Templars Sign off with a Win!

31 August 2015

The Templars ended one of their most successful seasons in recent memory with a comfortable win against the Royal Household thanks to a five wicket haul from Freddie Kirchner and an unbeaten fifty from Ben Paine.
 
Captain Tom Wilson had assembled a strong side to travel to Windsor and after a heavy downpour delayed the start and reduced the match to 35 overs a side, Stowe were asked to field first on a pitch that had a damp patch in the middle due to a missing cover. Opening bowlers Rowling and Waddell-Dudley looked to maintain a full length on a two-paced with Rowling rewarded with the opening wicket via a thin snick through to keeper Adam Cossins.
 
After the opening blast, Wilson looked to rotate his well-stocked bowling armoury with Will Anthony and Edward Hoy the next to enter the fray. Seemingly every change brought a wicket with the opposition proving their cavalier nature wasn't restricted solely to their day jobs. Hoy induced the other opener to spoon a catch to the safe hands of Wilson, who would go on to take three catches in total. 
 
The introduction of left-arm spinning duo, Tom Young and Kirchner, paid almost immediate dividends as Kirchner gained revenge for his first ball full toss being hit for a six to  bowl the batsmen two balls later. From then on Kirchner seemed to possess the Midas touch as he took a wicket in each of his next overs to complete a five-wicket haul in just five overs, conceding just 15 runs in the process. Such was the Templars' dominance that the crowd were greeted with the rare sighting of Will Browning bowling with Ben Paine also unveiling his leggies. Despite Wilson trying to gift the opposition a few runs, both Paine and Browning picked up a wicket each as the Royal Household were all out for 102.
 
The low total granted Young and Rowling an opportunity to open the batting, however neither was able to take advantage of the opportunity with Young out bowled to the first ball of the innings with an extravagant but dreadful leave as the ball cannoned into his middle stump. Rowling followed a few overs later snicking a long hop through to the keeper. This brought the more familiar presence of Cossins and Paine together at the wicket and the duo looked to be coasting along to victory before the introduction of donkey drops from one end swiftly brought about the demise of Cossins. 
 
Harry Wolrige Gordon came in looking to knock off the remaining 40 or so runs in a hurry and played the shot of the match with a perfectly timed reverse sweep that flew away to the point boundary. However he was out caught long on a few balls later and was given a rare send off in this form of cricket, being told to take his reverse sweep off with him. Browning joined Paine to ensure there were to be no further losses and Paine brought up his fifty as well as the victory with a well timed drive through the covers for four to record a Templars victory with six wickets and plenty of overs to spare. 
 
So this brings to an end the Templars 2015 season with the undoubted highlight being an unbeaten Cricket Week. If memory serves, the slate stands at 15 games, 10 wins, four losses with just the one match rained off, an impressive record for a side whose priority is enjoyment over pure results.
 
Thanks to everyone that has played this year, I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have, and for those of you that we didn't see on the field this season, I hope you are sufficiently inspired and motivated to rectify that next year.
 
Rupert Rowling (Cobham 05)