Match Scorecard

Match Report

Match Report

A disappointing 2nd XI season ended in defeat and relegation at the hands of promoted Chalfont St. Peter. After posting a respectable 203-6, the Wooburn bowlers suffered at the hands of Chalfont\s batsmen and umpires, as they went down by eight wickets with 11 overs to spare.



The turning point came when Chalfont opener \Tony\ Hewston was controversially given not out after Paul Cooper had claimed a legitimate catch at cover. Both umpires and the batsman all claimed not so have seen it. One wonders where were they looking at the time? The incident resulted in one umpire leaving the field, and perhaps we haven\t heard the last of it.



On a happier note, the Wooburn innings started with an opening stand of 167 between Alan Cuthbert (102) and Paul Cooper (50). After a testing opening few overs, the Wooburn pair began to take control against some wayward bowling. Cuthbert despatched the short ball with relish, completing his second hundred of the season, while Cooper\s fifty was his third in four innings for the 2nds.



Once the openers had gone, the middle order found it hard to keep the momentum going over the last 10 overs against the tidy left arm spin of Khan (4-49). Only a magnificent straight six from Rob Rogers pushed the score past 200 before he was harshly adjudged lbw off the last ball.



Chalfont\s reply hit early trouble when Ben Sturgess produced a perfect out-swinger to bowl Mallinder. Hewston then \survived\ his \catch\ to cover and a couple of other straight forward chances which Wooburn failed to take. Meanwhile, Banner batted with real authority in compiling 49 in quick time, before \walking\ for a thin edge to Stuart Savage behind the stumps. It was good to see the spirit of the game lives on.



The arrival of Khan effectively sealed the game for Chalfont. While Hewston struggled with the bowling (and possibly his conscience), Khan rapidly took the game away from Wooburn with a series of big legside hits. He was very severe on the short ball, and hammered 81 out of an unbeaten third wicket stand of 116. The winning runs came with overs 11 overs to spare, and Windsor\s defeat confirmed Chalfont\s promotion to the heady heights of Division 4A.



The 2nd XI must now regroup for an assualt on Division 6A next year.