Westcott 265/6
Hospital Radio Charity Side 193/9
On Sunday an mixed Westcott side began their 2010 season with a friendly game in preparation for the start of the VCL league next week. Westcott ‘captain for the day’ Dan Moore won the toss, and decided to bat first. The sun was out, the wicket was dry and the Westcott opening Bats used the conditions to their advantage. M Shaw batted well and scored at a good rate while at the other end J Hart stuck in as they kept the runs going. Shaw retired on a quick fire 51 off 26 balls and left Westcott in good position at 65-1 after 10 overs. Hughes came in looking for form and was finding the boundary with ease scoring a breezy 37. Hart fell just shy of his 50. G Timson (52*) and D Moore (42) batted well and took Westcott to a defendable total of 265/6 off 32 over’s just short of their allowed 35. The outstand bowlers in this innings were Ben 2-8 and Marsh 2-31. Hospital Radio Charity Side begun brightly and with pace as Brierly hit the openers Shrives and Hughes for clean blows in their first over’s. Hughes bowled him for 29 in his second over. Ben came and went caught off Shrives, a good catch behind the stumps by Shaw. Opener Rowland supported Fleckney who played an interesting Innings of 50 before retiring after 60 balls. From then on Reif was the anchor of the innings striking the ball very cleanly into the gaps which were plentiful with Westcott’s 8 man team. Marsh was supporting Reif until he was bowled by good yorker from Shrives, This left the visitors 137-4 off 25 overs, needing a demanding 129 runs off the final 10 over’s, surely an impossible task. Some interesting bowling choices offered them a small glimmer of hope with C Shaws lofty slow balls and J Harts medium loopy with the ocasssional quicker half tracker bouncer. While Reif batted on well striking the boundaries, Shrives finished off his spell bowling Friend (captain) and Stevens for no score at the other end. Timson took the wickets of Reif, for a well played 42 and Steve for no score before Moore came on to finish it off claiming the last wicket. Westcott won the friendly by 72 runs. Best of the bowlers was Shrives with 4-50.
Westcott .....
South Park Manor....
Round 1 of the new season saw the visit of newly promoted South Park Manor to Stable Meadow. On winning the toss the home side inserted their opposition. The game begun with a bang as opener Fahad hit the second ball of the match for a large six over long-on. A couple of overs later though and Hughes bowled his man for 12 to grab the first wicket. Deloford picked up 2 quick wickets, both well caught behind by M Shaw to reduce South Park Manor to 35/3. A couple of small partnerships followed but when Rehan was well caught by Downman for 37 the visitors were 5 down. The 6th wicket partnership between Aahif (94) and Jaffer (44) was the mainstay of the South Park innings. Aahif struck a number of lusty blows of the front foot to push on the scoring rate whilst Jaffer dug in at the other end. The partnership finally came to an end when Shrives dismissed Aahif for a brisk 94. South Park Manor were 191/6. In the closing overs Westcott kept things tight and did well to secure the final 4 wickets for just 49 runs as South Park Manor ended up all out for 240, a decent total from the visitors. Following tea Westcott’s openers Pickering and Downman set about chasing down the target. The opening stand was 57 before Downman fell to Shahzad for a run-a-ball 42. This brought Musgrave to the crease. He and Pickering dug in at first before beginning to find their timing and kept up with the scoring rate. The pair put on 107 before Musgrave (51) was well caught and bowled by Adnan. The score at that stage was 163/2 after 32 overs. Michael Shaw struck a couple of boundaries before being trapped LBW bringing Wadey to the crease, 178/3. With the scoring rate at over six, pressure began to build on the Westcott batsman. Subsequently a number of wickets fell in relatively quick succession as Westcott’s batsmen tried to keep in touch with the ever increasing run rate. Pickering was out for a well played 92. By the end of the 43rd over the score was 212/6. 29 runs required with 3 overs remaining. The South Park bowlers kept things tight by bowling full and straight, not leaking any boundaries. Jaffer profited from the situation to bag a couple of late wickets as Westcott ended up short, 222/8 at the close of the innings. It was a good, evenly contested game and perhaps the result was indeed a fair one.
Westcott 297/7
Ockham 139/8
Westcott travelled to Ockham, this weekend, looking to jump start their season after the disappointing draw against South Park Manor last Saturday and there seemed to be an intention by the visitors to impose themselves on the game from the start. Despite rain and cold conditions, Tom Shrives chose to bat on winning the toss and let his batsmen take the initiative. But there was a poor start when Pickering departed early, caught behind off the bowling of Ockham captain Greenwood in the third over. Musgrave came to the crease to join Downman and together the pair began to build a base for the Westcott innings. Musgrave settled early and the partnership soon passed fifty as the run rate was easily maintained at five an over. But Downman endured a rough patch and lofted a catch to mid wicket not long after. When Shrives was then dismissed quickly Ockham sensed a chance to pressurise the away side but Mike Shaw and Musgrave ran the hosts ragged running ones and twos they had no right to. The bowling began to crumble as the change bowlers released any pressure that they had had and when Shaw lofted Mason for a six over square leg he found his touch too and the game was sliding away from Ockham. Musgrave passed fifty but then was out on 79 with the partnership on 99 but it seemed only to spur Shaw on and with the help of Richardson they set about posting an imposing total. Shaw looked set for his first SDL century but was bowled on 97, short of the landmark but with no one in doubt of the importance of the innings. The Westcott innings was then declared on 279 off 45 overs after the lower order had been allowed a quick swing to add an extra 30 runs. It had rained almost incessantly during the 1st innings but during tea the weather brightened and it remained dry for the rest of the game. The Ockham line up seemed to be missing a few of their Batsmen from the previous week and the bowlers started well. Chances were being created regularly but they were often put down with all of the top six batsmen being given at least one life. Early wickets did come, with Deloford particularly penetrative, but the visitors could have had many more than four wickets at the drinks break. The openers both bowled extended spells and Deloford finished with five wickets but when the change bowlers were being brought on the light had deteriorated. No more pace bowling was allowed. The spinners did their best, and Pickering got two wickets to keep the away side in the hunt, but the home side were firmly set on batting for the draw, and without faster men to force the issue, the hosts negotiated the final few overs easily. No Ockham batsmen had got more than 30 and they fell very short, not even half way, of the 280 that they needed for a win. Westcott bemoaned the poor light, which had denied them a comprehensive win in a game they dominated for 85 of the 90 overs.
Westcott 297/3
East Horsley 204
Westcott hosted East Horsley this weekend with expectations firmly set on a home win after the visitors arrived with a depleted side. The home side were asked to bat when East Horsley won the toss on what looked like it should be a good wicket. It turned out to be slightly two paced but this did not stop stand in captain Pickering and Downman from providing a good start for the stable meadow side. They pushed along the scoring at a good rate and it was not until just before drinks in the twentieth over that the first wicket fell when Downman was trapped LBW with the score on 99. Musgrave then arrived at the crease and looked flowing early on but it was not long before Pickering was bowled for 58 and Westcott 127-2. It could have been a turning point if the visitors had managed to tie the batsmen down and exert some pressure, but Brierley attacked from the off and his cameo of 22, along with the evermore fluent Musgrave, kept taking the game away from the bowlers. Brierley departed with Westcott 170-3. It brought Mike Shaw to the wicket and the pair of Batsmen picked up where they left off the previous weekend. The partnership was characterised by hard running from the off but it really began to take off after the 38th over when the score was 202. Shaw hit the 39th for 24, with some ferocious hitting, punishing anything off length, and the final five overs went for 77. Musgrave too raced along and both approached landmarks, but both fell short. Musgrave finished 92 not out, his third consecutive SDL fifty of the season, Shaw unbeaten on 48 and the partnership was 109 to add to the 99 from the previous weekend from the young pair. The away side only had nine batsmen after an injury during the game and it looked like a steep ask. The opening batsmen looked solid and Launder was striking some lovely drives as the bowlers struggled to create chances. Paul Shaw was introduced into the attack and the breakthrough duly came as he clean bowled Carpenter. Hughes then found the edge of Launder and Musgrave took a sharp catch at 1st slip as a small flurry of wickets fell as three went quickly. It seemed like the gates might open. Hughes toiled away and got two more wickets before he finished but it turned out to be a case of patience for the bowlers on a flat surface. Musgrave pitched in with a wicket as well but then a solid stand was put together with Tosh and P Drake frustrating the hosts. The return of Deloford hastened the end as his extra paced rushed Tosh before a sharp bouncing ball took the glove of T Drake and when the chance was taken Westcott gained 40 points. A well rounded and dominating performance.