Last weekend bought to the forefront of everyone’s mind the nightmare it can be for smaller clubs in order to be able to field enough players for their respective teams. At Sparsholt this was no different.

The 1st XI played away against a much weakened Hambledon after the close season left them without a number of players from their side of 2014. As always; Andy Worth and his band of merry men were optimistic of getting a result – despite the fact that they only had 8 week in week out first team players in their line up. This fixture marked the return of Simon Straker to the Sparsholt attack – the absence of an outright wicket keeper in the club – let alone the 1st team meant that Stuart Tognerelli donned the gloves as Sparsholt took the field on what was to be a beautiful day (weather wise).

Everything started fantastically for the trees as Alex Dilley (26-2) took the wicket of Will Bond early on – and Jack Lavous a few overs later; and 1st team mainstay David Gough (28-1) pitching in with the wicket of William Mann – Hambledon appeared to be on the back foot at 65-3; by the end of the 36th over – the score sat at 110-3 with Robert Atkins batting himself in and remaining at the crease to hit a match day top score of 83. The next wicket fell courtesy of a run out orchestrated by Worth, and once this 4th wicket had been taken – they regularly fell. With a brace of wickets falling for ‘Kiwi’ Kyle Ruffell (30-2), and for youngster Tom Foster (38-1). Tight bowling from Straker meant that Hambledon reached a respectable total of 204-8.

In reply, Sparsholt started out the blocks with a little more haste – openers Ed Jenner and David Gough started out slowly and concisely building their innings before the loss of Jenner who was caught behind off of Rupert Hetherington – who delivered a fantastic bowling display (16-1 from 10 overs). This bought Kyle into the attack and between the two of them they added 97 runs before David was run out just after tipping his first 50 of the season! Big Hitter Tognerelli came to crease and was dispatched promptly for just 2 runs leaving Kyle at the crease a few runs short of his inaugural Southern League half century.

Tom Foster came in and scored a quick 8 runs before falling foul to a catch from behind the stumps. Next into the attack was the skipper – who worked with Kyle to get up to 60 runs before slapping a ball down the throat of Atkins – Congrats on your first league 50 Kyle – we hope that it is the first of many! Within minutes of Jon Vokes taking to the pitch – the 6th wicket had fallen and Worth was heading back to the pavilion. Batting in number 8 was the son of England Cricketer Graham Dilley; Alex, who hit 3 in 3 balls before being bowled over by Kyle Shinn, who also promptly took the scalp of Greg Whiting (2) leaving Sparsholt needing 19 runs to win with 2 wickets in hand and less than 5 overs to score them in; It really was do or die time.

Second XI Manager and father of Tom – Jon Foster batted number 10 and scored 1 run before JV was run out. Number 11 came in the form of another former Winchester man – Straker, who smashed a four from his four balls before Jon Foster fell victim to a run out leaving Sparsholt on 196 all out with 3 balls remaining. A valiant effort all round from all the players, though this third loss does leave the trees languishing at the foot of the table.

On a more positive note – prior to the Hambledon game; Sparsholt have acquired the services of Martin Ballands from Portsmouth who is eligible to play in Sparsholt’s next fixture vs Bashley (Rydal) II, who are also struggling with form so far. Welcome to Sparsholt Martin & Good Luck!  

 

WInterslow were welcomed to the Norman Edwards Ground as they faced a very much changed 2nd XI. As with the firsts – this team had only 4 people playing from the side who had played the previous week (On Field Captain; Andy Pryce, Opening Bowler Haida Ali Shah, Tom Wilson & George Ellis); making up the rest of the team were newcomers to Sparsholt CC in the form of Gethin George & Ted Bell (a gent from the village), Stuart Veal who has come up the junior ranks, second team Stalwart David Coulthard and the returning (for one game only apparently) Robert Carslake. Desperate times call for desperate measures as Club Secretary Tony Edwards & Vice-Chair Richard Edwards were called out of the wilderness to put in what Richard (probably) hopes to be a cameo appearance this season after a number of years out of the game.

Winterslow won the toss and elected to field first, Tom Wilson and Robert Carslake opened and they started to slowly build an innings before Carslake (8) tipped one up to be caught – with Winterslow being only too happy to take it and keep hold. Coulthard was number 3 and both he and Wilson made a few runs before Tom (13) became the first of five victim’s to Pearce’s (31-5) bowling. After 17 overs Sparsholt stood at 47-2. Newcomer Gethin was next into the attack – the ex St Cross player worked well with DC before being caught off of Hartley (31-3) for 28 runs.

Andy Pryce came into the attack and slowly began building on the run rate getting Sparsholt up 97 before the wicket of Gethin (16) fell – another catch held by the Winterslow fielders. Pryce was joined at the crease by Richard Edwards – who had only played one game since knee operations put him out of action in 2008. Pryce (19) continued to play some great shots and perhaps should have been caught out a number of times (if it was not for the mid innings collapse of the fielding team’s catching ability); before becoming Hartley’s final casualty of the afternoon. Leaving Sparsholt at 105-5 at the end of the 32nd over.

Edwards was briefly joined at the middle by George Ellis, before the veteran Edwards mis-timed the ball to be bowled for 3. The final four batsmen, none of which were known for their batting prowess – went into battle one by one. Ted Bell (5*) joined George and remained in the middle until the end – George played a number of good shots – but scooped one into the air and found himself heading back to the pavilion. Haida joined Ted and hit a quick 6 runs before being stumped. Leaving Sparsholt on 127 with 2 wickets remaining and still a good 8 overs to go before tea.

Tony Edwards, walked to the crease with the intention of building an innings to try and get some more precious runs on the board for his side – but like his father; had not faced a ball in a number of years – and as a bit part player, struggled to get into any sort of rhythm. Edwards managed to get a couple of nice shots under his belt before being bowled for 2 runs from 5 balls. Last man in was 16-year-old Stuart Veal, who like Edwards faced a few balls and played some nice defensive shots before being bowled out for 2. Sparsholt’s tail unfortunately did not have enough depth and crashed at 135 from 42.2 overs.

The Sparsholt team knew that this total was low and had to not only bowl well, but field even better to try and turn this game around. After a motivational huddle – the field was set and Haida was up first in the bowling attack and what a first over, with number 2 being caught LBW on the first ball he faced.

With Pryce bowling well from the top end; it wasn’t long before Haida took a second wicket, opener Penny being caught at mid on by Carslake. It looked as if Winterslow’s luck in the field was going to stay in the field as Pryce and Ali-Shah continued to bowl tight lines and very few extras. In the 11th over – Haida struck again – this time Key edged it behind and Richard Edwards was on hand to take the catch (though it nearly fell to the ground – twice).

Batsman number 4 promptly followed Key back to the pavilion after being given out LBW (a decision which the player appeared to be less than happy with). Sparsholt had Winterslow at 30-4 after 13 overs. The opening bowlers were commanding the pace of the game and at the end of their spells the visitors stood 38-4 from 20 overs. Haida being the pick of the bowlers in terms of wickets (22-4); with Pryce being equally economical from his 10 overs (16-0).

Russell Rowe (61*) had given himself a few overs to begin building an innings and along with Bayford – set out to get Winterslow back into the game. With Rob Carslake bowling from the bottom and Veal bowling his left arm medium pace – they continued where Pryce and Ali-Shah had left off – bowling fantastic line and length and gave the batsmen few opportunities for big hits.

The 5th and final wicket fell in the 37th over when Bayford, who after a slow start; had found his groove before being bowled by the returnee Carslake. Number 6 for the visitors was Pearce – who after taking 5 wickets in the first innings came to the middle and worked the bowling attack to get the visiting side the win with a quickfire 22*, all the while Rowe was continuing to bat sensibly and not give away his wicket, much to the chagrin of the bowlers.

Unfortunately, the spin of Gethin George and the bowling attack from Tom Wilson with the ball was not enough to get the home side the win. That being said, considering that the team was only finalised the day before the match and a number of players had not played for a while (some longer than others) – the team was cohesive and everyone worked hard to get the result. There was some fantastic fielding from Ellis and Wilson, while Coulthard did a great job behind the stumps; but at the end of the day – the home side did not get enough runs on the board to get the victory.

This coming weekend – they face Andover III away, with another much changed team – but potentially for the better…. A team with a more practiced arsenal of both batsmen and bowlers.

TE

Sparsholt 3s came second in a close finish at North Walls vs AWE Tadley 2nd XI. 

Tadley, batting first amassed a total of 125 all out with a top score of 62 going to Extras - only 8 of which were byes - lest the wrong impression be formed of Sparsholt's keeper! Mungo Patterson took 4 wickets with Adam Trivett, Alex Young and James Lander all taking 2 each.

In reply to Tadley's total on a low scoring wicket, only Matthews, Trivett senior and Patterson senior managed to make it to double figures - ultimately falling short because of the sundries conceded in the field.

There is a lesson there somewhere.............

MP