Wednesday 30/07/08 - Home v Syresham
The last game of the season and all the team wanted was to have a bit of a giggle and try to win the match. Winning the toss Matt Folkes decided to bat first and after playing around with the order all day decided to open with Jonny Cater and Marcus Mears, this didn't pan out too well and the first 3 wickets went down for just 13 runs on the board, the best partnership of the innings went to Matt Folkes and Jon Davey who put on 19 for the fourth wicket, there was talk of the "wig of shame" making a batting appearance but nobody was brave enough to don the garment and walk to the middle with it, however Ian Gough did look a treat wearing it on the sidelines. The final score for Gawcott was 59 all out and the bowlers for Syresham were M. Cooper 1-17 (3 overs), S. Andrews 3-15 (3 overs), A. Abbotts 1-7 (2 overs), P. Stanley 1-6 (2 overs), M. Evans 4-12 (2 overs) including 1 maiden and N. Muncey who went for 2 runs from his solitary over.
Striding out to defend a small total left the side looking around for bowlers, Ian Gough was nursing a sore knee and couldn't bowl so after a quick meeting between Matt Folkes and Marcus Mears it was decided we would have a look at as many people as possible. Darren Stanger opened the bowling and could have had a wicket in the first over had Matt Folkes put a decent effort in with the catch but he had to settle for 1 over for 4 runs, then a surprise opening bowler stood up to be counted, Marcus Mears. Sporting the "wig of pride" this young man made a telling impact with both sets of players and also the crowd, steaming in off a 2 pace run up with the wind ruffling through his beautiful golden locks he bamboozled the batsmen with a sumptuous over of off-spin, beating the bat on a number of occasions and nearly picking up the first wicket of the night and what would have been his first wicket in nearly 4 years. It was a shame when the over came to an end and I can honestly say that everybody would have wanted the young man to showcase his talents again, but alas they had to settle for just the one over, in which 1 run was conceded.
Moving on to the third over saw Matt 'Pie Chucker' Folkes take the ball, somehow the first wicket fell and the batsman just knew that he will go down in history as getting out to Matt Folkes, a shame that will linger long in the memory i'm sure. Throughout the night Ian Minney bowled 1 over for 14 runs, Martin Minney bowled 1 over for 7 runs, Eddie Hogan bowled 1 over for 19 runs and Wayne De Beer bowled 3 overs 1-13. Chris Collins scored 27 not out and A Hawkins also scored 21 not out to steer Syresham past the finish line in just 9 overs.
The game ended in defeat but should always be remembered for the stunning over by Marcus Mears and his golden locks fluttering in the evening breeze of a warm July evening, there is no doubt he was the prettiest player on the park and was lucky to get out of the village without being picked up by some of the locals!!!!
Wednesday 23/07/08 - Away v Westbury
On a hot evening, Matt Folkes lost the toss and was asked to field first, this allowed Westbury to send their batsmen out to the middle with home advantage against a side who had been confirmed relegated the week before. Scott Boardman stroked a very impressive 102 and B. Curly scored a quickfire 39 in a total of 193-2, the wicket takers for Gawcott were Darren Stanger 1-51, a fantastic piece of flight that deceived the Westbury batsman before being majestically stumped by Marcus Mears and Wayne De Beer 1-49 who bowled the centurian Boardman. Tonight also saw the return of Kevin Stutchbury with the ball managing to get through 1 over for just 9 runs.
The response to this massive total never really got going and pettered out to 93-8, however there were some good performances by Matt Folkes 29 and Wayne De Beer who scored 23 but things never got on track and to lose by 100 runs was in all honesty a fair result. There was a comedy moment in the innings as Matt Folkes ran out Ian Minney for the second week running and somehow Kevin Stuchbury was adjudged caught behind by the square leg umpire. For Westbury the wicket takers were Hopkins 2-39, Ayris 2-6, Curley 1-7 and Thomas 1-9.
The final game of the midweek league is at home next week against Syresham and the team will be wanting to finish on a high by winning it and giving hope for next years attempt to win some silverware.
Wednesday 16/07/08 - Home v Thornborough
Tonight saw the team entertain a Thornborough side that could have passed as a Buckingham Town side, batting first Jonny Cater scored 49 and Alex Piggott scored 29, the team managed to get to 113-7 in the allotted overs, B. Stafford taking 4 wickets, C. Horsler 1 wicket and an ex Gawcott & Hillesden player Aiden Birch also taking 1 wicket.
In reply to the total, Thornborough chased the total down in 11.1 overs with I. Chapman scoring 42 and proving too strong for the home side, Ollie Church took 1-36, Lewis Clarke took 2-36, Darren 'Warney' Stanger chipped in with 1-15. Unfortunately this defeat for the midweek side confirmed relegation to the league below, however this means the side will be more competitive next year playing against sides of a similar level and having gained a year of experience as captain, Matt Folkes should now lead his team to more victories and hopefully some silverware.
Wednesday 09/07/08 - Away v Great Horwood
Match called off due to monsoon like rain.
Wednesday 02/07/08 - Home v Wicken
Victory, oh sweet victory, it tastes so good. Matt Folkes lost the toss and was asked to bat by the Wicken captain, a move he was surely regretting 30 minutes later. Back into the side came Jonny Cater and Nick Stanger, both of which opened the batting and scored beautifully, Jonny started off at a pedestrian rate by defending the first 2 balls of the match, however he soon changed gear stroking 11 runs from the remaining deliveries, this was just an appetiser for what was to follow. The 50 partnership came up in the fourth over, a wide ball, a leg bye and Nick Stanger contributing a total of 3 to the score, Jonny was extremely fluent and was taking the attack to each and every Wicken bowler without exception, Nick also got into the game as the partnership raced past 100, 150, 200 and eventually came to rest at 245 from the allotted overs: Jonny finishing with a magnificant 172 not out, Nick finishing with a sparkling 60 not out. In his total of 172 Jonny stroked 16 boundaries and smashed a staggering 10 maximums with a strike rate somewhere in the region of 220 runs per 100 balls faced; Nick's total included 8 boundaries and on five occasions scored 3 runs, not to be out done in the strike rate stakes, Nick scored around 150 runs per 100 balls faced.
There was nowhere to hide for any of the Wicken bowlers, B. Weston 4 overs for 31 runs; N. Moore 3 overs for 56 runs; Humphries 2 overs for 44 runs; Higgs 3 overs for 40 runs; Mark Wooton 1 over for 14 runs; Matt Wooton 1 over for 22 runs and Games 1 over for 22 runs. The Wicken captain took defensive action as early as the second over by placing 7 men on the boundary edge for Jonny however it proved a fruitless task as he either smashed it over their head or to either side of the fielders. There was one chance for Jonny's heroics to be cut short when he was dropped at short fine leg, other than that the Wicken boys were left chasing leather for 15 overs, the Gawcott batsmen however stayed seated waiting for the next shot to pierce the boundary.
In reply Wicken tried valantly to keep up with the huge 12 runs per over rate but Ollie Church and Lewis Clark bowled immaculately for 8 overs restricting them to 68-3, leaving a ridiculous 177 runs required from just 72 balls. This allowed the skipper to turn to his part-time bowlers in order to see what else was in the locker: Jon Davey had 1 over for 15 runs, Matt Folkes bowled 1 over for 14 runs; Gareth Church bowled 1 over, took 1 wicket for 15 runs and Ian Minney bowled 1 over for 8 runs. Jonny Cater capped his game of with 1 over, 1 wicket for 18 runs and Nick Stanger tidied things up bowling 2 overs, 1 wicket for 8 runs.
In all it was a resounding victory for Gawcott & Hillesden CCC, a superb batting display from Jonny Cater who was brilliantly assisted by Nick Stanger and a great opening bowling partnership between Ollie Church and Lewis Clark never allowed Wicken a sniff of victory on a night when the boys from Gawcott showed the cricketing gods that they too can play the beatiful game. All eyes turn to next week's game when the trip to Great Horwood brings many rivalries, throughout the sides, to the fore, most notedly Jon Davey who will be playing against his weekend teammates.
Wednesday 25/06/08 - Away v Wicken
Yet another away match saw the team make the journey to Wicken, long time rivals that have also had a recent overhaul in personnel. The opening partnership of Colin Piggott and Marcus Mears continued to fail at the top as for the second game running they failled to put on a single run, this time only lasting 2 balls before one was ousted. It was Matt Folkes, using his mid season form that came to the fore with a true captains knock of 26, Gareth Church adding some brutal runs, finishing with 25 not out and a measured innings from Kevin Stuchbury 18 not out that pushed the teams' total up to 90-6; a score that looked a long way off at 20-5. For Wicken, all the bowlers chipped in with wickets but it was B. Weston who took 3-18 (4 overs) that caused the most damage among the Gawcott batsmen, including 2 wickets in the first over.
In reply, Wicken moved along at a very pedestrian pace in the opening overs, Ollie Church providing some quick and accurate bowling to finish with figures of 1-13 (4 overs). The pace eventually picked up Mat Wootton scoring 32 and Mark Wootton scoring 41 before both fell to stumpings by keeper Marcus Mears, Mat Wooton being deceived by Darren "Warney" Stanger with some delightful flight and Mark Wooton being deceived by the variety of pies that were dispatched by skipper Matt Folkes in what must be his solitary over of the season! In a comment after the game the skipper confessed it was the "Apple Pie" delivery that got the wicket, Darren finished with figures of 1-27 (3 overs) and Matt finished with 1-7 (1 over).
Next week sees the team make a rare appearance at home where they take on the boys from Wicken, having seen what they have, Gawcott must now prepare themselves well and pray that the "Apple Pie" delivery doesn't make another appearance.
Wednesday 18/06/08 - Away v Syresham
The second match of a double header with Syresham saw the hosts bat first this time around and with some worthy contributions from Archer 42, Cooper 32 and Beecher 27 saw the hosts chalk up 151-8. All Gawcott bowlers got amongst the wickets, Ian Gough taking both openers to finish with figures of 2-45 (4 overs), Colin Piggott was someway near his best, finishing with figures of 2-25 (4 overs), Darren "Warney" Stanger took a creditable 3-35 (4 overs) and a surprise appearance with the ball by Ben Jones saw him return with figures of 1-39 (3 overs).
Trying to avoid the poor performance of a week ago Gawcott set about the mammoth run chase with some gusto, Colin Piggott put in a fine effort, scoring 29 at the top of the innings, unfortunately the target was just too far out of the teams reach but some positives can be taken from the match as Gawcott finished 81-6 after the allotted overs. Cooper took 2-17 (4 overs), and an economical spell from Holston 1-6 (3 overs) were particular thorns in the Gawcott players' side but overall a more rounded performance saw the team take 8 wickets and bat out the full 15 overs, something that must be taken into the future games as a basis for the ellusive victory.
Wednesday 11/06/08 - Away v Syresham (Midweek League Shield Rnd 1)
The games just don't get any easier for the midweek team, tonight saw the trip to Syresham for the Midweek League Shield Round 1 match. Jonny Cater was back at the top of the order for Gawcott along with Alex Piggott, Cater showed some form by scoring 26 in the total of 51 all out after 11 overs. D. Archer was the main tormentor of the evening, taking an impressive 5-21 (4 overs), S. Dadge 3-12 (4 overs) and N. Archer 2-3 (2 overs) took the remainder of Gawcott's wickets.
The total was never enough as Syresham knocked off the total for the loss of only 2 wickets, N. Parry 22 not out steering the side home with 7 overs to spare; for Gawcott, Ollie Church was the only wicket taker, finishing with 2-30 (4 overs). The team take a trip back to Syresham next week to compete in the league and can now focus on the league now that the cup runs are over.
Wednesday 28/05/08 - Home v Westbury
Match called off due to rain.
Wednesday 21/05/08 - Away v Thornborough
This league was always going to be tough and this game proved to be so. Batting first, Gawcott put on 66-9, only Gareth Church scoring 10 to get into double figures, smashing a 6 in the process, Ian Minney knocked the ball around to get 9, but it was extras with a total of 18 that proved the highest scorer of the day. For Thornborough, S. Roberts 3-8 (3 overs), A. Birch 2-10 (4 overs): some still believe he should be wearing the colours of Gawcott & Hillesden CCC, and C. Horsler 2-17 did the majority of the damage.
Thornborough's response was very much dominated by one man , B. Stafford who scored a sparkling 52 not out to guie the hosts home without losing a wicket.
Wednesday 14/05/08 - Away v Finmere (Advertiser Cup Rnd 1)
A game against our local rivals got off to a good start with captain Matt Folkes winning the all important toss and electing to bat first. A return to action for Marcus Mears ended with a fine knock of 60, running himself out off the last ball of the innings, tryng to steal a run to the keeper. The side eventually totalling 134-6 setting Finmere a target of 9 runs an over if they were to achieve victory, T. Coe opened for Finmere and managed to fend off some hostile bowling from Ollie Church to see Finmere home with 80 not out.
The light did't help towards the end of the match unfortunately as the team struggled to pick the ball out of the background of trees, however they will have to look back at the performance and wonder how we contrived to lose a game in which we were favourites up until the last few overs.
Wednesday 07/05/08 - Home v Great Horwood
Match Report to follow..........
