Intra Club friendly

Skipper Dan Vickery’s version

It was a lovely day for a cricket match and unusually Vickery was first to arrive – for what was soon to be short lived anticipation of a great day of cricket!

As I’m sure Farmer will eloquently describe the cricket didn’t start particularly well after agreeing to have a bat first up. I sent out Kleiny, fresh from his 50 n.o. the week before, with George in tow to hold down one end.

DJ, still walking on sunshine from his exploits the previous weekend, again proved his ability to smooth talk – getting Kleiny into a big shot first up – clean bowled! Oscar continued to use the best of the day’s bowling conditions perfectly, supported well by Matt Watts, they got a few more early scalps, before Farmer removed them from the attack.

We were reeling, with Mellor and Finn at the crease together to shore things up for a few overs. Another good bit of straight bowling by Seb saw Mellor removed. This bought out Ollie Warmington and he and Raff rescued the innings with some good hitting, including a cameo from Emily Reed adding a few more runs to the board. They batted really well, getting us to a respectable total, following a disastrous start. Well done !

With 172 to chase we too made some early inroads thanks to some good bowling by Ollie along with Joe and Emily Reed. This brought Win and Farmer to the crease. There was some great technical batting strokes and a touch of flare from Win along with some less cultured hitting from Farmer. It was a good partnership that largely put the game out of reach, however it wasn’t chanceless with a couple of dropped catches and a good LBW appeal turned down. On another day it could have been a much closer finish.

Despite the loss, it was a great day, with some excellent performances from those on the field. Special mention to Raff Finn (40), Ollie Warmington (41), Emily Reed (1 wkt) and Joe Reed (solid bowling), Oscar Warmington (4 wkts), Farmer (51 no), Win (50 no), Watts (45*) and of course Pete Klein (2 wkts) – all playing really well! A great day for our colts to play with some of our senior pros……….. and Farmer.

Well played team Farmer !

Dan Vickery

Skipper Jonny Farmer’s version

Team Vickery vs Team Farmer was billed to be a blockbuster with two captains and a few seniors taking to the Green with the future stars of the club !

The so-called toss took place, ‘so Dan what do you want to do? I fancy a bowl, yeah I will have a bat’….first mistake.

Oscar ‘Hotwash’ Warmington took the new ball (his jumper was a hand me down from his bro, clearly aged 8-10) but when this was taken off and he marked out his 16 pace run up the Vickery top order were in for a masterclass in in-swing bowling.

Nick Klein strode to the crease with his normal swagger, only for him to try and cut his first ball that moved in nicely and castled him back to the Pavilion. Oscar had his first.

Matt Watts at the other end also bowled his gentle away swing and removed the dangerous Ball. Nicholls was leaving it and trying to build an innings only for young Oscar to chip up ‘he’s left more times than Cheryl Cole’. Cue the big swipe and wicket, another masterclass in sledging –  this time from the young man.

In came captain D ‘Paddington’ Vickery, looking to rebuild, but with Oscar still having the ball it was only a matter of time for that big pad to come down on off stump and the ball to hit, Peter Klein with his new tech went upstairs, and with the confirmation of three greens Vickery was on his way. 13/5.

Senior Dawson then strode to the crease, and Ran shouted ‘Captain give me the ball, he’s mine’ A lovely shot over his son’s head lit the fire and Ran added a few yards for Tom, who spooned the next one out to cover. Seb Wilbaut turned on the turbos covered the ground like a gazelle , and took a great catch.

Team Vickery needed something as the youngsters on team Farmer thought at 31/7 the game was done, but little did they know what was to come: a certain man (well boy who played like a man) Raf Finn had other plans. At only 11 he showed temperament that a lot of the 1st and 2nd team players can learn from, defended the straight balls and went to the trusty sweep to score his runs. Whatever team Farmer threw at this young man he kept out, and when a bad ball went down , it was punished. He was partnered by Ollie Warmington who played more of the aggressive innings but put pressure back on the bowlers. Farmer, Marshall, Win were hit out out of the attack.

It took the trusty Grey Bear to come on, with a few wides he deceived young Raf by finally bowling a straight ball which was hit up and he was caught for a fine 40. Ollie finished unbeaten on 41 alongside Emily Reed who showed off her batting skills at the end of the innings. Joe Reed bowled well and deserves a mention, but sadly his fielders did not help the cause.

Team Vickery finished on 171 which to be fair was a good score considering the start.

Tea was taken, before Farmer called his team meeting about batting like Raf/Ollie, and making sure to bring the W home. 

Chris Marshall and Ran Dawson were sent out to start the chase, but neither really troubled the scorer, as Emily Reed sent Marshall packing with a  beauty. Ran followed shortly after as Ollie Warmington like his bro put the ball in the right areas and had him trapped LBW.

Vickery had his man in early, and as if his BBC Headlines were going to come to life, he got Klein fired up and on straight away. Farmer walked nonchalantly to the crease, and as expected was hit by the verbals, but this senior Pro showed the youth how to deal with this and this was not to react and let the bat do the talking. Klein was hit back to London by Win and Farmer, a barrage of bounces were pulled and ramped by the pair, and his quickfire 3 overs returned 0 wickets for 28 runs. With one half chance being spilled by the man himself (he’s still having nightmares about it) 

Young Joe Reed bowled exceptionally well, and again the captain will bring out a formal apology for striking one almighty 6 off the young man, but again it was the verbals from his fellow captain that caused the big shot. At this point the game was heading one way, Vickery brought himself on and bowled some utter filth, and Farmer was back in the Pav 51*. Win followed shortly after for a fine 50*. Watts and Joe Reed then finished off the game with the final score at 173/2. A solid victory for Farmer and his young guns. 

The youngsters were wondering why he didn’t turn to Raf or the Reed earlier, but Farmer just replied ‘He’s trying his best, but the Kid will never outshine the GOAT’

Our thoughts go out to Harry Hunter and his pinky – I hope it makes a quick recovery!

Jonny Farmer

Pics of Saturday’s game and Sunday’s friendly vs Broadbridge Heath – see match report below

Sunday friendly vs Broadbridge Heath

Another beautiful Sunday morning was met with the arrival of Broadbridge Heath on the green.

Wisborough lost the toss and were put in to bat.

The Dawson duo headed out but sadly senior , and then Joey Calder Smith were out in a blink of an eye.

In came Richard Wilson who steadied the ship alongside Dawson Junior – both playing some quality textbook shots.

Following the dismissal of Wilson, it was Jacob Ball’s turn to try and turn the innings around.

Both Ball and Dawson played some cracking shots and pushed the run rate a little shy of 6 an over.

A catch off Dawson and an exceptional piece of fielding which took the bails clean off for Ball on 43, left the Green with only 4 remaining.

Some big shots from Ollie Stott and Hugo March showed the visitors we weren’t done, and Seb Wibaut and Josh Dixon made some useful contributions at the end of the innings.

Wisborough finished on 164 all out.

With fighting spirit Wisborough came out to field with some accurate bowling from both Calder Smith and March.

Initially no wickets from either but the run rate was kept under control.

The visitors pushed on and with plenty of wickets in hand tried to move it up another notch.

Josh Dixon was rewarded with a wicket after some accurate bowling , and Hugo March also claimed a valuable scalp . Wisborough were given something to shout about after Richard Wilson bagged a low catch off Zac Dawson’s bowling , but it was sadly a little too late as Broadbridge Heath finished up with 7 overs to play.

A great day of cricket which sadly didn’t go our way but a fantastic day out – particularly for some of our colts.

click here for the full scorecard

Team selections for next week

Please click here for our team selections for the friendly vs Kirdford on the Green on Sunday . It will sadly be last game of cricket on the Green this season and it would be great to have some local support.