Owls Forge Clear

Wrecclesham produced a competent all round display which was enough to see off fourth placed Witley by 6 wickets and further cement the Owls push for promotion as they currently second in the table.

There were a few changes to the side which defeated Cody so comprehensively with Tom 'Jeff' Caston and Henry 'Granny Basher' Bate both unavailable and James 'Graham Napier' Wright absent through illness rather than at a maths convention as has previously been the case!

Skipper Boniface did however welcome back regular Neal 'Weirdo' Harris and was fortunate enough to be able to draft in quality players like Ben 'Stalwart' Pound who was chauffeured down from Nottingham especially and Mitch 'Golden' Brown for his debut in the 1st XI which illustrates the strength in depth at the Owls disposal these days.

Boniface lost the toss on a hard and yet green looking track and rather surprisingly Witley chose to bat first, maybe with half an eye on England Vs USA in the World Cup later that evening.

Oli 'Bondi Beach Caston' and Chris 'Adam Gilchrist' Spooner opened things up and Witley started fairly well with Munday (35) giving the latter some treatment having a go at anything loose and Burton seeing off a tight spell from Caston as the pair survived the first 9 overs despite a couple of presentable chances going down.

When Dan 'Bionic Man' Vasey took a sharp catch off the tireless Caston to remove Burton and Spooner, via an excellent Chris 'The Rock 'Windeatt pouch, finally took full advantage of a Munday miscue in fairly quick succession it buoyed the visitors and the game entered the balance once more.

F Dale (30) and Phillips (22) both made good contributions for the home side playing well and scoring at a good rate but Caston, who currently tops the 5 wicket haul charts, proved too good for both as the visitors continued to pick up wickets and dent the Witley charge.

Spooner plugged away and his spell got better the longer it went on (wasn't hard) as he bagged a double wicket maiden including a great C&B and ended with respectable figures of 3 for 61 helping to reduce the home side to 108-8.

A decent, if somewhat bizarre partnership between Franklin and Shea helped to frustrate the Owls as Witley fought to 137-8.

Vasey was obviously keen to get back and watch the football however as he provided a great cameo picking up 2 for 13 in 2.4 overs to finish off the hosts as they posted 137 all out from 39.4 overs.

Despite a couple of indifferent performances Boniface decided to continue with the opening Partnership of Matt 'MB is he on E?' Parkinson and Spooner as the owls looked to chase down a modest total.

Thankfully Parkinson repaid the confidence shown in him as he stepped up to the task in fine style scoring a well made and hard hitting 36.

The pair also saw off a lively spell from G Dale and stuck around long enough to put 67 on the board and crucially see the shine off the new ball.

Spooner (70*), arguably the most consistent and stylish batsmen in the division, once again showed his undoubted class as he compiled yet another match winning contribution respecting the good balls and punishing anything loose with an assured confidence.

Following Parkinson's demise Windeatt ensured there was to be no collapse as he and Spooner added 29 before he fell to an uncharacteristically loose shot as the visitors reached 106-2.

Witley knew the game was up with just 32 required for victory as Caston (12) and Spooner appeared to be steering Wrecclesham to an eight wicket win.

However Caston (as can often the the case I hear) tried to finish things off too quickly, seemingly aiming to hit one to the nearby village of Bramley but miscuing and giving Vasey the opportunity to end things in similar fashion to how he had ended the Witley innings.

After a rather large first ball maximum he thought he had finished the job only to be told it was one more for victory. Vasey however has never been one for pushing singles and attempted to strike another massive blow only to be caught at mid on to create the ultimate anti climax.

Mitch Brown, who also fielded well and was on debut, finished things in rather more clinical fashion as he blocked a straight one and then rather impudently struck the next delivery off his pads for a boundary and to seal a well earned victory for the Owls.

Next up is a home encounter with the ever improving Alfold as the Mighty Wreccers look to keep up their 100% home record and cement their position among the promotion places.

Afterword by Joe Boniface

Well done gentlemen, another pretty clinical display and a welcome 8 points to add to the total.

What encourages me is the strength in depth and that we can still improve on certain aspects and so to be winning games at a relative canter means that when we are truly tested we know there is more in the locker.

Dan, great little cameo with the ball showing exactly how you should bowl at the death and almost finished it up mirroring it with the bat, just run a bloody single next time!

Oli, what can I say mate? You are the top wicket taker in the division and justifiably so in my opinion. Your consistency is remarkable and I am glad to see you are getting the reward for some fine bowling, keep it up at this rate and my target of 50 wickets will be made to look woefully inadequate!

Spoons, first of all thanks for collecting Poundy, it is this type of commitment which is why we have such a great team bond and as Skipper it is very important to field as competitive team as possible and so I owe you one.

Second of all, another great batting display which was the heart of the run chase and a crucial contribution yet again, the fact that you have dominated in Div IV and III and are now doing the same in Div II just proves what have all thought all along and that good cricketers can score runs anywhere and you are a great testament to that.

If you carry on like you are then there's no reason why you cannot emulate last years run total and ensure that Steve shows you the big dog once more!

See you next week

Up the Owls

Twi Twoo