A Funtime had by all!

Harpsden Sun Win by 117 runs

Harpsden Sun 1st Innings 262/7 Closed (Overs 40)
A Grimmer lbw b R Noyes 22
A Birkett c Searle b Rechner 29
T Hancock c Simpson b Montgomery 17
A Norton* c Boden b Montgomery 28
W Stevens Not Out 65
R Birkett c Hopkins b Montgomery 17
M Hodgkiss Run Out 27
J Broome+ c ? b Searle 0
W Foster Not Out 26
extras (b0 lb6 w21 nb4) 31
TOTAL 7 wickets for 262

Crazies Hill 1st Innings 145/10 All Out (Overs 35.5)
C Funtime + c J Broome b H Williams 45
Montgomery b W Foster 0
Simpson Run Out 3
Hopkins* c B Hancock b M Hodgkiss 2
Boden c B Hancock b A Birkett 52
Rechner c J Broome b R Birkett 1
R Noyes c&b A Grimmer 0
R Cash c J Broome b A Grimmer 0
S Hanton Not Out 14
R Lea c H Williams b W Foster 1
Searle b W Foster 0
extras (b11 lb3 w12 nb1) 27
TOTAL 10 wickets for 145


On a beautiful afternoon Harpsden won the toss and elected to bat in this 40 over game. Harpsden made a positive start through Grimmer and Birkett although both were helped by some poor fielding by Crazies Hill as 5 catches went down in the opening overs. Adam departed first and set the trend for our batsmen as most made starts but then got themselves out (usually just slapping it skywards). After 28 overs the Harpsden total was just 124-4, but with Crazies having bowled out both Boden and Rechner the scoring rate started to climb, much to umpire Heath’s relief, who was a constant reminder that 220 was the minimum required! But to everyone’s delight 138 runs came off the closing 12 overs thanks mainly the ever aggressive Hodgkiss and a fantastic cameo from Willy Foster who scored 18 from the last over.

Having set a daunting 262 Harpsden took the field with great confidence and opened with the spin of B.Hancock and swing of Foster. Both having bowled well the previous day it was no surprise to see them both tightly and limited the scoring well to further increase the asking rate for Carzies Hill. This trend continued throughout the innings and as a result wickets started to fall. Harpsden were also helped by Chuckles Funtime who was the anchor of the Crazies innings, literally putting a stop to any movement in their score. As a result Jack Broome became ever more popular behind the stumps with his constant encouragement and vociferous appeals.

The flood gates really opened when Williams, with help from Broome, removed the stubborn Funtime for 45. Harpsden rotated their bowlers regularly giving some of their less experienced bowlers a chance to stake a claim for more regular action. Andy Grimmer was able to claim 2 wickets as well as Adam Birkett taking one scalp, the inquiries continue into how this was allowed to happen.

The innings was finished off by the returning Foster who capped a fantastic individual display returning figures of 5.5-2-5-3.