Scorecard

Ropley 1st XI v East Woodhay Cricket Club Saturday 2nd XI on Sat 11 Jun 2022 at 13:00
East Woodhay Cricket Club Won by 1 wicket

Match report Cricket, and sport in general, provides those that play it with those moments of complete disbelief it is one of the reasons we all keep playing and why skippers up and down the country keep banging on with the mantra ‘it’s never over till it’s over’. We all like winning, but finding victory from a game, which on many other occasions would be long gone, is sometimes the sweetest of all. Whether it’s Stokes taking on the Aussies single handed at Headingly or Clements at Ropley, both, whether test or club, fill players with joy, surprise, pride and confirmation that they are playing the greatest game.

So the EWCC 2nd XI arrived at Ropley CC for their Div 4 North fixture and were greeted with a beautifully prepared track that looked a batsmen’s paradise. Unfortunately the EWCC skipper lost the toss and EWCC found themselves bowling first. The Ropley openers went about their task very sensibly and produced an opening stand of 107 before Gerrard fell for 49. Ben Lawrance (3-45) and Ollie Batchelor bowled tidily in the middle part of the Ropley innings and conceding at five an over was commendable on such a good track. Whilst a few wickets were falling the other Ropley opener Jack Oxenham produced a chanceless innings of 131, only falling in the final over the innings and a Ropley total of 238.

Whilst a good total the EWCC batsmen were confident that if partnerships could be put together the total was easily within reach. The EWCC started their innings well enough and had their first partnership as openers Adrian Batchelor (26) and Ollie Batchelor (27) put on 59 for the first wicket. Unfortunately after the demise of Ollie Batchelor the wickets continued to fall and some excellent seam bowling from George Sandison (3-30) saw EWCC reduced to 131-7. It was felt by those at the ground that the resulting glare from the EWCC skipper after being called for a very sharp single from Clements, galvanised the young player to atone for making the skipper look so slow.

The score was now 147-8, a very long way from the total with only two wickets remaining. It was at this point that Sam Clements (57*), ably supported by George Greenwood (16) proceeded to put a partnership together of 89 taking EWCC to within 3 runs of victory. With victory so close a further run out resulted in another Woodhay youngster, Harrison Blakemore, going to the crease with only 3 needed and one ball left in the over. A fine steer through gully and a scampered two saw the match level. It was left to Clements to hit the winning runs and victory. If this had been a 1930s film Clements would have been carried aloft on the shoulders of his teammates to have ginger beer and cake at the local inn. We settled for a firm handshake.

Ropley CC deserve much credit for a great pitch, great facilities and for playing the game in the right spirit. They should be commended in what they are doing.

Ropley 1st XI Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
2nb 10w 2b 1lb 
for 6 wickets
15
238 (45.0 overs)		     
Nick Gerrard b  B Lawrance 49 71 8 69.01
Jack Oxenham ct  M Chapman b S Rutt 131 138 18 94.93
John Hooper b  B Lawrance 2 6 33.33
Tom Stroud ct  B Lawrance b B Lawrance 21 28 2 75.00
Louis Sandison Not Out  19 26 1 73.08
George Sandison b  S Rutt 0 1 0
Jason Zawiasa b  S Rutt 0 1 0
Tom Harfleet Not Out  1 1 100
Andrew Morris  
Adam Wheeler  
Lucas Moran  

East Woodhay Cricket Club Saturday 2nd XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Simon Rutt9.022337.672.56
Adrian Batchelor7.006000.008.57
Rob Prince6.002700.004.50
Sam Clements5.003200.006.40
Oliver Batchelor9.004800.005.33
Ben Lawrance9.0045315.005.00

East Woodhay Cricket Club Saturday 2nd XI Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
9nb 15w 26b 5lb 
for 9 wickets
55
242		        
Oliver Batchelor b  G Sandison 27 43 5 62.79
Adrian Batchelor b  G Sandison 26 45 3 57.78
Ben Lawrance lbw  G Sandison 18 14 4 128.57 1
Mark Chapman b  J Hooper 6 11 1 54.55 1
Rob Prince ct  Unsure b J Oxenham 11 20 1 55.00
Alexander Braidwood ct  Unsure b T Stroud 5 23 21.74
Simon Rutt run out  (Unsure) 15 18 2 83.33
Jack Jacobs b  A Morris 4 14 28.57
Sam Clements Not Out  57 39 8 146.15
George Greenwood run out  (Unsure) 16 22 2 72.73
Harrison Blakemore Not Out  2 1 200

Ropley 1st XI Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Andrew Morris9.0041141.004.56
Louis Sandison8.113700.004.53
John Hooper9.0032132.003.56
George Sandison6.0030310.005.00
Jack Oxenham2.0010110.005.00
Tom Stroud5.0029129.005.80
Lucas Moran1.003200.0032.00