it proves that if we can keep this side together we can certainly prosper in Div III as well.

A superb knock from Spoons and well supported by Parky and Henry, a solid start always takes the pressure off and even with 100 for 3 from 30 overs, 200 was always on the cards which really demoralises the opposition.

Larbs, what can I say? I had a feeling it was going to be your day but bowling back down the hill like the old days you rolled back the years mate, it was great to watch and even better to be a part of it, well done mate.

Bring on Cranleigh next week, where if results go our way, promotion can be made possible Vs The Bourne..

Up the Owls!

Afterword & Match Report by Joe Boniface