16 September 2018
Dear All,
As the 2018 season draws to a close, Turville journeyed to Medmenham on Sunday to deliver a spanking to our ‘old’ friends in a 35 over fixture.
Short story – TPCC, 223/5, Medmenham all out 82. Not interesting.
Long story (much more interesting) as follows –
* TPCC bats first, runs for Charlie Hunt (38, a model of composure, father scoring, grandfather umpiring, still unclear why this wasn’t a ton), Chris Rogers (35, ‘six 4’s, count ’em!’) and of course Charlie Beardall (92*, simply untouchable). Steve Bucknill looked in good nick for his 18 (working with Chris Rogers for a 50 opening partnership, a real Turville collectors item), while Wade made a brief visit to the crease to basically steal 21 runs at the death.
* TPCC bowls second, and dismantles a rather abject oppo. All done by 5.30, in time for warm lagers at the ground (NO! Just, NO…!). Tom White bowled an interesting array of styles for his 1/31 off 7, Nick Henry was typically mesmerising for a fine return of 3/23 off 7 (including an excellent return C&B), then the spin twins of Charlie Hunt and Neil Runkel (spin twins! imagine that!) went to work. Charlie 2/16 (2 LBW’s, both sold by a vociferous wicketkeeper) and Neil 3/7, including an impressive piece of bullying of his own for his LBW. Altogether, 9 wickets, including 3 LBW’s, a stumping, and a one-handed catch on the boundary from Tom White! Complete madness!
Gubbins
A. With apologies for the delay, I found some really quite interesting random highlights from the 2016 County season. I’m going to share them anyway –
* difference in average innings score between top of the table and bottom – Essex, 343, Warwickshire, 242.
* spinner workload, 858 wickets, 24.72% of all overs (2015, 773 wickets, 22.35% of all overs)
* Ben Duckett (remember him?) made 3 double-tons. Against Kent his 251 ball stay featured just 5 balls left. On the second day, in moving from 19 to 208, he left just 1 ball! Cripes!
B. Quite liked this summary of England’s middle order –
4 Keeper who can’t keep playing as batsman
5 All-rounder who can’t bowl
6 Batsman playing as keeper
7 Whatever Mo is these days
8 All-rounder dropped when first all-rounder was cleared in court recalled to do his bowling for him
C. Finally, it’s worth noting that Stuart Broad will soon have more Test runs (3,063) than Graeme Hick (3,383). Arresting enough in its own right, but a wonderful excuse to resuscitate the old gag about a cricket tragic filling in a job application, and responding to the question ‘Greatest Disappointment?’ with a plaintive ‘Graeme Hick’s Test career’.
Neil Runkel is looking for players for this Saturday away to Checkendon. Let him know –
neilrunkel@hotmail.com.
Cheers
Tim
2 September 2018
Dear All,
Turville journeyed across to Swyncombe on Sunday for a very comfortable stroll to victory in a 35 over fixture over opponents who seemed to care much more than we did about tawdry incidental things like ‘results’.
Our XI was comprised of an eclectic mix of animal spirits, including welcome returns for Sam Halfhead (garrulous as ever), Tom Vallance (Ballance with a V), Rob Dickie (restored to his rightful place at the top of the order) and Paul de Z. (elegantly covering acres of space at the extravagantly sized Swyncombe arena). Strong performances were registered by regulars Sam B., Nick Henry, Hunt per et fils and Colin Simon behind the (oddly satisfying) Swyncombe branded stumps. Finally, guest appearances from your scribe and, more importantly, an Australian relation, Jack Massie.
The hosts batted first, and struggled to make any real impact on the opening pair of Vallance and Henry. Tom bowled with verve and Nick (7/2/18/1) with cunning. James Hunt produced a remarkable cameo (4/4/0/1) and Charlie Hunt was especially impressive for his 7/0/37/3, including a bizarre reflex catch by Nick at short gully off a full blooded reverse sweep. Jack Massie (‘yeah, I bowl a bit of leg spin rubbish’) was nigh on unplayable, extracting fizz, turn and bounce from a perfect line and length to return 7/1/16/1. Two leg spinners bowling in tandem. Happy days. Sam ‘helped’ the oppo to a decent score of 151, and the match looked well poised.
That is, until Sam clobbered an effortless 59 (off 40 balls), and Jack chipped in with a composed 41* (off 39 balls). James was typically ruthless with 32* off just 17 deliveries. I’d pick Tom V every week, simply because when he scores keeps the number of balls faced. Teachers, eh…
All over in 23 overs. A nice day’s work in really quite delightful conditions.
Next week, home against Middleton Stoney. Briff is your man.
Sundries
1. Here’s an interesting debate I spotted recently…What’s the role of a keeper in T20? One view says that a specialist keeper is a good idea. The average number of balls faced by a #7 in T20 is just 6, so keepers tend not to be crucial to the batting total. Better to have a brilliant keeper standing up and keeping batsmen in their crease? On the other hand, the average number of balls going through to the keeper in T20’s is just 8. Do you need a keeper at all? A deep fine leg fielder would effectively allow an additional fielder at the cost of 8 singles? Answers on a postcard please…
2. A no-ball was called at Swyncombe on Sunday for a ball bouncing twice. This perplexed me. Turns out the rule was only changed last October. Previously a ball had to bounce MORE than twice for it to be a no-ball. Here’s a clever party trick though – if a ball bounces once before the popping crease, once after the crease, then hits the stumps, the batsman is out. Only a no-ball if it bounces twice before the popping crease. Fun, isn’t it?
3. Other Rule changes you might have missed (purely for pub quiz purposes this). How many ways to get out? Ten, right? Nope only 9, now that handling the ball has been merged with Obstructing the Field. Wait! Don’t go away! There’s more! What about a ball fizzed in from the boundary by Paul de Z. hitting Colin on the helmet behind the stumps and striking the stumps with the batsman out of their crease? Decision? Out! Who knew?! Now you do…
Enough nonsense. Farewell to the hottest Summer on record. 80 days above 25 degrees. My goodness…the Mallorcans will be clamouring to tour here in a few years…
Cheers
Tim
19 August 2018
Afternoon all,
Turville were up against the old enemy on Sunday as they sought revenge against Stonor after the disappointment of the loss in the Richard Hunt Cup game in June. The wicket for the first time this summer looked damp and Stonor had the task of batting first. Turville got off to a good start when Charlie B removed the off peg of one of their openers – but from that moment on it was one way traffic. In came their number 3 and they proceeded for the next 90 minutes to dispatch balls to all areas of the ground – including some Titanic hits into Tom’s corn field. At 180-1 and with 45 minutes to tea a few were thinking 300+. Enter Hughie DZ for the first time this season who removed their centurion with his 3rd ball and then backed it up with another wicket an over later. Nick Henry, Tom and Runks (who it was great to see back at Turville again this season) – bowled well despite the big hitting, ably supported by Dave behind the sticks. Both Bush boys bowled very well at the back of their innings, with the youngest of the two, Ed, picking up awicket as Stonor ended 232-5. An excellent fightback.
Well-fed, courtesy of an Anna and Dave Stockings tea (thank you both) the response was rapid. Tom White opening for Turville is a rare (if not scary) sight – so it was remarkable that both he and Sam put on 100 for the first wicket. Both batted very nicely and it was no surprise that Sam reached another 50. When Tom left in came Thornton O, who proceeded to run out his captain. *Not a particularly good way to thank his taxi-driver and lunch provider*. The run-out prompted a collapse befitting of that to match England’s performance at Trent Bridge yesterday. The middle order was blown away (even more remarkable given Beardall C was playing) and all of a sudden Turville could lose the game after being 104-0. Suddenly 120-5 and with 20 overs remaining on the clock all results were possible. With 11 overs to go the scenario was the same, chasing 11 an over Thornton O and Henry N began to open their shoulders and when Nick fell it was up to Henry C and both Bush boys to have a swing. We needed 56 off 23 balls going into the last 4 overs and ended up 20 runs shy (210-8) after a good final spell from the Stonor opening bowler and boundary ridden field!. A valiant effort from the tail and Thornton O, 80* and another game up at Turville this season that went to the final ball / over. A draw.
Next up are the Harpsden sixes and then all of a sudden we are into September. We do however have x5 games throughout the month – including our end of season game and curry (29th). Swyncombe away is the first game of September on the 2nd – sign up accordingly.
Ollie Thornton
1 July 2018
Another weekend of excellent cricket up at Turville. For the 4th time in 5 games both fixtures went to the final ball of the match!… remarkable. Both games yielded two contenders for the catch of the season too…The ground looked even better than usual so big thanks to John Hancock Snr for making it look so spectacular- see attached.
FRIDAY: Dave hosted Wallingford Hockey club in a Friday night T20. Batting first Turville posted 148 on a wonderful looking wicket. Hunt getting the ball rolling with a quick start before Thornton O 28* added rapidly with Henry N and Tom White contributing down the order with 18 each respectively. In response Wallingford eased there way to 80-0 after 11 overs and it was almost time to go to the 5 horseshoes early, until Hunt and White came in to their own. Pace and accuracy from James was rewarded with a 4er whilst Tom collected a 3fer with a magnificent one handed reflex caught and bowled off his own bowling to boot. A gutsy come back and with middle order assistance from Adrian and Charlie Hunt meant that with one over to go 19 was required. Back to back 6’s left all of TPCC nervous but Nick Henry bowled his final two balls for 1 run and Turville were victorious by the narrowest of margins. Another tight game and great to see so many people up at the ground on a Friday evening – thanks to Dave and Anna for supplying beers and some great food.
SUNDAY: James Thornton entertained the flycatchers who as ever bought an army of small people and following support. Two debutants were made by Thornton’s +2 (Qas and Casper, playing boyfriends / cricketers). Both of whom picked up 2fers as the flycatchers began setting their target. Nick Henry came to the party with 3-48 whilst Dave Stockings produced the moment of the afternoon with a brilliant one handed catch off James Thornton. The ball sailing towards the deep square leg boundary, Dave went one handed and confidently to his right – with which it stuck to the jubilation of all repping the black and gold of Turville. Big middle order hitting meant the flycatchers set 239 in the heatwave sun (which could have been more if it wasn’t for a good catch in the deep by Chris Rodgers). In response Beardall S and Thornton O set about chasing them down. Both openers put on 55 together, before Skipper Sam fell for 19. Worth noting here that in scoring 19, Sam passed 5,000 club runs for Turville. A phenomenal achievement from our captain who was incredibly modest in reaching this milestone (and by that I mean he only mentioned it to me). Always behind the rate Turville began going through the gears. When Thornton O fell for 73 it was a tall order to get to 240. More good striking from Charlie B 108* assisted by Dave (10) and Colin (10) meant 21 was required off the last. A valiant and terrific knock from Charlie wasn’t quite enough as Turville finished 6 short on 233-5 in reply. A draw (albeit a winning one!). Again great to see so much support from WAGS and the younger generation too.
Two brilliant games of cricket – for those playing in both it’ll be tough to see two better catches or the ground looking so great all season. Colin hosts Theberton on Sunday: 1:30 at home and is looking for recruits…
Cheers
Ollie Thornton
24/25 June 2018 – Tour to Menorca
For those that weren’t tourists – Turville Park spent a happy weekend in sun kissed Menorca as our annual tour commenced. Pictures attached, summary as follows..
In numbers the trip yielded: 1,004 runs, 35 wickets, 3 turville fifties (including a Briffett 95), 0 clouds seen, and a tie!
The ground was by far and a away the prettiest / best we have toured to. A brilliant pavilion with Sky Sports, an honours board, a bar with Estrella on tap, a scoring box, and a cobbled wall all around – it really was quite the setting (see attached pic) with Menorca C.C aptly being named the M.C.C.
In summary. Game 1: Dusty headed Turville fielded first. 2 wickets a piece for Beardall H and Thornton O – a Steve Bucknill wonder catch in the deep and some excellent all round fielding resulted in restricting our hosts to 256 off their 40 overs. Both their openers recorded 50’s whilst Adrian and James Thornton controlled the middle overs with guile and mystery..In response a steady start by Harry B (20) and Steve B (47) – backed up well by Dave (45) – the middle overs were filled with lusty blows and free hitting (leaving betting book worried with most of the touring party backing both). A vintage TPCC middle order collapse culminated in a tense ending. Charlie B and James H up against a steep run rate and only 2 wickets in hand. James came and went for a very quick 20, leaving Charlie and Tom W needing 14 off the last. Then 2 off the final ball which was scampered through by both as Turville recorded a TIE for the first time in 5 years on tour dating back to Jersey. A superb 65* off 35 from Charlie and support from the tail was celebrated by a seafood feast in picturesque Es Castell harbour that evening (see pic) with a James Thornton & Harry Beardall karaoke duet to the soundtrack of “Grease” ensured celebrations were more than enjoyed.
Game 2: A fortunate coin toss meant Turville batted first and were able to watch Gareth Southgate’s men dismantle Panama. In the middle – Peter Briffett did exactly the same to our opposition. Colin (31) and Tom W opened up before Pete came in and hit a stunning 95. Gasps of both joy and excitement as Briff fell for 95 – 5 short of what would have been a historic moment and an entry on the illustrious honours board. With 15 of the 40 overs remaining TPCC turned up the heat – Halfhead, Bucknill, James H, Adrian all succumbing trying to get the score past 250. Dave (15*) and Thornton O (58*) finishing the final few overs with some big hitting meant Turville posted 271. In response M.C.C were off to a flyer. An 11 ball start by opener Dave and some big hitting by their opening 3, Turville looked in trouble. On came Adrian – fresh from scuba diving (and having lost his passport for all of 5 hours) – the relief showed as he took a quick fire 2fer. The wickets were shared around as the M.C.C stumbled in their pursuit of 272: Halfhead (2) Briffett (1, including a maiden), Thornton O (3) and Charlie B (1). A fine 53 from their number 8 ensured another close finish until Tom took the final wicket and our hosts were knocked over for 221. Shout out to Colin who kept as ever brilliantly as the curtain fell on cricket for the tour.
1,004 runs in the weekend!!! Extraordinary and surely a tour first? (Granted it was quite literally a road for a wicket). As ever a highlight of any summer – a brilliant tour with a tie and a win to boot. Bookie ended €5 up too. The perfect tour?
Big thanks go to our hosts for putting on such a great day on both occasions in such a serene setting. We were given a painting commemorating their 30th year which will have place in our pavilion. A 3 year waiting list definitely worth it. Big thanks also to Sarah who scored dutifully and took on role of “Kitty” manager, Sam H for organising and booking hotels flights etc, James Thornton for providing tour merchandise, and to all of you – who once again made it such an enjoyable, happy and memorable trip.
Dave hosts a T20 up at Turville on Friday night (places remain so get in touch if you fancy a run about) and then Flycatchers on Sunday – until then – and next summer when we will do well to replicate such a trip. Goodbye. Ollie Thornton
3 June 2018
Dear All,
At last we managed to get some cricket done in the ‘cricket season’ thanks in no small part to John Hancock’s part in producing an excellent wicket after some extensive downpours.
Turville hosted Checkendon (remarkably, for the first time in 8 years) and a 400 run draw ensued. Checkendon 225/9 v TPCC 170/7. Match Report attached.
Special mentions for Nick Henry’s Academy Award winning 5/39 (Best Supporting Actress), Sam Beardall’s Best Actor 68, Tom Vallance (Stunt Man award?) for his 10 straight overs in trying conditions (and 2/40) and Pete Briffett’s Best Comedy award for running out the skipper with a straight drive (let me say that again, a straight drive) which cannoned off the bowlers hand into the stumps. Pete’s 36 almost made up for this act of uncharacteristic madness. This knock included Pete’s first 6 at home, a completely jug-worthy achievement.
20/20 at home this Friday against Ibstone (Adrian Bignell Match Manager) and next Saturday, Nomads at home (see a rather desperate Nick Henry, urgently!).
Stuff
1. Some interesting pub conjecture recently (is there any other kind?).
Proposition 1 – batsmen (at all levels) are simply not capable of striking a ball (particularly one coming at them at 80mph) in such a way as to precisely dissect cover and extra cover. The argument that batsmen can angle the face of the bat to guide the ball within an arc of (say) 10 yards is, frankly, preposterous. ‘He picked the gap’ is nonsense. Discuss.
Proposition 2 – Change of innings. 10 minutes. What’s that about? The English founders of the game decided that a spot of Afternoon Tea merits a full 20 minutes, but opening bats, who may very well have spent a day in the field, have no time to hit warm up balls before returning to defend their nation’s pride. Bowlers could mount a similar argument, but at least their early errors might only cost them a boundary.
2. The Second Test against Pakistan was England’s 999th. Stuart Broad took 6/66, and Dom Bess 3/33. Spooky or what?
3. Some may not be aware that the Pakistani opener Imam-ul-haq is the nephew of Inzamam. Here is proof that they are related –
Cheers
Tim
13 May 2018
Dear All,
A rather ill-matched (but surprisingly well-tempered) fixture was played out at Turville on Sunday against the Henley Tyros (Astros? Hydros?). Once again enjoying benign conditions, Turville ratlled up 3/254 in just 39 overs. Sam Beardall was unluckily run out for a chanceless 93 while James Hunt powered his way to 116. In reply, our guests collapsed to be all out for 48 off 22 overs. 2 wickets each for Charles Henry, Will Hammersley and Charlie Hunt.
Oh well, the tea was very fine (thanks Felicity Hunt).
Chris Rogers is still looking for candidates for Britwell Salome this weekend.
Assorted Stuff
1. Time for a refresher on the use of Runners after some head scratching on the weekend. Runners have in fact been banned at the international level (all formats) since 2011 (Law 25). It would appear that Runners remain an option in all other cricket.
2. Here’s a piece of analysis I found over the Winter harking back to the 2016 T20 World Cup (West Indies winners). It turns out that the WI are/were ahead of the curve –
* they won every toss and chased every time. A big advantage. In 2016 72% of teams in T20 cricket chased. 55% of all games were won by the chasing team.
* they prized boundary hitting. In the semi-final against India (196/3 v 192/2) the WI played out 50 dot balls (India just 27!), but hit 11 6’s to India’s 4.
* the correct focus is strike rate, not average. Everyone knows this you say, but consider Sunil Narine in last years IPL. He was dismissed once every 10 balls, at an average of 17.23. If that sounds underwhelming, it comfortably clears the T20 average team score, and is in fact 16 runs higher than a team batting at Joe Root’s strike rate.
Cheers
Tim
6 May 2018
Dear All,
Welcome back!
TPCCs 2017/18 season was launched on Sunday in simply glorious Bank Holiday weekend weather. In a brilliant initiative, Sam Beardall arranged a day which included a 20/20 fixture against a strong London Barbarians team, Guinness World Record attempts, afternoon tea, post-match BBQ and Turville Park branded beer. What’s not to like? Well, the match result, certainly, but otherwise this was a splendid day out.
First, the cricket formalities. London batted first and knocked up a respectable 8/146. 3 wickets to Adrian Bignell, and 2 wickets for Nick Henry were features of TPCCs first (rather rusty) outing in the field. In reply, TPCC relied heavily on good knocks from Charlie Beardall (61) and James Thornton (40*) but ultimately fell 8 runs shy. Two run outs (to add to the two in the London innings) suggested a scanty pre-season fitness regime. Match Report attached.
More importantly, Turville entered the record books on 4 fronts (or will do, once Guinness verifies the results) –
* Longest Run Up. Charlie Beardall completed a 5km run in to Turville Heath, dressed in whites, ball in hand and trailed by Harry Beardall on a bike with a GoPro. On arrival, only Harry was puffing. Charlie duly landed the ball on a line and length. During the 25 mins wait, the whole of the Turville team stood in position together with the batsmen and umpires. I think I responded to about two dozen sandpaper-related ‘queries’. After his first ball achievement (previous record 3km), Charlie carried on to deliver another 5 deliveries. A truly heroic effort. Surreal moment of the day occurred when Sam was heading off to drive Charlie 5k up the road. The umpire called after the car to ask what Charlie’s delivery action would be when he finally arrived back at the crease.
* Most Consecutive Balls Bowled (by consecutive bowlers) and struck (by Pete Briffett) in 1 minute (24 – previous record 20). I’m guessing that when the Guinness team reviews the footage of Pete at the crease, there will be speculation around the level of Guinness actually fuelling this record breaking effort.
* Most Catches between 2 players across a 10 metre space in a minute (James Hunt and Ollie Thornton, 45 catches)
* Fastest time to dress in batting gear (James Bush, 52 seconds)
Over £1,000 raised for Sam’s charity, thanks all. Many thanks also to all the Beardall family (especially Sheila and Lippy), James for donating the burgers and the Thorntons for bringing the salads.
Fixtrue crads are now avialeble (thanks Tom). This Sunday, Jamie is Match managing at home against Henley.
Cheers
Tim
turville park cricket club 