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

Taplow CC v Harpsden CC

Taplow 126 for 9 dec, lost to Harpsden by four wickets 127 for 6

Sunday 19^th 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

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

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 ....