Won
| Batsmen | Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scott Stevens | Out | 9 | ||||
| Duncan Parr | Out | 42 | ||||
| Wade Johnston | Out | 63 | ||||
| Richard Harris | Out | 26 | ||||
| Anthony Foley | Not Out | 11 | ||||
| Ashley Cutts | Out | 0 | ||||
| Ted Baker | Not Out | 3 | ||||
| George Troughton | DNB | |||||
| Ryan Pownall | DNB | |||||
| Steve Hill | DNB | |||||
| Extras | ||||||
| Bowling | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets | Economy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scott Stevens | 3.0 | 0 | 24 | 2 | 8.00 | |
| Duncan Parr | 9.0 | 0 | 42 | 0 | 4.67 | |
| Wade Johnston | 14.0 | 2 | 42 | 3 | 3.00 | |
| Ted Baker | 4.0 | 0 | 28 | 0 | 7.00 | |
| George Troughton | 8.0 | 0 | 28 | 0 | 3.50 | |
| Ryan Pownall | 2.0 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 8.50 | |
| Extras | ||||||
| Fielder | Catches | Run Outs | Stumpings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steve Hill | 1 | 0 | 0 |
After the previous weeks disappointment of a fixture confusion by Reading, Sonning turned up to Cookham Dean for their only pre-season friendly with an understrength but enthusiastic team. On winning the toss, “The Dean� decided to have first use of the wicket, a decision they were regretting when Aussie ace Wade Johnston ripped out their first 3 wickets before the score reached 50 with a combination of pace, bounce and movement. Unfortunately Sonning’s fielding let them down and 6 dropped catches meant that a hefty 4th wicket partnership followed. Heads never dropped and the example was set by the ever willing Ryan Pownall, the athletic Johnston and unorthodox newcomer Ashley Cutts. After spells from Ted Baker and Ryan Pownall, eventually Scott Stevens was introduced to the bowling line up, and closed out the innings with 2 wickets to restrict Cookham to 199, a target that would be challenging, but not impossible.
Sonning’s innings started in controversial fashion with a vociferous appeal for a catch at the wickets against Stevens, being turned down, leading to some ugly on field behaviour from the Cookham team. Unfortunately Stevens could not use this to fire him up to a big innings, but after his departure a good partnership between Duncan Parr and Pete Whitmore ensued before the imperious Whitmore somehow missed a straight one! This brought Johnston to the crease and with his power hitting and the pairs electric running between the wickets (including an all run 5 with no overthrows!), the target was coming closer. After Parr chipped one to mid off for a well made 42, skipper JJ Harris came to the crease, and whilst not at his most fluent, managed to despatch the ball to the boundary a few times for a rapid 26. Unfortunately Johnston soon followed, along with Cutts, and it was left to club stalwarts Snake Foley and “Dangerous� Ted Baker to chase the 13 runs needed off the last 2 overs. Confidence was not high on the boundary, but Foley rolled back the years, dancing down the track twice to despatch the ball to the boundary and leave Baker to hit the winning runs off the first ball of the last over.
This was a terrific win for a weakened side against a full strength Cookham team who play at the same league level as Sonning. Every member of the team batted, bowled or kept wicket and all had fun. The highlight of the day though was reserved for the free curry supplied by Maliks Tandoori which was absolutely delicious. Even Aussie Johnston, who only eats steak and had never tasted curry before thought it wasn’t too bad !
JJ Harris
