The date was Saturday the 25th of July the clock read 11:00am and Ashton Wold Cricket Club were meeting for their first tour in almost 20 years. Destination Warwick and Leamington Spa, where the plan for the weekend was to Smash Runs, Smash Wickets and Smash Beers.
The tour party consisted of Dan Blatch, Mark Buckley, Richard Awdry, Chris White, Harry Chapman, Doug Heath, Jack Allan, Sam Nowlan, Chris Wood, Jack Duncan, Sam Palmer and Casper.
After some interesting detours from Dan let’s turn left Blatch and Richard I can’t read the sign Awdry we arrived at the ground.
Our first game was against Bishop Tatchbrook XI which was held in the fantastic surroundings of Warwick school a setting which far eclipsed the talent on show. Ashton won the toss and captain Mark Buckley finally saw the chance to smash through the 20 barrier decided to bat first on what can only be described as a road of a wicket. Opening the batting were Harry Chapman and Mark (you take the first ball) Buckley. Ashton got off to a fast start, which almost never happens with Chapman opening,they lost their first wicket Buckley for 19 missing out on the 20 milestone once more!! Buckley had not been struggling with foot movement until that point but after middling it to the keeper his feet seemed to stop working and stood his ground. Ashton’s resident Umpire Jack Allen had little choice but to send the skipper on his way. Chapman was joined at the crease by Sam Palmer who up until this game had been in sparkling form but he went cheaply for only 8 runs. He was bowled by a ball that was a straight as an arrow but this dismissal had very little to do with the ball more the ugly heave and the shut eyes being displayed by the batsman. Unfortunately this would be the highlight Palmer’s day. Nowlan then joined Chapman at the crease and they proceeded to stylishly take the game away from the opposition with a mixture of power hitting from Nowlan and classy cover drives from Chapman as well as quick running between the wickets. Nowlan’s day had not begun particually well as his Mum had finally let him pack his own bag and once again he proved that task is too complex for him by leaving his whites at home. But he made an amends for this but scoring 54 but then had a huge brain freeze and left a ball that hit his leg stump. This brought the littlest hobo Dan Blatch to the crease to join Chapman. This was a short lived partnership as Chapman was quickly on his way back to the pavilion after facing the best ball of the day and being caught at point for what would be the highest score of the day of 65. Blatch was joined by Chris Wood which I believe if the most beardy partnership to have ever batted for Ashton. Some very impressive hitting from both Blatch and Wood meant that both of them went on to score 50s. A special mention to Wood for scoring his first 50 and hitting his first 6 of the year, the only other batsman to do that for Ashton was Blatch. Ashton ended up scoring 296 for 4 falling a few runs short of their highest ever score, I think at this point I should say that we would have scored way over 300 if Blatch could run between the stumps!!!
After tea Ashton opening bowlers of Chris 'the luck' White and Richard 'the talent' Awdry set about trying to make early inroads. Chris’s bowling was hostile and the gods were not smiling on him as the batsman soon discovered that Palmer was the fielder to aim at as he dropped his first catch of the day which came as a massive surprise but Chris kept smiling through the pain. To make matters worse for White, Jack Duncan Ashton’s wicket keeper dropped a simple edge spoiling an otherwise good day behind the stumps. Awdry was his normal self from the other end for that reason the captain decided it was time for a change and brought Doug Heath on. This proved to be a good move as he took the first wicket as the batsman played onto his stumps. Heath’s bowling was very impressive as the ball was swinging all over the place and he deserved more wickets than the one he ended up with. Chris was replaced by Jack I miss umpiring Allan. This lead to the next break through as Chapman caught a steepling catch on the boundary Palmer could only look on in envy. Jack then had another break through once again with the help of Chapman taking a one handed catch in the covers. Jack earned his wickets by bowling a tight line and length on a batting friendly pitch most of the time. Heath, Awdry and White probably didn’t see it in this way. There followed a long spell of batting resistance until captain Buckley had another master stroke and brought Blatch onto bowl. Blatch has recently stopped bowling at 20mph off his long run up and started bowling spin in an effort to reserve energy levels for the winter months. This change of action brought about some positive results he broke the batting partnership with a fierce leg spinning delivery. Shortly after that wicket Jack Teflon Duncan made up for his earlier drop by taking a sharp catch again off of Blatch’s bowling and that would prove to be the last wicket of the day, there could have been a couple of more but Palmer’s day went from bad to worst with a couple more drops of Chris 'chuckles' White, but that didn’t stop Ashton running out victors by approx.
For the night out the Ashton lads had brought their finest glad rags Jack Duncan looked sharp in a shirt and tie combo, Chapman was doning his spray on Jeans, Heath was brave choosing to wear some chinos but a special mention is reserved for Mark 'Stavros' Buckley who used the occasion to dress up as a Greek sex symbol. Unfortunately Ashton are not that much of a manly bunch and stuck mainly to drinking fruity cocktails like Woo Woos (Sam Nowlan idea of a good drink!!) and other multi colours drinks, despite that a good night was had by all we saw far too much of some people Casper(!) drank too much and dominated the local drinking holes.
The second day brought a hazy Ashton team to the home ground of Bishop Tatchbrook which was always going to be an anti-climax from the setting of the day before. One particular highlight was the dog turd smudged into a length on the wicket!!! This time Captain Blatch won the toss and put the home team into bat. This lead to Awdry proving the critics wrong and shunning his new name of Richard Ordinary ripping his way through the top order with a display of stunning bowling he took 3 wickets all bowled in next to no time putting them firmly on the rack. Perhaps real cricket pitches are too difficult for Richard to bowl on!! From the other end Heath was once again bowling a good line and length for very little luck he found the edge a few times and had a simple catch dropped by Chris 'Pestkins' Wood. After Heath finished his spell Blatch once again persisted with his comedy bowling this lead to him getting another two wickets both of them stunning catches from Chapman and Palmer making up for his bad day yesterday. Jack Allen picked up one more wicket for the weekend and this let Jack Duncan and Harry Chapman have a go at tail gunning. Jack Duncan picked up his first wicket for Ashton with a straight ball the surprised the batsman, from the other end Harry 'Swanny' Chapman picked up three wickets finishing off a good weekend for the breadless wonder!! One of the wickets was a good catch behind the stumps for Chris White who was deputising for Jack due to a bad shoulder.This good effort in the field reduce the opposition to 124 and the Ashton openers of Mark Buckley and Sam Palmer made short work of chasing it down. Palmer smashed a rapid 50 in his usual belligerent style, he then retired to let Casper thanks for coming …. Have a go and contributing more to the weekend than getting is nob out and eating a bible. Unfortunately the cricket part of the tour proved too difficult as he was dismissed for just 2 runs. Jack Duncan then strolled confidently to the crease to finish off the run chase with Buckley. Both Duncan and Buckley played confident shots including a wonderful pull shot from Buckley that helmet is obviously giving him more confidence(!) and ended up not out in the 20s. A special mention needs to go to Jack Duncan for making a late claim for arse of the weekend by leaving his wallet and phone in Harry’s car, but I am afraid the award has to go to Sam Nowlan for his inability to pack, leaving a straight ball and choosing the worse drinks in the world!!
For the Ashton Wold 2011 I would like to thank Dan Blatch for organising a very successful trip. Hopefully the 2012 tour will be as much fun and have the same mix of below par cricket talent, high quality banter and drinking.
The tour party consisted of Dan Blatch, Mark Buckley, Richard Awdry, Chris White, Harry Chapman, Doug Heath, Jack Allan, Sam Nowlan, Chris Wood, Jack Duncan, Sam Palmer and Casper.
After some interesting detours from Dan let’s turn left Blatch and Richard I can’t read the sign Awdry we arrived at the ground.
Our first game was against Bishop Tatchbrook XI which was held in the fantastic surroundings of Warwick school a setting which far eclipsed the talent on show. Ashton won the toss and captain Mark Buckley finally saw the chance to smash through the 20 barrier decided to bat first on what can only be described as a road of a wicket. Opening the batting were Harry Chapman and Mark (you take the first ball) Buckley. Ashton got off to a fast start, which almost never happens with Chapman opening,they lost their first wicket Buckley for 19 missing out on the 20 milestone once more!! Buckley had not been struggling with foot movement until that point but after middling it to the keeper his feet seemed to stop working and stood his ground. Ashton’s resident Umpire Jack Allen had little choice but to send the skipper on his way. Chapman was joined at the crease by Sam Palmer who up until this game had been in sparkling form but he went cheaply for only 8 runs. He was bowled by a ball that was a straight as an arrow but this dismissal had very little to do with the ball more the ugly heave and the shut eyes being displayed by the batsman. Unfortunately this would be the highlight Palmer’s day. Nowlan then joined Chapman at the crease and they proceeded to stylishly take the game away from the opposition with a mixture of power hitting from Nowlan and classy cover drives from Chapman as well as quick running between the wickets. Nowlan’s day had not begun particually well as his Mum had finally let him pack his own bag and once again he proved that task is too complex for him by leaving his whites at home. But he made an amends for this but scoring 54 but then had a huge brain freeze and left a ball that hit his leg stump. This brought the littlest hobo Dan Blatch to the crease to join Chapman. This was a short lived partnership as Chapman was quickly on his way back to the pavilion after facing the best ball of the day and being caught at point for what would be the highest score of the day of 65. Blatch was joined by Chris Wood which I believe if the most beardy partnership to have ever batted for Ashton. Some very impressive hitting from both Blatch and Wood meant that both of them went on to score 50s. A special mention to Wood for scoring his first 50 and hitting his first 6 of the year, the only other batsman to do that for Ashton was Blatch. Ashton ended up scoring 296 for 4 falling a few runs short of their highest ever score, I think at this point I should say that we would have scored way over 300 if Blatch could run between the stumps!!!
After tea Ashton opening bowlers of Chris 'the luck' White and Richard 'the talent' Awdry set about trying to make early inroads. Chris’s bowling was hostile and the gods were not smiling on him as the batsman soon discovered that Palmer was the fielder to aim at as he dropped his first catch of the day which came as a massive surprise but Chris kept smiling through the pain. To make matters worse for White, Jack Duncan Ashton’s wicket keeper dropped a simple edge spoiling an otherwise good day behind the stumps. Awdry was his normal self from the other end for that reason the captain decided it was time for a change and brought Doug Heath on. This proved to be a good move as he took the first wicket as the batsman played onto his stumps. Heath’s bowling was very impressive as the ball was swinging all over the place and he deserved more wickets than the one he ended up with. Chris was replaced by Jack I miss umpiring Allan. This lead to the next break through as Chapman caught a steepling catch on the boundary Palmer could only look on in envy. Jack then had another break through once again with the help of Chapman taking a one handed catch in the covers. Jack earned his wickets by bowling a tight line and length on a batting friendly pitch most of the time. Heath, Awdry and White probably didn’t see it in this way. There followed a long spell of batting resistance until captain Buckley had another master stroke and brought Blatch onto bowl. Blatch has recently stopped bowling at 20mph off his long run up and started bowling spin in an effort to reserve energy levels for the winter months. This change of action brought about some positive results he broke the batting partnership with a fierce leg spinning delivery. Shortly after that wicket Jack Teflon Duncan made up for his earlier drop by taking a sharp catch again off of Blatch’s bowling and that would prove to be the last wicket of the day, there could have been a couple of more but Palmer’s day went from bad to worst with a couple more drops of Chris 'chuckles' White, but that didn’t stop Ashton running out victors by approx.
For the night out the Ashton lads had brought their finest glad rags Jack Duncan looked sharp in a shirt and tie combo, Chapman was doning his spray on Jeans, Heath was brave choosing to wear some chinos but a special mention is reserved for Mark 'Stavros' Buckley who used the occasion to dress up as a Greek sex symbol. Unfortunately Ashton are not that much of a manly bunch and stuck mainly to drinking fruity cocktails like Woo Woos (Sam Nowlan idea of a good drink!!) and other multi colours drinks, despite that a good night was had by all we saw far too much of some people Casper(!) drank too much and dominated the local drinking holes.
The second day brought a hazy Ashton team to the home ground of Bishop Tatchbrook which was always going to be an anti-climax from the setting of the day before. One particular highlight was the dog turd smudged into a length on the wicket!!! This time Captain Blatch won the toss and put the home team into bat. This lead to Awdry proving the critics wrong and shunning his new name of Richard Ordinary ripping his way through the top order with a display of stunning bowling he took 3 wickets all bowled in next to no time putting them firmly on the rack. Perhaps real cricket pitches are too difficult for Richard to bowl on!! From the other end Heath was once again bowling a good line and length for very little luck he found the edge a few times and had a simple catch dropped by Chris 'Pestkins' Wood. After Heath finished his spell Blatch once again persisted with his comedy bowling this lead to him getting another two wickets both of them stunning catches from Chapman and Palmer making up for his bad day yesterday. Jack Allen picked up one more wicket for the weekend and this let Jack Duncan and Harry Chapman have a go at tail gunning. Jack Duncan picked up his first wicket for Ashton with a straight ball the surprised the batsman, from the other end Harry 'Swanny' Chapman picked up three wickets finishing off a good weekend for the breadless wonder!! One of the wickets was a good catch behind the stumps for Chris White who was deputising for Jack due to a bad shoulder.This good effort in the field reduce the opposition to 124 and the Ashton openers of Mark Buckley and Sam Palmer made short work of chasing it down. Palmer smashed a rapid 50 in his usual belligerent style, he then retired to let Casper thanks for coming …. Have a go and contributing more to the weekend than getting is nob out and eating a bible. Unfortunately the cricket part of the tour proved too difficult as he was dismissed for just 2 runs. Jack Duncan then strolled confidently to the crease to finish off the run chase with Buckley. Both Duncan and Buckley played confident shots including a wonderful pull shot from Buckley that helmet is obviously giving him more confidence(!) and ended up not out in the 20s. A special mention needs to go to Jack Duncan for making a late claim for arse of the weekend by leaving his wallet and phone in Harry’s car, but I am afraid the award has to go to Sam Nowlan for his inability to pack, leaving a straight ball and choosing the worse drinks in the world!!
For the Ashton Wold 2011 I would like to thank Dan Blatch for organising a very successful trip. Hopefully the 2012 tour will be as much fun and have the same mix of below par cricket talent, high quality banter and drinking.
By Harry Chapman
