BUCCANEERS v WARBOROUGH & SHILLINGFORD
An Indian Summer it was, a raging bunsen it was not. With perfect blue skies above, a slow-and-low wicket below, and plenty of spin options within, the Buccaneers won the toss and opted to bat. As openers Angus Berry and Ollie Robertson strode out into the glorious sunshine the other Buccaneers retreated, at an appropriate social distance, to the shade of the old oak tree which in years past has been the canopy for the famous Warborough & Shillingford port-fuelled lunches. Alas, not this year, but the treats of the picnic hampers were unpacked and the stage was set for some entertaining afternoon cricket.
Warborough & Shillingford won the initial exchanges, with a superb spell from Chamberlain who went for less than two an over in a long opening spell, extracting more bounce and carry than the surface had suggested. Ollie Robertson signalled intent within the first six overs with a big heave-ho but found himself stranded. Controversy and confusion reigned when, after an elegant and incident-free quarter of a century, Eswar Kalidasan was caught and bowled. Umpires and players alike debated whether the ball had bounced once, twice or perhaps even not at all, but the decision went with a fair catch and he departed. Angus Berry skilfully alternated between obdurate blocking and thrashing seven boundaries before Chamberlain deservedly got his man shortly after the drinks & sanitising break. The experienced observers settled down to watch a long partnership from Messrs Leefe and Rydon, but two excellent catches tore up the script and the Buccaneers found themselves 89/5 after 25 overs.
Enter the young guns. Metcalfe boshed 52 from 55 balls, bypassing the lightening outfield to hoist five maximums in his innings. Tom Fletcher stroked a classy unbeaten 41, dealing in more ones and twos than he’d have liked, but taking his career aggregate at this ground to 152 unbeaten runs from 151 balls and inking himself into next year’s team. James March scored an effortless 19 from just 8 balls to help the Buccaneers to 206/6 from 43 overs.
The work was only half done, though. Metcalfe opened up from the Six Bells End and quickly had two wickets as reward for a penetrating spell. But it was Hamish Robertson who struck the initial blow, and if it had not been for the rarity of a back-foot no-ball his rewards would have been greater during an excellent opening burst. Then Marsh set to work, making the most of an ungenerous surface, with flight and guile that returned him 2-21 from 12 overs. Tight spells from Rydon and Leefe pushed the run rate up and WinViz lurched towards the visitors. The Buccaneers ground fielding was superb: the catching was a little more mixed, it should be recorded. H Robertson was an inch away from a catch-of-the-season, the captain pouched a catch which was notable only for the conversation that the batsman initiated prior to the dismissal being confirmed (the contents of which shall not be disclosed in polite company, although no offence was taken at the time). Ollie Robertson redeemed an earlier misdemeanour in the field to bowl an excellent wicket maiden towards the end to set up an intriguing finish, but in truth Warborough & Shillingford held on comfortably, with a steely 40-minute partnership between captain and youngster. After an honourable draw was called and stumps themselves were drawn, with the home team 113/7 from 45 overs, the players sauntered across the Green to the Six Bells to reflect on an excellent day all round.
| Sunday 13th September 2020 Warborough & Shillingford 1st XI v Buccaneers at Warborough Green Buccaneers won toss – elected to bat Buccaneers Batsman How Out Runs Balls Angus Berry b Chamberlain 36 57 Ollie Robertson st Ward† b R Iswariah 1 17 Eswar Kalidasan c & b Halvorsen 25 39 Simon Leefe c Zagoritis b Halvorsen 18 21 Rob Rydon c F Iswariah b Halvorsen 6 14 Will Metcalfe b Zagoritis 52 55 † Tom Fletcher not out 41 48 James Marsh not out 19 8 Extras (2 byes, 4 leg-byes, 3 wides, 1 no-ball) 10 Total (6 wickets, 43 overs) 208 |
| Did not bat: Hamish Robertson, Neil Robertson, * Warwick Okines |
| Bowler Overs Maidens Runs Wickets Tim Chamberlain 12 4 24 1 Rohan Iswariah 8 1 35 1 Trajan Halvorsen 7 0 45 3 Junaid Hassan 9 2 40 0 James Tilley 5 0 36 0 Adrian Zagoritis 1 0 10 1 Lucy Johnson 1 0 12 0 Warborough Batsman How Out Runs Balls Mark Searle c Leefe b Metcalfe 7 26 Freddie Iswariah lbw b H Robertson 2 8 James Tilley b Metcalfe 1 5 Trajan Halvorsen c H Robertson b Marsh 29 81 Rohan Iswariah c Okines b Leefe 22 64 Tim Chamberlain c Fletcher† b Marsh 4 6 * Adrian Zagoritis b O Robertson 28 54 Robert Johnson not out 4 29 Dave Treacher not out 0 0 Extras (2 byes, 8 leg-byes, 3 wides, 3 no-balls) 16 Total (7 wickets, 45/45+ overs) 113 |
| Did not bat: † Chris Ward, Junaid Hassan, Lucy Johnson |
| Fall of wickets: 1−7 (F Iswariah; 3.1 ovs), 2−8 (Tilley; 4.1 ovs), 3−24 (Searle; 8.4 ovs), 4−72 (Halvorsen; 29.5 ovs), 5−72 (R Iswariah; 30.2 ovs), 6−76 (Chamberlain; 31.5 ovs), 7−109 (Zagoritis; 43.6 ovs) |
| Bowler Overs Maidens Runs Wickets Will Metcalfe 8 1 16 2 Hamish Robertson 7 3 14 1 James Marsh 12 6 21 2 Rob Rydon 5 2 16 0 Simon Leefe 7 3 17 1 Warwick Okines 2 1 17 0 Angus Berry 3 1 2 0 Ollie Robertson 1 1 0 1 Match drawn |