Timberscombe Cricket Club

Timberscombe once again managed to come out winners in a low scoring
game on a low, slow wet wicket. Another grumpy affair!

Having elected to bat Stoke were soon in trouble as wickets fell in
quck succession. Rob Golding and Nick Virgin kept things tight early on
and were ably backed up by Paul Keal and Geoff Dibble. Keal was the
pick of the bowlers taking 4 wickets. Only four Stoke players managed
double figures as they struggled to 88 all out.

Batting second was never going to be easy and so it proved. The wet
pitch conditions meant run getting was hard work. Patience and the
ability to punish the bad ball was what was required. Nick hill batted
through for a hard fought 38 not out and was ably supported by Tom
Sparks, Paul Keal and Hannah Sparks.

Thanks to losing the toss Paul was able to avoid making the poor decision of choosing to bat!

Stoke St Gregory 88 all out
Paul Keal 4 for 20

Timberscombe 89 for 4
Nick Hill 38 no
Tom  Sparks 17

Timberscombe 25 Points beat Stoke St Gregory 3 Point by 6 Wkts

Timberscombe ran out comfortable 7 wicket winners with overs to spare.

Having insisited on playing on a grass wicket as opposed to an
artificial one, the visitors were soon regretting the decision. 14 for
3 soon became 48 for 6 as wickets fell at steady intervals. Poor
running, poor shot selection and some good tight bowling on a very wet
wicket made the going tough. The innings eventually ended on 65. Only
two batsmen made double figures as the bowlers made the most of the
conditions. Veteran Geoff Dibble was the pick of the bowlers with 4 for
33 from his 9 overs. He was ably supported by Tom Sparks and Rob
Golding who each bagged a brace.the home side eventually reached their target with 7 wickets to spare.

In reply the Timberscombe batsmen when about the run chase sensibly
and capably. Nick Hill (28) and Paul Sparks (25) made light work of the
bad balls and worked hard to keep out the rest. Despite some
enthusiastic appeals from the visitors ( and with some stoic umpiring by Geoff and Joe)

North Newton 65 All Out
Geoff Dibble 4 wkts for 33
Rob Golding 2 wkts for 8
Tom Sparks 2 wkts for 14

Timberscombe 67 for 3
Nick Hill 28
Paul Sparks 25

Timberscombe 25 Points beat North Newton 1 Point by 7 Wkts

Bishops Hull cemented their reputation for upholding the spirit of the game and cheery disposition when they refused to take the field to continue the game after a break for weather.

Having elected to bowl, and when they finally turned up to start, the visitors took the early wicket of Bruce Lang. Unusually Bruce was playing an aggressive shot in only the second over, hopefully he will learn from this and adjust his future batting accordingly.

This brought Paul Sparks and Ben Bowman together who then set about the bowling and took full advantage of holes in the field. Playing through showers of  light drizzle they moved to 46 and 52 respectively before a heavier downpour came.  The rain continued during tea and further play looked doubtful. However it stopped and after a short period for drying a start looked imminent. Sadly noone had foreseen the intervention of the cheerful skipper from Bishops Hull who refused to allow his team to take the field.

That ended the afternoons entertainment!

Match abandoned?

Timberscombe 10 Points, Bishops Hull 8 Points

A close fought encounter on a  good cricket wicket produced an
exciting match with 430 runs hit on the day.

Electing to bat Timberscombe lost an early wicket in the second over (Bruce falling for a duck, he is now the proud owner of the black tee-shirt)and a
second in the 9th. This brought Paul Sparks and Nick Hill together who
set about laying the foundation for Timberscombe’s innings. When Sparks
was out for 53, soon followed by Hill for 58 they were well placed with
8 overs to go. Paul Keal then became the third scorer of a half century
as he moved quickly to 52 unbeaten in no time. He was ably assisted by
Tom Sparks who hit and ran a quick-fire 26 off only 15 balls. the
innings closed on 227 for 5.

After tea the home side lost the wicket of the dangerous Masters in
the 5th over. This then left C Hunt and N Preston to build their reply.
At 20 overs the comparitive scores were fairly level. what followed was
a catalogue of run out mayhem. First Hunt was run out trying to take an
impossible second run, As a result his fifty went unnoticed. The hard
hitting McKay then proceeded to run out two partners with some suicidal
running putting Timerscombe in control. Mckay and skipper Gale then
repaired some of the damage, before Mckay was bowled on 29 by Paul
Keal. Gale then took over the hitting role, but also took his turn
running out partners. He managed to run out two of his team mates
before they had faced a ball! When Gale was finally bowled on 43 the
innings tailed off leaving the visitors as winners by 24 runs.

Timberscombe 227 for 5
Nick Hill 58
Paul Sparks 53
Paul Keal 52 no
M Gale 3 for 18

Taunton A 203 for 9
C Hunt 50
R Golding 2 for 48
P Keal 2 for 30

Timberscombe 25 Points beat Taunton A 7 Points by 24 Runs