Wreccers Progress Blocked by Tongham

A much changed Wrecclesham 1st XI were restricted to a winning draw (5pts) by a decent Tongham 1st XI side on Saturday.

Despite the slight setback the Owls still remain in the hunt for promotion to Div II and stretched their unbeaten run in village crickets oldest competition to 21 matches.

Skipper Boniface lost the toss and the Wreccers, who were without several first team regulars, were put into bat, a decision which ultimately cost them the chance of 3 more probable points.

The Owls, backed by vociferous WAG, club and family support as ever, set about taking advantage of the glorious batting conditions and duly did so by posting an ominous looking 245 - 7 from their 45 overs.

Matt 'Mb is he on E?' Parkinson and Ed 'Alastair Cook' Willis forged an impressive looking partnership.

Parkinson's aggressive approach combined with Willis' textbook style caused problems for the home side, with both openers making excellent contributions (31 and 43 respectively) before failing to make the most of their starts.

Their 50+ stand did however form a fine platform for man-of-the-moment James 'Graham Napier' Wright to once again shine.

The hard hitting number 3, as is becoming as customary as a Windeatt not out nowadays, settled straight into a fine knock and pushed the run rate along superbly, playing a wonderful array of authentic cricket strokes in the process.

Wright (69) is threatening to run away with this years batting cup and if he continues his fine form will also threaten Chris 'Uzi 9mm' Spooners' place as the Heralds favourite son.

One man who is looking to cling onto the batting cup he so doggedly earned last year is Chris 'the rock' Windeatt who ushered along the 'tail' nicely to record 36 accompanied by an almost inevitable not out.

The Owls had achieved the first goal with aplomb and gave themselves every chance of bowling Tongham out which saw them in a comfortable position at tea.

The home side started well and were only checked by Spooners' accuracy but still manged to find themselves at 45 for 1 from 10 overs as the game hung in the balance.

However Spooner, who bowled a marathon 19 over spell, dismissed 3 of the top order as Tongham faltered.

Rob 'lucky' Hamill who was bought in by VC Spooner at pretty short notice bowled a lively but luckless 14 over spell but still managed to bowl with sufficient economy to ensure a home win was never really on the cards.

The Owls were efficient if not brilliant in the field as a few tough chances were spilt and the game started to drift away from the Owls.

Joe 'I'm better than a 10 year old - well maybe' Boniface bought himself on to good effect taking a couple of quick wickets and along with batting hero Wright (who also took a couple of wickets) almost swung the game back in favour of the visitors.

Despite their best efforts overs and the visitors luck ran out as Tongham held on for a well earned draw.

The Owls will feel a little aggrieved at not gaining maximum points in a game which they totally dominated but will have to remain contented at the fact that the unbeaten run continues..

Afterword by Joe Boniface

A fine performance from the boys and only a combination of bad luck and the fact we probably scored too many runs denied us what would have been an excellent victory against a side which was in Div II last term.

I can't help but feel if all our bowlers had been available we would have rolled them over, not taking anything away from Rob or Spoons, without whom we may have struggled to even get 5 points.

Anyway, I think that 120 points is the benchmark for promotion this year and with 6 of a possible 22 games played 41 points on the board is right on track towards that target.

Here's to getting that little bit of luck, a win and the 8 or 10 valuable points that accompanies it next week!

Bring it on!!

Twit Twoo