21 September 2014
Turville won in emphatic fashion on Saturday in their penultimate game of the season. For the first hour it looked a very different picture however with Checkendon being asked to bat first on a very green wicket by captain Hunt, they raced onto 130 for 0 after only 13 overs. 300 was on the cards. This all changed in one moment of brilliance as Charlie Beardall standing at a wide mid on position took an outstanding 1 handed diving catch to dismiss their opener after he had scored a brisk 50. Turville never looked back. Opening bowlers Henry and Thornton J had tried to contain the opening pair and after the opener had gone it was clear that there wasn’t too much batting to come. Thornton O and Runks took 3 wickets apiece to contain Checkendon to 227 after a handy 9th wicket partnership by Checkendon’s captain. Wickets too for Charlie Beardall and Hugh DZ meant that Turville had fought their way back into the game after a precarious opening hour. Special mention goes to Charlie Hunt who fielded brilliantly throughout the period in the field and offered good resistance on the boundary and for Colin who had a brace of sharp stumpings.
Cheers
Ollie
14 September 2014
Afternoon Turvillians,
In an afternoon that saw 520 runs scored in around 5 hours and only 7 wickets, this was a batsman’s track to say the least. Nonetheless, it was a beautiful ground and with a few dark clouds threatening over the course of the day that fortunately led to no rain until 15 minutes after play ended, it was a great day of cricket.
Hunt J and Thornton O led the chase and put on 50 for the opening wicket until Hunt (45) fell to a good catch in the deep. Checkendons bowling attack was limited (to put it kindly) and even after all 10 outfield members bowled it wasn’t enough to stop Turville registering another win on a gloomy Saturday afternoon. Thornton O (106) and Charlie Beardall (59*) saw Turville through to the end to win by 7 wickets. Onwards and upwards to the final game of the season next Saturday against Greys Green and a curry afterwards. See as many of you there, even if not playing for a final display of what has been a successful and hugely enjoyable season.
Medmenham were put into bat first and despite accurate bowling from Nick Henry and Tom Vallance (friend of Rob’s) there was not enough life in the pitch to find that break through. Mike Kiernan bowled tightly as ever, finding the only maiden over for Turville easing the pressure for his bowling partner at the other end. It was not until 100 runs went by that the first wicket came but by which time their opening batsman had his eye in and went on to make 141. Special mention to Rafe Dickie who was outstanding in the field saving certain fours and for sure an arm to be weary of. After 40 overs, Turville had been set a total of 261 runs to chase.
Now, for those who do not know of Sam Halfhead’s Turville batting stats, he is yet to have scored a 50 for Turville and not for any side since he was 17. This was all about to change… Sam and Ollie Thornton opened up the batting and got off to a great start having easily met the required run rate to chase down the total. Ollie swiped at a wide ball, that would have quite literally been a wide, to be caught for 32, leaving Sam playing his paddle sweep beautifully and creaming any free B’s for boundaries. Rob Dickie was later caught on the boundary for 10 by a very good catch which saw Charlie Beardall come to the crease. Sam and Charlie then steadily worked down the runs until Sam achieved what had not been done ever in his Turville career in scoring a half century. Needing another 50 runs to win Charlie played an ugly ugly hack to be bowled for 70 giving Tom Vallance, an unknown talent, to come in and smack a very brisk 24 before he was also boweld putting Turville in a strong position to seal the deal. Sam did not change his ‘best form of defense is offense’ and continued to punish bowlers through the off- and leg-side putting himself in range of the unthinkable. With around 15 runs left to spare, Sam achieved what he had never done before in any form of cricket and lofted a shot over mid-on to his ‘Full’head century, scoring 102* and ultimately winning the game for Turville (despite Mike Kiernan hitting the winning runs). A genuine chance-less century that i’m sure he’s been dreaming of and leaves us wondering whether this is the first of many.
In the end, a victory for Turville and a cracking game of cricket.
Charlie Beardall
13 September 2014
Having scrabbled around for players and with Toby Greenwood volunteering on the day and Harpsden lending a hand, Turville travelled to Harpsden on Saturday with eleven. The ground and pavillion at Harpsden have been extended and re-fashioned and the new facilities looked a picture. Harpsden wanted to play a 40 over game with a max of 8 overs per bowler. They also decided to bat.
Charlie B (8 overs for 34) opened up with Mike Kiernan (8 overs for 44) and the new square soon proved true, unusually quick for a village ground and with plenty of carry. The Harpsden openers played well early on. Anything over-pitched tended to go the boundary. The opening partnership was only broken by an awesome bit of fielding from Jamie who threw down one stump from extra cover.
Jamie’s big in-duckers then caused some problems and Jamie was the pick of the bowlers with 4 wickets in his 8 overs for only 37 runs. Meanwhile Turville struggled to keep the score to under 6 an over. Neil Runkell and Nick Henry provided some intelligent bowling against some very good Harpsden batting. A special mention to Charlie Hunt who was nothing short of heroic patrolling the fine-leg and long-on boundaries. Christian Whittaker eventually fell for 97 ably supported by Imlay (44) and Stevens (32) and Harpsden ended on 260 for 6 from their 40 overs.
With a slightly long looking tail, it was important that Turville got off to a solid start. Unfortunately after 6 overs the score was 5 for 2 with Jamie out for 4 pulling Ed Birkett. Only Charlie Beardall looked comfortable. His 68 was the back-bone of the Turville innings. Charlie was able to use the pace of the pitch to time the Harpsden quicks to all parts and the gallery was left open mouthed in appreciation at the timing and placing of his shots. For ten overs or so in the middle overs it looked like Charlie might single-handedly win it for Turville. Unfortunately no-one else could stay with him despite contributions from Mike Kiernan (15) and Hancock (21). When Charlie went with 13 overs left, it was left to Neil Runkell to grind out a losing draw (“who agreed to play a bloody overs game?”) and for Nick Henry to smash a quick fire 25*. Turville ended on 176 for seven thankful for a good game on a fantastic new square and outfield.
Jon Hancock
30 August 2014
Afternoon all,
First of all, I wanted to say a massive thank you on behalf of all the players to those who put so much into organising and executing a fantastic day on Saturday at Wormsley. It was great to see so many VPs and players enjoying the setting and taking part in a nail biting, humdinger of a game of cricket.
So to the cricket, the Players XI batted first scoring 238 runs from 35 overs. Pete set the tone with a swashbuckling 26 before I made 108*, supported by both Ollie Thornton (42) and James Hunt (27*). The Wormsley pitch was ideal for batting and with a lightning quick outfield it was hard to tell if we had scored enough. The bowling attack was led by Monty Keith who picked up one wicket and whose 5 overs went for just 21 runs.
In reply, the VPs lost an early wicket but built strong partnerships, first between Adrian Bignell ((25) and Charlie Beardall (117) and then between Charlie and Tristan Gadsby (56). Turville bowled well with family combinations providing the wickets – namely Nick and Charles Henry and James and Ollie Thornton sharing the spoils amongst themselves. In the end it came down to the final ball, with the VPs needing 4 to win… And fortunately not quite making it!
So a win for Turville to round off a very successful August!
Still opportunities for cricket before the summer draws to a close, so get in touch with Tim, Jon and Steve about their respective upcoming games. Otherwise, hopefully see you soon,
Sam
Footnote Quiz
I can imagine you’ve all been missing Tim’s quiz questions, so here’s my debut attempt as quizmaster general…
At this precise moment, two of the four batsmen with the best averages in the history of List A cricket are current English cricketers and yet neither of them was picked to play in the first three matches of this series against India. Looking further down the list, seven of the all-time top 100 (to have played 50 or more games) are still active and eligible for the current team. One (Jos Butler) was selected for all games in the current series, one (Gary Balance) has come into the team now and two (Trott & Pieterson) are South Africans we probably shouldn’t welcome back. Can you name the other three players England have chosen to ignore?
Sam Beardall
27 July 2014
Reports follow for some exciting games and mixed results…
Last weekend saw Henley cancel on us and the weekend before we unfortunately had to cancel on Penn Street as we were unable to raise a side. We did however field a strong looking team away to Ibstone that same Sunday. Capitalising on bowler friendly conditions and some variable bounce TPCC bowled Ibstone out for 120ish (apologies for the hazy details but I don’t have the scorebook with me!), a total we then failed to chase down with no batsmen making the significant contribution needed to win the game.
This week we played a twenty-twenty against Nettlebed on Friday and a longer game against Ipsden on Sunday.
It’s fair to say the twenty-twenty started badly, probably as badly as possible with batsmen one to four back in the pavilion after barely a couple overs. Loose shots and run outs dug us into a hole that Tom White (14), Paul de Zulueta (20) and Chris Rogers (29*) patiently hit us out of. Defending just 97 looked a tough ask but the bowlers started fantastically and with Tom (1-7), Ollie Thornton (2-18), Neil (0-17) and Charlie Beardall (2-18) all bowling incredibly economically, and taking key wickets we were in with a shout. Nettlebed required 12 from the final over, which started with a fine catch from Paul de Zulueta on the boundary and ended with us winning a close and exciting game by ten runs.
Sunday saw an even closer finish after Turville were again asked to bat first. Keen to avoid another early innings collapse myself (118) and Rob (15) started steadily and saw off the new ball before a flurry of wickets again had Turville looking in some trouble. We regrouped well though and by tea had posted 182, which looked a reasonable score on a wicket with some life and variable bounce. Ipsden then proceeded to make batting look an easy game and with ten overs remaining hadn’t lost a wicket, needing just 50 more runs to win. Enter Charlie Beardall (4-18) and the returning Hugh De Zulueta (2-35) who, with a flurry of wickets, turned what was heading towards a heavy defeat into a nail biting finish with every possible result theoretically possible from the final over. Ipsden ended one run short of a tie, 2 runs short of a win and three wickets clear of a loss, so a draw, but a mighty exciting one!
With two games again next week, here’s to hoping for a couple more games as exciting and enjoyable as the last few! I believe there are still places left so sign up quickly and I look forwards to seeing you soon.
Cheers
Sam
6 July 2014
Dear All,
Flycatchers arrived at Turville Heath on Sunday with their usual complement of families and supporters. Discouragingly, they also brought along a youthful looking team who warmed up before taking the field first with unseemly vigour.
Sure enough, the Flycatchers opening bowlers bowled fast, and straight, quickly reducing Turville to a wobbly 13/2. Bass and Bartlett bowled 15 overs for just 21 runs. Wickets fell at regular intervals thereafter, and despite a stoic 45 from Ollie Thornton (out in the 30th over) and a spirited 35* from skipper Tom White, Turville’s 147 always looked modest on an excellent wicket.
The Flycatchers bats looked equally composed and overtook Turville’s total in the 29th over. Neil Runkel was the only bowler to cause the visitors any real consternation, bowling with his usual theatrical style to garner 2/34. A good day out in the countryside rather spoiled by the lacklustre showing from the hosts. An excellent tea from the Thorntons provided some comfort.
A man walks into a bar…and walks out with World Cup semi final tickets, minus a cow. If you haven’t heard Jamie’s story yet, do ask. It’s a corker…
Congratulations to Turville’s 6 a side footballers (the artists formerly known as Living Social). Ask Tom White for full details (believe me he won’t stint on the colour) of a magnificent triumph in the knock out finals.
Cheers
Tim
29 June 2014
Dear All,
A strong performance from Turville on Sunday saw us trounce Brightwell cum Sotwell at our opponents home ground.
Stand out performances came from Sam Beardall (an uncompromising 146) and Ollie Thornton (a composed 86) in an opening stand of 234. The completely overwhelming nature of this partnership was best demonstrated after Sam’s dismissal, when a plaintive cry emanated from an obviously shattered fielder asking us to hurry up and update the scoreboard from 234/0 to 234/1.
The oppo were subdued by excellent spells from Adrian Bignell (a controlled and at times hostile 24/2 off 9) and Charlie Beardall (a bamboozling 16/3 off 6). Nick Henry also did the business with 20/3 off 8.
Special mention to Richard Beardall for snaring his maiden Turville wicket, courtesy of a sharp Charlie Beardall catch. Match report attached.
Flycatchers this coming Sunday at home. James Thornton match manager.
Reports from the Malta Tour are understandably scratchy, but it would seem that great fun was had by all. Photos are up on the website.
Weekly factoid – the careers of Geoff Boycott and Kevin Pietersen are weirdly (statistically at least) aligned – Boycott, 8,114 runs at 47.72 in 108 matches v KP, 8,181 runs at 47.28 in 104 matches.
Go figure…
Cheers
Tim
25 May 2014
Dear All,
Turville and Checkendon put on a thriller at home on Sunday with a draw the final outcome. Turville had the best chance to gain a result thanks to some fine batting from Sam Beardall (63), Ollie Thornton (38) and Rob Gunn (37) as our 7/190 fell just shy of the visitors target of 9/193. Nick Henry’s 3/25 and Sam’s outfield catch were the highlights of Turville’s session in the field. Match report attached.
Saturday’s game against Harpsden was regrettably washed out.
Another big week of fixtures coming up with a 20/20 at Fawley on Friday evening and Cuxham at home on Sunday (Tom White Match Manager for both). After this coming weekend we will have completed 9 fixtures, with just 23 remaining – don’t let the season slip by before getting involved!
A random factoid this week. 12 Test cricketers died in the Great War – 4 from England, 1 from Australia, and 7 from South Africa. Weird.
Cheers
Tim
18 May 2014
Dear All,
A typically, gloriously, serenely bucolic afternoon played out at Turville on Sunday as Turville Park hosted Britwell Salome. The result was (incidentally) disappointing, as Turville failed to overhaul Britwell’s 211/6. John Hancock’s wonderfully prepared wicket was a real treat.
Special mention to the Henry family’s brilliant afternoon tea. Nick has raised the bar dramatically, laying on COLD BEER after the match. I’ve already put my name down for his home game next year. Good job he was so generous too, as the Fox & Hounds was inexplicably closed…
Sadly, the Saturday fixture against Crazies Hill was cancelled by the oppo.
Congratulations to Colin and Sara on the arrival of their first grandchild, Arthur, who looked resplendent in his new cricket jumper on Sunday.
Not sure why I like this so much, but I was quite taken by a recent Chris Schofield interview where he was asked about the best sledge he’d heard. He said this – ‘I went to Melbourne in 1998 and in my second game I played against Merv Hughes. He came running in and bowled a couple of bouncers. He didn’t say anything to me but he barked at me like a dog for a couple of minutes. It felt like ages as he stood right next to me just barking.’ Oh Merv, we miss you…
Two games again next weekend. James Hunt and Rob Gunn Match Managers. Enjoy!
Cheers
Tim
4 May 2014
Dear All,
In Turville’s season opener on Sunday at Sutton Courtenay (no, not that one, the other one), British springtime turned on a splendid show. Whilst not exactly gambolling, there was a noticeable spring in the TPCC players’s step.
The match was unremarkable (Sutton Courtenay all out 106 in 31 overs. Yawn. Turville overhauled this total in 18 overs for the loss of exactly no wickets) except for Sam Beardall’s typically composed 51* and, even more remarkably, young Charles Henry’s 6-40. Charles bowled with great control and just a hint of menace (the Henry family trademark). Charlie Hunt distinguished himself in the field (for both teams) displaying excellent technique, a fine throwing arm, and a cheeky grin.
Full Match Report attached.
This week we are at home to Greys Green. Paul de Zulueta is Match Manager.
Trivia Corner
The Cricketer did an interesting piece on scores of 300+ recently. This Summer, the 75,000th Test innings will be completed. In all those innings there have been just 28 scores of 300+ (302 scores of 200-299 and 2,390 scores of 100-199. At the other end, there have been 43,261 scores under 29, fully 58% of all innings).
300+ is a select Club. Players like Tendulkar, Ponting and Kallis haven’t come close. But it is becoming more commonplace. Gooch’s 333 in 1990 was the 12th in history, coming 16 years after the 11th (Lawrence Rowe). In the last 10 years however there have been 12 more. Two of those came in February this year (Sangakkara at Chittagong, and McCullum at Wellington).
If this information isn’t guaranteed to impress your partners and friends, then I don’t know who you think you’re hanging around with…
Check out the website (
www.turvilleparkcricketclub.com) where I promise there is no mention of Australia’s position at the top of the tree in world rankings for both Test and ODIs.
Looking forward to seeing you all soon.
Cheers
Tim
turville park cricket club 