Everbodys efforts were well rewarded as Wombourne’s excellent start to the season continued with a 154 run victory against Whitchurch.

Whitchurch won the toss and asked Wombourne to bat. Daniel Hughes (74) and Chris Bending (86) got Wombourne off to an unbelievable start putting on 156 for the 1st wicket, before Daniel Hughes was caught and Chris Bending followed soon after. This brought skipper Liam Hughes (44) and vice captain Mike Hughes to the wicket who continued the good work putting on 90 before Liam was out with the score on 268. Mike Hill finally reached his century in the 53rd over finishing on 107 not out as Wombourne declared on 353-6. Whithcurch’s Ian Gregory finished with 3-51 off his 9 overs.

Whitchurch’s reply started poorly as they were reduced to 32-4 with Steve Howard (4-51) and Ed Denham (2-46) doing the damage. Whitchurch bravely continued to chase the massive total with skipper Maisam Hasnain scoring 63 and Abdullah Awan 57. But spinners Liam Hughes (2-23) and Jack Biddulph (2-44) continued to take wickets, as Whitchurch were finally dismissed for 199 in the 40th over.

Wombourne travel to Coventy and North Warwick next week.

Returning captain Liam Hughes lost the toss and Wombourne were asked to bat first on an understandbly green wicket. Daniel Hughes (25) and Chris Bending (26) got Wombourne off to a solid start putting on 35 for the first wicket before Hughes was run out. This brought Mike Hill (35) to the wicket who formed partnerships with Chris Bending and then Liam Hughes (12). But the star of the show was the returning Jon Smith who scored a fantastic 80, sharing great partnerships with Jack biddulph (32) and David Hemming (34no). Wombourne finished on an impressive 276-8 in their 55 overs.

The Kenilworth reply got off to a terrible start as Ed Denham removed Keith Bell and Steve Howard trapped Sitansu Kotak LBW leaving Wardens 7-2. Skipper Scott Stenning (18) and Daniel Vernon (24) steadied the ship before Wombourne spinners Liam Hughes (2-29) and Jack Biddulph (3-46) caused carnage in the Wardens batting line up. Ed Denham (2-28) and Steve Howard (3-23) returned to finish the job off bowling Wardens out for 143, Martain Donald showing some dogged resistance finishing on 67 not out.

So a fantastic start to the season for Wombourne who showed a great team spirit and will look to take this forward to next Saturday when they host Whitchurch.

Wombourne batted first and quickly lost the services of Sam R, LBW to one that kept a little low (isn’t that what all us batsmen say?). He was quickly followed by Luke S and Alex R playing their first games of the season. Clearly both could do with a bit of net time, hopefully this Friday.

From the depths of 11-3, a magnificent partnership of 63 between George H and Ben T ensued, with George retiring around the 15th over having scored 33, an excellent effort to add to his 15 of the previous day. Ben T scored a slghtly slower 14 not out, but it was good to see that he had taken on board the previous days comments and was trying to run the first run quickly. Aided by 42 (yes 42!) wides, we accumulated a total of 93-3 off 20 overs.

We felt that was a decent score on a pitch that was prone to keep low. What we didn’t really expect was quite how brilliant our opening attack was going to be. Adam P bowled beautifully and was nearly unplayable at times, finishing with 2-0 off two overs. No less brilliant was Bex R who swung the ball and finished with 1-3 off her two overs. The quality continued with Alex R 2-1-2-2, Ben T 2-1-1-0, Sam R 2-1-2-0, Jake B 2-0-4-0, Gemma S 2-0-10-0, Sam Thomas 2-1-1-1, Alex R 2-1-2-0 and last but not least Luke S 2-0-3-0.

After 11 overs Enville were 8-5. After a spurt they were 29-6 after 20 oversOur fielding was excellent, everyone walking in and the bowling sensational. Wides were down to only 14 in the innings – on a cold night that was very good. Great strides made from Sunday.  Well done to all.

Apart from the excellent problem of having one man too many as a result of late cry offs and not knowing exactly where we were. Thankfully we were able to resolve with judicious use of substitute fielders.

Old Wulfs batted first and assisted by some wayward bowling (25 wides this time) the two openers made hay in the May sunshine, both having to retire when they reached 30. After 11 overs Old Wulfs had reached the dizzy heights of 80-0 and we were looking down the barrel of 150 plus.

To the credit of the team they dug in and much more accurate bowling later in the day by Sam T with excellent igures of 2-10 off three overs and Alex R with 0-5 off his two overs enabled us to restrict the opposition to 107-3 after 20 overs. There were a few static fielders and we talked about the difference that good fieling can make at the end of the game.

Faced with such a daunting total (anything over 100 is excellent at this age group), we got off to the worst possible start when poor Alex T got a first baller. A long day for a batsman when that happens to you – I should know because Jacques Kallis once bowled me with the first ball of the game many years ago! Adam P followed in the third over without troubling the scorers and we were in trouble.

Will F batted very well showing a range of strokes, scoring 22, and George H, a new wicket keeper batsman, scored 15 before being run out in a mix up with Ben T. A bit of time spent practicising running between the wickets for Ben I think (he is not the only one who doesn’t understand why you should run the first one quickly!). Ben ended on 9 not out, but as a team we fell a little short at 81-5 off our 20 overs. A creditable effort, but we needed to bowl straighter. Practice bowling straight on Friday – if it is ever dry enough to get on the ground!

Unfortunately James L and Jake B had a more difficult time as third pair, aided by some excellent leg spin bowling by B Rolston, who took 5-11 in three overs, losing four wickets. Sam R and Alex R, despite losing two further wickets, did manage to add 11 runs as the last pair, enabling Wombourne to post a target of 235 to win.

Faced with that total, Coseley were always in the hunt. Wombourne remained ahead until the third pair came to bat. Two of the smallest members of the Coseley team showed everyone else how to run and call, adding 15 runs without losing a wicket. It came down to the last over with 5 runs needed to win, assuming no wickets. Gemma S bowled very well, but could not stop that last run being scored, so Coseley won by one run in a very good game of cricket. Ben T was the pick of the bowlers with 1-4 off his three overs. How we will regret those 21 wides!

DISTRICT
JACK COX
TOM HUDSON
LIAM TOLLEY
MATTHEW POUNTNEY
TOM SIBLEY
JAMIE BOSTOCK
BEN HUDSON – also training with county squad
MASON BLACKHAM
MARINUS AUGUSTINE

COUNTY
BEX ROBERTS – Staffordshire Girls U15s
BEN HUDSON

It is a fantastic achievement to have so many individuals representing Wombourne CC at District and County level, well done to all of you, and good luck for the 2012 season!!