Results for Week Ending 4 July 2010
Cricket (29 June)
1st XI v Wellingborough (H) Won by 8 wickets
Wellingborough 117 all out (J Gurney – 6 for 30, B Paine 4 for 11)
Stowe 118 for 2 (Ali Birkby – 55 not out, B Duckett 31 not out)
Wellingborough won the toss and batted, despite a good opening burst from John Gurney (who accounted for Wellingborough’s two best players), Stowe were guilty of being a little lack lustre prior to lunch, only completing 30 overs and allowing Wellingborough to notch up a hundred runs. A bit of a pep talk at lunch time and Stowe came out firing. John Gurney continued his form and bowled with hostility and aggression and simply blew the Wellingborough middle and lower order away. John finished with his best return of the season – 6 for 30 off 13 overs. He was well supported by Ben Paine who rarely bowled a ball in his 8 overs and picked up four wickets himself, for only eleven runs.
In reply Stowe lost Ben Sutton early but then Ali Birkby and James MacDonald settled things down with a 50 run partnership. James went to a good caught and bowled catch for 23, which left around 60 runs to still be knocked off. Birkby and Duckett did it comfortably, never looking in any trouble, and the match was won in the 35th over.
1st XI vs. Radley (A) Won by 8 wickets
Radley 171 all out (J Sainsbury-Bow 4 for 40)
Stowe 172 for 2 (A Birkby 43 not out & B Duckett 54 not out)
The 1st XI thumped Radley yesterday, on their home turf, by eight wickets. In over cast conditions on a pitch with a greenish tinge Radley chose to bat first. They were soon to regret it as they lost a wicket in each of their first three overs and were immediately on the back foot. Stowe had their tails up and the ball was swinging. Josh Sainsbury-Bow accounted for four of their top order in his first seven overs and Ben Paine picked up two in two balls. The score after the first 15 overs a staggering 57 for 8. However, the sun was now out and the pitch a lot flatter. Although Stowe took another wicket with the score on 81 (a brilliant catch at slip by John Gurney off Ali Birkby) batting now looked quite straight forward and Radley’s number 8 began opening his shoulders and hitting the ball to all parts. Cue a remarkable 10th wicket partnership of 90 to take Radley up to 171 all out in 38 overs.
The momentum was now with Radley; Stowe needed to get through the new ball burst to put us back in the driving seat. Ben Sutton and James MacDonald did just that batting together for 12 overs to put on 40 for the first wicket. James was particularly fluent, playing some lovely drives through the covers. Unfortunately, James fell just after tea for 38, which brought Ali Birkby and Ben Duckett together. They have loved batting together this season and yesterday was no different as they gradually wore the Radley attack down, dealing mostly in singles and twos to begin with, before opening up towards the end and dispatching the attack to all parts. Stowe lost no further wickets; Ben went to his fifty and the match was won with 11 overs to spare.