Date

Opposition

Venue

Result

25/4/09

Bilton Grange (v 3rds)

Home

Won

25/4/09

Bilton Grange (v 4ths)

Away

Won

06/5/09

Wellingborough

Away

Won

09/5/09

Spratton Hall

Away

Won

17/6/09

Bedford Prep (v 4ths)

Away

Lost

24/6/09

Stoneygate

Away

Won

V Bilton Grange
 

On a bright and warm afternoon, the mighty thirds won the toss and elected to bat, keen to give Bilton a total to chase.  Things started in decidedly wobbly fashion as Maidwell swiftly lost two wickets, for no score, in the space of one over!  This saw new boy Archie Hughes take the crease to join Freddie Collie and thankfully the two of them very effectively shored things up with a partnership of 55.  Hughes fell to LBW and a number of other wickets were dropped for very few runs.  Meanwhile Collie continued in superb style to gain his 50 and go on to 72 not out.  The final total was a very impressive 166-8.

Following tea a rather shaken Bilton Grange took to the crease and followed much the same pattern as the Maidwell innings, dropping two wickets within the first two overs – Chamberlayne getting revenge, with both wickets, for his early batting departure.  Once Haywood and Collie had also taken wicket, leaving the score at 15 for 4 off five overs, Maidwell – firmly in the driving seat – changed tack slightly and the bowling was spread across the whole team.  This resulted in a slight resurgence of Bilton (mainly via extras) and with the score approaching 90 the first choice bowlers were brought back in to finish things off.  The final score was 115 all out (off 23 overs).

This was a very impressive Maidwell performance – Collie an easy choice for man of the match (taking 5 wickets also) - and the thirds team spirit throughout was excellent.  A convincing victory and a scoreline that flattered Bilton.  The mighty thirds look forward to their next challenge!

V Bilton Grange
 

Under the captaincy of Tancred Taylor, the “Glorious Fourths” headed out with high spirits and confidence. We had spent the previous four afternoons putting the team together and getting everyone up to speed to be ready for this, our first game of the season. Bilton elected to field first and we clocked up 109 runs. The highest scoring partnership was that of William Crane and Tom Scruby who managed 26 runs during 4 overs. Johnny King, Jack Polhill and William Farr also batted well. Jorge and Ignacio also deserve a mention for their cricketing debut, another excellent and entertaining partnership managing 22 runs from 4 overs with cries of “Vamos!”.

Our fielding was kept tight under Tancred’s direction, permitting the opposition to score only twelve single runs! Our bowling was brilliant: Pepe had four wickets and they only hit four runs off him; James Keating also had four wickets and they only hit one run off him during 5 overs; Tom Scruby’s bowling was impressive: three wickets and four maiden overs.

With the scoring system used (each team starts off with 200 runs and minus 5 for each wicket), we scored 294-3 and Bilton Grange 180-11!

V Wellingborough
 

Maidwell travelled to Wellingborough with a slightly changed line-up, due to squad rotation, and after winning the toss went out to the crease determined to set the opposition a tough target from their 30 overs.  Marchant opened with Cook and was unfortunate to be the first dismissal within the first over – a common problem in the thirds!  Hughes stepped up next and managed to steady the ship, hitting an impressive 44.  With support from Wells (37) and Chamberlayne (37), who was Captain for the day, Maidwell increased the run rate to eight an over eventually finishing on a magnificent 246 for 5.

After tea - an understandably shell-shocked – Wellingborough came out to bat and although there was a long first wicket partnership not many runs were made against the bowling of Chamberlayne and Layzell-Payne.  Once again such a comfortable position allowed Maidwell to change around their anticipated bowling formation and eventually eleven different bowlers were used.  Wickets were notably taken by Chamberlayne (3 for 12 off 5) and Layzell-Payne (2 for 18 off 5).  Wellingborough were bowled out, with two overs remaining for 142.

Another fantastic victory for the thirds who continue to demonstrate great camaraderie and play in fantastic spirit.  They look forward to Spratton in a confident mood.

V Spratton Hall
 

Making the short trip to Spratton the thirds were brimming with confidence, off the back of their two previous performances.  The team sheet saw the return of Norman, Hilton, Wilson and Peppiatt and a first start for Robathan.  Maidwell lost the toss but were happy enough to go out to bat and set Spratton a tricky target.  Layzell-Payne impressed with his willingness to take on the fateful opening position and selection was proved correct when he hit 31 including a very impressive 6.  Cook (as he has done in the last two matches) stood tall (no joke intended!) alongside and partnered him very well.  Next saw the arrival of the in-form Hughes who rapidly put on 27 runs before giving a catch and Wells (27) following the dismissals of the openers.  Chamberlayne followed and was controversially given out before the arrival of the recalled Hilton who justified his selection with a fantastic 51 not out.  Many of those runs are owed to the impressive backing up of Archie Wilson who also secured his position for the next match.  Maidwell went to tea having scored 175 for 5 off 25 overs.

After the first two overs Spratton never appeared likely to worry the Maidwell bowlers who, although they didn’t take many wickets, restricted the run rate magnificently.  They only managed to take eleven runs off Haywood’s five overs and similarly were restricted to just sixteen runs off Wells who also took a wicket.  Hughes capped a good performance with two wickets in his two overs.  The run rate was far too slow to trouble Maidwell, who once again used nine different bowlers, and the match was easily won with Spratton making just 76 for 3.

Maidwell Thirds once again demonstrate great strength and matters could have been better with some more careful fielding and steadier batting!  This season there is a real quality to the whole squad and the competition for places in the final match will be fierce.  There is plenty of time to impress – with a huge gap before Stoneygate.  I trust that complacency won’t set in and the boys will look to continue in their winning ways.

V Bedford Prep
  

 
It was a warm but rainy afternoon for the glorious fourths at Bedford under the captaincy of Tancred Taylor. We were joined by a good contingent of Maidwell parents and settled down for the game. There was an initial shock at losing three wickets in the first three overs, balanced with the possibility of the persistent rain getting worse. Luke Marchant was our star batsmen who made 48. When it was our turn to field, the lads did well to keep things as tight as possible. Milo Eadie and Max Farnsworth bowled brilliantly and had good wickets each. One of the most memorable moments was the ball being hit very high indeed, under George Holborrow's bowling, and all eyes watching its long descent into the hands of William Crane.

V Stoneygate
 

The final match, after such a long break was a slight concern, especially after a few early wickets - but there needn't have been any worries.  Maidwell, steadied by a superb performance from recalled Harry Chetwode (62), went on to dominate the batting making a total of 178 in their twenty five overs.  Six wickets were lost, although, two fell in the final over including a run-out in which Wilson miscalculated the pace of Peppiatt between the stumps!

The rather shell-shocked Stoneygate team came out to bat and it was quite obviously an uneven contest with early wickets dropping.  This led to the adoption of our season-long bowling plan which saw every player except Milo Cook (WK) take an over.  This resulted in a brief mid-wicket stand but the match was soon finished off by the usual tenacious bowling and fielding which we have seen all season.  The match was won in style by a total of 80 runs and 4 wickets.

This has to go down as one of the best ever seasons in the Thirds and all the boys involved should be very proud of their achievements.  As coaches we have been particularly impressed with the way in which the boys have conducted themselves on every occasion, the sportsmanship that has been shown and the professional manner in which they have secured their victories.  A fantastic 100% record, well done!