Match	Haverhill				v	Ipswich II
Date:	6-May-06
Result	Haverhill won by 23 runs
Innings Of	Haverhill							Innings Of	Ipswich II
S.Youngs					b Khan	28		Denny					b M.Wilkins	67
N.Winter	ct &				b Gooding	79		Butler					b Youngs	44
A.Dellar					b Khan	2		Cook	lbw				b M.Wilkins	3
D.Godwin					b Howlett	37		Khan	c Davis				b Youngs	4
D.Wilkins					b Portter	0		S.Porrter	Not Out					29
D.Poole	Not Out					40		Gooding	c Godwin				b Youngs	5
G.Street	Not Out					16		Howlett	st Wallis				b Youngs	40
M.Wilkins								Church	Not Out					5
N.Wallis								Snow
R.Sullivan								Crane
R.Davis								M.Portter
					Extras	32							Extras	14
					Total	234							Total	211
				For  5 wkts								For  6 wkts
Bowling	O	M	R	W				Bowling	O	M	R	W
Gooding	12	0	71	1				Sullivan	8	5	16	0
Snow	7	0	35	0				Davis	6	2	18	0
Khan	11	1	57	2				Dellar	5	0	32	0
M.Porrter	12	4	29	1				Youngs	15	0	66	4
Howlett	3	0	20	1				M.Wilkins	11	0	66	2

Haverhill CC are going from strength to strength on and off the field with the announcement of a new sponsorship deal with Travis Perkins Building Supplies and a good win against Ipswich this past weekend.

Having lost the toss Ipswich decided to bowl on a wicket that provided a lot of life early but slowed up later in the day. Haverhill opening pair Simon Youngs (28) and Neil Winter (79) provided a good base upon which to build a good innings. Simon playing the anchorman role as Neil went about his usually aggressive style of tearing apart any wayward bowling dominated the first hour of play. Adam Dellar (2) played around a straight delivery, which brought wristy Dave Godwin (37) to the crease. Starting off slowly with a number of gentle pushes probing the infield he then opened up the shoulders and played some very comfortable lofted off drives to push the score onto 156 before his departure.

Dan Poole (40)- (an all rounder who has benefited from the junior coaching efforts of the club coaches) strode to the crease and looked very solid from the first ball. The innings was coming to a close but the mature head on young shoulders proved too much for the Ipswich bowling with despatching two sweetly timed sixes into the trees amongst some very fine ground strokes and quick singles with strong support from recent centurion Greg Street (16) they brought the innings to a close at 5 for 234.

Ipswich also started there innings with a fine opening partnership of 112. The opening batsmen did frustrate the Haverhill bowlers with many play and miss deliveries. Young Russell Davies, half the age of his fellow opening bowling partner Rob Sullivan, ensured a tight opening bowling session with just 18 runs coming from his 6 overs with Rob Sullivan 8 overs, 5 maidens 0 for 16. Adam Dellar struggled to find his length in the wet conditions however managed to turn a few balls without any luck and at times have the batsmen in all sorts. The day had turned wet and was starting to get dark when the often used stable bowling partnership of Simon Youngs (15 overs, 4 for 66) and Martin Wilkins was introduced. It didn’t take long for Martin to get the vital breakthrough and start us on our way. In difficult conditions good catches where taken by Russ Davies at deep backward point and Dave Godwin at long on. A clean quick stumping by our veteran youngster Neil Wallis off of Simon Youngs was also a highlight.

Thanks to Mrs Woodley and the team for setting the bar so high for the remaining teas. Good on yah Sheila’s. Thanks to Webby for scribbling and re-scribbling our fluent batting line-up and Martin Wilkins who if I may quote “I’ve just returned from A and E to have my pads removed” for keeping his pads on for the entire innings without getting a bat.

Apologies to the picnic brigade for the weather and the wives and girlfriends for the state of their partner’s whites. A note to Godders, isle 4 at Sainsbury’s, try VANISH with your wash. Whites with whites and keep the colours separate.

Personal comments:

Having played cricket since I was old enough to utter my first word at 400 decibels “howzat” I am once again humbled by the game and the spirit with which it is played in this country. On Saturday afternoon this week Haverhill hosted Ipswich at home. The day was grey and miserable and rained considerably throughout the afternoon. Although Haverhill where in a strong position having scored 234 with Ipswich batting second they had the option to leave the field and call the game a draw due to the poor conditions. To my amazement they batted on and with very little chance of winning completed the 45^th over when the game was over and Haverhill has one. The conditions became slippery at times yet when one batsman had slipped attempting to play a stroke he looked over at me as I approached to check on his welfare and looked me straight in the eye and said “don’t worry skipper we will play on and get this game finished.”

Having played in Australia for most of my life, where we don’t take prisoners (pardoning the expression) and exploit most of the rules in terms of conduct and gentlemanly play I was once again reminded what made this country and its crowning sport a pleasure to be associated with.