Season 2008

16/8/08
First team
  Milton Keynes Park (H)

On an overcast day at the picturesque Vicarage Hill ground Challow and Milton Keynes met in a top of the table clash. Milton Keynes won the toss and decided to bowl, hoping to take advantage of any early seam movement. Challow started badly with the loss of both Philips and Owen early on, however Meadows began to unfurl some of his trademark shots through the on side and in partnership with Demain brought Challow back into the game. Demain then fell in the danger zone attempting an expansive shot and after this wickets fell at regular intervals including Meadows for a well made 67 leaving Challow on the brink at 120 for 8. However, Lee Stevens on his first appearance of the season along side Alex Lynch put on 60 for the 9^th wicket a partnership that contained a couple of sumptuous cover drives a seven and some excellent running allowed Challow to close on 178 for 9.
    The Milton Keynes reply begun well for the hosts with Dimbylow taking an early wicket. After this the visiting captain began to settle into his innings and it soon transpired he would be the key wicket. Philips began well taking a wicket in his first over and Challow continued to take wickets at regular intervals with Philips adding another three scalps. Milton Keynes also scored at a consistent rate raising the possibility on an exciting finish, the Challow bowlers though managed to keep the run rate down and Milton Keynes finished twenty runs short after their 48 overs with Challow still requiring three wickets for victory. Lee Stevens completed a fine all round display with a couple of wickets and Challow came out of the game with 4 more points than Milton Keynes. This result and other results in the league have setup an exciting finish with any one of five teams in with a chance of sealing promotion.
    Olly- DOTD for his interesting run out attempt!

.......................RAIN.................

19/7/08
First team
Bledlow Ridge (A)




5/7/08
First team
Tiddington (H)

After much debate surrounding certain player’s attire on arrival to the ground, play got under way with Challow skipper Nick Meadows winning the toss and electing to field. It would be interesting to see if that was the right decision as the match wore on. Tiddington started positively but one shot too many caused the fall of the first wicket to Mikey Konschel, caught Meadows. Oliver Dimbylow continued working hard running into the strong winds and picked up the second wicket shortly after the first fell. The batsman then proceeded to the changing rooms and tried to rearrange the furniture resulting in a broken hand and playing no further part in the game. James Phillips then entered the attack and completed his spell picking up 3 wickets for 81 including a sharp catch from Oliver Dimbylow at short cover. Nick Meadows again bowling in tandem with Phillips also picked up a wicket whilst having to deal with a very short leg side boundary, which the batsmen did manage to take advantage of on occasion. Some good fielding also led to 3 run outs including Julian Penny’s direct hit from the boundary. As a result Tiddington were bowled out with two balls to spare for 245.
    Challow started the innings positively with Meadows and Phillips quickly bringing the score passed the 60 mark inside the first 10 overs. Shortly after, Meadows was dismissed in the danger zone for 35, quickly followed by Owen Dimbylow for 4 leaving Challow in a strong position but with some hard work still to be done. James Phillips and Rob Owen, after a nervous start, continued to make good progress and with the Tiddington bowling attack starting to run out of ideas Phillips proceeded to score his maiden first team hundred with the highlights of the innings some very good driving. Rob Owen went on to pass the fifty mark whilst entered the six hitting league along the way with some good striking down the ground. Phillips and Owen saw the game home with 8 overs to spare finishing on 127 not out and 76 not out respectively to cap a strong 8 wicket win.

28/6/08
First team
Long Marston (A)

21/6/08
First team
Oxford and Bletchingdon Nondescripts (H)

On a cold, cloudy day with the ever-present threat of rain, skipper Meadows won the toss and elected to put Oxford and Bletchingdon Nondescripts into bat. Despite a loose first over from newly wed Oliver Dimbylow which went for 13 runs, Challow reduced the nondies to 16-4 thanks to some metronomic bowling from Mikey Konschel who was unlucky to not register more than his single wicket, whilst at the other end Dimbylow senior sorted himself out and took 3 valuable wickets. The spinners then took over for the remainder of the overs and restricted the opposition to 135, a below par score on a (as usual) good Challow track. Jimmy Phillips, eager to impress certain members of the crowd, continued his excellent form with 5-40.
    Thankfully the promised rain never materialised and Challow’s reply got off to an excellent start with openers Nick Meadows and Phillips cashing in on the good deck and fast outfield by reaching 63 for no loss after the first 10 overs. Meadows swashbuckling innings came to an end on 70 but Phillips saw us home to 139-3 with a solid 43no. Another 25 points for the lads sees Challow where they belong, at the top of the pile.

14/6/08
First team
Milton Keynes (A)

Strict convoy procedures ensured a prompt start to the warm up at Manor Fields, Bletchley, and a chance to get the journey out of our legs, a move that would reap dividends later on in the piece.  Having won the toss MKP inserted us it was obvious from the outset that runs would be at a premium throughout the day.  Only the middle order of Nobby Dog, Buzz Dog and Croney the Puppy Dog managed to trouble the scorers, all getting in and then out whilst in the fines danger zone of 23, 24 and 24 respectively.  Some effective hitting at the end by the Konch Dog gave us a few more to bowl at, but surely 129 would not trouble the league leaders?
    The up and down nature of the pitch gave us some hope and early strikes by Skipper Nicko and the Konch Dog caused some nerves in the opposition.  Miserly bowling from Nick really put the squeeze on MKP and they were soon 27 for 4.  A small recovery took MKP to 60 and then CCCC struck again with two more wickets.  Could we do it?  M Alston thought otherwise with a gritty 27 and an additional good scoring effort from the little known Chinese player for MKP, Mr Billy Ye also kept the opposition in the hunt.  But Nick in tandem with Jimmy Dog and backed up by some good ground fielding, was still applying the pressure.  More nervy wickets brought the last pair together still needing 32 runs to win.  Some cultured hitting by the MKP No.11 (who looked like he should have batted much higher!) brought them to within 4 runs of victory.  Jimmy was brave bowling a well flighted leg break which was smoked to Nick at cover.  A bit of a juggle to keep the crowd interested and the victory was ours.  You better get this party started!
    The Pink T-shirt for DoD again went to Tubes.  For what I can not remember, but in the words of Rod the God, ‘(S)he wears it well’!  Chin-up Tubes I am sure that given a bit more time you would have worn it to the nearest hostelry, The Pink Punter.  Never the less the boys looked sharp, suited and booted in the MKP bar, before hitting the road on a moon rocket back to Ginge for the evening festivities.  We set off for the Wedding party happy and gay, as you do in MK.  Obviously we dedicated this victory to Mr & Mrs Dimbylow (Jen and Olly) and were pleased to be at the celebrations in good time.  With a win in the bag the beer was always going to taste so much sweeter, but not even this hard fought battle could make the bottled ale taste reasonable after we had supped all of the barrelled variety.  Cue table minesweeping procedures or a late night in the Swan; it all ended in the same result, headaches all-round.

7/6/08
First team
Dinton (H)

31/5/08
First team
  Leighton Buzzard (A)

On an overcast day the 1sts made the long trip to Leighton Buzzard only to suffer the first defeat of their Cherwell League campaign. The side left from fortress Vicarage Hill after tucking into a breakfast knocked up by chef ‘Nobby’ ably supported in the kitchen by Croney and Buzz . Good time was made to the ground, the convoy system working well until it was noted Konch (carrying half the teams kit in his van) had been lost before leaving Oxfordshire! When Konch (and the kit!) finally arrived Skipper Meadows called right at the toss and inserted Leighton on a very green and wet strip that promised assistance to all the bowlers. Olly Dimbylow made early inroads into the batting but some poor ground fielding and four dropped catches including Leightons best batsmen (twice) allowed Town to post a useful score of 171, built around P Whatmore’s 83 and D Scott’s 42. Olly finished with figures of  4-38 from his two spells.
    Challow's reply didn’t get off to the best start with Nick judged LBW with the score still in single figures however Jimmy Phillips continued his good early season form and quickly built a 50 partnership with Buzzer. Jimmy fell for 48, including his entry into the six hitting league with a maximum from towns left arm spinner. Wickets continued to fall around Steve who was putting in his best show of the season passing 50 with a huge six into the football ground next door. At 166 for 6 all thought the job was done but the last 4 wickets fell for 4 runs leaving Challow defeated by 1 run. Steve top scoring with 83 and Croney being the unluckiest man alive when he thought he had smashed the winning runs only to see the ball crash into silly points boot and straight up to the bowler who claimed the catch. The fines pot was added to and the fielding will have to improve if we want to perform better in the league. 7 players scoring single figure scores wasn’t good enough from this talented batting line up. Dinton at home is the team’s next challenge and an improved performance is hoped for by all. Weapon of the day award went to Mark Crone.

24/5/08

First team
  Abingdon Vale (H)

At fortress Vicarage Hill, Abingdon won the toss and made their first mistake in electing to bat, and things went down hill pretty quick for them from there on in. On a typical Challow pitch that was fairly hard and with the outfield quicker than a sheet of glass, our bowlers were going to have to bowl exceptionally well to keep Abingdon to a total that was not too big.  Mikey, with the wind behind him, made use of the new ball taking an early wicket in his second over, following up with two in his third. After the early inroads from the impressive Konch, Nick bought himself into the attack and after a tidy spell ended up with 4 for 35 from 15, whilst tubes from the other end carried on from his 7 for last year against Abingdon to end with 3 for 7. All in all, only one Abingdon batsman (Tilley 68 no) gave the scorers any work to do in the total of 140 all out. First part of the job done and done well.
    140 to chase, and the worst possible start to the innings when Nicko went first ball caught behind. Jimmy, Steve and Tubes all got starts before falling to some dubious decisions, which bought Lynchy and Nobby to the crease at 51 for 4 – things not going to plan so far. We all knew we had a lot of time to bat and that we didn’t need to score quickly to win the game, although it did take Nobby 26 balls to get off the mark!  As soon as the runs started to come for both of these batsmen, the result was never in doubt, as the ball was dispatched to all corners of the ground with ease. Nobby extended his lead in the ‘6 hitting league’ with some massive blows into the road and legion car park. Lynchy looked good on his was to 39 Not Out, and Nobby “The Finisher” Penny ended with another red inker, 49 Not Out in the 6 wicket win.
Roll on Tuesday for the 20/20

17/5/08

10/5/08

First team
  Bourton Vale (H)

A hot day and very batsman friendly wicket saw Challow batting first after winning the toss. The bowling attack from Bourton Vale was just as friendly and we quickly notched up the first 50 partnership with openers Jimmy Phillips and Nick Meadows setting a solid platform. With the run rate ticking along nicely Ian (Tubesy) Demain got in on the action and together with Meadows we saw the first hundred run partnership of the season. With the weather not getting any cooler we were able to pile on the pain for Bourton Vale and after Tubesy walked for LBW on 50, Meadows quickly took advantage of a tired bowling attack before firing to 144. Julian (Nobby) Penny and Mark (Archie) Podbery drove the nail in the coffin taking the team score past 300 with some aggressive batting!
    Getting quick wickets was the key and Olly Dimbylow obliged with 2 early ones to have Bourton on the rocks. However it was all uphill from there on. As the wicket got flatter and the ball got older some good batting from Bourton Vale took the game to Challow. A tremendous effort in the field from the boys, some gutsy bowing from Mikey Konschel and some clever spinners from Jimmy (3 wickets) were only able to eke out 7 wickets by the end of the day. Some tough chances went begging but all in all, Bourton Vale batted well and the boys can hold their heads high knowing we gave it our best shot. Success isn’t far off if we repeat the performance in weeks to come.

Second team
 Kimble (A)

The temperature was set to test the team physically but the mood was buoyant as Challow took the field after losing the toss. Early pressure led to good economy from Duncan and Rudi.  Kimble found themselves 8 overs in for roughly the same score. Accepting the fact that there was help for the bowler from an indifferent wicket, Duncan took his first wicket in the form of a superb caught behind.  Both Rudi and Duncan bowled into the good areas for maximum effect taking one and three wickets respectively.   Big Wayno Harvey had a few overs to try and soften them up but found himself on the receiving end of some tap. At this stage, the run rate began to creep up so a swift bowling change to bring in Phil and Danny Ray (Gun) paid off instantly with a strangle from Phil with his first ball. Good bowling from Danny saw the runs dry up a bit as Phil took a further 3 wickets. Grief for Kimble was always on the cards as Luko Jones cleaned up with two Malinga style wickets, the innings collapsed to 141 all out.
    Establishing a solid start was key to winning this game and that’s just what the first 3 batters did with the wickets of Roger, Luko and Justin (37) falling for 85. Reassuring commitment from debutant Ryan (Flash) Gordon supported Justin to his ultimate score but he started to run out of partners swiftly (including 2 run outs!) as Challow’s innings collapsed to 110 all out after 41 overs. Shocking.