Twoo's stretch their unbeaten run to 8 matches!

The Twoo's did fantastically well with bat, ball and in the field to get a winning draw against Grayswood IV.

At first things did not look so optimistic for the Twoo's, players such as Steve Houghton, Suril Patel, Jonny Elworthy were unavailable for selection and it was the first time in 3 weeks that they weren't playing at Fortress Recreation Ground. Thankfully, though, Twoo's legend Bernie Bridger was back from Dorset and raring to take on anything in front of him. Furthermore, getting to the ground was a nightmare. The Twoo's convoy of cars left Riverdale at 12.20pm, but most did not arrive at the Woolmer Sports Centre until 1.20pm. Tony Boniface was, to say the least, a little bit peeved.

Put into bat, the ever-reliable openers of Barry Croucher and Bernie Bridger laid solid foundations, more than once putting away the bad ball and keeping out the good stuff. However, the good left arm accurate bowling of G. Roberts was not to be overcome and he soon removed Bernie, Alex 'Thomas Holloway' Hall and James 'Loves a Good Chin Wag with the Umpire' Merryweather in quick succession.

Although the run rate was going very well for the Twoo's, the fallen wickets did open up the middle order. Then, striding to the crease, came the gargantuan Mitchell 'I'm knackered' Brown. Making his presence felt, boundaries were soon flying everywhere. The stability of Barry and the hard hitting of Mitch left Grayswood with ever decreasing options. Slower bowlers were soon brought on to slow the run rate, but it was not to be. Although Barry's wicket fell, Hayden 'A wasp! A wasp! A wasp!' Newman joined Mitch and the run rate skyrocketed.

Things really came to a head when Mitch reached his well-deserved half-century. He wanted to retire because of a (mysterious) thumb injury, but the players sent him back. In response, he scored 22 of the next over from S. Carne-Roberts, two sixes, two fours and two singles. Unfortunately, after this, the urging to stay on from the boundary had no effect and he retired on 62.

Hayden 'Get it off! A wasp!' Newman continued much in the same vein, but, when joined by his brother Scott Newman, Hayden thought it best to run his own brother out. Thankfully, he reconciled this absolutely dire, heinous and despicable crime by scoring a very fast 48. He rightly looked very pleased with his performance until Matt Spooner thought it a laugh to tell Hayden his score. The smile was soon replaced with a black cloud overhead.

Unfortunately, the tail did not wag, with D. Cartwright taking a fantastic catch at slip to Matt Spooner with Leo Carter remaining as the last man, leaving Grayswood IV with the target of 208 off 44 overs.

After a particularly fine tea in front of a television showing the Ashes, the Grayswood openers built a solid platform. Although the rate was slower than the Twoo's, Hayden 'Not another wasp!' Newman and James 'I know that, but.....' Merryweather could not get a breakthrough.

The course of the match changed when Scott Newman began the second over of his spell in the 13th over forcing G. Cooper to sky a delivery to point. Scott then proceeded to remove the stumps of the next two batsmen, leaving Grayswood at 66 for 3 off 17 overs.

At this stage, Grayswood dug deep and slowed down the run rate. Fantastic field work by the team (there were no runs scored from overthrows, because of incredible backing-up) and the bowling of Leo 'Last Man Standing' Carter and Bernie Bridger kept things very calm.

This changed when N.Taylor reached his half-century. The Grayswood players on the boundary started calling for more runs to be scored and both teams changed tactics. Alan 'Podge' Partridge made another insightful decision and brought back the quicks of Hayden, Scott, James and Mitch and Grayswood started playing riskier and riskier shots. It was the ball that overcame the bat with Grayswood going from 115 for 3 off 33 overs to 144 for 8 off 44 overs.

The sun was setting rapidly and the Twoo's were becoming even sharper in the field with Barry Croucher taking a great catch to remove J. Cartwright off in one of Mitch 'I'm really knackered' Brown's wicket maidens. Also, the appealing was becoming more frequent, much to the ire of the umpires and the Grayswood team on the boundary.

In the last over, the Twoo's needed 2 wickets and Grayswood simply needed to hang on. Scott Newman, almost provided a climatic finish, taking the ninth wicket with his third ball, but it was not to be. S. Cooper and J. Taylior successfully hung on to secure a draw, giving Grayswood IV 2 points and Wrecclesham II 5 points.

Written by the Ginger Owl