Ashorne & Moreton Morrell Cricket Club

However hard the weather gods tried to prevent this fixture taking place there could be no doubt about the standard of cricket fare at Long Itchington in this Division II encounter. Ashorne got the better of this tense contest but it was mighty close. The home side struck early when Wood removed Reading yet skipper Ashworth and his second-in-command Jack Jones stood up to their responsibilities and offered determine resistance against a searching examination from Phillips and Wood.

The partnership of 48 included fine stoke play from Ashworth and resourceful shots from Jones (21) before the latter fell to M Clark. The bowlers maintained a stranglehold over the batsmen as scoring was slow and difficult with Wood (3for 21) and Clark (3for32) getting just rewards for their endeavours. The visitors’ skipper completed his battling half-century and it was a real blow when he was caught in the deep for 67 with 123 on the board. Esquillant (13) was stumped and Sharples (0) fell to a magnificent return catch to Hudson the bowler to re-assert the home sides’ advantage. Hendy (1), Hedges (4), and Phil Whitehead (0) all departed cheaply sparking a mini collapse before spirited resistance from Duncan Whitehead (20) and, as it turned out, a vital last wicket partnership of 15 runs between Freeman (5n.o.) and Moon (7n.o) resulted in Ashorne’s total of 154 for 9 being 30 runs shy of a competitive total.

There was no let up in the intensity of the contest as Ashorne’s bowlers came hard at the home sides’ batsmen with the top three perishing to Jack Jones’ searching swing. Hendy’s immaculate accuracy and pace reaped the reward of Jack (12) thanks to a sharp catch by the agile Freeman in the slips. With LongItchington on the ropes Martin Rawbone and J Clarke responded with a mixture of aggression and sensible cricket to swing the match back in Long Itchington’s favour.

The turning point came when Phil Whitehead removed Rawbone and Perks in successive balls and Sharples (1 for 30) claimed Clarke’s wicket with Ashorne’s total tantalisingly close. Young Phil Whitehead (4 for 15), a thoughtful and probing medium pacer with 7 wickets in 2 matches, is certainly one to watch. The contest finally ended with Long Itchington on 132 but not before Wood (21) and Phillips (16n.o.) had given Ashorne’s supporters a few scary moments.

Ashorne won by 22 runs

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