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Result - Wiltshire Queries

Sun Aug 23rd Grannies lost by 6 wickets

Match report

A warm, sunny day at Devizes Cricket Club, venue for the annual Grannies fixture against the Wiltshire Queries. 11am saw the Grannies in some disarray, with Robin Rogers having picked his way through the Wiltshire countryside to the picturesque town of Tidworth, before realising that the venue for the match had moved. Chris Tanous and Mike Fernie on the M4 were battling down from London through the usual cocktail of accidents and 50mph limits that characterise any weekend on this most congested of motorways. Unsurprisingly, those travelling furthest were on time (Martin Emmison completing a mammoth trek across from Essex), with the locals struggling to hit the scheduled start! However, once assembled, the Grannies looking a very complete outfit, and immediately began tucking in to the coffee and homemade biscuits proferred by our hosts.

It will not have escaped the minds of those reading this report theat there was another, equally important, game in progress on Sunday - at the Oval, where England were hoping to make history and win back the Ashes. We were fortunate that Devizes CC was showing the game on the big screen in the pavilion, allowing spectators at the ground a unique opportunity to follow two epic matches at once.

Winning the toss, the Grannies decided to bat on a very good pitch, and were soon off to a solid start through Gwilym Thomas and Tom Hamilton. Just as the hard work was all but done, both batsmen succumbed (for 14 and 15 respectively) to the dangerous bowling of Devizes� own �Chucker� Burgess. Paul Knight strode to the crease and immediately looked assured and composed - in stark contrast to the other end, where wickets continued to tumble as Henry Fry (0), Robin Rogers (8) and Dominic Fry (11) all fell foul of some very loopy bowling from one end. At lunch the Grannies were definitely staring down the proverbial barrel, with 87 runs on the board and five wickets down.

Fortified by a wonderful lunch (coronation chicken, a cous cous salad, tomato salad (with proper beef tomatoes rather than the standard variety cut into quarters), cornish pasties, quickes, cheese and biscuits) the Grannies knuckled down to the task of posting a competitive total. We were indebted to a quickfire 57 from debutant Will Thomas, an Avebury CC player seconded for the day by the match manager), smaller (but equally worthy) contributions of 8 apiece from Emmison and Staniforth), and continued brilliance from Paul Knight, who was finally caught for 73. Frantic running from Tanous and Fernie added a couple more, and the Grannies innings closed on a respectable (though still modest in the light of the pitch) 211 all out in 52 overs.

Blessed with an arsenal of bowlers to suit all conditions, the Grannies walked out to field with some confidence. This eagerness and enthusiasm was soon rewarded, as Tom Hamilton clung on to a stinging cover drive off the bowling of the evergreen Staniforth, and Gwilym �Bucket Hands� Thomas pouched a good catch at slip off the new ball bowling of his namesake Will Thomas at the other end. A double bowling chance saw Martin Emmison tease the opposition with some nicely flighted deliveries into the wind from one end, whilst Tom Hamilton cranked up the pace from the other with an excellent spell in which he too picked up a wicket.

The Queries continued to score freely, mixing sensible defence with some very flamboyant shots, and as the sun beat down, the wicket remained true and the outfield continued to feel like an ice rink, things felt like they were slipping away from the Grannies.

The introduction of Mike Fernie at the bottom end brought immediate rewards and a fourth wicket for the Grannies, and continued good outfielding (particularly from Henry Fry in the deep, and Robin Rogers and Mike Fernie in the ring) refused to allow the Queries an easy time of it. However, the Queries looked increasingly dominant, taking full advantage of anything loose from change bowlers Gwilym Thomas and (in particular) the match manager, and accelerated towards their target with around 5 of the final twenty overs still remaining.

For the Queries, the Devizes CC batsman Jo Wookey made an excellent hundred, made possible to some extent by a last over from Paul Knight, who (quite rightly) refused the match manager�s exhortations to bowl 4 wides and instead bowled a half volley which was duly dispatched over the boundary, allowing the young scamp to finish 101 not out!

It goes without saying that we were extremely well looked after all day by both the Queries team and members of staff at Devizes CC. Our umpire Maurice Moss was excellent, and the scorers kept to their task despite taking quite a while to grapple with the vagaries of an electronic scoreboard. A word of thanks to everyone who took part today, including their respective other halves who travelled down. I know that some might have preferred not to play, but agreed to do so in the spirit of Grannies cricket, and I cannot thank the players enough for taking part and making this fixture possible.

Match info

Home of Devizes Cricket and other sports clubs. A very well maintained club cricket ground in Wiltshire.

Location
The Sports Ground,
London,
Road,
Devizes,
SN10 2DL,
United Kingdom

How to get there
From Devizes Town Centre take the A361 London Road. Past the Crammer and St.James Church, straight over mini roundabout. 200m on left just after canal. If you're coming from London and have taken the A4 to Beckhampton, then the A361 to Devizes takes you in on the London Road, with the ground on the right hand side before the canal bridge.