Full Match Scorecard
The 2nd XI’s trip to Caversham & Redingensians saw Derek Milsom continue his incredible scoring sequence with a magnificent 151, but may sadly be remembered more for the unsavoury incidents that took place on and off the pitch, particularly the theft of Derek’s bat from the away dressing room while Wooburn were in the field.
Sav opted to bat first on winning the toss, with 25 points the priority. The pitch was light brown in colour, as was the rest of the square and the outfield, but it looked reasonably flat. Derek batted superbly from the start, despatching the bad ball with authority, Angus gave solid support in a century opening stand. Rob Smith then helped add a further 111 for the second wicket as Derek completed his fourth hundred in five week, a quite phenomenal achievement.
The runs continued to flow as the middle order chipped in towards the end, and Sav was able to declare on 307-4 after 50 overs. It was undoubtedly a big score, but the good pitch and barren outfield meant it was by no means out of reach of the home side. Although only taking 50 overs, it was well past five o’clock when the innings ended, thanks to constant delays caused by the fielding side. The talking, shouting and bickering between the fielders, often when the bowler was running in to bowl, was totally unacceptable.
Caversham & Redingensians have chased down some big scores this season, and managed to get home with 8 balls to spare. Maffey, the skipper, made a solid 88 to provide the backbone. For the Narks, Phil Cuthbert and Graham Dare gave it their all and everyone worked hard in the field, but the luck favoured the batsmen and once they had got a good start, the momentum stayed with them.
At the end of the game, it became clear that Derek’s bat had been taken. We can only hope that the home club conducts a thorough investigation. One suspects it was no coincidence that, of all the bats in the Wooburn dressing room, it was the one that had just scored 151 which was stolen. All very disappointing.
Every cloud has a silver lining, and the good news from this game is that the 2nds are unlikely to have to play at Redingensians for the foreseeable future. However, with Redingensians pushing for promotion, the 1st XI may be less fortunate.
Postscript. John Camidge, Caversham & Redingensians regular 2nd XI Captain, did indeed conduct a thorough investigation and thankfully managed to recover Derek\s bat. Our sincere thanks go to John for his efforts.
