Buckingham Town Cricket Club - July 30th 2006

Buckingham put into bat lost three quick wickets before Stuart Helps(31) and Ian Wilkinson(38) improved matters.

The tail "wagged" and Buckingham reached a useful total of 200-7 thanks to Rod Bridgeman who produced a hard hitting 71n.o. a career best and also his first half century ever.

Great Brickhill made a steady start and then increased their run rate and looked likely winners until the introduction of experienced bowlers S.Helps(3-26) and Rod Bridgeman(6-38) bowled them out for 189.

Both sides played alot of younger players which is good for both clubs. Frank Johnson and Dan Hassell made their debuts at senior level for Town and all the youngsters did well.

Callum Cater and Frank Johnson bowled tidily with only 25 runs coming from the first eight overs.

Man of the man Rod Bridgeman also took two catches to add to his runs and wickets.

Innings of Buckingham Town 2nds

T. Hill                         b Cornwell       1
C. Cater        c               b A.Boade       11
M. Carter                       b Cornwell       0
S. Helps                        b Martin        31
I. Wilkinson                    b Jennings      38
R. Hutt         c               b K. Boade      12
R. Bridgeman    not             out             71
D. Hassell                      b K. Boade      10
L. Stafford     not             out              7
                                Extras          18
                                Total          200-7

M.Boade         5-0-28-1
J. Cornwell     8-1-31-2
C. Hastings     8-1-19-0
S. Martin       8-0-28-1
K. Boade        6-0-51-2
P. Jennings     4-0-23-1
A. Bowden       1-0-2-0

Innings of Greeat Brickhill 2nds

M. Boade        c Wilkinson     b Helps         71
A. Bowden       c Hutt          b B.Cater        8
M.McCoughlin    c Wilkinson     b Bridgeman     45
P. Jennings                   c&b Bridgeman      1
J. Howson                     c&b Bridgeman     14
A. Sibley                       b Bridgeman      6
J. Cornwell     c Hassell       b Helps          0
T. Lakins                     lbw Helps         20
S. Martin                     lbw Bridgeman      0
K. Boade                      lbw Bridgeman      0
C. Hastings     not             out              2
                                Extras          20
                                Total          189-10

F. Johnson      4-1-13-0
C. Cater        4-1-12-0
B. Cater        4-0-22-1
L. Stafford     4-0-19-0
D. Hasselll     3-0-33-0
T. Hill         3-0-26-0
R. Bridgeman    8-0-38-6
S. Helps        7.5-0-26-3

The Droitwich game was a thrilling encounter that went down to the final ball after the visitors to Bourton road appeared to be cruising to victory.

Harsh Jethra's four for 26 removed the entire top order as Droitwich collapsed after their classy opening batsmen were easing them to victory. Jamie Hirst's four overs of seam conceeded just two runs as Town grabbed an amazing stranglehold on the game.

The slow right arm of Nick Wilkes, two for 7, bowled a tight last over under pressure and Town celebrated a two-run victory.

Earlier in the day, Rob Pritchard (24) and Tom Jones (24) gave Town a platform before Rob Laird (17) hit some lusty blows late on to take Town through to 110 for 7.

Town claimed the Hair Moda U16 League title when they won at Wolverton U16s by nine wickets.

Jack Deal's undefeated 61 and Rob Pritchard (30) easing Town to victory after the home side had posted 105 for 7, Dilshan Direkze's three for 21 and Matthew Faulkner's one for 14, plus a superb run out, doing the damage.

Town now travel to play the Shropshire county champions Shifnal U16s on either sunday, monday or tuesday.

The U16 team are pictured with manager Richard Pengelly and coach Colin Piggott.

Playing at Preston Bissett against Buckingham Town, the district team won the toss and elected to bat. The early bowling was tight and the batting watchful, with the district reaching only 33-1 at the 10 over mark. However the batsmen showed the merit of playing themselves in and gradually accelerated. Eric Carpenter (62) cashed in on some loose bowling and built a solid foundation with Garry Maynard (34) before Ollie Collins (1-12) bowled him. In tandem with Nick Wilkes (2-7), Collins then showed the merit of bowling a fuller length and the scoring slowed for a time. Then the district regained the initiative with a blaze of boundaries from Billy Hallett (54 not out) and Andrew Humphries (17 not out), ending on 223 for 6.

In reply, Town appeared to be on track throughout. Tom Jones (15) put on 36 with Wilkes (33) before failing to control a ball of extra bounce. Wilkes and Jamie Hirst took the score to 92 from 17 overs before Wilkes went to a good catch by Ed Somerton. In partnership with Dilshan Direkze (29) Hirst then took Town to within sight of victory at 165-2 after 29 overs, but the district's bowling and fielding had remained consistently tight and never let Town get ahead of the run rate. Once Direkze had failed to control Humphries's sharp leg spin, wickets fell quickly, with Sam Douthwaite taking 3-41 from 8 overs and Ali Dennison 3-28 from 7. There were also two run-outs as Hirst tried to keep the strike. He reached an excellent 102 not out and in an exciting finish would have needed 13 from the last over had his last partner survived, but Town were all out for 211 with 6 balls to go.