Reports

TWOS UP
Tense Nervous Climax to Roller Coaster Ride

With both Southam teams bidding for promotion in their respective divisions of the Warwickshire league, every point was crucial in the last few games of a rain-affected topsy turvy type of season. The Second XI were in a two-way race for the title with Ambleside, while the First XI league was open to any one of five or six sides, including local rivals Stockton and Warwick.

After a fine win at home to Wishaw with Olly Pilgrim starring with a century, Southam Firsts travelled to Rowlands, who elected to bat on a very "rural" looking green weed infested wicket. Batting was never easy as ball after ball kept rearing disconcertingly. Runs proved hard to come by, but most Rowlands batsmen got starts and the score reached a respectable 162-9 at the 50 over conclusion. Golding rode his luck for a top score 49. Wickets were shared around between Clements (4-37 off 14) Pilgrim (2-35 off 9) Hawkes (2-65 off 19) and Clewes (1-23 off 7).
In reply Southam got off to their customary poor start and found themselves 14-3 with Bramley, Watts and last weeks centurian Pilgrim back in the hutch. Old stagers Shaw (21) and Hawkes (25) carefully rebuilt with a 60 run partnership, but both fell in quick succesion to leave Southam 74-5. However, Nelly and Fletcher batted superbly and put the run chase well within reach to the point that 9 were needed with 4 overs and 5 wickets left. Nelly was then stumped for a quite brilliant 70 off the nagging spin of Randle, then 8 runs were scored off the following overs leaving 1 run needed off 2 overs. No-one at Southam has ever witnessed what was to occur in the following over bowled by Randle. Clewes caught mid off (0), Ward LBW (0), Upton caught slip (0) Clements (0) caught deep mid wicket!! 4 wickets 0 runs, game tied. Unbelievable. All the while, Fletcher (21*) witnessed the debacle from the other end. 16 points gained but 4 thrown away.

ICE COOL IS ALEX
A below par performance from Southam Seconds cost them dearly in the race for the title. Neck and neck with Ambleside and unbeaten they were looking to press home their tiny advantage but on a good wicket never really troubled the visiting batsmen, and a second wicket stand of one hundred proved costly for Southam. White (44) and Wood (60) gave Ambleside the advantage and when Phillips (38) and Rawbone (21) took control later, a good 223 for 7 total was set. Stuart Mugleston was the most successful bowler with 2 for 46.
Southam were soon 2 wickets down and it could have been more but for some dropped catches. Alex Sedgefield rode his luck but played some great shots in a powerful 86 which kept Southam on course. Wood with 4 for 47 and Coffey 3 for 61 pinned Southam back, but Tim Horley 17 and Simon Heath (20) both got starts but lost their wickets in quick succession, Southam though were still in the hunt needing 7 runs to win with 6 overs left, but the last wicket went down on 217 and Ambleside went home with the spoils and a big advantage going into the last two games.

An excellent win for Southam First XI against Camp Hill kept alive the pre-season promotion aspirations.
Upon winning the toss, Camp Hill were invited to bat and although prolific wicket taker Ollie Pilgrim had to retire after 2 overs, runs were hard to come by. An excellent pacy spell from Tony Waters was rewarded by 3 early wickets to leave the away team on 35-3 off 10 overs. Skipper Jordan was entrenched by now and was happy to be patient and watch No.5 bat Ali smash his way to an unorthodox 88 and with wickets in hand the pair added 92 in the last 10 overs to post a challenging 232-5 total. Jordan 82 not out. Waters final figures of 17-2-72-4 was reward for a wholehearted effort.
In reply Southam sent in Pilgrim again hoping for a repeat of his pinch hitting century, but after a few lusty blows he was bowled for 15 and the plan of keeping wickets in hand was put into motion. The experienced pair of Wise and Bramley carefully built a century partnership and put the run chase well on target. Wise fell for a fluent 49, and Bramley was joined by the classy Gregg Pepler. Together they virtually sealed the game with Pepler "peppering" the boundary with ease and it was a surprise when he was stumped for 35. Skipper Dave Hawkes joined the immovable Bramley and the pair calmly reached victory with 2 overs to spare. The winning hit was a superb straight six that took Bramley to 91 and gain the umpires’ man of the match award.

Another emphatic win for Southam 2nd XI took them into the last game in second place, still hopeful of overtaking Ambleside for the league title. A top bowling and fielding display with Ian Ward again the main destroyer, with 5 for 39 from 13 overs, Adam Heath, who bowled consistently well throughout the season, claimed the first 2 wickets, and Greg Neale weighed in with 3 wickets, including that of top run scorer Bitter for 59, which apart from 20 from Desai, was the only contribution of any note as Camp Hill were tumbled out for 125.
The reply lasted less than 13 overs without loss as Matt Goatley returned to the side and wasted no time as he smashed 86 not out, and with Stewart Batchelor 28 not out Southam romped to a 10 wicket win.

NELLY WELLY
Southam went into this last game local derby in second place, 4 above Stockton, with the clear objective of a 20 point win to gain promotion. Warwick needed a 24 point win for their own outside chance. The toss was lost and Warwick batted first, and after 15 lacklustre overs by the Southam bowlers they were in a position of some strength at 90-0. Openers Smith(61) and Marrion punished anything loose and it was a relief when Marrion fell for a fluent 35. Talented Ross Briscoe was trapped LBW for a 2nd ball duck and from that moment Southams bowlers gained the upper hand. The swing and control of Mike Clements was rewarded with a marathon spell of 21-3-68-3, he was well supported by Ed Russell 2-36 off 9 and Ollie Pilgrim 15.1-4-60-2. Only Ade Passey with a patient 51 and 21 from Wynne-Evans got Warwick to a reasonable but slightly disappointing 215-6 at the 50 over conclusion.
In reply Southam started nervously and found themselves in deep trouble at 22-3. Warwicks bowlers exerted early pressure and the fieders held excellent catches. However, cometh the hour, cometh the men. In this case Ward and Nelly. Mixing stout defence and boundary-laden aggression, the pair turned the game around to Southam’s advantage. They added a run a ball century partnership and it took a fantastic slip catch off the bowling of Butcher (5-72) to remove Ward for a superb 50. Nelly was joined by Dave Hawkes and the pair carefully built a match winning partnership and after 42 overs the score was 182-4. However, Nelly was caught in the deep for a quite superb 92 (9x4 + 5x6), which was under the circumstances probably the innings of the season, and a further 2 wickets fell leaving the score at 195-7. Surely a repeat of the Rowlands debacle could not occur again? The answer was no. Mike Clements this time held his nerve and struck two straight 4s to ease the pressure, and experienced skipper Hawkes(39*), who had sat white-faced with nerves throughout the Southam innings, calmly waited for the inevitable bad ball, which was dispatched with aplomb, and victory and promotion was achieved in the 49th over.

SOUTHAM SECOND XI, although disappointed not to have won the title, were pleased to consolidate second place and promotion to the Premier League after a winning draw at home to Offchurch/Lapworth. Having won the toss and elected to bat, the Southam batsmen put the Lapworth bowlers to the sword, opener Bill Watts and Mike Clewes at 3 taking the score up to 175 before Clewes went for a superb 90 and Watts a fine 70, to put Southam in a strong position. 28 from Alex Sedgfield, 41 from Simon Heath and 30 from skipper Rich Heath bumped the total up to 299 for 8 in 44 overs. Cole 3 for 88 and Waldron 4 for 59 were the most successful bowlers for Lapworth.
The reply turned into something of a farce as Cole proceeded to bat through the first 44 overs of the reply for only 9 runs, thus leaving Cross at the other end to do all the scoring work, he was eventually run out for a fine 110, and although Rich Heath with 2 for 12 made a minor breakthrough, and Southam used 10 bowlers, the draw was inevitable and Lapworth closed on 200 for 3. With only one defeat all season Southam can count themselves a little unlucky not to have won the league, which went to Ambleside who won the crucial game at Southam in August, but a fine season despite losing so many games to the weather.

Once again the season wasn’t just dominated by the men – Southam Ladies went one better by winning their league, which went on well into August this year due once again to the rain. Skipper Gail Wigley has been well supported again by players who have stuck with Southam for over 20 years. Sarah Parker, Alison Inskip, Averill Borton, Becky Clea, Sam Pittom and are still turning in very successful performances, this being their 4th league win.