Rendell's Had A Long Time To Wait For His Century
Article Date: 3rd August 2006
It's taken Jamie Rendell some time to claim his maiden century in senior cricket, but he's finally there. His previous highest score was 74 when batting for Chipping Sodbury in the Under-15 Knock-out Cup final in 1995.
The batsman then spent nine years at Knowle before moving to Frocester to play alongside former fellow Gloucestershire seconds players Nick Trainor, Ben Gannon, Steve Pope and Ali Bressington.
Now back at Sodbury, guiding them to their current position of second place in the Bristol & District Senior Division, Rendell was delighted to hit 134 for his home club against Hanham last week.
"It took a while to sink in when I reached 100," he said. "With it being my first, I felt a bit like a camel with three humps but it was nice to get it for Sodbury, as it's the place where I grew up as a youth player.
"The boys found it quite amusing that my highest score before Saturday was 74 in that Under-15 cup final for Sodbury at Carsons way back in 1995!"
Sodbury are right on the tails of Senior Division leaders Bedminster.
They closed the gap to a point after the Clanage-based side's game against St Mary Redcliffe was abandoned because of the rain.
Rendell is in a good mood, especially after his 134, but also paid tribute to fellow batsman Rich Bennett.
"Saturday was a great result. After losing the toss, we were stuck in on a slightly 'up and down' pitch," he explained.
"With a bit of cloud cover there was a bit of swing and movement around early doors, but myself and Rich Bennett set out to see off the new ball in a positive manner and take the game to Hanham.
"But we did have to wait and the longer we spent out there the better it became.
"Confidence grew, and we managed to put together 238 for the first wicket with Rich getting a classy 78."
Rendell is unsure how his club's title and promotion push will finish with more than the usual one promotion spot possibly up for grabs because of the restructuring taking place in the West of England Premier League.
"At the start of the summer, I felt the time was right to go back to where it had started when I was nine," he added
"Chipping Sodbury are an ambitious, well-run club with the desire to succeed and, with more than 100 members in the youth section, it certainly bodes well for the future.
"As for the remainder of this season there is lots of uncertainty over the league structure for next year so we will concentrate solely on winning all of our last four matches and see what happens."
Published in Bristol Evening Post
