It’s Thursday! Two days until the weekend. Must wash that kit ready for Saturday …. oh yeah, that! It’s chance for another look back on matches of the past that took place on 4th June – and we feature a club record and a family day out!
I think it is only fair that we start with a club record. No one has ever scored as many runs in a single innings for Calmore Sports than this man did when he walked out to bat in this Regional Four North-West contest for the 4s at Wherwell 2s in 2016. Callum Greasley joined the club the previous winter having plied his trade for many years in Leicestershire for Woodhouse Eaves CC. Having hit 2 off 8 balls the previous week in the 2s loss at Woodgreen, there wasn’t really any sign of what was to come at the pretty little River Test lined ground. What was to come was 19 fours and six sixes in a breathtaking 175 – passing Ben Johns’ 158* in 2014 previous club record score. Ryan Lomax hit an unbeaten 55 as we posted a mammoth 318-7 which the hosts never challenged as Lomax (2-8), Harry Morgan (2-25), Tom Pattison (2-16) and Calum Bailey (3-1) removed them for 93 to clinch a monstrous 225-run victory. Will Callum’s record ever be beaten?
It was mentioned in yesterday’s OTD that we didn’t have the greatest record at Tichborne Park with just one previous win. Today was not that win as we travelled to the small Winchester village in SPCL Division 2 action in 2016 only to suffer our first defeat of the season – a season that would see us crowned Champions. Skipper Mark Lavelle won the toss and elected to bowl – something he did quite regularly in his early captaincy tenure.
Paul Proudley grabbed an early breakthrough but the home side made steady progress with Reid (65), Tom Allam (30), Cheyney (48) and Will Allam (41) all playing nicely towards their challenging total of 232-9 – Proudley finished with 2-35 (off four), West 2-54 and Ben Perry 2-26. We made a decent fist of the reply and at 82-1 and even 179-5, there was real hope that we could successfully knock them off but it wasn’t to be despite Perry’s 36, Ben Johns with 35 and James Rose 32, Tom Allam’s 4-31 did for us and we were bowled out for 200 – a dent in our promotion charge.
The 2s were at home to Bournemouth-based Suttoners looking to bounce back from last week’s heavy defeat to Woodgreen and they did just that, thanks to a superb spell of new ball bowling. Things didn’t start so well and we were 18-3 after winning the toss. But Liam Newton with 31 and George Woodhall’s impressive 41 turned things around before some big hitting from Jack Nicholson, who crashed 41 not out in 28 balls to drive the total to 179-8. But the visitors were quickly reduced to 29-6 as Daniel Croft flew in with 5-23 from his 10 overs to cut the top off the innings. There was some late resistance before Paul Henry’s 2-18 shut them down for just 121.
We welcomed United Services (Portsmouth) to Loperwood in SPCL Division 3 in 2011 in yet another game where the lower order batsmen held the key. Captain Darren Vann made 33 opening up but at 87-8, it was looking like an early finish. However, Pete Clark’s stubborn 38 not out and Paul Proudley with a 17-ball 19 at least gave the bowlers something to aim at with 129 on the board. It worked when US were 76-6 after Storm Anning’s 3-34 and Proudley 2-36. But two small but crucial stands took the visitors to a three-wicket win.
Everyone loves the feeling of winning by one wicket, especially the number 11 batsman who was there at the end. Losing one is slightly less palatable but that is what befell the 2s at Fair Oak 2s in County Four South. Stuart Bailey’s 58 was the backbone of the innings although Mark Gardner’s brutal 27* off 11 balls and Steve Brandes 17* eased the score over 200 at 203-8. A steady bowling display, added the three run-outs, kept the home side in check and it came down to the last over, bowled by Mark Gardner with them eight down and needing 4 to win. The dangerous Featherstone was bowled first ball for 39 – 201-9. Next ball, number 11 David Nevin hit for four. Argh!
While the 2s were losing by one wicket, a very special 4th XI were winning by the same margin at Burridge 4s. It is fairly regular that you get a father and son pairing playing together. But to have FOUR fathers and sons playing in the same XI, that is quite something – Martin and Michael Donovan, Keith and George Woodhall, Mark and Matt Taylor and Dave and Ben Johns all playing together on the same field and it was two of the Dads who were there are the end to cap off a performance who featured all of them! Keith’s 4-7 crashed through the lower order and came off the back of Matt’s 2-22 and Martin’s 2-29 as the home side were bowled out for 121 (including a brilliant one-handed catch on the boundary by Gavin Hopgood – which shouldn’t be forgotten either!). Michael hit a superb 60 and, alongside George’s 13 and Matt’s 14 took us to 115-5, needing 10 more. A collapse meant we needed four to win with one wicket in hand … Martin, with Dave at the other end, hit a four to bring home the family victory!
Adam Hargreaves’ 3rd XI were at home to Hythe & Dibden 3s and they returned with a comfortable 83 run win – thanks to a rather unlikely source! Mark Hardy’s run-a-ball 53 set things up allowing Dave Rose to crack a typically hard-hitting 71 from 53 balls as we posted 240-9. Some good bowling from Tom Houlder and Liam Golding kept the visitors in check before Glen Kinchington – a player not exactly famed for his bowling and had only taken two wickets in an innings once previously – roared through the lower order with 4-23 and alongside Nigel Hill’s 3-28 bowled them out for 157.
To be fair, that is about as good as June 4th gets! We had a trip to Sparsholt in SPCL Division 2 in 2005 which Darren Challis will remember fondly for his 5 for 82 in 12 overs but we lost by 73 runs despite Tom Pegler’s 43 and it was a complete washout in 1994 for all four sides.
It was round one of the Sidney Wyatt Trophy in 1986 and we were drawn away at Swan Green – a ground sadly no longer there but famed in cricketing circles forever more and we got the better of the home side by 75 run. Bob Wilcocks hit 57 with seven fours and three sixes which no doubt put passing traffic at danger as we made 125-3 in our 18 overs. A superb bowling display from Barnes (4-0-9-0), Taylor (4-0-6-2) and Rogers (4-0-11-3) restricted the Swan to just 53-5 in response.
Centuries in club cricket were scarce. In fact, Terry Chilcott’s first league ton in 1983 was just our third in ten seasons and all three were away from home! Terry’s century – 106 not out – at Southampton Sports Centre against Old Simmarians was helped by Paul Hoskins’ 31 and Billy Sims with 22 as they took us up to 196-7. Steve Brandes clipped the top of the reply with 3-49 and Sims cleaned up the lower order with 4-30 as the home side were skittled for 152 to give us a 44-run win.
Last one today comes from the A J Day Trophy in 1968 when we headed to Hoglands Park to face a side called Southampton Wednesday. ‘Wednesday’ Cricket Clubs were quite a feature of friendly and evening league cricket across the county and, in fact, the most famous one – The Wednesday Cricket Club – were formed in 1820 in Sheffield and were the forerunner of the actual Sheffield Wednesday Football Club. The Southampton version were a Parks League side and they watched Ben Lyon crash a blistering 90 not out as we raced to 139-6 in 21 overs. Wednesday, who had Hampshire’s Peter Haslop in their side reached 15-0 off 3 before the rains came to abandon the game. The game was re-arranged for the following week … and we lost by 6 wickets with Haslop taking 5-24 and West Indian great Gordon Greenidge smashing 32 – he would go on to bigger and greater things and play at more salubrious surroundings!
