The Day when Wargrave CC took Centre stage @ Henley Festival

England was basking in one of its best summer days so far and with Henley Festival in full swing meant you could really enjoy the fumes from cars in front of you on A4130 inching slowly towards Henley. Yes, Henley CC was our destination today, which was the first game of our second half of the Season. With a good win against Slough 2s during the first half of the season the First XI team was eager to start the second half with a win.

Wargrave Rendezvous:
A few of us decided to meet up at the Club as per Mandip’s email. Given that I was a “little” eager to play our first League Game I was at the Rec sharp at 11.00 for an 11.30 meet up. Mandip was on time and as we were discussing who had acknowledged to turn up at the Club, it turned out that we were just waiting for Ricky who was being picked up by Huw from the Station who turned up late and mentioned repeatedly (as he tucked into his pasty!) that it was a 11.45 rendezvous as the Club.

Having left Wargrave on “time” (thanks Huw!) we made up for the delay by flooring our cars to 26 miles per hour as we drove towards Henley. You can tell Mandip was in a good mood already as he almost got hit by the car and got honked at, as he turned right towards Henley CC.

Henley CC Welcome:
As we entered the Club, I could see Jack, Dan, Luke and Alex having a net session and given that Alex had a dig at the team’s two gingers not getting above double figures and him still not being able to get to the top 5, I could tell that he was confident he would get a bat before any of us.

After Neal and the others turned up it was time for us to all have a few fielding drills. One particular session, in my humble opinion was rigged as Neal specifically chose all the tall members into one team including himself and the other not-so-tall-ones in another team and mentioned an over arm throw routine, only to score the first goal underarming it straight to his team (and also changed a few rules as he went along) to win the session very quickly! After a few more drills Wargrave was ready for the match and we were back in the field very quickly after we lost the toss.

Bowling Session:
Jack and Alex started off in good fashion, especially Jack who was bowling good line and lengths and kept beating the batsmen a few occasions. Alex was in a very good mood and kept telling me how much he loved the Thames Valley League Cricket balls and never complained once. Henley were looking good so Mandip decided to use spin at one end and swing at the other end. I kept the Henley Batsmen on their toes by bowling one good delivery amongst a few wide balls, which unfortunately didn’t break their concentration that brought Dan into the attack, and the spin twins got into their groove. Mandip drew first blood and took the first wicket of Andy Harris, LBW. With the left hander A Prince (who scored a ton last time we played Henley) at the crease Dan looked threatening in his spell and then got him LBW trying to pull a ball. It was a great wicket and Dan made sure he showed his “happiness” through his very mild celebration running towards Ricky.

Wickets were falling at regular intervals but the run rate was steady at 5 per over. Jack was unlucky as he dropped a tough chance which he could have caught one handed, blind folded, hopping on one leg on any other day but not today. The “crowd” at the bar close to where he was fielding might have played a key factor in that but he was relieved when Mandip got the same batsman out esp after Alex couldn’t stop the ball (three times, not that I was counting or anything!) which the batsman hit outside the ground, onto the tallest tree for it to just fall back straight onto the covers and through Alex’s legs…again.

Dan then took another key wicket off a leading edge for Faaez to then take 2 catches and a drop in a matter of 10 seconds as he tumbled forward. Dan was again quite mellow in his celebration, which made the wicket extra special.

Euan and Neal then took over from Dan and Mandip and kept applying pressure from both the ends and Henley were finding it hard to score runs apart from the occasional short balls that were duly dispatched for a few boundaries. I then got a really touch chance (like Jack earlier) but given that Teas was just round the corner, I made it look really easy and then also got the last batsman run out as they tried to take me on for their second run.

Euan, Dan and Neal took 2 wickets apiece and Mandip ended up with the best figures of 3 wickets for 28 runs in his 12 probing overs.

Wargave Chase:
Henley Teas on their beautifully customized plates were great and it was time for our chase. Alex’s dig in his email earlier in the week came handy as he was promoted to open the innings with Mandip (note to self – make sure to reply next week copying everyone about the position you need to bat with the word fuming at the end of the email!). Mandip was harsh on anything short and I think he may have finally found a bat he likes (out of the 100s already sold to all WCC Members and their kids). Alex’s 6 on the window of the house just outside the ground (the poor old lady living there may have woken up from her afternoon nap) was quite impressive but they both perished trying to up the ante. Dan Davies got a peach of a delivery from C Jacobsen and was out caught in the slips. At this point Wargrave looked in real trouble at 41/3.

Neal and Euan then put together the partnership of the season so far by playing a very measured innings with both of them hitting boundaries at regular intervals. It was almost like watching a match within a match as to who would score their century first. Especially with Neal injuring his palm stopping a definite boundary of his own bowling, it was a gutsy innings from both of them and they ensured that the run rate never went out of hand.

Euan showed his pure class (left handers make every stroke look so elegant) and one the Taxi Drivers leaving the Bar next to the Club bore the brunt of his six that might have dented his car. Note to self; never park your car anywhere near Euan’s strong areas to bat.

On the spectator front, Jack Sparrow and his merry men were quite happy reading their Yacht Magazine and Mossy was looking at every ball with intent and I ensured that he didn’t move from his position as we were doing quite well. The moment Mossy moved, we lost Euan (on a well-deserved 82) to a good ball to get Ricky into the middle. Ricky and Neal ran well between the wickets and when Neal got out at 102 with one run to win, I gave Ricky company for one ball for Ricky to score the winning run and me finishing the game with an excellent average in my first game.

Top Finish:
To say that I enjoyed the game would be an understatement as it was one the best games I have played in a long while. Wargave First XI played as a team and all of them played their roles very well. Each and every player played a part in this epic win and you couldn’t have asked for a better start of the second half of the season.

We had a few drinks with the opposition as Luke dressed up in his Tux to watch a few shows at the Henley Festival with Becky (who looked stunning in her Black Dress) but in my view the real show was Wargave winning the game against a very strong (friendly and great bunch of lads) Henley 2s side and in my opinion Wargrave win was the main act of the Henley Festival on 11th July.

Given that all the 3 teams won on 11th July, it was one of the best days for the Club this year and the joy was quite evident from the way all the teams talked about their match defining points in the game (Scott’s 7-fer, Sam’s outstanding catch, which I heard from him about 5 times and defending a very modest total of 146 at the Rec, which is a record in its own!)

Looking forward, we will be facing Burnham 2nds at the Rec on 18th July which will turn out to be a good contest for a boosted Wargrave First XI after today’s win and am sure all of us are now keen to build on this win and keep winning until end of this season.