Owls nest nicely near the top

The Wrecclesham Owls recorded their third win of the season against a youthful Wood Street Village side and placed themselves nicely in the slipstream of leaders Blackheath.

The mighty Wreccers made it 28 points from 30 at the recreation ground as they continue to thrive on the challenge of Division II cricket.

The pitch had been cut, rolled and rolled again by Messrs Parkinson and Vasey prior to play and the pitch did not disappoint in what turned out to be a high scoring encounter on a glorious day.

Joe 'Alec Stewart' Boniface won the toss and stuck to his principles by electing to bowl on the hottest day of the year so far.

It was a decision that had appeared to pay dividends as Oli 'Bondi Beach' Caston, who was unsurprisingly relishing the hot conditions, started well and took a wicket in just his second over.

Chris 'Uzi 9mm' Spooner removed Henderson shortly after, a good catch by the evergreen Larby and despite a couple of very presentable chances going down at 20 odd for 2 it looked like it could be plain sailing for the home side.

However Lunn and Morrison had other ideas as the duo consolidated well, keeping out the decent stuff and punishing the bad ball well, striking cleanly and hard when given the opportunity.

It must also be said that the pair were aided substantially by one of the worst fielding displays ever seen at the Rec.

Only a handful (generous!) of players can hold their hands up and say that they fielded well over the course of the visitors innings.

There were dropped catches and misfields galore, balls were inexplicably stepped over, kicked over the boundary, over thrown for plenty, easy run outs were missed by miles and the standard became so bad at one stage that despite skipper Boniface's attempted encouragement and gee ups, the slip cordon could actually be heard chortling to themselves as another chance was put down.

Caston and Graeme '1000 wickets' Larby at least bowled with a modicum of conviction the former picking up yet another deserved five for (5-74 from 20 overs) and the latter steadying the ship superbly, breaking the crucial partnership (nice catch by AC) and playing no small part in helping to keep the score within reach.

The promising Wood Street lower order all contributed well and the fielding failed to improve as the visitors called an end to proceedings and the Owls were put out of their misery with the home side posting a competitive 218 for 7 from 45 overs.

A double act of Spooner and Andy 'Arsene Wenger' Collins, who was one of the few who could enjoy lunch with his head held high, had prepared a fine feast for tea (barring the critical omission of tea and enough squash of course!) as the home side, aside from the bowling contribution of Caston and Larby, were left to contemplate a truly abysmal display in the field.

However the strength in depth available to the Mighty Wreccers these days means that there is a positive approach to any run chase they are set and despite a decent looking total the home side knew that the favourable batting conditions meant with a bit of luck and the correct application (just for you Steve) that it was well within their capabilities.

Matt 'MB is he on E?' Parkinson had not quite read the script though as he departed in the 4th over edging a decent ball to the keeper to leave the home side 16-1.

James 'Graham Napier' Wright stepped into the breach and once again he proved he was more than equal to the challenge with a fine display.

Wright and Spooner weathered the early storm of the new ball and began to forge an impressive partnership, batting very comfortably, managing to punish anything loose and maximise the excellent batting conditions.

Spooner survived an ominous looking appeal for caught behind as Wood Street felt they had their man (only he knows if he hit it) but with the umpire perhaps preoccupied with the 5 front foot no balls that had been bowled, a decision was not forthcoming and the all rounder capitalised on some erratic bowling to really up the ante on the visitors as he made his way quickly to an exceptionally well made 74.

Wright, who had also batted with great maturity against pace and spin alike was soon back in the hutch for 60 after being caught on the crease and given LBW to the exciting Ahmed.

The home side still required 50 odd at this stage but the ever reliable Chris 'The Rock' Windeatt (28*), who amazingly now averages 100 this season and Mr Consistent with both bat and ball Oli Caston (30*) finished the job in ruthless style with 2.1 overs to spare.

A convincing 7 wicket victory against a youthful but talented Wood Street side who are an established outfit at this level bodes well for the Owls.

Next up is a trip to Lurgashall where they will look to continue their fine form up pick up a third successive victory.

Afterword by Joe Boniface

First of all I would like to say I don't condone gamesmanship and wouldn't urge anyone to purposefully gain an unfair advantage, a fair and hard fought victory is often the most satisfying.

However I would also say what goes around comes around. Wrighty to my mind was very unfairly dismissed in the first game and these things tend to even themselves out over the course of a season, I therefore do not want us to dwell on it.

A quick word on the fielding gentlemen - atrocious! Never again please, we must improve, if we can get everything to click like we know we can then we will make games far easier for ourselves.

Overall though another welcome victory and I think that when we apply ourselves we have proved that we are capable of competing with the very best teams in this division.

A word for Oli who was superb again with bat and ball, I am in no way undermining your bowling exploits as it was a great spell but I must say I was particularly delighted with another great batting display and even more so by the fact that you seem to be improving week by week.

Wrighty, we won't mention the dropped catch! Seriously though another very skilled and competent performance when it was needed most, I am very pleased that you are showing consistency like this as you have the ability to be up there with the best in the division.

Larbs, mr dependable, you proved your class and quality yet again with a fine spell which should not be under estimated just because we batted well. Your frugality with the ball kept them in sight when they could have disappeared over the horizon, so well done.

Windeatt, another accomplished display to add to the back catalogue and to have someone of your ability coming in at 4 or 5 further underlines our strength in depth.

Spoons, the middle part of your innings was some of the most dominant and clean hitting I have seen in a while and shows real signs that you are coming back to your swashbuckling and match winning best.

Up the Owls

Twit Twoo