Sour Claverham Describe Tale Of Slaughter By Sodbury
Article Date: 9th July 2009
A somewhat sour match report by Claverham CC describes their very heavy defeat at the hands of Chipping Sodbury 1st XI. It sounds like it was very hard to take.
It was a tough day at Henley Lane as Claverham 1st XI were beaten for only the second time this season by a very strong Chipping Sodbury unit.
Skipper Matt Davis won the toss and elected to bat, with strong memories of the countless 200+ scores that the formidable batting line up had achieved.
However, this was not to be as the Chipping Sodbury bowling attack struck early with major wickets going cheaply.
Thorpe top scored (34) with his style of taking the game to the bowlers early, proving to be very successful. However he was undone by Penfold's medium pace top edging the ball to cover. Penfold finishing with very respectable figures of 11 overs, 1 wicket for 26 runs.
Davis (26) offered some resistance in the middle spell but became one of three victims to the spinner Rendell. Alston (15) attempted to steady the ship with wickets falling around him and the tail showed glimpses of wagging with James Bird's 16 but Claverham were eventually bowled out for 138.
It seemed to be deja vu of the fixture on the opening day of the season where Claverham defended 147, and Claverham came out all guns blazing with Isack and James Bird bowling tight lines, drying up the runs.
However, Rendell and Scully proved to be difficult to break down as, although they were well behind the rate, the wickets column remained untouched.
James Bird looked to have got the break through, trapping the Scully close infront of the stumps and the umpire began to raise his finger, before dismissing Claverham's appeals. Paul Bird believed "his finger go trapped in his back pocket, so he left it there because he didn't want to look stupid".
Scully started with a very test match approach, shouts of Geoffrey Boycott were heard repeatedly around The Lane, but his style changed as Ross Titmuss bowled Rendell with his first ball, and he became the aggressor, taking the game to the bowlers in the middle order. He offered plenty of chances however, but the luck was not the way of the home side as nothing went to hand.
Scully was later joined by Wakefield after Roger (Gas) Hooper bowled a beautiful ball that nipped back off the seam to make Hicks look foolish, followed by the quote, "You don't leave those ones son".
Wakefield only offered one chance, but it wasn't to be taken as Sodbury rode their luck and, to coin Henry Isack's Phrase, were "clever" enough to seal an 8 wicket win.
Time for Claverham once again to show their bouncebackability against Timsbury away.
