Thanks to all who turned out. There'll be another work party in the spring, date to be arranged
Monday, December 19, 2011
Logs, hot coffee, mince pies, mulled wine were on offer to club members who turned out for Saturday's work party. Huge thanks to Matthew Munson for bringing his digger to pull out the biggest tree stumps and level off the mound above the cricket nets. The huge brushwood bonfire took all morning to get going, and everyone who wanted logs took them home by the carload or wheelbarrowload. There's now a lot more space to park well away from the danger zone.
Monday, September 19, 2011
Harpsden Cricket Club Dinner Speech 2011
Harpsden Cricket Club Dinner Speech 2011
Ladies and Gentlemen, good evening,
Welcome to our annual dinner as we near the end of the Club's 124th year. This evening's events are different from previous years for several reasons; firstly the location, many thanks to Lyn and the Henley Golf Club team for all their work in enabling us to move our dinner here. Secondly, Will is going to be presenting the 6 trophies, sponsored by Tabbits, the car repair specialists - and also the extremely prestigious catch of the season bit of wood. The benefit of this is that you are not going to have to listen to me wittering on for hours as normal. And finally, the other change is that we felt this dinner was a good opportunity to give you all a flavour of the much talked about square moving and pavilion extending project by showing you the very first draft of the presentation that a number of us are making to the Trustees of the Harpsden Trust at the beginning of next month. It is with this that we start the evening. Please don't hesitate to ask questions as we go along.
PRESENTATION
So now to the cricket - what has Harpsden Cricket Club's 124th year been like. Excluding the President versus Chairman's match, and before today, we have completed 40 fixtures. Of these we have drawn two, both good games but pretty boring draws as it turned out - against Concorde and Britwell Salome - however this belies an awesome unbeaten ton by Tom Nugent against the latter and a really high quality 72 by James Paice against a top class Concorde bowling attack. This time last season, we had lost six games, and interestingly enough, it is exactly the same this year. What's different though this year is that those defeats have been against sides that either were significantly overdue a victory against us or it is our first fixture against them and we have lulled them into a fall sense of security. It is also true that in most of these cases, beating us will have made their season!
Our first defeat of the year was against Reading Lawyers where a big South African and his brother got lots of runs to help them to 250 for 2 and then the same big South African took lots of wickets, but not before Ian Reissmann had scored a very impressive 74. This enabled them to beat us for the first time for several years. Their win should have kept the fixture for a few more years! We then had one of those really rare weekends where we lost on both Saturday AND Sunday. On the Saturday we bowled Turville out for 139, including lots of dropped catches, on what looked to be a classic Turville road. We enjoyed a great tea and were just settling in for a relaxing 8 or 9 wicket victory when first Jack Broome and then Andy Bryan made their way back to the pavilion for first over ducks. When Sasha departed soon after we were 9 for 3 and with thoughts of an easy victory far from our minds. Horatio and Adam Birkett batted serenely getting us to 90 for 4 before suddenly a flurry of wickets left us all out for 126. A surprising result and hopefully one that won't be repeated with tomorrow's hangovers! On the Sunday, we welcomed Medmenham. This was always going to be a good opportunity to rebuild our confidence after the previous day's defeat. The Medmenham guys are great guys but nobody could remember the last time they beat us. A short boundary, some wayward bowling, some average fielding and they got 251 for 4 off their 40 overs. This score was always getable although as it started to rain, the outfield played longer, the ball got softer and we fell behind the required rate - Medmenham weren't going to come off the field just because it was pouring with rain and miss the chance of beating the unbeatable. The rain got heavier - Neil, Mick, George, Ben and Toby all got really good starts but couldn't go on to get the big score. We ended up 30 runs short and in doing so, made Medmenham's season.
Against the Benedick Club we made it four defeats in a month - I suppose School exams may have affected things but this was a pretty insipid batting display on a wet pitch and only Justin, Ben and Ed showed us how to bat. In the end, we didn't even bat our overs. Benedick Club won by 6 wickets despite some quality bowling from Tom Hancock and Simon Lovelock. This certainly made Benedick's season - particularly as it's the only game they play each year!
As we moved into July, our fortunes turned and we started an 18 match unbeaten run which was only halted by those Friends of Oxford University. The Friends' 171 looked somewhat below par as Big George decided that their 6 foot 10 inch Blues opening bowler was there to be hit - the further George hit him, the faster he bowled. The faster he bowled, the further George hit him. This was fun to watch. Sadly the Friends played the dirty trick of bowling Harpsden bowlers at us - Ed, 8 overs 1 for 12, Will 5 overs 2 for 11 - which included the end of Big George and Horatio, 2 overs, 2 for 2, including both his unsuspecting little brother and also former batsman of the year, Andrew Norton.
The only other defeat came against Hurst, a new team this year. It is at this time that we should take a step back to appreciate all the efforts of Suzie Bradley. Suzie took over as fixture secretary many years ago from an un-named male who having been given the job, did what any normal male would do, which was to assume that all the teams who turned up the previous year would do so in the same order the following year. As the season started, the oppos didn't arrive .....and Suzie started the re-building process, in a way that only a woman can. She has been doing it ever since. Suzie spends ages over the winter finding us new and better victims and convincing the old victims that it will all be better in the new year and to give us another try. Every week she makes sure that the oppo are going turn up, on time and at the right place. We wouldn't be here tonight celebrating another superb season if it weren't for all the efforts of Suzie. A small token of our appreciation, to Suzie Bradley. [FLOWERS].
Back to the defeats. Hurst only made 151 and at halfway we were in charge. Despite the early loss of Tom Nugent and Andrew Norton, Horatio and Adam were battling.....and winning. Sadly another middle order collapse meant we slipped away quietly but at least Hurst will be back next year, and we're already looking forward to it.
2 draws and 6 defeats has left us with another quite outstanding 80% win ratio - 32 wins in 40 games. If you look at the stats on Play Cricket.com, nobody gets 80% win ratios! So which ones of those wins have been most memorable. Let's start with the first weekend. Henley on Saturday and a very chatty Wargrave on Sunday. The Henley game was a 40 over match against a good Henley side - they batted first and were always ahead of par, finishing on about 200, which was about 25 ahead of anything we wanted to chase on an early season strip. When we batted we were always behind the rate - good bowling made life difficult and only Horatio who constructed a really good 70 kept us anything like in the game. Sadly wickets kept falling and before we knew it we were 9 wickets down with our number 11, Miles, coming in to join debutant James Brooks, with still 20 needed for victory and less than 2 overs to go. 2 fours and a single from Miles towards the end of the penultimate over meant we needed 11 to win off the final over which was to be bowled by former Harpsden player, John Gould with the last pair at the crease. Henley had been ahead of us for all 79 overs of the day so far. Miles then proceeded to hit three of the first four balls of the over for four and Harpsden screamed past Henley just before the finishing line. What a way to start the season and surely that couldn't be bettered. Well, the next day, it possibly was. From the first over of the day the Wargrave bowlers were on top, and the slips were noisy (and not in fact very amusing although the well built one did laugh at his own jokes). A really good 65 from Will and a cultured 45 from Miles, allowed us to get to 159 for 6 off our 40 overs which was well below the 200 we felt we needed. All our bowlers bowled well, Ed, Johnny, Toby, Will and Tom Mitchell, but Wargrave always looked comfortable. As the game wore on suddenly they needed a still very doable 30 off the last 5 overs which crept up to 18 required off 2. A great 39th over of the innings from Toby and we were ahead for the first time in the game. Will finished it off with a quality final over and we ran out winners by just 6 runs. 2 confident oppos mugged in 2 days. What a way to start the season.
The next really good win was a 9 run victory, under the skippering of James Paice, against the Bradfield Staff. This was followed 11 days later by the victory of all victories. Hillingdon Manor were invited to the Harpsden arena for a bit of gentle Saturday afternoon jousting - Captain Stevens was gentle on the oppo, encouraging them to a barely competitive 162 as he finished them off himself taking 4 for 13. Suddenly both the openers, Ian Reissmann and Will, were out for ducks. But there was nothing to worry about as Jack Broome came in to join Robbie Harris.....or was there? When Jack fell for 26 and the middle order collapsed, we were 7 down and not even halfway there. Rob worked with the tail to try to bring some respectability to proceedings and by the time Richard Moyle came in at number 11 with the score on 120 - at least respectability had been achieved. Suddenly it became apparent that Robbie was knocking off the runs and Richard was holding his end up. 43 for victory became 30, which became 20, which became 13. All of a sudden a dangerous moment, Richard and Rob running a fourth and Richard requiring a full length dive to make his ground - which somewhat dustily he did. The field came in, Robbie went aerial, and all of a sudden 4 to win - one more shot to leg and victory was Harpsdens with Rob scoring a career best 86 not out. For the best rearguard of the season a little something, and a big round of applause, for Robbie Harris. [WINE].
Before moving on with the cricket I would like to pause again to thank two people who drive everything we do - our President and his wife. Firstly Monsieur le President, Julian. He has worked so hard over the winter doing all the initial work for the temporary net and also for the square moving project. Let alone everything else he does for us. He provides me with invaluable guidance, and when necessary, motivation, he is always seen wheel-barrowing in the booze....and wheel-barrowing out the rubbish, cutting the shrubs, turning off the watering....and just about anything else that needs a wise head. Ladies and gentlemen, please be upstanding for our President, Julian Burtt. [WINE].
Now, his wife. Given how many years I have been doing this speech I am running out of superlatives to describe everything that Jane does for us. But that is not fair on Jane - I have to find new superlatives! Jane is the guiding hand behind everything that is good about Harpsden Cricket Club and is the drive behind so many of the activities. We all need to find a way of helping her more but in the mean time let's give her a roof-raising round of applause to say thank you for everything- Jane Burtt [FLOWERS].
The last of the close matches I'd like to mention is the game against Morgan. A really damp pitch and with Toby and Ed taking three wickets each and Morgan got an indefensible, or so we thought, 116 all out. Big George opened the batting and decided that nudging and nurdling our way to the small target was not the best plan. 42 from George in the first 5 overs and we were well on the way. But only 10 runs between Henry Ellis, Sam, Charlie Stevens, Miles and Alfred and suddenly we were in trouble - double figure contributions from the Stevens boys and we were edging closer but still needed over 30 when Simon Lovelock came to the crease. A wonderful knock of 24 from Simon left us needing 2 to win when Ed joined James Paice - a poke through the covers from Ed and another one wicket win for Harpsden. Winning the close ones is always more satisfying.
No club can thrive without an amazing amount of organisation. The committee do a brilliant job; David Heath as Treasurer, Will as Club Captain and Andy and James as Vice Captains, Richard Moyle who has done an amazing amount this year including the net, Joanna Cary for her valued input and Ian Whittaker as chief requisitions officer with the new caps and shirts going down really well this year. I would like to give special thanks though this year to Mick Greenwood as secretary as he is stepping down after our October Committee meeting as the Olypmics is going to make 2012 a really busy year for Mick's anti- terrorist group. Please give a round of applause to all these people for everything they do to make Harpsden cricket club what it is, and particularly Mick for all he has done behind the scenes over the last few years. Mick, we have a little something for you. [WINE].
A few more thank yous before we move on to a couple of final cricketing moments before Will presents the trophies. We are very lucky to have a number of people who are happy to take on that thankless task of umpiring. Firstly Neil Craig who turns out for us almost every Sunday and is becoming as well known on the circuit as Billy Bowden, and also David Heath, Tony Wright and Charlie Stevens who are always really happy to help out. Also a thank you in absentia to Alfred who did a tremendous job organising another great Sixes event and all the tea-makers and spectators throughout the season..
Four other special moments have stood out for me this season, two of which occurred in the BBC Caversham game and two against Greys Green. Firstly BBC Caversham: Toby opened the batting and proceeded to hammer the BBC Caversham attack into submission. What was most impressive was that this was against a background of loose shots and wickets at the other end - no nerves as he got into the nineties and in the company of his big brother pushed a single to bring up a marvelous maiden ton. The second event in that game came immediately after the drinks break. BBC Caversham were 73 for 3 and needed to survive the last 20 overs for a creditable draw. They say that drinks breaks often bring a wicket - that is an understatement! First ball after drinks, wicket for Johnny Wright, next ball, wicket for Johnny Wright. Third ball after drinks and Johnny was jumping around having got a hatrick. Next ball, Johnny gets another wicket - four in four. An uneventful fifth ball before John picked up a wicket from the final ball of the over. 73 for 3 and coasting, to 73 for 8 in one Johnny Wright over!
Now to the Greys Green game. We wanted to give a little something to somebody who does an amazing amount to help around the club and who also scores his fair share of runs. But this season, I'm quite sure he has the somewhat dubious honour of being the second highest scorer AGAINST Harpsden. Greys Green turned up one short so we provided them an opening bat and after a somewhat cautious start he accelerated to a quite awesome 86 against the best that Will, Johnny Wright, Ed, both Tom and Ben Hancock and I could serve up to him and although he was out in the 34th over, that proved to be more than half their total. We won so he was allowed home in the evening. A little something for Adam Birkett [BALL].
The final cricketing bit from me comes from the second half of the Greys Green game. James Paice had scored a quite stellar and match-winning 96 not out against Dulverton earlier in the season and seemed destined to score his maiden century when the target was reached. Another opportunity would come.....and that day proved to be against Greys Green. Chasing 173 to win, James Paice and Sam Imlay were well in control, and as we neared the target, the message got out to the centre that James needed nearly the same number of runs for his maiden century as there were runs to win. Sam was going to help James over the line - after alot of very generous blocking by Sam to try to avoid scoring any runs, James found himself on 98 not out with three runs to win. This was to be James' maiden ton......or was it? Matt Skilleter came in to bowl, the keeper missed it and it ran away, very slowly, for 4 byes. Harpsden had won by 8 wickets but James was again stranded in the nineties. For everything that James does for the Club, plus a little consolation to be saved and drunk when the maiden 100 does arrive - James Paice [WINE].
WILL - TROPHY PRESENTATION
Now to the award of the Club Man shield for 2011. I have already mentioned a lot of people who do so much for the Club but there are a few people who I would like to make a special mention of here. Alfred has done a great job this season preparing pitches, as has Ben, and both of them have been tremendously happy to help whenever asked. Adam does an incredible job on the square and clearing up after games, Tony Wright and Charlie Stevens have had a very busy year helping on the major project, and will certainly be doing even more over the winter months and Miles who does a lot of clearing up around the pavilion on a Saturday evening and Sunday morning. Ed has done an awesome amount for the club this year including inputting, and organising others to input, all the stats for the last 8 years, helping with pitches and without whom we wouldn't have been able to manage the workload associated with the filming project of two weeks ago that made the Club over £2,000. I would be grateful if you could give a really big round of applause for all those I have just mentioned.
The previous winners of the Club Man shield have been Will, Miles, Ben, Richard and last years’ winner Adam, and hence the bar for this years' Club Man is extremely high. He has scaled those heights with ease and in the quietest possible way. What characterizes a clubman is somebody who gets on and does things......with a smile and a joke. This year our Clubman designed and sourced a new plate for the gearbox for the Roller, and wouldn't even let us pay for it, helped to design and then spent untold hours putting up the net by the road with Richard, which has saved us a fortune in car damage. He has also , provided us the equipment and a lot of time helping us to clear out the trees at the top corner of the ground, repaired the chain on the roller when it broke (which is no easy task), serviced and repaired our new aerator and even phoned up and spoke to the Aerator's designer to tell him where he had gone wrong in the design process(!) and is always around to watch the last few overs of the matches, except when his sons finish the matches early. Very well deserved Clubman of 2011 goes to Lucius Cary [SHIELD].
So what does 2012 hold for Harpsden Cricket Club, our 125th anniversary? The major project is clearly going to take up a lot of time for many of us this winter but we also need to do some more work strengthening our fixture list and dropping teams who let us down by not being able to raise a team. We have already weeded out much of our weakest competition replacing them with what were hopefully stronger teams but we have more work to do on that.
But now it is time to just take a moment to appreciate how lucky we all are to be members of Harpsden Cricket Club. We have a great spirit and good facilities, which will hopefully be tremendous facilities by the start of 2013. We have a lot of people helping to make the club what it is and a real desire to involve everybody in the cricket and the Club.
I would like to propose a toast to Harpsden Cricket Club.
Ladies and Gentlemen, good evening,
Welcome to our annual dinner as we near the end of the Club's 124th year. This evening's events are different from previous years for several reasons; firstly the location, many thanks to Lyn and the Henley Golf Club team for all their work in enabling us to move our dinner here. Secondly, Will is going to be presenting the 6 trophies, sponsored by Tabbits, the car repair specialists - and also the extremely prestigious catch of the season bit of wood. The benefit of this is that you are not going to have to listen to me wittering on for hours as normal. And finally, the other change is that we felt this dinner was a good opportunity to give you all a flavour of the much talked about square moving and pavilion extending project by showing you the very first draft of the presentation that a number of us are making to the Trustees of the Harpsden Trust at the beginning of next month. It is with this that we start the evening. Please don't hesitate to ask questions as we go along.
PRESENTATION
So now to the cricket - what has Harpsden Cricket Club's 124th year been like. Excluding the President versus Chairman's match, and before today, we have completed 40 fixtures. Of these we have drawn two, both good games but pretty boring draws as it turned out - against Concorde and Britwell Salome - however this belies an awesome unbeaten ton by Tom Nugent against the latter and a really high quality 72 by James Paice against a top class Concorde bowling attack. This time last season, we had lost six games, and interestingly enough, it is exactly the same this year. What's different though this year is that those defeats have been against sides that either were significantly overdue a victory against us or it is our first fixture against them and we have lulled them into a fall sense of security. It is also true that in most of these cases, beating us will have made their season!
Our first defeat of the year was against Reading Lawyers where a big South African and his brother got lots of runs to help them to 250 for 2 and then the same big South African took lots of wickets, but not before Ian Reissmann had scored a very impressive 74. This enabled them to beat us for the first time for several years. Their win should have kept the fixture for a few more years! We then had one of those really rare weekends where we lost on both Saturday AND Sunday. On the Saturday we bowled Turville out for 139, including lots of dropped catches, on what looked to be a classic Turville road. We enjoyed a great tea and were just settling in for a relaxing 8 or 9 wicket victory when first Jack Broome and then Andy Bryan made their way back to the pavilion for first over ducks. When Sasha departed soon after we were 9 for 3 and with thoughts of an easy victory far from our minds. Horatio and Adam Birkett batted serenely getting us to 90 for 4 before suddenly a flurry of wickets left us all out for 126. A surprising result and hopefully one that won't be repeated with tomorrow's hangovers! On the Sunday, we welcomed Medmenham. This was always going to be a good opportunity to rebuild our confidence after the previous day's defeat. The Medmenham guys are great guys but nobody could remember the last time they beat us. A short boundary, some wayward bowling, some average fielding and they got 251 for 4 off their 40 overs. This score was always getable although as it started to rain, the outfield played longer, the ball got softer and we fell behind the required rate - Medmenham weren't going to come off the field just because it was pouring with rain and miss the chance of beating the unbeatable. The rain got heavier - Neil, Mick, George, Ben and Toby all got really good starts but couldn't go on to get the big score. We ended up 30 runs short and in doing so, made Medmenham's season.
Against the Benedick Club we made it four defeats in a month - I suppose School exams may have affected things but this was a pretty insipid batting display on a wet pitch and only Justin, Ben and Ed showed us how to bat. In the end, we didn't even bat our overs. Benedick Club won by 6 wickets despite some quality bowling from Tom Hancock and Simon Lovelock. This certainly made Benedick's season - particularly as it's the only game they play each year!
As we moved into July, our fortunes turned and we started an 18 match unbeaten run which was only halted by those Friends of Oxford University. The Friends' 171 looked somewhat below par as Big George decided that their 6 foot 10 inch Blues opening bowler was there to be hit - the further George hit him, the faster he bowled. The faster he bowled, the further George hit him. This was fun to watch. Sadly the Friends played the dirty trick of bowling Harpsden bowlers at us - Ed, 8 overs 1 for 12, Will 5 overs 2 for 11 - which included the end of Big George and Horatio, 2 overs, 2 for 2, including both his unsuspecting little brother and also former batsman of the year, Andrew Norton.
The only other defeat came against Hurst, a new team this year. It is at this time that we should take a step back to appreciate all the efforts of Suzie Bradley. Suzie took over as fixture secretary many years ago from an un-named male who having been given the job, did what any normal male would do, which was to assume that all the teams who turned up the previous year would do so in the same order the following year. As the season started, the oppos didn't arrive .....and Suzie started the re-building process, in a way that only a woman can. She has been doing it ever since. Suzie spends ages over the winter finding us new and better victims and convincing the old victims that it will all be better in the new year and to give us another try. Every week she makes sure that the oppo are going turn up, on time and at the right place. We wouldn't be here tonight celebrating another superb season if it weren't for all the efforts of Suzie. A small token of our appreciation, to Suzie Bradley. [FLOWERS].
Back to the defeats. Hurst only made 151 and at halfway we were in charge. Despite the early loss of Tom Nugent and Andrew Norton, Horatio and Adam were battling.....and winning. Sadly another middle order collapse meant we slipped away quietly but at least Hurst will be back next year, and we're already looking forward to it.
2 draws and 6 defeats has left us with another quite outstanding 80% win ratio - 32 wins in 40 games. If you look at the stats on Play Cricket.com, nobody gets 80% win ratios! So which ones of those wins have been most memorable. Let's start with the first weekend. Henley on Saturday and a very chatty Wargrave on Sunday. The Henley game was a 40 over match against a good Henley side - they batted first and were always ahead of par, finishing on about 200, which was about 25 ahead of anything we wanted to chase on an early season strip. When we batted we were always behind the rate - good bowling made life difficult and only Horatio who constructed a really good 70 kept us anything like in the game. Sadly wickets kept falling and before we knew it we were 9 wickets down with our number 11, Miles, coming in to join debutant James Brooks, with still 20 needed for victory and less than 2 overs to go. 2 fours and a single from Miles towards the end of the penultimate over meant we needed 11 to win off the final over which was to be bowled by former Harpsden player, John Gould with the last pair at the crease. Henley had been ahead of us for all 79 overs of the day so far. Miles then proceeded to hit three of the first four balls of the over for four and Harpsden screamed past Henley just before the finishing line. What a way to start the season and surely that couldn't be bettered. Well, the next day, it possibly was. From the first over of the day the Wargrave bowlers were on top, and the slips were noisy (and not in fact very amusing although the well built one did laugh at his own jokes). A really good 65 from Will and a cultured 45 from Miles, allowed us to get to 159 for 6 off our 40 overs which was well below the 200 we felt we needed. All our bowlers bowled well, Ed, Johnny, Toby, Will and Tom Mitchell, but Wargrave always looked comfortable. As the game wore on suddenly they needed a still very doable 30 off the last 5 overs which crept up to 18 required off 2. A great 39th over of the innings from Toby and we were ahead for the first time in the game. Will finished it off with a quality final over and we ran out winners by just 6 runs. 2 confident oppos mugged in 2 days. What a way to start the season.
The next really good win was a 9 run victory, under the skippering of James Paice, against the Bradfield Staff. This was followed 11 days later by the victory of all victories. Hillingdon Manor were invited to the Harpsden arena for a bit of gentle Saturday afternoon jousting - Captain Stevens was gentle on the oppo, encouraging them to a barely competitive 162 as he finished them off himself taking 4 for 13. Suddenly both the openers, Ian Reissmann and Will, were out for ducks. But there was nothing to worry about as Jack Broome came in to join Robbie Harris.....or was there? When Jack fell for 26 and the middle order collapsed, we were 7 down and not even halfway there. Rob worked with the tail to try to bring some respectability to proceedings and by the time Richard Moyle came in at number 11 with the score on 120 - at least respectability had been achieved. Suddenly it became apparent that Robbie was knocking off the runs and Richard was holding his end up. 43 for victory became 30, which became 20, which became 13. All of a sudden a dangerous moment, Richard and Rob running a fourth and Richard requiring a full length dive to make his ground - which somewhat dustily he did. The field came in, Robbie went aerial, and all of a sudden 4 to win - one more shot to leg and victory was Harpsdens with Rob scoring a career best 86 not out. For the best rearguard of the season a little something, and a big round of applause, for Robbie Harris. [WINE].
Before moving on with the cricket I would like to pause again to thank two people who drive everything we do - our President and his wife. Firstly Monsieur le President, Julian. He has worked so hard over the winter doing all the initial work for the temporary net and also for the square moving project. Let alone everything else he does for us. He provides me with invaluable guidance, and when necessary, motivation, he is always seen wheel-barrowing in the booze....and wheel-barrowing out the rubbish, cutting the shrubs, turning off the watering....and just about anything else that needs a wise head. Ladies and gentlemen, please be upstanding for our President, Julian Burtt. [WINE].
Now, his wife. Given how many years I have been doing this speech I am running out of superlatives to describe everything that Jane does for us. But that is not fair on Jane - I have to find new superlatives! Jane is the guiding hand behind everything that is good about Harpsden Cricket Club and is the drive behind so many of the activities. We all need to find a way of helping her more but in the mean time let's give her a roof-raising round of applause to say thank you for everything- Jane Burtt [FLOWERS].
The last of the close matches I'd like to mention is the game against Morgan. A really damp pitch and with Toby and Ed taking three wickets each and Morgan got an indefensible, or so we thought, 116 all out. Big George opened the batting and decided that nudging and nurdling our way to the small target was not the best plan. 42 from George in the first 5 overs and we were well on the way. But only 10 runs between Henry Ellis, Sam, Charlie Stevens, Miles and Alfred and suddenly we were in trouble - double figure contributions from the Stevens boys and we were edging closer but still needed over 30 when Simon Lovelock came to the crease. A wonderful knock of 24 from Simon left us needing 2 to win when Ed joined James Paice - a poke through the covers from Ed and another one wicket win for Harpsden. Winning the close ones is always more satisfying.
No club can thrive without an amazing amount of organisation. The committee do a brilliant job; David Heath as Treasurer, Will as Club Captain and Andy and James as Vice Captains, Richard Moyle who has done an amazing amount this year including the net, Joanna Cary for her valued input and Ian Whittaker as chief requisitions officer with the new caps and shirts going down really well this year. I would like to give special thanks though this year to Mick Greenwood as secretary as he is stepping down after our October Committee meeting as the Olypmics is going to make 2012 a really busy year for Mick's anti- terrorist group. Please give a round of applause to all these people for everything they do to make Harpsden cricket club what it is, and particularly Mick for all he has done behind the scenes over the last few years. Mick, we have a little something for you. [WINE].
A few more thank yous before we move on to a couple of final cricketing moments before Will presents the trophies. We are very lucky to have a number of people who are happy to take on that thankless task of umpiring. Firstly Neil Craig who turns out for us almost every Sunday and is becoming as well known on the circuit as Billy Bowden, and also David Heath, Tony Wright and Charlie Stevens who are always really happy to help out. Also a thank you in absentia to Alfred who did a tremendous job organising another great Sixes event and all the tea-makers and spectators throughout the season..
Four other special moments have stood out for me this season, two of which occurred in the BBC Caversham game and two against Greys Green. Firstly BBC Caversham: Toby opened the batting and proceeded to hammer the BBC Caversham attack into submission. What was most impressive was that this was against a background of loose shots and wickets at the other end - no nerves as he got into the nineties and in the company of his big brother pushed a single to bring up a marvelous maiden ton. The second event in that game came immediately after the drinks break. BBC Caversham were 73 for 3 and needed to survive the last 20 overs for a creditable draw. They say that drinks breaks often bring a wicket - that is an understatement! First ball after drinks, wicket for Johnny Wright, next ball, wicket for Johnny Wright. Third ball after drinks and Johnny was jumping around having got a hatrick. Next ball, Johnny gets another wicket - four in four. An uneventful fifth ball before John picked up a wicket from the final ball of the over. 73 for 3 and coasting, to 73 for 8 in one Johnny Wright over!
Now to the Greys Green game. We wanted to give a little something to somebody who does an amazing amount to help around the club and who also scores his fair share of runs. But this season, I'm quite sure he has the somewhat dubious honour of being the second highest scorer AGAINST Harpsden. Greys Green turned up one short so we provided them an opening bat and after a somewhat cautious start he accelerated to a quite awesome 86 against the best that Will, Johnny Wright, Ed, both Tom and Ben Hancock and I could serve up to him and although he was out in the 34th over, that proved to be more than half their total. We won so he was allowed home in the evening. A little something for Adam Birkett [BALL].
The final cricketing bit from me comes from the second half of the Greys Green game. James Paice had scored a quite stellar and match-winning 96 not out against Dulverton earlier in the season and seemed destined to score his maiden century when the target was reached. Another opportunity would come.....and that day proved to be against Greys Green. Chasing 173 to win, James Paice and Sam Imlay were well in control, and as we neared the target, the message got out to the centre that James needed nearly the same number of runs for his maiden century as there were runs to win. Sam was going to help James over the line - after alot of very generous blocking by Sam to try to avoid scoring any runs, James found himself on 98 not out with three runs to win. This was to be James' maiden ton......or was it? Matt Skilleter came in to bowl, the keeper missed it and it ran away, very slowly, for 4 byes. Harpsden had won by 8 wickets but James was again stranded in the nineties. For everything that James does for the Club, plus a little consolation to be saved and drunk when the maiden 100 does arrive - James Paice [WINE].
WILL - TROPHY PRESENTATION
Now to the award of the Club Man shield for 2011. I have already mentioned a lot of people who do so much for the Club but there are a few people who I would like to make a special mention of here. Alfred has done a great job this season preparing pitches, as has Ben, and both of them have been tremendously happy to help whenever asked. Adam does an incredible job on the square and clearing up after games, Tony Wright and Charlie Stevens have had a very busy year helping on the major project, and will certainly be doing even more over the winter months and Miles who does a lot of clearing up around the pavilion on a Saturday evening and Sunday morning. Ed has done an awesome amount for the club this year including inputting, and organising others to input, all the stats for the last 8 years, helping with pitches and without whom we wouldn't have been able to manage the workload associated with the filming project of two weeks ago that made the Club over £2,000. I would be grateful if you could give a really big round of applause for all those I have just mentioned.
The previous winners of the Club Man shield have been Will, Miles, Ben, Richard and last years’ winner Adam, and hence the bar for this years' Club Man is extremely high. He has scaled those heights with ease and in the quietest possible way. What characterizes a clubman is somebody who gets on and does things......with a smile and a joke. This year our Clubman designed and sourced a new plate for the gearbox for the Roller, and wouldn't even let us pay for it, helped to design and then spent untold hours putting up the net by the road with Richard, which has saved us a fortune in car damage. He has also , provided us the equipment and a lot of time helping us to clear out the trees at the top corner of the ground, repaired the chain on the roller when it broke (which is no easy task), serviced and repaired our new aerator and even phoned up and spoke to the Aerator's designer to tell him where he had gone wrong in the design process(!) and is always around to watch the last few overs of the matches, except when his sons finish the matches early. Very well deserved Clubman of 2011 goes to Lucius Cary [SHIELD].
So what does 2012 hold for Harpsden Cricket Club, our 125th anniversary? The major project is clearly going to take up a lot of time for many of us this winter but we also need to do some more work strengthening our fixture list and dropping teams who let us down by not being able to raise a team. We have already weeded out much of our weakest competition replacing them with what were hopefully stronger teams but we have more work to do on that.
But now it is time to just take a moment to appreciate how lucky we all are to be members of Harpsden Cricket Club. We have a great spirit and good facilities, which will hopefully be tremendous facilities by the start of 2013. We have a lot of people helping to make the club what it is and a real desire to involve everybody in the cricket and the Club.
I would like to propose a toast to Harpsden Cricket Club.
Sunday, August 07, 2011
Hancock and Hepburn Make Butlers Toil
Harpsden
H Thomas Run Out 7
B Hancock ct Kelly b England 74
T Hancock lbw b Weymes 21
G Hepburn Retired 102
M Hayward Not Out 42
C Martin b Lee 16
J Howarth Not Out 7
TOTAL 290-4
Butler 11
C England ct Martin b Howarth 41
H Lee Run Out (Martin) 46
D Nicholson Run Out 0
A Hoskin ct Howarth b Fiander 28
A Kelly ct Gould b Hayward 1
M Hughes b Smith 21
J Reilly Not Out 31
T Sorrel Not Out 25
TOTAL 229-6
Harpsden entertained Butler 11 on a warm Wednesday afternoon, Harpsden won the toss and elected to bat, and made a solid start with openers Hancock and Thomas reaching 19-0 from 4 overs, Thomas then ram himself out for 7, to bring Tom Hancock in to join brother Ben at the crease, both batsman played sensibly, smashing anything loose to the boundary, while keeping out the good balls. Tom Hancock was looking solid until he was trapped LBW for 21.
Hepburn then came to the crease, and wasted no time in dispatching the bowling to all parts, reaching his half century in just 3 overs, he was well supported by Hancock who continued to regularly find the boundary, before being caught for 74, which included 14 fours. Hepburn wasted no time in reaching his maiden Harpsden century, in what was also almost certainly the quickest ever seen at Harpsden, including 11 sixes and 6 fours. After Hepburn had sportingly retired, Hayward provided most of the runs to take Harpsden to 290-4 from their allocated 35 overs.
Butler 11 also made a good start to their innings, with England the main aggressor, whilst Lee played more cautiously. England was the first man to fall, after being well caught by martin off Howarth’s bowling for 41, Nicholson was next to be making the walk back to the pavilion after a mix up resulted in him being run out. Hoskin and Lee then built a solid partnership, with Hoskin regularly finding the boundary before being caught by Howarth to give Fiander his first Harpsden wicket. Lee soon followed thanks to a brilliant piece of fielding from Martin who ran him out with just one stump to aim at. From then on, the batsman at the crease decided to go down fighting, with Reilly in particular hitting some ferocious strokes, however it wasn’t enough, as Butler 11 fell 61 runs short of Harpsdens target.
H Thomas Run Out 7
B Hancock ct Kelly b England 74
T Hancock lbw b Weymes 21
G Hepburn Retired 102
M Hayward Not Out 42
C Martin b Lee 16
J Howarth Not Out 7
TOTAL 290-4
Butler 11
C England ct Martin b Howarth 41
H Lee Run Out (Martin) 46
D Nicholson Run Out 0
A Hoskin ct Howarth b Fiander 28
A Kelly ct Gould b Hayward 1
M Hughes b Smith 21
J Reilly Not Out 31
T Sorrel Not Out 25
TOTAL 229-6
Harpsden entertained Butler 11 on a warm Wednesday afternoon, Harpsden won the toss and elected to bat, and made a solid start with openers Hancock and Thomas reaching 19-0 from 4 overs, Thomas then ram himself out for 7, to bring Tom Hancock in to join brother Ben at the crease, both batsman played sensibly, smashing anything loose to the boundary, while keeping out the good balls. Tom Hancock was looking solid until he was trapped LBW for 21.
Hepburn then came to the crease, and wasted no time in dispatching the bowling to all parts, reaching his half century in just 3 overs, he was well supported by Hancock who continued to regularly find the boundary, before being caught for 74, which included 14 fours. Hepburn wasted no time in reaching his maiden Harpsden century, in what was also almost certainly the quickest ever seen at Harpsden, including 11 sixes and 6 fours. After Hepburn had sportingly retired, Hayward provided most of the runs to take Harpsden to 290-4 from their allocated 35 overs.
Butler 11 also made a good start to their innings, with England the main aggressor, whilst Lee played more cautiously. England was the first man to fall, after being well caught by martin off Howarth’s bowling for 41, Nicholson was next to be making the walk back to the pavilion after a mix up resulted in him being run out. Hoskin and Lee then built a solid partnership, with Hoskin regularly finding the boundary before being caught by Howarth to give Fiander his first Harpsden wicket. Lee soon followed thanks to a brilliant piece of fielding from Martin who ran him out with just one stump to aim at. From then on, the batsman at the crease decided to go down fighting, with Reilly in particular hitting some ferocious strokes, however it wasn’t enough, as Butler 11 fell 61 runs short of Harpsdens target.
Monday, August 01, 2011
Harpsden Gain Sweet Victory
Sonning Common Village
H Cook b Hancock T 35
M Cann b Welford 73
V Sneeman b Birkett R 20
Ca Gallimore b Birkett R 0
C Pitson Not Out 13
C Gallimore Not Out 28
TOTAL 187-4
Best Bowling: R Birkett 2-40, T Hancock 1-10
Harpsden
N Sweet ct Mee b L Gallimore 67
B Hancock ct L Gallimore b M Cann 44
S Imlay c Mee b C Gallimore 19
G Hepburn c M Cann b C Gallimore 2
A Grimmer Not Out 40
E Birkett b C Pitson 7
T Ham Not Out 7
TOTAL 189-5
Best Bowling: M Cann 1-28, C Gallimore 2-39
Sonning Common won the toss and elected to bat on what looked like an absolute belter to bat on. Sonning Common made a solid start to their innings, reaching 87 without loss after 20 overs, however they then started to find the runs harder to come by with the introduction of Hancock and Birkett into the attack. It was Hancock who made the breakthrough, clean bowling Cook for a patient 35. Cann continued to press on, but lost two more partners, with Birkett claiming 2 wickets in the same over, Cann soon followed, unluckily bowled by a double bouncer from Welford, for a brilliant 73. Pitson and Gallimore pressed on, but only managed to get Sonning Common to what looked like a slightly below par score of 187.
Harpsden started there innings very positively, with both openers regularly finding the boundary, as Harpsden reached 57-0 from 10 overs. The introduction of Cann into the attack slightly slowed the rate, but both batsman continued to play positively, it wasn’t until the 21st over that Sonning Common got the breakthrough, Hancock falling six runs short of his half century with the score on 95, this increased the Sonning Common morale as they picked up 4 more wickets, but it wasn’t enough, as Grimmer guided Harpsden home with the help of Ham.
H Cook b Hancock T 35
M Cann b Welford 73
V Sneeman b Birkett R 20
Ca Gallimore b Birkett R 0
C Pitson Not Out 13
C Gallimore Not Out 28
TOTAL 187-4
Best Bowling: R Birkett 2-40, T Hancock 1-10
Harpsden
N Sweet ct Mee b L Gallimore 67
B Hancock ct L Gallimore b M Cann 44
S Imlay c Mee b C Gallimore 19
G Hepburn c M Cann b C Gallimore 2
A Grimmer Not Out 40
E Birkett b C Pitson 7
T Ham Not Out 7
TOTAL 189-5
Best Bowling: M Cann 1-28, C Gallimore 2-39
Sonning Common won the toss and elected to bat on what looked like an absolute belter to bat on. Sonning Common made a solid start to their innings, reaching 87 without loss after 20 overs, however they then started to find the runs harder to come by with the introduction of Hancock and Birkett into the attack. It was Hancock who made the breakthrough, clean bowling Cook for a patient 35. Cann continued to press on, but lost two more partners, with Birkett claiming 2 wickets in the same over, Cann soon followed, unluckily bowled by a double bouncer from Welford, for a brilliant 73. Pitson and Gallimore pressed on, but only managed to get Sonning Common to what looked like a slightly below par score of 187.
Harpsden started there innings very positively, with both openers regularly finding the boundary, as Harpsden reached 57-0 from 10 overs. The introduction of Cann into the attack slightly slowed the rate, but both batsman continued to play positively, it wasn’t until the 21st over that Sonning Common got the breakthrough, Hancock falling six runs short of his half century with the score on 95, this increased the Sonning Common morale as they picked up 4 more wickets, but it wasn’t enough, as Grimmer guided Harpsden home with the help of Ham.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Henley Vs Harpsden
Henley won the toss and elected to bat first on what looked like a flat pitch on Sunday, however the Henley batsmen struggled early on with both Christian Whittaker and Will Stevens picking up wickets. In their opening spells. This tight opening was supported well by both Miles Hodgkiss and Horatio Cary, who found just enough movement to trouble the batsmen.
The Henley ship was well steadied by Mark Thomas but when he fell to the returning Stevens Henley looked in deep trouble. Some late hitting by Neville gave Henley a chance having posted 166, but on a flat track with a quick outfield it looked a little short of par.
However much like their Henley counterparts the Harpsden openers struggled with the movement through the air that the bowlers achieve and did well to survive the opening salvo. Having grown accustom to the bowling both Grimmer and Broome struck a n umber of boundaries in a fluent opening stand. However as is often the case one wicket lead to another as both found themselves sat down within and over of each other.
The run rate was maintained by Norton and Nugent who took Harpsden to the brink of victory with some well placed shots. But it was left to Fisher to hit the wining runs and take Harpsden to a 5 wicket win.
The Henley ship was well steadied by Mark Thomas but when he fell to the returning Stevens Henley looked in deep trouble. Some late hitting by Neville gave Henley a chance having posted 166, but on a flat track with a quick outfield it looked a little short of par.
However much like their Henley counterparts the Harpsden openers struggled with the movement through the air that the bowlers achieve and did well to survive the opening salvo. Having grown accustom to the bowling both Grimmer and Broome struck a n umber of boundaries in a fluent opening stand. However as is often the case one wicket lead to another as both found themselves sat down within and over of each other.
The run rate was maintained by Norton and Nugent who took Harpsden to the brink of victory with some well placed shots. But it was left to Fisher to hit the wining runs and take Harpsden to a 5 wicket win.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Birkett and Hayward set up Harpsden Win
On a very wet track Little Marlow won the toss and elected to bat first. However they found themselves pinned down by some tight opening spells from C.Whittaker and T.Ham. Whittaker struck twice and was unlucky to not bag a third when Findlay was put down first ball in the slips.
When the Harpsden skipper turned to M.Hayward and R.Birkett the pressure only increased as both bowled tightly and were backed up by some good fielding to put Little Marlow well behind their desired rate. Inevitably this lead to wickets as Birkett picked up 3 and Hayward 1 as the pair conceded just 38 runs form their 16 overs.
The super bowling display was continued by Cary and Brooks who both picked up one wicket. And the innings was rounded off when Whittaker ran out Findlay, who had just completed a well earned half century.
With just 108 required to win Harpsden set about building a solid partnership with Nugent and Sweet both striking the ball well. Sweet was to fall for 28 but Nugent continued on to complete a half century and finished the game off with the help of Whittaker.
Little Marlow
D.Glennoster ct N.Sweet b C.Whittaker 10
J.Gray c&b C.Whittaker 3
A.Sharif b M.Hayward 6
A.Findlay Run Out 50
K.Balapandian ct T.Mitchell b R.Birkett 4
I.Angus b R.Birkett 11
M.Yaqoob ct T.Ham b R.Birkett 6
S.Sasikaran ct T.Nugent b A.Cary 5
A.Weit b J.Brooks 0
A.Jackson Not Out 5
R.Tedham Not Out 0
Extras 7
Total 107
Harpsden
T.Nugent Not Out 51
N.Sweet ct Findlay b Jackson 28
W.Stevens ct Gray b Jackson 7
C.Whittaker Not Out 21
Extras 5
Total 112
When the Harpsden skipper turned to M.Hayward and R.Birkett the pressure only increased as both bowled tightly and were backed up by some good fielding to put Little Marlow well behind their desired rate. Inevitably this lead to wickets as Birkett picked up 3 and Hayward 1 as the pair conceded just 38 runs form their 16 overs.
The super bowling display was continued by Cary and Brooks who both picked up one wicket. And the innings was rounded off when Whittaker ran out Findlay, who had just completed a well earned half century.
With just 108 required to win Harpsden set about building a solid partnership with Nugent and Sweet both striking the ball well. Sweet was to fall for 28 but Nugent continued on to complete a half century and finished the game off with the help of Whittaker.
Little Marlow
D.Glennoster ct N.Sweet b C.Whittaker 10
J.Gray c&b C.Whittaker 3
A.Sharif b M.Hayward 6
A.Findlay Run Out 50
K.Balapandian ct T.Mitchell b R.Birkett 4
I.Angus b R.Birkett 11
M.Yaqoob ct T.Ham b R.Birkett 6
S.Sasikaran ct T.Nugent b A.Cary 5
A.Weit b J.Brooks 0
A.Jackson Not Out 5
R.Tedham Not Out 0
Extras 7
Total 107
Harpsden
T.Nugent Not Out 51
N.Sweet ct Findlay b Jackson 28
W.Stevens ct Gray b Jackson 7
C.Whittaker Not Out 21
Extras 5
Total 112
Monday, July 18, 2011
Harris Stars For Harpsden
Merton CC
Iyaz ct Grimmer b Paice 32
M Asif Run Out 13
J Hossain ct W Stevens b Paice 2
F Sidique ct W Stevens b Brown 9
R Ahmed ct B Hancock b W Stevens 3
C Smither ct & b W Stevens 29
C Williams ct S Burgess b Brown 8
M Nichol st Grimmer b W Stevens 11
Z Iqbal Run Out 6
C Griffith Not Out 1
R Fernando Not Out 20
TOTAL 157-9
Best Bowling: W Stevens 3-24, Paice 2-25
Harpsden
R Harris ct Williams b Nichol 53
A Grimmer ct Iqbal b Williams 24
S Imlay b Iqbal 5
S Burgess ct Griffith b Iqbal 3
T Stevens Not Out 39
J Wright Not Out 28
TOTAL 158-4
Harpsden entertained London side Merton on a very wet Saturday afternoon. Harpsden bowled well throughout the Merton innings, with Paice and Stevens in particular causing the batsman problems. The Merton batsman struggled on the sluggish wicket, and they had Fernando to thank for getting them up to a respectable score with a rapid 20 in the last couple of overs, including 3 sixes.
Harris and Grimmer started the Harpsden innings positively, with Harris in particular regularly finding the boundary. Grimmer was first to fall, and he was soon followed by Imlay and Burgess. From this point on, the only blemish was Harris getting out for a brilliant 53, youngsters Stevens and Wright finished it off, to give Harpsden victory by 6 wickets with 3 overs to spare.
Iyaz ct Grimmer b Paice 32
M Asif Run Out 13
J Hossain ct W Stevens b Paice 2
F Sidique ct W Stevens b Brown 9
R Ahmed ct B Hancock b W Stevens 3
C Smither ct & b W Stevens 29
C Williams ct S Burgess b Brown 8
M Nichol st Grimmer b W Stevens 11
Z Iqbal Run Out 6
C Griffith Not Out 1
R Fernando Not Out 20
TOTAL 157-9
Best Bowling: W Stevens 3-24, Paice 2-25
Harpsden
R Harris ct Williams b Nichol 53
A Grimmer ct Iqbal b Williams 24
S Imlay b Iqbal 5
S Burgess ct Griffith b Iqbal 3
T Stevens Not Out 39
J Wright Not Out 28
TOTAL 158-4
Harpsden entertained London side Merton on a very wet Saturday afternoon. Harpsden bowled well throughout the Merton innings, with Paice and Stevens in particular causing the batsman problems. The Merton batsman struggled on the sluggish wicket, and they had Fernando to thank for getting them up to a respectable score with a rapid 20 in the last couple of overs, including 3 sixes.
Harris and Grimmer started the Harpsden innings positively, with Harris in particular regularly finding the boundary. Grimmer was first to fall, and he was soon followed by Imlay and Burgess. From this point on, the only blemish was Harris getting out for a brilliant 53, youngsters Stevens and Wright finished it off, to give Harpsden victory by 6 wickets with 3 overs to spare.
Monday, June 27, 2011
President's vs Chairman's
Harpsden Cricket Club hosted its annual PRESIDENT's XI vs. CHAIRMAN's XI game this Sunday, the hottest day of the year so far. The Chairman's captain James Paice won the toss and elected to bat first to keep out of the heat and the decision paid off with Jack Broome and Adam Hurst both making 50s after Reissman fell early. The pick of the bowling was Tom Hancock who bowled economically and 13 year old Alex Bradley who picked up a couple of wickets at the end of the innings. Big hitting from Adam Birkett and James Paice down the order got the Chairman's XI up to an above par 250 off their 40 overs.
After tea the President's XI needed to start quickly to stay up with the rate but struggled on an inconsistent pitch losing early wickets to Ian Brown and Ed Birkett with Chairman Rod Birkett following up with a couple of wickets. None of the President's XI passed 15 until Toby Stevens showed some lower order resistance at number 10 with a big hitting 35 not out. Unfortunately even this was not enough to get them close, and Chris Welford finished the tail off to leave the President distraught as his team fell to 154 all out losing by 96 runs.
Chairman's XI
I.Reissman b. T.Hancock 0
J.Broome ct . and b. W.Stevens 69
A.Hurst b. T.Hancock 88
A.Norton b. A.Bradley 4
A.Birkett ct. T.Stevens b. A.Bryan 30
S.Burgess ct. A.Grimmer b. A.Bradley 4
J.Paice NOT OUT 18
E.Birkett RUN OUT 0
Extras 37
Total (7wkts) 250
Best Bowling : T.Hancock 2-17, A.Bradley 2-20
President's XI
S.Imlay ct. I.Reissman b. E.Birkett 14
A.Grimmer ct. A.Birkett b. I.Brown 8
W.Stevens ct. A.Birkett b. E.Birkett 4
A.Bryan b. J.Paice 13
G.Hepburn st. A.Norton b. C.Welford 10
J.Bradley ct. S.Burgess b. R.Birkett 1
A.Cary st. A.Norton b. A.Birkett 13
T.Hancock b. C.Welford 7
B.Hancock RUN OUT 12
T.Stevens NOT OUT 35
A.Bradley ct. E.Birkett b. R.Birkett 4
Extras 33
Total (all out) 154
Best Bowling : E.Birkett 2-17, C.Welford 2-18
Monday, June 20, 2011
Taplow CC v Harpsden CC
Taplow 126 for 9 dec, lost to Harpsden by four wickets 127 for 6
Sunday 19th June 2011 at the C Tavare Stadium
Innings of Taplow
126 slowly and painfully accumulated runs in a total of 53 over’s (a run rate of, 2.37 runs per over). Mainly through the third man region and off the leading edge. All the bowlers performed well for Harpsden on a drying pitch. There were two notable catches new boy James Brooks snaffled up a fine effort in the first over in the Gully off Ham, diving to this right and later Andy Grimmer took a very impressive effort after running back on the long on boundary off the bowling off big Mick Greenwood to collect a skier. Eventually the abominable slow men that were Taplow’s number 10 and 11 decided that eating cake was more fun than blocking it and walked off, much to everybody’s relief.
Bowling analysis for Harpsden
Calamity Ham, 8 1 26 2, I Brown 10 1 20 2, J Brooks 6 0 21 0, A Cary 12 5 16 0, J Paice 10 3 15 3, M Greenwood 7 0 13 2
Innings of Harpsden
After almost loosing the will to live in the field but buoyed by a good tea the opening pair got the chase up and running. Sweet bet was 2/1 to get a score above 39 but he defied his odds by nicking out early on. There was nothing grim about Andy Grimmer’s early shots and he was supported well by old man Norton. Grimmer upped the ante and was aggressive with his running to keep the board ticking. He was eventually out for an entertaining 59 caught in the covers. A mini collapse then insured with Bryan and Birkett falling cheaply before James Paice helped steady the ship before he was caught out superbly on the boundary. Brookes fell for a golden before Alfred Cary and that man Norton steered the good ship Harpsden to a four-wicket victory.
Pick of the batting:
A Grimmer 59
A Norton 36 not out
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Paicey Finish sees Harpsden get over the line
Dulverton arrived at Harpsden for the second leg of their Oxfordshire Tour on Saturday, and were off to a good start winning the toss and electing to bat. The Harpsden bowling was tight in the first 30 overs with Miles Hodgkiss and Alfred Cary being particularly effective and picked up 5 wickets between them.
The arrival of the Dulverton skipper swung things in his sides favour as he crashed the ball to the boundary on numerous occasions and was unfortunate to fall on 49 to a catch on the boundary. However Hooper maintain the assault as 95 runs were taken for the last 10 overs.
Harpsden started their response slowly and were well behind the rate at 18 for 1 after 9 overs, but with Paice batting steadily and with Horatio Cary and Hodgkiss swinging from the other end the Harpsden total reached 128-6 with 5 overs remaining. With A.Cary having just arrived at the crease Dulverton were still favourites but were to discover that sometimes the boundaries just aren’t big enough as Cary and Paice started to deposit the ball to all parts. Only 4 was needed from the final over and Paice won the match by striking a boundary with only 1 required off the third ball of the over. This left Paice undefeated on 96 and Harpsden victorious in a very close encounter.
Dulverton
C.Jarrett b Lovelock 1
C.Dubery c&b Hodgkiss 18
M.Heywood ct Paice b Hodgkiss 19
L.Hooper ct Moyle b A.Cary 1
C.Hooper ct Hodgkiss b Lovelock 79
H.Harrison ct W.Stevens b Hodgkiss 4
T.Edworthy b Hodgkiss 0
D.Boyce ct Greenwood b Devile 49
T.Cottrell lbw W.Stevens 0
A.Smith Not Out 0
D.Miles Not Out 1
Extras 6
Total 178
Harpsden
J.Paice Not Out 96
M.Greenwood ct b Jarett 8
H.Cary b Harrison 23
J.Bradley ct b Hooper 6
W.Stevens ct b Hooper 3
M.Hodgkiss b Smith 13
B.Hancock ct b Smith 0
A.Cary Not Out 24
Extras 6
Total 179
The arrival of the Dulverton skipper swung things in his sides favour as he crashed the ball to the boundary on numerous occasions and was unfortunate to fall on 49 to a catch on the boundary. However Hooper maintain the assault as 95 runs were taken for the last 10 overs.
Harpsden started their response slowly and were well behind the rate at 18 for 1 after 9 overs, but with Paice batting steadily and with Horatio Cary and Hodgkiss swinging from the other end the Harpsden total reached 128-6 with 5 overs remaining. With A.Cary having just arrived at the crease Dulverton were still favourites but were to discover that sometimes the boundaries just aren’t big enough as Cary and Paice started to deposit the ball to all parts. Only 4 was needed from the final over and Paice won the match by striking a boundary with only 1 required off the third ball of the over. This left Paice undefeated on 96 and Harpsden victorious in a very close encounter.
Dulverton
C.Jarrett b Lovelock 1
C.Dubery c&b Hodgkiss 18
M.Heywood ct Paice b Hodgkiss 19
L.Hooper ct Moyle b A.Cary 1
C.Hooper ct Hodgkiss b Lovelock 79
H.Harrison ct W.Stevens b Hodgkiss 4
T.Edworthy b Hodgkiss 0
D.Boyce ct Greenwood b Devile 49
T.Cottrell lbw W.Stevens 0
A.Smith Not Out 0
D.Miles Not Out 1
Extras 6
Total 178
Harpsden
J.Paice Not Out 96
M.Greenwood ct b Jarett 8
H.Cary b Harrison 23
J.Bradley ct b Hooper 6
W.Stevens ct b Hooper 3
M.Hodgkiss b Smith 13
B.Hancock ct b Smith 0
A.Cary Not Out 24
Extras 6
Total 179
Thursday, June 02, 2011
Red kites in the Harpsden valley
This season we've had a number of red kites swooping down onto the pitch - even during matches - which probably means that they are being fed from the cricket ground. If they're fed wrong, they die slowly of malnutrition. In practice, feeding them right means roadkill - they need the fur and feathers to aid digestion and to provide minerals etc. So, sadly for them, no cricket club teas.
More information about feeding kites here and here.
It would be wonderful to have some close-up photographs, if anyone has the patience ....
More information about feeding kites here and here.
It would be wonderful to have some close-up photographs, if anyone has the patience ....
Monday, May 30, 2011
Lawyers Leave Harpsden in Trouble
Reading Lawyers
Mc Gill * b Devile 2
Loosemore Not Out 92
D De Vet ct Reissman b Imlay 66
C De Vet Not Out 71
TOTAL 250-2
Harpsden
A Birkett b Ajmal 8
I Reissman b McGill 74
H Ellis ct Lake b Birkett 39
S Imlay b C De Vet 18
M Greenwood b C De Vet 19
W Smith lbw McGill 2
B Hancock ct Birkett b De Vet 25
W Stevens b De Vet 11
T Stevens Not Out 2
R Moyle lbw b De Vet 0
M Devile Not Out 0
TOTAL 211-9
Harpsden welcomed an unfamiliar looking Reading Lawyers side to Harpsden on a dull Saturday afternoon.
Reading Lawyers won the toss and opted to bat first, and made a shaky start to the innings as they struggled to deal with the swing bowling of Devile and Toby Stevens, Devile made the breakthrough with Devile bowling McGill for 2. From then on, luck didn’t seem on Harpsdens side, as numerous chances went down, and Loosemore decided to use the edge of his bat more than the face. Other than Toby Stevens, the Harpsden bowlers struggled to find the right areas of the pitch, the only success was De Vet being well caught by Reissman from Imlay’s bowling. Reading Lawyers posted a competitive score of 250-2.
Harpsden made a solid start to their innings, putting on 20 before Birkett was bowled by Ajmal. Reissman was then joined at the crease by Harpsden newcomer Henry Ellis, both batsman batted solidly, but as the required run rate climbed, Ellis took a risk and was caught for a very promising looking 39. Imlay then joined Reissman and played attackingly before getting bowled by De Vet for 18, Reissman was next to fall for a nicely played 74. Harpsden now required 10 an over, and despite some late order hitting from Hancock and Will Stevens, they fell well short of their target to give Harpsden their first taste of defeat of the season.
Mc Gill * b Devile 2
Loosemore Not Out 92
D De Vet ct Reissman b Imlay 66
C De Vet Not Out 71
TOTAL 250-2
Harpsden
A Birkett b Ajmal 8
I Reissman b McGill 74
H Ellis ct Lake b Birkett 39
S Imlay b C De Vet 18
M Greenwood b C De Vet 19
W Smith lbw McGill 2
B Hancock ct Birkett b De Vet 25
W Stevens b De Vet 11
T Stevens Not Out 2
R Moyle lbw b De Vet 0
M Devile Not Out 0
TOTAL 211-9
Harpsden welcomed an unfamiliar looking Reading Lawyers side to Harpsden on a dull Saturday afternoon.
Reading Lawyers won the toss and opted to bat first, and made a shaky start to the innings as they struggled to deal with the swing bowling of Devile and Toby Stevens, Devile made the breakthrough with Devile bowling McGill for 2. From then on, luck didn’t seem on Harpsdens side, as numerous chances went down, and Loosemore decided to use the edge of his bat more than the face. Other than Toby Stevens, the Harpsden bowlers struggled to find the right areas of the pitch, the only success was De Vet being well caught by Reissman from Imlay’s bowling. Reading Lawyers posted a competitive score of 250-2.
Harpsden made a solid start to their innings, putting on 20 before Birkett was bowled by Ajmal. Reissman was then joined at the crease by Harpsden newcomer Henry Ellis, both batsman batted solidly, but as the required run rate climbed, Ellis took a risk and was caught for a very promising looking 39. Imlay then joined Reissman and played attackingly before getting bowled by De Vet for 18, Reissman was next to fall for a nicely played 74. Harpsden now required 10 an over, and despite some late order hitting from Hancock and Will Stevens, they fell well short of their target to give Harpsden their first taste of defeat of the season.
Broome and Howarth put Thunderers to the sword
Harpsden entertained the Thespian Thunderers on a glorious day. Harpsden opted to bat first, and made a great start to the innings, with Burgess and Broome finding boundaries easy to come by. Burgess fell in the 6th over with the score on 40. The Thunderers then picked up 2 more quick wickets, with Heanley bowling both Bryan and Hancock. This brought Hepburn to the crease to join Broome, who had already passed fifty. Broome and Hepburn built a solid partnership, with Hepburn playing the aggressive role, smashing boundaries with alarming regularity. Hepburn soon passed fifty, before being cleaned up by Jardine. Broome continued on his merry way, passing the hundred mark for the second time this season. After Broome’s dismissal, Hodgkiss and Greenwood set about taking the game well out of the Thunderers reach, Greenwood in particular showing great power to bring up his maiden Harpsden half century, Hodgkiss soon followed in passing fifty, before Howarth hit a quick fire 30 to take Harpsdens total to a mammoth 337-7.
The Thunderers lost a quick wicket, before Jardine and Stretfield smashed the ball all over the park, once Jardine fell to Howarth for 60, there was an almighty collapse, with only Stretfield showing any resistance as he made 98, Howarth was the main reason for the collapse, bowling brilliantly as he picked up his maiden 5 wicket haul as Thunderers were bowled out for 180.
The Thunderers lost a quick wicket, before Jardine and Stretfield smashed the ball all over the park, once Jardine fell to Howarth for 60, there was an almighty collapse, with only Stretfield showing any resistance as he made 98, Howarth was the main reason for the collapse, bowling brilliantly as he picked up his maiden 5 wicket haul as Thunderers were bowled out for 180.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Harpsden Vs Sonning 22/5/11
It was a somewhat sunny but blustery day upon Harpsden hill, when a Sonning side of promising youngsters and experienced heads visited Harpsden. The game got underway with Harpsden being put into bat. Sonning pace bowlers Ray and Bowers provided a stern test for the openers, with some probing deliveries. The swirling wind wreaked havoc, with the sight screen; being blown along the boundary like a ship in a storm. It was not long before Sonning had their break through; Ray with pearl of a delivery to remove the prize wicket of Captain Will Stevens.
However, the tide soon turned, with a strong wave of Harpsden batsmen punishing anything short or over-pitched. Norton, Bryan and Cary (H), all sailed past their half centuries, with the home side eventually reaching 316 for 9 from their 40 overs.
After a hearty tea, Sonning embarked on their response to the home side’s total. Yet their efforts were met with the accuracy of Pugh and Wright who bowled at a rate of knots. A courageous middle-order fight-back saw Fitton play some classy shots and swashbuckling S. Dave battled through to the end, despite a ball to the face earlier in the match.
Harpsden ended the day the victors, bowling the visitors out for 138.
Innings of Harpsden CC
Batsman How Out Bowler Score
A. Grimmer Bowled Dave 30
W. Stevens Ct Ray 3
A. Norton Bowled Dave 61
A. Bryan Ct Denyer 69
J. Paice Run Out 12
H. Cary Retired 71*
E. Pugh Ct Denyer 3
J. Wright Ct Denyer 11
R. Birkett Stumped Denyer 12
A. Cary Not Out 20*
M. Hayward Not Out 10*
Extras 14
Total . 316
Denyer (7-0-53-4), Dave (9-1-73-2), Ray (4-0-36-1).
Innings of Sonning CC
Batsman How Out Bowler Score
A. Denyer Ct Pugh 0
E. Gadd Ct Pugh 8
R. Ford Ct Pugh 0
A. Roy Bowled Wright 4
A. Fitton LBW Stevens 26
A. Roberts Ct Hayward 13
R. Bowers Bowled A. Cary 15
S. Dave Bowled A. Cary 45
N. Ray Ct H. Cary 4
A. Bennett Bowled Wright 13
T. Roberts Not Out 2
Extras 8
Total . 138
Pugh (7-0-19-3), Wright (9-3-17-2), A Cary (6-0-23-2)
However, the tide soon turned, with a strong wave of Harpsden batsmen punishing anything short or over-pitched. Norton, Bryan and Cary (H), all sailed past their half centuries, with the home side eventually reaching 316 for 9 from their 40 overs.
After a hearty tea, Sonning embarked on their response to the home side’s total. Yet their efforts were met with the accuracy of Pugh and Wright who bowled at a rate of knots. A courageous middle-order fight-back saw Fitton play some classy shots and swashbuckling S. Dave battled through to the end, despite a ball to the face earlier in the match.
Harpsden ended the day the victors, bowling the visitors out for 138.
Innings of Harpsden CC
Batsman How Out Bowler Score
A. Grimmer Bowled Dave 30
W. Stevens Ct Ray 3
A. Norton Bowled Dave 61
A. Bryan Ct Denyer 69
J. Paice Run Out 12
H. Cary Retired 71*
E. Pugh Ct Denyer 3
J. Wright Ct Denyer 11
R. Birkett Stumped Denyer 12
A. Cary Not Out 20*
M. Hayward Not Out 10*
Extras 14
Total . 316
Denyer (7-0-53-4), Dave (9-1-73-2), Ray (4-0-36-1).
Innings of Sonning CC
Batsman How Out Bowler Score
A. Denyer Ct Pugh 0
E. Gadd Ct Pugh 8
R. Ford Ct Pugh 0
A. Roy Bowled Wright 4
A. Fitton LBW Stevens 26
A. Roberts Ct Hayward 13
R. Bowers Bowled A. Cary 15
S. Dave Bowled A. Cary 45
N. Ray Ct H. Cary 4
A. Bennett Bowled Wright 13
T. Roberts Not Out 2
Extras 8
Total . 138
Pugh (7-0-19-3), Wright (9-3-17-2), A Cary (6-0-23-2)
Wednesday, May 04, 2011
Royal Wedding:Theme
London Erratics won the toss and decided to bat first. Harpsden got off to a disastrous start, as the Erratics were going well at 50-1. Balaji Pippaed the openers with short balls as he made the breakthrough with some quick short bowling. With no bowler commanding the batsmen Imlay controversially brought himself on to bowl. After a dismal 3 overs the captain reluctantly took himself off. Things were getting desperate and H.Cary was given a chance but couldn't make the breakthrough despite some deceptive slower balls. Then things began to turn Harpsdens way as Imlay set a clever fielding trap and the batsmen fell into it like bees to Honey. Moon balls from Cary were occasional but he soon got into his stride. Good bowling was eventually found by Hodgkiss and A.Cary with some tight spin bowling and Cary eventually had Parker Bowled. Stevens then came on to spin his wed and did so very well taking one wicket in the process. Williams could not be dismissed however and the Erratics amassed an impressive 194.
Harpsden had it all to do and started well with Grimmer and Burgess smacKing the ball all over the place. Grimmer was soon dismissed and H.Cary was deemed the best man to see the innings out. Both the players were regularly Middletoning the ball to the boundary. Burgess was getting into his bride as he continued to hit well throughout his innings. Burgess was eventually out for a good looking 84. Imlay then came in and had the first dance down the track of the day, playing the spinners well. Imlay and Cary finished off the game well as Harpsden chased the total down with ease in the end. A win at this stage of the season could prove princeless to success in the remaining games.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
More Madness than Vaughan Flew Oval The Kookaburra’s Nest!
On The Shining Easter Sunday afternoon Harpsden entertained Wargrave in a 40 overs match. The home side won the toss and elected to bat first, however it was Wargrave that had, by far, the better start to the game. Rimmer bowl with good pace and bounce and soon had the Harpsden openers Andy Grimmer and Will Stevens hopping around the Crease.
Harpsden limped to 19 runs before the first wicket fell, Grimmer being trapped LBW by Rimmer. Worse was to follow for the home side with the swift departure of Broome without adding to the total.
Miles Hodgkiss joined W.Stevens at the crease and the pair set about repairing some of the early damage. Despite Miles playing his own private game of Catch me if you Can with deep square leg, the Harpsden pair managed to last until the 33 over before a mix up resulted in Hodgkiss being run out (also know as Will ran Miles out). Harpsden struggled to push the accelerator and wickets began to fall as they attempted to increase the pace. Only Rod Birkett’s late hitting helped Harpsden limp to 159 a the end of their allotted overs, which looked well below par.
Wargrave certainly made this look to be the case with a strong start from Colbourne, but a swinging delivery from Ed Birkett made him the Wicket Man and gave Harpsden the early breakthrough they were seeking. Tight opening spells from Birkett and Wright were matched by Toby Stevens and Tom Mitchell. Mitchell bowl very well and even tried his Flipper to get the break through. But despite T.Stevens picking up a wicket Wargrave were very much in command at 97 for 2 as drinks were taken.
After the break Colbourne completed an impressive early season half century and it was Goodbye to Mr Slips as the field dispersed in an attempt to keep him off strike. But this ploy didn’t last long as he was dismissed soon after a Face Off with Will Stevens. At the other end Toby Stevens seemed to be getting Clark, Plum and Plummer but the umpire was unmoved. But when Clark did depart Harpsden sensed a chance and the returning E.Birkett and J.Wright continued to keep things tight.
This pressure finally resulted in a run out with was well effected by Gimmer in the covers. In fact Harpsden’s fielding seemed to transform to a Field of Dreams as the innings went on, with numerous diving stops cutting of boundaries and saving singles. With the game entering the final 5 overs Wargrave were still favourites to win requiring just 30 runs to win the game, and the impressive A.Woods at the crease.
The Stevens brothers bowled 3 tight overs to leave Wargrave requiring 18 from the final 2 overs. Younger brother Toby then bowled the match winning over conceding just 4 runs. Older brother Will managed to get Woods off strike early in the over and managed to keep him there until the end of the match. Harpsden ran out winners by 6 runs and can now look forward to a Twenty20 8 Days Later.
Harpsden
A.Grimmer lbw Rimmer 2
W.Stevens b J.Clark 65
J.Broome Run Out 0
M.Hodgkiss Run Out 45
S.Burgess b S.Jeffrey 6
A.Birkett b J.Clark 0
R.Birkett Not Out 11
J.Wright Not Out 4
Extras 26
Total 159
Wargrave
J.Colbourne b W.Stevens 59
S.Jeffry b E.Birkett 10
T.Tabrah lbw T.Stevens 7
K.Clark lbw T.Mitchell 11
M.Hattey lbw W.Stevens 0
A.Woods Not Out 24
J.Clark Run Out 6
E.Woods ct E.Birkett b W.Stevens 4
S.Morton b W.Stevens 2
J.Rimmer Not Out 1
Extras 27
Total 151
Harpsden limped to 19 runs before the first wicket fell, Grimmer being trapped LBW by Rimmer. Worse was to follow for the home side with the swift departure of Broome without adding to the total.
Miles Hodgkiss joined W.Stevens at the crease and the pair set about repairing some of the early damage. Despite Miles playing his own private game of Catch me if you Can with deep square leg, the Harpsden pair managed to last until the 33 over before a mix up resulted in Hodgkiss being run out (also know as Will ran Miles out). Harpsden struggled to push the accelerator and wickets began to fall as they attempted to increase the pace. Only Rod Birkett’s late hitting helped Harpsden limp to 159 a the end of their allotted overs, which looked well below par.
Wargrave certainly made this look to be the case with a strong start from Colbourne, but a swinging delivery from Ed Birkett made him the Wicket Man and gave Harpsden the early breakthrough they were seeking. Tight opening spells from Birkett and Wright were matched by Toby Stevens and Tom Mitchell. Mitchell bowl very well and even tried his Flipper to get the break through. But despite T.Stevens picking up a wicket Wargrave were very much in command at 97 for 2 as drinks were taken.
After the break Colbourne completed an impressive early season half century and it was Goodbye to Mr Slips as the field dispersed in an attempt to keep him off strike. But this ploy didn’t last long as he was dismissed soon after a Face Off with Will Stevens. At the other end Toby Stevens seemed to be getting Clark, Plum and Plummer but the umpire was unmoved. But when Clark did depart Harpsden sensed a chance and the returning E.Birkett and J.Wright continued to keep things tight.
This pressure finally resulted in a run out with was well effected by Gimmer in the covers. In fact Harpsden’s fielding seemed to transform to a Field of Dreams as the innings went on, with numerous diving stops cutting of boundaries and saving singles. With the game entering the final 5 overs Wargrave were still favourites to win requiring just 30 runs to win the game, and the impressive A.Woods at the crease.
The Stevens brothers bowled 3 tight overs to leave Wargrave requiring 18 from the final 2 overs. Younger brother Toby then bowled the match winning over conceding just 4 runs. Older brother Will managed to get Woods off strike early in the over and managed to keep him there until the end of the match. Harpsden ran out winners by 6 runs and can now look forward to a Twenty20 8 Days Later.
Harpsden
A.Grimmer lbw Rimmer 2
W.Stevens b J.Clark 65
J.Broome Run Out 0
M.Hodgkiss Run Out 45
S.Burgess b S.Jeffrey 6
A.Birkett b J.Clark 0
R.Birkett Not Out 11
J.Wright Not Out 4
Extras 26
Total 159
Wargrave
J.Colbourne b W.Stevens 59
S.Jeffry b E.Birkett 10
T.Tabrah lbw T.Stevens 7
K.Clark lbw T.Mitchell 11
M.Hattey lbw W.Stevens 0
A.Woods Not Out 24
J.Clark Run Out 6
E.Woods ct E.Birkett b W.Stevens 4
S.Morton b W.Stevens 2
J.Rimmer Not Out 1
Extras 27
Total 151
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Pre-Season Letter for 2011
15th February, 2011
Dear All,
Happy New Year. As much as it pains me I thought it would be best to confront this at the beginning - congratulations to England for an awesome performance in the Tests. Australia were just never in the hunt!
I do hope you have had an enjoyable autumn and winter so far. With spring approaching it is now time to start thinking about the new cricket season at Harpsden.
The fixture list is again taking shape due to Suzie Bradley’s hard work over the winter. We have already got new fixtures organised against Peppard, Taplow, Hurst and Hurley and a re-kindled fixture against Little Marlow. Sadly Shiplake Cricket Club has folded and hence we have lost our two fixtures against them but Suzie has managed to convince almost everybody else that they still want to play against Harpsden!
Over the winter, various works have again been done including a lot of loam having been put on the square, hopefully resulting in an even firmer track. The gears on the big roller have been repaired by Lucius Cary and Richard Moyle, which will also hopefully contribute to a faster, bouncier surface and some repairs are about to take place on the pavilion roof.
In this letter last year I referred to the need for us to find a long-term solution to the problem of the large number of cricket balls being hit over the hedge into both the road and the golf club car park on the other side of the road. Julian Burtt, with significant help from a number of other people including Lucius Cary, Richard Moyle and Tony Wright, has made real progress towards us installing a several metre high net next to the hedge before the start of the current season. As a result, the gate in the middle of the hedge is going to be permanently closed so that anybody needing to go over the road to recover the ball, will need to do so via the car park or the gate by the golf practice area.
Harpsden Cricket Club has thrived at its current site for 124 years but given the dramatic advances in cricket equipment, and possibly even cricketers(!) over that time we all feel that we need to do something to reduce the risk of serious injury, or worse, to people on the other side of the hedge. As a result this net project is being undertaken in conjunction with an investigation into a considerably larger long term project to move the square about 20 yards further away from the road, level what will be the new outfield and put in an avenue of trees along the length of the hedge by the road.
Julian is in the process of obtaining quotes from four different companies so that we can then apply to the relevant bodies for funding. Our current thinking is that if we are fortunate enough to get funding, the significant earthworks would start in September 2012 allowing us to celebrate our 125th anniversary in 2012 on our existing square, and maybe the start of our next 125 years on the new square.
One of the implications of our plans is that we will need to generate more space for parking further away from the existing square. As a result, and in conjunction with our landlord, the Harpsden Trust, we have decided to clear the bulk of the smaller trees and scrub from above the shed. We intend to do the first part of this ourselves with 2 working parties on Saturday 12th and Saturday 19th March from 10am to 1pm. Any help that anybody can give us would be great, and if you can bring chainsaws, shrub cutters, garden forks etc. that would also be helpful. Anybody who comes to help can take away some firewood although I suspect we might have a pretty big bonfire too!
We have organised a spring curry at Raju's Tandoori (21 Reading Road, Henley – just opposite Asiana Spice where we ate last year) on Friday 25th March at 7pm for 7.45pm. Jane has managed to negotiate a very good deal, even better than last year's price, and it will only be about £12.50 a head for Adults and £10 for Students for an all-you-can-eat blend of starters, mains, popadoms, nans etc. Like last year, everybody will need to pay for their own drinks. I would be grateful if you could let me (rodbirkett@btinternet.com) or Jane know whether you will be able to attend. We can fit in about 35 people and hence it would be great to see as many cricketers, spouses and siblings as are able to attend.
The reason we are starting the curry night at 7pm is that, again like last year, we have decided to have the AGM then, preceding the dinner. If anyone would like to come for the formal part of the evening, then please arrive promptly for a 7pm start, whilst if you wish to just attend the dinner then some time around 7.45pm would probably be about right.
All of last year's committee are willing to stand for re-election at the AGM and, as I mentioned at last year's dinner, James Paice has agreed to stand as an additional Club Vice-captain to support Andy Bryan and Club Captain Will Stevens. Any other nominations for positions on the committee must be sent, with the agreement of the nominee, to our Secretary, Mick Greenwood mlli.greenwood@btinternet.com by 18th March....but please don't hesitate to discuss this with me beforehand if you would like.
I'm afraid one of the consequences of applying for funding is that we must make sure that our procedures are entirely robust and as such a membership form is attached which needs to be completed by everybody.
A few dates for your diaries;
Saturday 12th and Saturday 19th March from 10am to 1pm - tree and shrub clearing at the Cricket Ground.
Friday 25th March, 7pm to 7.45pm; AGM at Raju's Tandoori at 21 Reading Road, Henley.
Friday 25th March, 7.45pm; Curry at Raju's Tandoori in Henley.
The cricket nets will be at 11am on Sunday mornings at Shiplake College. Nets at Shiplake College, Sunday March 6th, 13th, 20th and 27th; from 11am to noon.
Take A4155 from Henley towards Reading. Shiplake College is on your left after ‘Shiplake Cross’. Take the 2nd entrance, the ‘All Visitors’ drive into the College. Follow the drive down to the main house, bear left and go past the main building on your right and park in the car park straight ahead. The Sports Hall is a wooden building with glass doors on the left hand side just opposite the car park.
Sunday 10th and Sunday 17th April at 10.30am to noon, nets at Harpsden Cricket Ground.
Sunday 17th April 9am to 10.30am: pre-season working party at Harpsden Cricket Ground. There are various jobs that need to be done before the season starts and the more support we have for this the better.
Practice Sessions from 6pm at Harpsden every Wednesday starting on April 27th. Following the success of this last year it has been decided to repeat the Wednesday evening practice sessions at the Club on Wednesday evenings throughout the season. These will commence at 6pm with the first one on Wednesday 27th April.
Saturday 23rd April; 1st Harpsden match, against Henley 3rds.
Sunday 26th June at 12.30pm; President’s XI vs Chairman’s XI.
Monday 29th August; Harpsden Six-a-Sides. If you want to put a team in, please book early to avoid disappointment!
Saturday 17th September; Annual Dinner.
Despite the cost of everything else going up we have managed to keep the costs of playing and membership the same as last year which I’m sure remains among the lowest in the country! The 2011 charge for Adults will be £75 for a season ticket OR £10 per game and for Students it will be a £35 season OR £5 per game for those who don’t buy a season ticket. We are also introducing a charge for evening games of £5 and £3 respectively for those who don’t buy a season ticket. Early payment to David Heath would be greatly appreciated.
If you want to enhance your wardrobe, Ian Whittaker is still in charge of clothing and he will be taking orders for shirts, jumpers or NEW STYLE caps, so do email him (iangwhittaker@hotmail.co.uk) if you want to arrange something before the start of the season.
Thanks to Joanna Cary the Harpsden Cricket Club blog is in fine fettle so do have a look if you get a chance (http://harpsdencricketclub.blogspot.com). A copy of this letter is going onto the blog so that the net dates will be there if you misplace this letter! The first draft of the 2011 fixture list is also on the blog. All contributors and contributions to the blog are greatly welcomed and please email Joanna (joannacary@gmail.com) for an invitation to join in. Photographs are particularly appreciated so Miles, Gireesh et al, it would be great if you could put your photos throughout the season on the blog. The blog isn't technically advanced, evidenced by the fact that even I can manage it, but if there are any problems, please just ask Joanna and she will guide you through it. Happy blogging!
Team organisation remains an onerous task and Jane has very kindly offered to do it again this season but if you were able to contact her (jburtt@shiplake.org.uk or 01491 575126) before the season starts with your early season availability that would be very helpful. Also, please contact Jane if you have had any change to your contact details.
Will Stevens has kindly offered to prepare the statistics again this season (with back-up from Ed Birkett when/if he goes away) and we would be grateful if you could all ensure that the scorebooks are filled in fully, and correctly.
We are always looking to enhance the membership of the club as it is the people who make it what it is. Do please bring your cricketing friends along to the pre-season nets or introduce them as the season progresses.
Look forward to seeing you at the AGM/Curry/Nets,
With best regards,
Rod.
Dear All,
Happy New Year. As much as it pains me I thought it would be best to confront this at the beginning - congratulations to England for an awesome performance in the Tests. Australia were just never in the hunt!
I do hope you have had an enjoyable autumn and winter so far. With spring approaching it is now time to start thinking about the new cricket season at Harpsden.
The fixture list is again taking shape due to Suzie Bradley’s hard work over the winter. We have already got new fixtures organised against Peppard, Taplow, Hurst and Hurley and a re-kindled fixture against Little Marlow. Sadly Shiplake Cricket Club has folded and hence we have lost our two fixtures against them but Suzie has managed to convince almost everybody else that they still want to play against Harpsden!
Over the winter, various works have again been done including a lot of loam having been put on the square, hopefully resulting in an even firmer track. The gears on the big roller have been repaired by Lucius Cary and Richard Moyle, which will also hopefully contribute to a faster, bouncier surface and some repairs are about to take place on the pavilion roof.
In this letter last year I referred to the need for us to find a long-term solution to the problem of the large number of cricket balls being hit over the hedge into both the road and the golf club car park on the other side of the road. Julian Burtt, with significant help from a number of other people including Lucius Cary, Richard Moyle and Tony Wright, has made real progress towards us installing a several metre high net next to the hedge before the start of the current season. As a result, the gate in the middle of the hedge is going to be permanently closed so that anybody needing to go over the road to recover the ball, will need to do so via the car park or the gate by the golf practice area.
Harpsden Cricket Club has thrived at its current site for 124 years but given the dramatic advances in cricket equipment, and possibly even cricketers(!) over that time we all feel that we need to do something to reduce the risk of serious injury, or worse, to people on the other side of the hedge. As a result this net project is being undertaken in conjunction with an investigation into a considerably larger long term project to move the square about 20 yards further away from the road, level what will be the new outfield and put in an avenue of trees along the length of the hedge by the road.
Julian is in the process of obtaining quotes from four different companies so that we can then apply to the relevant bodies for funding. Our current thinking is that if we are fortunate enough to get funding, the significant earthworks would start in September 2012 allowing us to celebrate our 125th anniversary in 2012 on our existing square, and maybe the start of our next 125 years on the new square.
One of the implications of our plans is that we will need to generate more space for parking further away from the existing square. As a result, and in conjunction with our landlord, the Harpsden Trust, we have decided to clear the bulk of the smaller trees and scrub from above the shed. We intend to do the first part of this ourselves with 2 working parties on Saturday 12th and Saturday 19th March from 10am to 1pm. Any help that anybody can give us would be great, and if you can bring chainsaws, shrub cutters, garden forks etc. that would also be helpful. Anybody who comes to help can take away some firewood although I suspect we might have a pretty big bonfire too!
We have organised a spring curry at Raju's Tandoori (21 Reading Road, Henley – just opposite Asiana Spice where we ate last year) on Friday 25th March at 7pm for 7.45pm. Jane has managed to negotiate a very good deal, even better than last year's price, and it will only be about £12.50 a head for Adults and £10 for Students for an all-you-can-eat blend of starters, mains, popadoms, nans etc. Like last year, everybody will need to pay for their own drinks. I would be grateful if you could let me (rodbirkett@btinternet.com) or Jane know whether you will be able to attend. We can fit in about 35 people and hence it would be great to see as many cricketers, spouses and siblings as are able to attend.
The reason we are starting the curry night at 7pm is that, again like last year, we have decided to have the AGM then, preceding the dinner. If anyone would like to come for the formal part of the evening, then please arrive promptly for a 7pm start, whilst if you wish to just attend the dinner then some time around 7.45pm would probably be about right.
All of last year's committee are willing to stand for re-election at the AGM and, as I mentioned at last year's dinner, James Paice has agreed to stand as an additional Club Vice-captain to support Andy Bryan and Club Captain Will Stevens. Any other nominations for positions on the committee must be sent, with the agreement of the nominee, to our Secretary, Mick Greenwood mlli.greenwood@btinternet.com by 18th March....but please don't hesitate to discuss this with me beforehand if you would like.
I'm afraid one of the consequences of applying for funding is that we must make sure that our procedures are entirely robust and as such a membership form is attached which needs to be completed by everybody.
A few dates for your diaries;
Saturday 12th and Saturday 19th March from 10am to 1pm - tree and shrub clearing at the Cricket Ground.
Friday 25th March, 7pm to 7.45pm; AGM at Raju's Tandoori at 21 Reading Road, Henley.
Friday 25th March, 7.45pm; Curry at Raju's Tandoori in Henley.
The cricket nets will be at 11am on Sunday mornings at Shiplake College. Nets at Shiplake College, Sunday March 6th, 13th, 20th and 27th; from 11am to noon.
Take A4155 from Henley towards Reading. Shiplake College is on your left after ‘Shiplake Cross’. Take the 2nd entrance, the ‘All Visitors’ drive into the College. Follow the drive down to the main house, bear left and go past the main building on your right and park in the car park straight ahead. The Sports Hall is a wooden building with glass doors on the left hand side just opposite the car park.
Sunday 10th and Sunday 17th April at 10.30am to noon, nets at Harpsden Cricket Ground.
Sunday 17th April 9am to 10.30am: pre-season working party at Harpsden Cricket Ground. There are various jobs that need to be done before the season starts and the more support we have for this the better.
Practice Sessions from 6pm at Harpsden every Wednesday starting on April 27th. Following the success of this last year it has been decided to repeat the Wednesday evening practice sessions at the Club on Wednesday evenings throughout the season. These will commence at 6pm with the first one on Wednesday 27th April.
Saturday 23rd April; 1st Harpsden match, against Henley 3rds.
Sunday 26th June at 12.30pm; President’s XI vs Chairman’s XI.
Monday 29th August; Harpsden Six-a-Sides. If you want to put a team in, please book early to avoid disappointment!
Saturday 17th September; Annual Dinner.
Despite the cost of everything else going up we have managed to keep the costs of playing and membership the same as last year which I’m sure remains among the lowest in the country! The 2011 charge for Adults will be £75 for a season ticket OR £10 per game and for Students it will be a £35 season OR £5 per game for those who don’t buy a season ticket. We are also introducing a charge for evening games of £5 and £3 respectively for those who don’t buy a season ticket. Early payment to David Heath would be greatly appreciated.
If you want to enhance your wardrobe, Ian Whittaker is still in charge of clothing and he will be taking orders for shirts, jumpers or NEW STYLE caps, so do email him (iangwhittaker@hotmail.co.uk) if you want to arrange something before the start of the season.
Thanks to Joanna Cary the Harpsden Cricket Club blog is in fine fettle so do have a look if you get a chance (http://harpsdencricketclub.blogspot.com). A copy of this letter is going onto the blog so that the net dates will be there if you misplace this letter! The first draft of the 2011 fixture list is also on the blog. All contributors and contributions to the blog are greatly welcomed and please email Joanna (joannacary@gmail.com) for an invitation to join in. Photographs are particularly appreciated so Miles, Gireesh et al, it would be great if you could put your photos throughout the season on the blog. The blog isn't technically advanced, evidenced by the fact that even I can manage it, but if there are any problems, please just ask Joanna and she will guide you through it. Happy blogging!
Team organisation remains an onerous task and Jane has very kindly offered to do it again this season but if you were able to contact her (jburtt@shiplake.org.uk or 01491 575126) before the season starts with your early season availability that would be very helpful. Also, please contact Jane if you have had any change to your contact details.
Will Stevens has kindly offered to prepare the statistics again this season (with back-up from Ed Birkett when/if he goes away) and we would be grateful if you could all ensure that the scorebooks are filled in fully, and correctly.
We are always looking to enhance the membership of the club as it is the people who make it what it is. Do please bring your cricketing friends along to the pre-season nets or introduce them as the season progresses.
Look forward to seeing you at the AGM/Curry/Nets,
With best regards,
Rod.
2011 Fixtures
DRAFT FIXTURE LIST 2011 HARPSDEN CC (as at 14.01.11)
SAT 23 April 1pm H Henley 3rds
SUN 24 April 1pm H Wargrave
SAT 30 April 1pm H London Erratics
SUN 1 May 1pm H Peppard
MON 2 May EARLY SPRING BANK HOLIDAY
TUES 3 May 6pm A Bradfield College
SAT 7 May 1pm H Rivets
SUN 8 May 2pm A Holyport
SAT 14 May
SUN 15 May 1pm H Cranbourne
SAT 21 May 1pm H Thespian Thunderers
SUN 22 May Sonning TBC
SAT 28 May 1pm H Reading Lawyers
SUN 29 May 11.30am A X-Batters
£16 match fee to include 1.30pm lunch & port, tea, umpires + some beer! 20-over from 6pm, each team provides a ball
MON 30/5 SPRING BANK HOLIDAY
TUES 31 May 2.30pm H Old Josephians TBC
SAT 4 June 1.30pm A Turville Park (40 overs)
SUN 5 June
FRI 10 June 6pm A Shiplake College Wanderers
SAT 11 June
SUN 12 June 1pm H Crazies Hill
FRI 17 June 6pm H Bradfield College
SAT 18 June 1pm H Morgan CC
SUN 19 June 2pm A Taplow
WED 22 June 6pm A Medmenham
SAT 25 June
SUN 26 June 12.30pm H President’s XI vs Chairman’s XI
SAT 2 July REGATTA SATURDAY
SUN 3 July 1pm H Wessex Exiles
WED 6 July 6pm H Mortgagees
SAT 9 July 1pm H Effigies
SUN 10 July 1pm H Deadbats
SAT 16 July 1pm H Stonor
SUN 17 July 1pm H Little Marlow
SAT 23 July 1pm H Greys Green
SUN 24 July 2pm A Henley
Effigees using Harpsden ground
SAT 30 July
SUN 31 July
WED 3 Aug 6pm H Butler XI
SAT 6 Aug 2pm A Stonor
SUN 7 Aug 1pm H Nettlebed
SAT 13 Aug 1pm A Cranbourne
SUN 14 Aug 1pm H Woodcote
SAT 20 Aug 1.30pm A Whitchurch
SUN 21 Aug 1.30 A Britwell Salome
SAT 27 Aug 1pm H Morgan CC
SUN 28 Aug 1pm H Friends of Oxford University
SUMMER BANK HOLIDAY MON 29 Aug 10am H Harpsden Sixes
SAT 3 Sept 1pm H Catchiteers
SUN 4 Sept 1.30PM A Greys Green
SAT 10 Sept 1pm H Shinfield
SUN 11 Sept 1pm H Hurst
SAT 17 Sept 1pm H Hambleden
SUN 18 Sept 1pm H Turville Park (40 overs)
SAT 24 Sept 1pm H Holyport
SUN 25 Sept 1pm H Hurley
SAT 23 April 1pm H Henley 3rds
SUN 24 April 1pm H Wargrave
SAT 30 April 1pm H London Erratics
SUN 1 May 1pm H Peppard
MON 2 May EARLY SPRING BANK HOLIDAY
TUES 3 May 6pm A Bradfield College
SAT 7 May 1pm H Rivets
SUN 8 May 2pm A Holyport
SAT 14 May
SUN 15 May 1pm H Cranbourne
SAT 21 May 1pm H Thespian Thunderers
SUN 22 May Sonning TBC
SAT 28 May 1pm H Reading Lawyers
SUN 29 May 11.30am A X-Batters
£16 match fee to include 1.30pm lunch & port, tea, umpires + some beer! 20-over from 6pm, each team provides a ball
MON 30/5 SPRING BANK HOLIDAY
TUES 31 May 2.30pm H Old Josephians TBC
SAT 4 June 1.30pm A Turville Park (40 overs)
SUN 5 June
FRI 10 June 6pm A Shiplake College Wanderers
SAT 11 June
SUN 12 June 1pm H Crazies Hill
FRI 17 June 6pm H Bradfield College
SAT 18 June 1pm H Morgan CC
SUN 19 June 2pm A Taplow
WED 22 June 6pm A Medmenham
SAT 25 June
SUN 26 June 12.30pm H President’s XI vs Chairman’s XI
SAT 2 July REGATTA SATURDAY
SUN 3 July 1pm H Wessex Exiles
WED 6 July 6pm H Mortgagees
SAT 9 July 1pm H Effigies
SUN 10 July 1pm H Deadbats
SAT 16 July 1pm H Stonor
SUN 17 July 1pm H Little Marlow
SAT 23 July 1pm H Greys Green
SUN 24 July 2pm A Henley
Effigees using Harpsden ground
SAT 30 July
SUN 31 July
WED 3 Aug 6pm H Butler XI
SAT 6 Aug 2pm A Stonor
SUN 7 Aug 1pm H Nettlebed
SAT 13 Aug 1pm A Cranbourne
SUN 14 Aug 1pm H Woodcote
SAT 20 Aug 1.30pm A Whitchurch
SUN 21 Aug 1.30 A Britwell Salome
SAT 27 Aug 1pm H Morgan CC
SUN 28 Aug 1pm H Friends of Oxford University
SUMMER BANK HOLIDAY MON 29 Aug 10am H Harpsden Sixes
SAT 3 Sept 1pm H Catchiteers
SUN 4 Sept 1.30PM A Greys Green
SAT 10 Sept 1pm H Shinfield
SUN 11 Sept 1pm H Hurst
SAT 17 Sept 1pm H Hambleden
SUN 18 Sept 1pm H Turville Park (40 overs)
SAT 24 Sept 1pm H Holyport
SUN 25 Sept 1pm H Hurley
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