Christ's College England Cricket Tour 2015: April 21

Development XI faced a scratch Winchester team made up of boys, teachers and brothers. They had issues! College batted first in the 30 over match. Macfarlane (79) and Dickie (13) opened very slowly as only 29 runs were scored in the first 10 overs. Macfarlane got into his stride and upon reaching 10 only faced 10 further dot balls in his innings. I Bird (25), Blake (15), Murray (13) were all positive but could not go on with their innings. Thatcher entered the innings very late and plundered the bowling in a style approaching that of McCullum. He scored 58 off 27 balls. The final score of 229/7 was impressive, especially the 200 off the final 20 overs. Tempero (1/10) and Simpson (1/12) started well when bowling, but again Aitken (4/15) was the destroyer. Raymond also picked up a wicket as the opposition were dismissed for 85. A number of catches were dropped in this final total. While this fixture was one-sided the expectation is that tomorrow will be a mammoth task. The Development XI has yet to defeat the Wellington equivalent. This will be a test match!

Images of the historic wall surrounding the Development XIs field

The final handshakes ...

... and leaving the ground

Scorecard:
Macfarlane 79
Dickie 13
I Bird 25
Weeks 6
Blake 15
Murray 13
Jones 0
Thatcher 58no
Aitken 1no

Tempero 4-0-10-1
Simpson 4.3-1-12-1
Aitken 6-1-15-4
Murray 4-0-14-0
Raymond 3-0-11-1
I Bird 2-0-21-0

The 1st XI won their fixture by 5 wickets, although victory was only gained in the final over. Jacob Bird was given his debut in the XI after a number of stirling performances in the Development XI. College again lost the toss and fielded first. The wicket was a little slower than most we played on so the run rate was a little under 4 at the 10 over mark. Whyte (1/35) and Kerr (0/18) further slowed the rate, although only 1 wicket had been had taken. The final 15 minutes before lunch saw College lose focus and simply go through the motions. Consequently Winchester scored about 35 runs in 5 overs. At lunch they were 133/1 after 36 overs. We were in a good position, however, there were plenty of wickets in hand for a 230+ score, especially as their captain was undefeated on 70. Runs and a few wickets flowed in the final 14 overs as Winchester reached 213/5. Potentially this should have been more but we had done a good job in the middle stages. The loss of an early wicket, in reply, saw Williamson (33) and Chamberlain (86) combine in a strong 68 run partnership. They both batted positively and had the team in a good position at 79/1 after 20 overs. Williamson was lost just before tea, while Beckett was dismissed in the first over after ... work was now needed. Chamberlain continued batting very attractively. Over the last week he has certainly beginning to show his experience and his pushing for gaps has certainly improved. Debutant Bird joined him and after a tough initiation where he had to work hard, he prospered and was able to aid Chamberlain with strong running and great shots off the back foot. Together they reignited the innings which had now got to requiring more than a run per ball over the final 16 overs. Together they controlled the innings to put on 96 before Chamberlain was strangely given out (191/4 after 46). The pressure was back on. Bird (67no, off only 71 balls) was able to steer the side home with the aid of Freeman-Greene (7) and Kerr (3no). A couple of balls remained, but it did always feel we were in control of the situation. It was a very good batting performance from the three main run-makers. Bird was outstanding in his debut.

Scorecard:
Thomson 8-0-43-1
Macfarlane 4-0-14-0
McKellar 10-1-30-0
Chamberlain 8-1-36-1
Whyte 10-0-35-1
Kerr 5-0-18-0
Freeman-Greene 5-0-32-0

Catches: Beckett, Leggat

Heselwood 6
Williamson 33
Chamberlain 86
Beckett 3
J Bird 67no
Freeman-Greene 7
Kerr 3no